The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, September 11, 1931, Image 15

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

15 T H E _ SOUTHER N I SR A E L I T E / / Th o s e P o o r / / Arab Travel Impressions of a Journalist By THEODOR HERZI. This hitherto unpublished travel de scription. by the founder of The Modern Zionist Movement will thrill you. On his way to Palestine, Dr. Herzl stopped long enough in Cairo to observe Arab life in the Egyptian city. Herzl on the Arabs! What a feast for discerning readers.— Editor. 'Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltlllllllllllllllllllli IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIHIIIlllHHHIllllllimillllliiH but to raise and improve it. This puzzling intruder spreads light, creates order, pro vides for cleanliness, protects health, brings justice, regulates the finances, lets every one follow the dictates of his own soul, safeguards the streets, builds dams and operates the water supply, the water of the Nile, as no other sovereign of Egypt THEODOR HERZL Nile branches, water ditches, water wheels, buffaloes, camels, asses with their riders and drivers, here and there a vih lage—that is, a group of large mud clumps whose shape indicates imitation of the tent -then a larger town with its dirty, noisy, gaudily colorful market place; the high way once more, with its camels and asses, with more water-wheels and buffaloes— such is the trip. Until the outlines of pyra mids rise from gardens, spires, mosques, palaces—Cairo! The street before the hotel is a carnival. One site on the large terrace fan ning away flies and letting things come to one and pass on. Colors and shouts. Hundreds of offers by guides and merchants. The hildishness and filth of the Orient. But in the midth <>f all this stand some austere guardians of the peace, with something of he British manner, almost policemen. A division of Highlanders marches past, rim boys in kilts—the Army of Occupation. Other Englishmen, officers, wear he tarbush, which is taller han the Turkish fez. And hey know how to make rder without brutality or ropical heat; the results u’e marvelous. For incon- eivable ages the people of '&ypt has been used to be- Jg ruled by strangers. Sow a stranger has come ;ho looks more fabulous an all the conquerors, Tber princes and despots the past; an overlord "? se aim it is not to ex- oit or crush the people —Courtesy National Recreation Association AT THE JERUSALEM PLAYGROUND has done in all the centuries. The fellah does not know, and if he did know would not understand, that the overlord provides all these benefits because of a lofty and re mote thirst for power. Even more remarkable is the gentleness with which this foreign despot preserves the beautiful and ancient and traditional. Homage is paid the local genius. An Eng lishman, indeed, cannot imagine hindering any one in the free pursuit of his faith or tongue or tradition. That is why a nation which has the good fortune to be subju gated by England learns to enjoy a free dom of which it never even dreamed before. Many hours could be spent in thoughts of this sort as one fans away flies on the terrace and gazed down at the carnival of the street. Excursionists return from the pyramids, others ride out to the graves of the Caliphs, to Memphis or Heluan or even farther, to the ostrict farms of Matarije, near Helipolis, to the Spring of Moses and all the other places which a conscientious globe-trotter must see if he wants to be able to show his face after he gets back home. For globe-trotters here are the same as everywhere else and add an amusing note to the fullness of the picture, though they do contribute a touch of ordinariness. The street of Cairo is almost too modern, too European. But suddenly a recalling shout resounds in the road, and we are in iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiii'iMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiMiHNiNiiiiimiiiiiiiiiHiiiniiiiiiiHniEgy pt oik e more. The shout comes from two barefoot, gold-galloon- ed runners who precede a luxurious carriage drawn by splendid steeds; the common people, thus warn ed, must get out of the way—else the runners scat ter blows with their wands. Within the closed car riage sits ladies eveloped in black silk. Their brows and eyes are bare, the lower part of their faces is cov ered with rose-colored veils so opaque that one feels the wearers must be be witching. Dark eyes shine —one senses a perfumed mystery. The East! The street — Arabian, Levanthine, European—en tertain me. All the dregs of all the world are here. All day and until late at night this mixed life rolls past the hotel terrace. The open carriages with their swift little horses remind me of the carrozzelle of Naples. And the wornQ on the balconies also are more South European than North African. But the —Courtesy National Recreation Association merchants aild guides who AN ARAB WEDDING—A SCENE FROM THE PURIM CARNIVAL (Please turn to page 58)