West Side High School - Legenda Yearbook (Saginaw, MI)

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Iii the Orient, business principles are vastly different from those prevalent in America. Time is considered of no con¬ sequence. This accounts for the fact that bargaining comes so natural to the shop-keepers. They ask from two to four times the amount that they expect, and then come down on a graduated scale fo the sum really wanted. Cheating is re¬ garded merely as an exceedingly valuable accomplishment. The best way in purchasing is to go into the store and price the goods, then to visit an adjoining shop, and finally to return to the first one, where the dealer is now ready to sell at fair prices. One of the merchants in the Brass Bazaar wanted to sell us a lamp for eight dollars, my father offered four, and my mother three and a half. This was too much for the shop¬ keeper, he turned towards me and said: “Now you say two.” After much parley we bought it for three. We concluded the day’s sight-seeing with a visit to the Gamiael Azhar, a mosque built in 973 A. D., but now con¬ verted into the largest Moslem school and university. It has 12,000 students and 450 teachers. In the door way we were stopped and slippers were tied over our shoes, lest we profane the sacred edifice. This constitutes another peculiarity of the Oriental. Instead of taking off his hat he removes his shoes on entering the house of a friend, or on visiting a mosque. In the open court several hundred Mohammedans are engaged in prayer, kneeling, bowing their heads, and kissing the ground. Most of the columns in the side colonnades were stolen by the Arabians from Roman temples. On the left is a huge water-basin, where by a sanitary regulation of the Prophet, the worshippers must wash their feet before prayer. A pulpit for preaching and an elegantly adorned niche for prayer, facing Mecca, are provided for the “faithful.” Most of the students are natives of Egypt. Consequently the divisions alloted to these are the largest. Each pupil has a locker for his bread, books, and clothes, which are supplied to the poorer ones by the state. This however entails no great burden on the government, as our guide informed us that the ordinary Egyptian lives for about ten cents a day. No fees

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To the editor of the “Annual.” As I have been requested to make a contribution to the ■“Annual,” it gives me much pleasure to send to you these notes from Cairo and its surroundings. About three weeks ago, we reached Alexandria on the “Fuerst Bismarck, one of tin finest steamers of the Ham- burg-American-Line. On our arrival in the harbor many small boats, representing the various tourist companies and hotels, flocked around us and offered the first glimpse of genuine Oriental life. Animated with a desire for our patronage and with a keen spirit of rivalry with one another, they sur¬ rounded us and made it rather difficult to land. Finally we succeeded in having our baggage taken into one of the boats, and effected a landing near the Custom House. Apart from the fact that it is an Or iental town, Alexandria, with its dirty streets and filthy inhabitants, offers little of interest. Pom- pey’s Pillar, a fine specimen of the Corinthian order in red granite, standing among the ruins of the Serapium, is the most important monument of antiquity. We took the after¬ noon train for Cairo, arriving early in the evening. The following day we visited the Muski, the chief commer¬ cial street of Cairo, on donkeys. The latter afford the best means of communication, as they easily find their way in the narrow streets, some of which are not over three feet wide. In the Muski, the Brass Bazaar, the spice and perfumery markets, and the Turkish and Persian Embroidery Shops are the most interesting features. The noisiest of all the noisy Mohammedans is the auctioneer, who runs up and down the narrow streets with his goods over his shoulders. He in¬ cessantly shouts “Narag, narag,” always adding the latest bid he has received. No matter how great the uproar is, he never fails to detect and announce a new bid. His powers of endurance are extraordinary; for he keeps this up till late at night. It almost seems that his jaw never gets tired. It is also amusing to watch the carpenters, who are equally skill¬ ful with hand and foot. Their dexterity, as displayed in the elegant inlaid work that they turn out, is remarkable.

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are paid by the students, so that the professors have to support themselves by teaching: in private houses and by donations. The instructor sirs cross-legged on a straw mat and directs an advanced student to read the Koran to the circle of pupils crouching around him. After each sentence he adds an ex¬ planation. The students either listen attentively or take notes. The eagerness and earnestness that they display might well be imitated in our high school. The primary students are en¬ gaged chiefly in learning the alphabet. Some are not over six years old. They write with a black paste on tin slates, using reed pens. The school-master often commands obedience by resorting to blows. When something exceptionally diffi¬ cult is accomplished they sit in groups of two and sway their little bodies to and fro hoping that Allah will give them divine inspiration and make their memories retentive. The courses of study vary in length from three to six years. After master¬ ing the letters and numbers, a knowledge of the Arabic gram¬ mar is obtained. The chief aim and object of all Moham¬ medan education is, of course, the learning of the Koran. When this has been accomplished mental development has practically reached its limit. Other less important branches of study are religious science and law. Logic and rhetoric receive slight attention. Independent investigation is not en¬ couraged in any way. As we left, the call of the priest, summoning to prayer was heard. Five times daily he repeats in Arabic “Allah is great. I testify that there is no God but Allah.” Those who are unoccupied respond to these imperative summons by ap¬ pearing at the nearest mosque. Others stop work for a mo¬ ment and kneel down for prayer wherever they happen to be. After a day’s stay in Cairo many peculiarities of Eastern life were brought before us. Of the several hundred mosques in Cairo only two are open to women. The latter generally occupy an insignificant position. As I yesterday saw in the temple of Luxor, this disregard for women dates from an¬ tiquity. Several colossal statues of Kameses II. twenty-three feet high have an exceedingly small image of the Queen, as