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Frank
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BT FRANK G. CARPENTER.
I WRITE these notes in the City of
Tripoli. It is the. capital of Barbary,
that vast country of oases and desert,
lying between Tunisia and Egypt, on the
Mediterranean sea. I came here from
Sfax, passing around the Gulf of Qabes
and skirting the Desert of Libya the
greater part of the way. Our boat waa
a little Italian steamer which sails from
Genoa to Tunis and then goes on around
to Tripoli and back to Naples via Sicily
and Malta. We came to anchor in the
harbor this morning, and were brought to
the shore by boatmen as fierce looking as,
the pirates who fought here against our
American sailors 100 years ago.
It was in the harbor of Tripoli that
Uncle Sam had his first great Naval en
gagement, after the conclusion of the war
which made him independent of Great
Britain. This town was then a great
piratical stronghold. It levied its tribute
on all the ships of the Mediterranean,
and Its soldiers not infrequently captured
Christians and either' held them for ran
som or kept them in slavery. They had
committed outrages upon our shipping
during the last days of John Adams'
Presidency, and It was in 1801 that we
formally declared war and sent Commo
dore Decatur across the Atlantic and over
the Mediterranean to punish the pirates.
Decatur recaptured and burnt the Ameri
can frigate Philadelphia In the harbor
here In February, 1804, and we then
taught these semi-savages that, although
ihey might take their toll from the na
tions of Europe, our own little republic
across the Atlantic must be left alone.
It Belongs to the Sultan.
This land of Barbary now belongs to
the Bultan' of Turkey. It has a Governor-General
appointed by him, and
there Is an army of 10.000 oldlers in
the barracks on the edge of the city
which he has sent to keep order. The
country in so large that the army can
police lrttle more than Tripoli Itself.
And the result is that every man who
Coes Into the desert carries a gun with
yhlra,. and that all the caravans must
have their armed escorts. Nearly
very one who comes In from the in
terior has a gun strapped to his tack.
During a journey which I have made
to one of the oases I met many men
so armed, and I am told that the coun
try Is everywhere unsafe.
Tripoli Is for the most part nothing
but sand. ' It is as long as from New
York to Detroit, as wide as from Phil
adelphia to Buffalo, and it contains al
together an area ten times that of the
State of Ohio. The only cultivated
portions .are a narrow strip of land
along the Mediterranean Sea and the
oases, which are found scattered here
nd there through the Desert of Libya.
The population is scanty. It numbers
altogether not more than a million, or
about half as many as there are in
Chicago, and these are made up of
wild Arab tribes, many of which are
at war with each other.
Tripoli and the Soudan.
. The foreign trade of the country is
with the Soudan and Europe. Tripoli
lies directly north of Lake Chad, and
It Is the chief starting place for the
caravans which cross the Sahara
There are half a dozen routes over the
desert from here to the rich lands of
Central Africa, and a great deal of
ivory, ostrich feathers and skins are
brought to Tripoli on camels from
those countries. "The trip takes sev
eral months, and the caravans often
include in their freight female slaves
for the Barbary harems. Millions of
slaves have been thus carried over the
deeert and vast numbers have been
sent from here to Tunisia and Turkey.
The caravan routes are lined with the
bones of slaves who have died on the
way, and the trade would exist now
were It not that the people fear that
the Christian wers might object.
The City of Tripoli.
Tripoli, the clt3 lies in the Libyan
Desert on the edge of the Mediterranean
Sea. It is not an oasis of mud houses
surrounded by mud walls, such as I have
described In my leters from the Sahara,
but it is a desert city of 60,000 Inhabitants,
with great white buildings and walls of
atone.
Approaching it from the sea the town
looks like a mighty fortification. It is
built upon a sloping peninsula, the houses
running around a beautiful hay, guarded
by rocky islands, which rise like senti
nels out of the blue Mediterranean. At
one end of the bay is a huge fortifica
tion, commanded by Turkish soldiers, and
at the other Is the Kasbahi a fortified
castle, containing the government offices.
Between these two, punning around in
side the horns of the crescent, are white
buildings, mixed here and there with
structures of green, blue and rose pink,
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Carpenter Writes
Barbary, Desert City of
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which, rising almost straight up from
the water, form a great bow, with these
forts at the end. Behind are other build
ings of three and four stories, and over
them may be seen the tall. lean, white
minarets of the mosques with green caps
on their tops. The houses are of Arabic
architecture and Oriental in . shape, and
when one climbs to the roofs of the
highest buildings, as I did today, he sees
that each house is built about a little
court, the walls facing which are painted
bright blue. "
As I stood on the house top all Tripoli
lay below me. It looked much like a
Jumble of great goods boxes cast by
the hands of the gods down Into the
midst of the desert. There are but few
trees in the town. At the right, facing
the sea, some distance away, is an oasis
of date palms, but on the other sides, as
far as the eye can reach, there are noth
ing but the bare yellow sands of the
dsert of Libya. The city" lies just south
of Malta and Sicily, and it is, I should
say. Just about midway between Alexan
dria and Tunis, the two greatest of the
African cities on the southern side of
the Mediterranean Sea.
A Walk Through the Streets.
But let us suppose that we are down
In the city itself, wandering about
through the streets. The time is midday,
and the African sun biases like a fur
nace in this tropical sky of" the desert.
It dazzles our eyes and the white build
ings about us catch the rays and throw
them back, almost blinding. In the chief
streets of the city there is no sun at all,
and It Is only when we strike the open
spaces that we realize the brightness out
side. Tripoli is a city of caverns. Most of the
streets are either covered with matting
or boards, or are actually built over like
great vaults and lighted here and there
by holes in the roofs. It is like going
through half-lighted tunnels, and we
might wander about for hours barehead
ed without fear of the sun. This, is es
pecially so In the business sections. The
bazaars consist of streets 10 or 15 feet
wide and with white vaulted roofs, the
light coming through holes In the latter,
each of which Is about a foot square.
Now and then there will be a treak iny
these roofs, making a short open space
where the sun shines, but after that the
vaults begin again, so that one could go
through almost the whole town and keep
under cover. The business streets are
paved with stone, and along the walls of
the houses run ledges about three feet
high, upon which the shop face and
where the customers sit while they bar
gain. . Like a Grape Arbor.
The chief shopping section of Tripoli
consists of a mighty grape arbor. Here
the street is roofed over with a lattice
work, upon which grapevines have
been trained, and their cool green
leaves temper the ray3 of the sun. This
street is lined with Bhops, some of
which are about. 15 feet square. Such
shops are considered great business
establishments, and their turbaned
owners are among the nabobs of the
city. The ordinary store Is not as wide
nor as long as a library table, and
there are many so small that the mer
chant within could not ask a friend
to enter wituou,t moving his good.
Almost all the streets are such that
wheeled vehicles cannot go through
them, and some will not even admit
donkeys or camels. Most of the freight
is carried by porters, who go about
with great loads on their backs or
heads. In the wider streets little don
keys are , the chief beasts of burden,
while . the camels carry the heavier
loads. ,
Water Camels.
One of the most Interesting features
of Tripoli is connected with its water
supply. This town of 60.000 has no
water mains or sewers. There are no
hydrants, and the water used comes
entirely from wells in or near the city.
Some of it is carried in goatskins on
the backs of men, some of it in clay
jars on the heads of women and a great
deal in barrels on the humps, of camels,.
The camels kneel down by the wells
while the barrels are filled. Each
camel carries two barrels at a load,
one on each -side of its hump, and on
the horn of the saddle is bung the
measuring tub, turned upside down.
The water is sold at so much per. tub,
and the camel owner has his regular
customers, to whom he -furnishes their
daily supply.
American Sewing Machines.
The only modern thing I have seen
in Tripoli Is the 'American sewing ma
chine, which-is used in the "Street of
the tailors, who sit cross-legged on
the floor of their little cubbyhole shops
as they sew. Some of them use hand
machines, and some have table ma
chines of a well-known - American
make. Where the ordinary table ma
chine is-used it takes up half the shop.
THE SUNDAY
of the Capital of
60,000 Inhabitants
V
Nevertheless I have seen more than a
score of such machines in action. They
are all exported by one company, which
sells its machines everywhere over the
world, and that notwithstanding we
have other machines equally good
which are never seen abroad.
In the Bazaars.
1 But let us take a walk through 'the ba
zaars and observe these Barbary pirates
at work. They are a busy people and
have many manufactures, although ev
erything is turned out by hand. Here,
for example, is the bazaar of the Jewel
ers, It is a street walled on both
sides with little rooms not much bigger
than an upright piano. In the center of
every room there Is a little furnace, fed
through a bellows worked by a boy.
Here is one in . which a long-gowned,
dark-faced Arab holds A pot of molten
silver over the fire. Now he takes it off
and casts the white metal into bracelets
and anklets. In the next shop a tur.
baned man sits flat on . the floor and
pounds a gold bar into earrings as big
around as a saucer, while over the way
are smiths making silver anklets, each
of which will weigh several pounds. AH
Mohammedans are fond of gay orna
ments, and the Bedouins of the desert
use Jewelry as their savings banks, turn
ing their earnings into the gold and sil
ver worn by their daughters and wives.
Many of the articles are of great weight.
Some of the earrings are as large around
as one's wrist, and a silver brooch of
common wear Is the size of a tea plate,
fastened on by a prong hinged to its
back.
Among the Shoemakers.
In the bazaar of the shoemakers I saw
scores of cobblers at work. The Ameri
can shoe is practically unknown in Mo
hammedan countries, and the Arab gets
along without shoe strings or shoe but
tons. Both women and men wear slip
pers, and they are always of the brizM
est of colors, the favorite for men being
a lemon yellow. The man usually bends
down the back of the heel and wears it
under his foot. The women use only red
slippers and the richer ones often have
slippers of vefvet embroidered with gold.
All footwear is made by hand; and the
shoemaker's hammer is a round paper
weight affair shaped somewhat like an
old-fashioned glass ink bottle. The shoe
maker holds this by the knob, and rubs
and pounds with it at will. The shoe
shops are small; the 'ordinary cobbler
usually has three or four boys sitting
cross-legged beside him working away.
Tripoli makes a great deal of cloth.
There are streets here filled with weav
ers, in which men work on hand looms
in just about the same way as they did
in the time of Mohammed.
Milling in Tripoli.
I wish I could show you the roller pa
tent process of making flour, in this old
fashioned Mohammedan city. Tripoli is
the Minneapolis of Barbary. and it manu
factures meal tor shipment all over the
country. It has many mills which are
worked, day In and day out, the year
through. Each mill looks more like a
stable than anything else, and indeed it
is often stable and mill combined. . In
the center of the stable are .two huge
stones, as big around as a cartwheel, and
about two feet in thickness. There Is a
hopper above the top stone, and from
this the wheat pours down Into a hole
in that stone, and is ground as the stones
move about one on the other. The power
which makes the mill is an ungainly
camel, hitched to a long bar which moves
the top stone. The camel has two cups of
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WATER CAMELS.
P noWM WHILE THE.
BARRELS ARE TILLED '
closely woven basket work as big around
as a saucer over his eyes, and he goes
about blindfolded. In addition to such
grinding a great deal of flour is made
with hand stones moved by women. This
Is the custom in most of the oases, the
grain being ground from day to day as
it is needed.
Public Bakers.
Another Tripoli institution, through
which many Tripoli families combine to
gether to cheapen their food, is the town
baker. This man Is to be found in most
of the streets of the city. His shop
looks like a cellar; It consists of a great
oven with a well in front of it in which
the baker stands as he works. The well
is about four feet deep, and so made that
the breast of the baker is on a level with
the mouth of the oven. The -dough is
put In and the baked bread taken out on
a long wooden paddle. The baker not
only bakes, but he also does roasting,
and one can have a sheep cooked, a pan
of chestnuts popped or coffee browned,
according to order.
These public bakers-have their regular
customers, who pay them so muchper
month, and some of them work on the
same plan as our country millers, taking
a toll out of each baking sent in. For
Instance, if a dozen loaves are cooked, the
baker gets one as his share, and if a
smaller amount Is sent in a little loaf is
put in for the toll.
Fuel is scarce in all the cities of North
Africa, and especially In such as Tripoli,
where the only wood nearby is that of
the palm or the olive tree. A great part
of the fuel' used -is charcoal, and this
costs so much that it Is cheaper to send
one's roasts and loaves out to be cooked
than to do them at home. The only
stoves used are made of clay or of bricks,
built up as a ledge in the kitchen walls.
There are no chimneys and the smoke
gets out as it can.
In the Meat Markets.
Speaking of the baker makes one think
of the butcher and the candlestick maker.
They are all to be found in Tripoli. The
chief light of the city comes from candles
and there Is a regular business of making
candles for the trade. They are usually
sold by the perfumers.
The butchers are even more interesting.
I spent some time the other day in a big
meat market Just inside the city walls.
The chief meats sold are .mutton and
camel flesh, each of which 'has its own
department and its own butchers. The
market is held out of doors, and the kill
ing and selling are done on the same spot.
I saw men slaughtering sheep and skin
ning them, while their customers waited
for the still smoking flesh, and beside
them their fellows were cutting up other
JULY 14, 1907;
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carcasses and weighing them, prepara
tory to selling.
The Tripoli mutton is fine. It is tender
and fat and the carcasses have great flaps
of fat at the tails. The Barbary sheep
have tails which are made of nothing but
fat: they hang down like great aprons
over their rumps, a single tail sometimes
weighing 15 pounds.
Many of the sheep sold in the market
are decorated with gold paper to catch
the eyes of customers, and some are
sprinkled with white and black seeds. I
MM
Advantages Several Years in Army Would Bring
A;
Ancient Rome under the influence of
constant and universal military train
ing became master of the civilized world.
and only when her people permitted the
military life to be replaced by one of lux
ury did they decay and become the prey
of the barbarbian.
Likewise Greece, when she abandoned
the Spartan virtues, became a decadent
nation. But to come quickly to our own
period we find the enormous strides made
by modern Germany in the last third of
a century as a world power and a potent
force in world affairs Is regarded by her
statesmen as due in great measure to the
benefits derived from the compulsory
milltary training Imposed upon her citi
zens. France, another country with compul
sory military service, at the close of the
Franco-German war and the commune
which followed was exhausted and bank
rupt. But the same Bplrlt of Individual
sacrifice and devotion to the national
welfare exhibited by her soldiers and
which they carried into their daily lives
I "believe more than anything else ena
bled a subdued and disheartened people
quickly to rise phoenlx-like from the
lashes to resume and continue In the
place of influence" among nations they
had previously enjoyed. I
Italy, too, through her soldiers, germi
nated and diffused a national patriotism
which overran the borders of her mono
hlpplc kingdoms and petty principalities,
until their border lines faded away and
United Italy was painted on a map of
the world and her interior development
and great commercial expansion - fol
lowed. I would not have the temerity, in the
face of well-known American sentiment
t
iuiii m i n ill' i.i i u.j lilt i . n n r n if it it twk
'
k
asked the price at which mutton was sell
ing, and was told that good cuts brought
10 cents and upwards per pound.
A little farther on was the camel mar
ket." Here the meat was also decorated
with gilt paper, but as It came from old
and broken-down camels. It was tough
and Jaw-breaking and brought much less
than the mutton.
Leaving the meat market I visited a
place where men were selling perfumery
in little bottles about as big around as
one's thumb. They sat on the ground.
at this time, to
advocate compulsory
I know to advocate
military training.
such a policy would be to challenge the
traditions of the Republic. The average
1 American citizen is Intolerant of any-
thing which restrains him In the exercise
of his own free will. Many of them. I
may say, without, being pessimistic, that
too many of them, living in the conscious
protection of the law. are unmlndTul of
their obligations to It or of their duties to
the Government which mnlntalns and ex
ecutes it. Such sentiment and such a
condition combined with lack of edu
cation to higher Ideals of citizenship
can only result in the spirit of law
lessness with which we have become
only too familiar as a social evil. The
protection of life and property has at
tlmee In populous centers passed be
yond the power of police control.
With the possibility of such condi
tions again arising, 1t is better to look
to prevention than to punishment. So
cial evils can only be abated by edu
cation, and I know of no school so
well calculated to Impart the sort of
education necessary as that provided
by our military establishment, and, to
encourage service in lbs ranks, I would
gladly see as a requirement for any
position in the classified civil service of
the Government an honorable discharge
from Its military or naval service, or
from the organized militia of one of
the states or territories.
If a term of a few years in the mili
tary, service would tend to the phys
ical and moral improvement of the in
dividual If it would inspire in him a
more profound respect for the law and
a broader patriotism, the temporary
inconvenience or loss by withdrawing
him from commercial or productive
pursuits would be compensated by the
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with their tables before them, and
weighed out the scents at so much per
ounce. A little further on I saw several
Arabs peddling second-hand weapons.
Most of the guns were of the old flint
lock variety, and some were beautifully
iniald with gold, silver and ivory. I find
the flintlock gun still In common use here
and also the flints. In some of the Tri
poli shops boxes of flints are exposed for
sale side by side with cast bullets and
cast shot.
Tripoli, June 10.
return to society of a large body of
trained and disciplined members.
If good physique and sound morals
are a valuable asset in the Nation's
manhood, then I believe-1 could utter
no more patriotic wish than that we
might see the entlmen'ts of our peo
ple and the conditions of our society
so change that every able-bodied male
citizen would receive sufficient mili
tary training to cause him to cherish
all Its virtues and manly attrlbutei
and Inspire ip him a National patriot
ism which, whether he remained in the
service of his country or returned to
the ranks of its Industrial throng, he
would be ever mindful of lila obliga
tions to the Stars and Stripes, be it In
battle for humanity and justice or in
peaceful progress to commercial tri
umph. Arms and the Man.
Nature Faking.
John Kendricks Bangs In Harper's.
Oil. I am ft bold Nature Faker,
With a bubbling fountain pn.
I write up the beasts of my Maker.
And tell what they miitht have b-n
I'i" tnld strange tales of Pink Monkeys
Who talked o'er a telephone.
And yarns of green-violet Donkeys
I've met in the Torrid Zone.
My story of "Curly the Boa."
Who sat on a Sausaga Links,
And hatched out snnie seventy-four
Small caddleg with black, woolly-klnka,
Is now In lta hundredth edition.
And makes other Naturalists blue.
AlthouKh I must make the admission.
It Isn't quite all of It true.
But now I am filled with repining.
With worny and trouble and fear.
The President's ripped the (Olden lining
From out of my ebullient career.
He's sent me a Lemnn so mellow
It's laid me out frlltid and flat.
And worst of It all. though It's yellow.
It's not a real Lemon at that.
II