The Sunday Oregonian., September 22, 1907, Magazine Section, Page 8, Image 56

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THE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 22, 1907.
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700 Boys Taught by Yankee Prof essors
and Forced to Play Football
BT FRANK Q. CARPENTER.
ft
T ASSIOUT, away up tha Nile Val
ley, about as far south of the
Mediterranean as Washington is
south of Buffalo, some of the most en
terprising of our charitable Americans
have established a training college for
young Egyptians which is doing a won
derful work In the Valley of the Nile.
I came here from Cairo to see it, winding
my way in and" out along the great river.
The Nile Valley is narrow above Cairo.
Its width Is from three to nine miles, and
as the railroad took me up it I could
see everywhere the yellow sand on both
sides. We were at times far -out in the
desert, and at times moving in and out
of the irrigated lands. We passed mud
villages at every turn of the car wheels.
They border the river and the larger I
canals, and the date trees which hang
over them are now loaded with yellow
fruit. Upper Egypt has vast numbers of
date trees. There are in the whole coun
try something like 8,000,000 of these palssa.
end they bring in, at a rough estimate,
31 to every tree every year.
The Capital of Upper Egypt.
Assiout is the largest city in Egypt
south of Cairo. It is the capital of this
part of the Nile Valley and is the chief
center of its commerce and trade. Be
fore the railroad was built caravans from
the Soudan brought great quantities of
merchandise from Central Africa to this
point and transferred it to other cara
vans bound for Tripoli, Cairo or Sues.
The railroad now carries the most of this
trade, and the iron tracks have been ex
tended from here southward with but
one short break, supplied by steamers on
the river, to the City of Khartoum.
The Nile Valley above Cairo is exceed
ingly fertile. There is not an acre of
Irrigated land in it worth less than $200,
and most of it would bring $600 per acre
under the hammer. The whole region Is
prosperous and the beggars are now com
paratively few.
Assiout itself has many new buildings.
Not far from the railroad station ere
brick houses of two and three stories
which would be considered fine anywhere.
They are owned by Copts, who started
life poor and have become millionaires.
The most of the houses of the city are
Egyptian in character. They ' are flat
roofed buildings of one, two and three
stories, facing the street. Many of them
are new and substantially built. The
bazaars are far better than when I visited
Assiout 25 years ago, and the town,
which now has over 60.000 people, is
double the size it was then.
Art American College In Egypt.
But I started out to tell you about this
big American college. It Is doing so much
good for Egypt that it Is commended by
the British government and by every tour
ist who learns anything of Egyptian
affairs. It Is known as the Assiout Train
ing College. It was founded about 40
years ago and its first work was done In
a donkey stable. It now has seven large
two and three-story buildings, hlch
cover two acres, running around a cam
'. pus shaded by date palms, and among Its
professors are graduates of the 'best of
our colleges. Including Princeton and
Tale. It has now between TOO and 800
students, who come from all parts of
! Egypt and even from the Soudan and the
"other countries of Northern Africa. The
istudents represent more than 100 towns
throughout the Nile Valley. The gradu
ates are scattered all over Egypt. Many
of them are influential business men,
some are lawyers, doctors and teachers,
and others are government officials. The
'graduates of the school are anxiously
sought by the government as clerks. Their
i training is considered better than that of
the government colleges, where no re
ligion except the Koran Is taught, and
'they are found to be more trustworthy
and of a higher moral character.
Managed by Presbyterians.
This college is a missionary institution,
but It gives a good general education. It
is run upon broad lines and has among
its students Copts, Mohammedans and
Christians. It is supported by the United
Presbyterian Church of the United States.
This Is about the only one of our Protes
tant denominations which is doing work
here, the other sects having apparently
Riven up Egypt to It. This church has
mission stations scattered throughout the
Nile Valley, and It has schools, not only
in Lower and Upper Egypt, but also In
the Soudan, and even on the borders of
Abyssinia. There are something like
16,000 boys now being taught In Its
various Institutions. It Is surprising that
a large part of the money which this mis
sion is spending upon education comes
from the natives themselves. Last year
more than 100,000 was spent, and of this
almost tSO.OOO was subscribed by the
Egyptians. Of the 12,000 now in the
schools, more than 13,000 are paying
tuition, so that the Institutions are largely
self-supporting. The Egyptians of today
have learned the value of modern school
training and they are anxious to have
their sons go to college. They want them
taught English and are all willing to pay
something in order that they may. get
a modern education.
In an Egyptian College.
I went through the Assiout Training
College with Its president, the Rev. John
Alexander, D. D who has been In charge
of the Institution for almost a genera
tion and to whom it Is largely due that
it Is the most successful Institution of its
kind in Northern Africa. Dr. Alexander
is by birth an Ohioan. He was educated
at Wooster University and it was shortly
after he left there that he came out to
Egypt. He has lived in Egypt ever since
and he knows the people and their wants
as well as any man in it. He tells me
that the Egyptians are thoroughly
aroused as to the advantages of modern
education and that they could use more
schools and better facilities than either
the government or the mission can now
supply. He tells me that he has to re
fuse many applications for entrance to
the training college for lack of room and
that the Institution stands ready to erect
new- buildings as soon as it can raise
the money. It has already bought 20
acres of land at the junction of the Nile
and the great Irrigating canal which runs
from here to the Fayoum, and it now
needs only an appropriation for additional
college buildings. My careful examination
shows me that the college is ably and
economically managed, and I know of no
place where any one of our rich men can
better Invest his surplus and have it pay
big dividends In a charitable way than
right here.
Forced to Play Football.
This college is on the dormitory plan.
The most of its 700 students live in the
buildings and they are continually under
the eyes of their professors. The training
partakes somewhat or a military order.
The boys must not only go to the class
rooms, but they have to attend the chapel,
the weekly prayer meeting and the Sun
day school. They are also compelled to
take part in college athletics. Twice
week they have to engage In football and
tennis, and every effort la made to de
velop them along the lines of our civili
zation. I am told that they study well
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and that they are . doing good work on j
track and football field.
I wish I could show you these Egyptian
boys as I saw them today. There were
730 of them on the campus when I went
through. They were bright-eyed, dark-
faced young fellows, ranging In age from
10 to 20 years and coming from every
class of Egyptian life. Some were Moham
medans, the fatallBtic, somber followers
of the prophet and others were Copts
having the 'bronze faces, the high cheek
bones and black eyes which mark them as
the descendants of those who oppressed
the Israelites when Pharaoh ruled. All
the students wear red fex caps which ex
tend about eight Inches above their heads,
and they keep these caps on In both class
room and chapel. They wear long gowns
which are often belted In at the waist.
and they look much more dignified than
the college boy of America-
Education at $35 Per Tear.
The students are of all classes and con
ditions. Many of them are working tneir
way through school, and there are three
different grades of expense, graduated ac
cording to the tables at which the boys
eat. There Is one class which has a spe
cial table, where all have knives and
forks, . and where the food furnished Is
as good and of as great a variety as can
be found anywhere. This Is for the rich,
who can pay as much as $100 a year for
room and board. The second table is
filled by students who can afford to pay
only $50 a year, and the third, by those
who have not more than Wo per year.
Of the students of the first class only
two or three live in one room, and of
the second from four to eight, while those
of the third class are lodged In large
rooms accommodating 20 or 30, each of
whom "has his own bed, which he fur
nishes himself.
The students of the second class have
simpler food than those of the first, and
they eat with their fingers in native style.
Those of the third class have still cheaper
food, hut In all cases it is as good or
better than the boys get at home, for
they have wheat bread and meat at least
once or oftener every week.
A student must pay at least $1 a session
in money, but as far as is possible he
may work out the rest of his expenses.
The ordinary tuition is only $10 a year.
The Copts and tbe Government.
Many of the students of this college are
Copts. They belong to that class of na
tives who are the direct descendants of
the ancient Egyptians. They are more In
telligent than the Mohammedans and
they take naturally to education. They
are shrewd clerks and as many of them
are educated, they have a large part of
the minor government appointments.
The British are now trying to coddle
the Mohammedans, as they form the
great majority of the population, and are
giving them offices In preference to tEe
Copts. This was recently charged by a
Coptic committee, which called on Lord
Cromer shortly before he left Egypt, and
objected to his crowding out these na
tive Christians and giving their, places
to the followers of the prophet. The
crowding out of the Copts is done in
curious way. Take for instance the se
lection of students for the training school
for policemen. Before -examination all
applicants have to give their names, and
the Copts can thus, be easily distinguished
from the Mohammedans. The Copt boys
get their names from the characters of
the- Bible, while the names of the Mo
hammedan boys come from the Koran.
When the examination papers are turned
in the Judges are instructed to mark
down all those who bear' such names as
Moses and Jacob, Peter and Paul, and to
The Mysterious
Things Besides Evidence
JUDGE, a lawyer and an old court
clerk met one night last week at
a club the membership of which
Includes many men In public life and got
to discussing the fate of a case after it
Is left to a jury.
The three men have had each in his
particular line many opportunities for
knowing so-called secrets of the jury
room. The lawyer has been on both
sides of the firing line in many legal bat
tles, the Judge has sat in many import
ant criminal cases and the clerk has
sworn thousands of juries and taken
their verdicts. .
"There was a case not bo long ago,"
said the lawyer, "that received a good
deal of attention from the newspapers,
but after the Jury's verdict nothing more
was heard of it. It was one of the best
Illustrations I have seen of How a jury
can misconstrue the evidence and the in
structions of the court.
"The defendant was a man who had
been mixed up in. a trial that attracted
the attention of the country. At that
trial he was a witness and testified to
certain initials which he was supposed
to have written on a document which
was an important piece of evidence in
the trial. He denied that he had written
the initials, although there was testi
mony to the contrary.
"When the trial was over he was in
dicted for perjury. The prosecution made
a determined .effort to convict him.
"There was plenty of testimony to show
that he had written the initials. Hand
writing experts were brought in and
they swore that there was no doubt that
the defendant had written the letters in
dispute. Days were taken up in the
trial. The young Assistant District At
torney who had charge of the prosecu
tion's side made a determined fight and
felt he had clinched his case.
"The defendant, as at the first trial,
denied most positively that he had writ
ten the initials. The Judge made a very
fair charge to the jury. He said that all
the jury had to decide was whether the
defendant had written the initials and
whether he had testified falsely at the
first trial to protect himself.
" 'If he had he was guilty of perjury,"
said the Judge. The Judge made it
plain what the jury's duties were and
they were sent out to deliberate. They
recommend for appointment the Moham
meds, the Alls and the Hassans.
The Copts are the shrewdest business
men of Egypt. Many of them start life
poor and grow rich. It is a common say
ing here that no Jew can compete with
them, and they have driven the Jews out
of the upper part of the Nile Valley. In
Assiout there are a number of rich
Copts who have changed their religion
and become Protestant Christians, and
some of these men are very charitable.
One, for Instance, has built a Protestant
Ways of Juries
That Influence a Verdict
were out for several hours and then ac
quitted the defendant.
"Well, It was a sad blow for the
young Assistant District Attorney. It
was days before he got over the verdict,
but he had almost forgotten it, being
engrossed in other work, when he got a
reminder of the case that didn't please
him very much. '
"He was leaving an uptown hotel af
ter having had dinner when he met one
of the men who had been on the Jury.
The man walked up to him and offered
to shake hands.
"The lawyer had had a good dinner 'and
was In good humor, although he had no
particular good feeling for any member
of that Jury. He shook hands rather re
luctantly. " 'I suppose you'd like to know how
we came to that verdict?' said the juror.
" 'I would indeed,' ' said the lawyer,
none too cordially.
" 'Well, you made out a good case,'
said the juror. There wasn't any doubt
in our minds about that. We also
voted unanimously that that fellow
wrote the initials. But we came to the
conclusion that he l ad not written them
with any criminal intent. -Now, wasn't
that all right?"
"As it wasn't a question of criminal
intent In writing the Initials, ' but
whether the maker of the initials had
committed perjury in denying that he
had written them, the reasoning of the
jurors was too much ' for the lawyer,
so he nodded 'good evening,' and
walked out."
"It's hard to figure it out," said the
Judge, after a pause. "Take the case
a couple of months back in which a
jury tried to bargain with a Judge.
"A man was on trial for assaulting
a girl and the Jury agreed that he was
guilty, but a few of them announced
that they would not vote for convic
tion unless the foreman got a promise
from the Judge that the defendant
would not be sentenced for more than
two years. Of course, the Judge would
not dicker with the jury and told them
that they had nothing to do with the
sentence.
"What happened? They would not
agree, and the Judge finally had to dis
charge them, but not until he had ex
pressed in very plain words Just what
he felt. When the man was tried a
Queer Marriage Customs Among
Curious Christians Called the Copts
7TSVrSKi Am II inn ... 'mi..,! 1
native church. He put up the building
after a visit to England, where he was
much Impressed with Westminster Abbey.
Upon his return he said he was going to
build a church for Assiout on the plan
of Westminster. The missionaries here
advised him to the contrary and asked
that he make his building rectangular
Instead. But no! it must be Westminster
Abbey or nothing; and the result is a
great T-shaped structure of wood with a
long hall In the center and wings at the
end. The church cost about $30,000 and It
second time he was convicted, and that
Is only a week or so ago."
"It's all speculation what a Jury will
do," said the Court Clerk. "Sometimes
you will have a panel of jurors which
will be for conviction in almost any
kind of a case. Then you will get a
set of men who will not convict on
the most convincing evidence.
"At times a prosecutor will be a
great favorite with a Jury and they
will do almost anything he asks. An
other prosecutor may antagonize a Jury
from the start, and they will vote
against him even if he makes out a
perfect case.
"Often juries become Irritable and
the Judge has to scold them. I've
known cases in which Jurymen have
felt that the Judge tried to influence
their verdict when he only laid par
ticular stress on an involved point of
law. Then they wouldn't agree on any
point In the case.
"In Summer Juries feel sometimes
that they are being Imposed upon when
they are asked to work a long day.
If they are kept out very long in the
hope that they will agree on a verdict
they blame the Judge. But when a
strict Judge gets the Impression that
the Jury is trying to shirk its work
he is apt to keep it out a long time.
"As an example of stubborn juries I
remember a case in which the prosecu
tion made out a complete chain of evi
dence and there was no defense. There
wasn't any doubt about the defendant's
guilt, and the Judge In a brief charge
practically said so.
"A couple of the Jurors decided that
the Judge was abusing their preroga
tive and they wouldn't vote for con
viction. The Judge knew what was
going on, and kept them in a stuffy
room for hours on a hot afternoon, but
the two men wouldn't give in, and the
Judge was compelled to discharge the
Jury in the evening.
"Now and then a funny thing hap
pens. I remember an unimportant case
where all the Jury had to do was to
announce that the defendant was not
guilty. The foreman of the jury was
a German. As had been expected, the
Jury was out only a moment.
"Do you acquit?" asked the Clerk,
ignoring the usual form for taking
their verdicts.
" 'No,' said the foreman, promptly.
"The other Jurors poked him In the
ribs.
" "We say not guilty," said the Ger
man, who was puzzled."
will seat 1500 people. I attended It last
Sunday and found the main hall filled
with dark-faced men In gowns and' fez
caps. The wings were"shut oft by cur
tains, but I was well up in front and so
near one side that I could look through
the cracks. Each wing was filled with
women clad in black balloon-like gar
ments and veiled so as tb conceal all but
their eyes. A few of the women wore
European clothes and French hats, show
ing how the new civilization Is coming in.
Another rich Copt has established two
Billboards Not Seen in Berlin
How Outdoor Advertising Is Kegulated by the City Authorities.
BILLBOARDS as they are known In
the United States are absolutely pro
hibited In Berlin, writes Consul-General
Thackara in a report on outdoor advertis
ing In Germany.. In place of such often
times unsightly objects public advertis
ing is confined to a system of neat pillars
or columns on the edge of the sidewalk at
at the principal street corners or intersec
tions. These round, hollow columns
(called Litfass Saulen, after the origina
tor) are built substantially of iron and
wood, about 12 feet high and three feet In
diameter, the exterior having an advertis
ing surface of from 11 to U square meters.
The pillars are used principally for the
advertisements of theaters and other
places of amusement, for the announce
ments of newspapers and periodicals and
official notices.
They are a conspicuous feature of Berlin
street life and are consulted regularly by
theatergoers, etc. Considerable artistic
cleverness Is displayed in the arrangement
of the differently colored posters, which
are mostly In the form of reading matter
and not pictures.
In April. 1901. the city of Berlin adver
tised for bids for the privilege of erecting
and using these advertising columns with
in the limits of the city for the term of
ten years and the successful bidders are
paying an annual rental to the city of 400,
000 marks ($95,200), payable quarterly.
According to the terms of the lease the
city covenanted not to grant a similar
license to any one else. Newspaper
kiosks, however, are permitted to have
advertisements on their walls consisting
of wood, tin. Iron, glass, etc.
At that date there were 700 columns al
ready erected, and the number was at
once to be materially increased. The
contractors were to erect them at their
own cost, but both as to the design and lo
cation the approval of the police authori
ties was to be obtained, and they at once
became the property of the city, all re
pairs and proper maintenance being per
formed by the contractors.
The city has the right to use the interior
of the columns for various municipal pur
poses, such as storing utensils for street
cleaning and sand for use in the streets,
for switch apparatus, for public electric
lights and meters, for electric street rail
ways, etc. These columns, therefore, are
nrovlded with doors and locks, and the
large primary schools here, one for boys
and the other for girls. In the boys
school there are 650 pupils and that for
the girls more than 200. These schools
are taught by native Protestants, and not
one cent ot American money Is spent
upon them.
Queer Christians These.
I am much interested in the Copts.
There are about 600,000 of them In th
country. They look, much like ths
Egyptians and dress about the same. The
women veil their faces, both in publlo
and private, and until about a generation
ago the unmarried women wore white
veils.
These Copts believe in the ancient
form of Christianity. They are about
the same Christians as Egypt had in
Roman times. They claim St. Mark
their first patriarch and say that
he preached the gospel at Alexandria
and started the sect there. They have
a patriarch today and under him 12
bishops and a large number of priests
and deacons. They have their monks
and nuns, all of whom lead hard lives;
they fast and pray, wear shirts of
rough wool and live upon vegetables.
The Copts believe In God the father.
and in the Lord Jesus Christ as his son.
They believe in prayer, and, like the
Mohammedans, pray five or six times a
day. They begin their prayers at day
break and are supposed to make five
separate petitions before dark and to
close up with another prayer at mld-
n isr lit. As they pray they recite a
psalm or chapter from the gospel; and
come have rosaries of beads on which
J t)iey county 41 times, saying the words;
"Oh! my Lord have mercy."
After this they close up with a short
prayer. They wash before praying.
and pray with their faces turned
toward the east. They believe in bap
tism and think that an unbaptised
child will be blind in the next life.
They have fixed times for baptism;
a boy baby being baptised at 40 days.
and a girl baby at 8d days after birth.
In the Coptic Churches.
There are Coptic churches all over
Egypt, and I find several here in
Assiout. The average church usually
surrounds a court. It consists of four
or five buildings, comprising a chapel,
a hall of worship, the residence of the
bishop and other rooms. The church
proper contains an altar which Is sepa
rated from the rest of the room by a
screen, covered by a curtain with a
cross worked upon it. Before this cur
tain stands the priest and the choir
and the more influential members of
the congregation. Behind them is a
lattice work, and on the other side of
it are the less important men of the
church, with the women in the rear.
Every one is expected to take off his
shoes when he comes into church, and
in many of the halls of worship there
are no seats and the people lean upon
sticks while the sermon is preached.
The service begins at daybreak and
often lasts four or five hours, so that
it is no wonder that some of the mem
bers of the congregation fall to chat
ting during the preaching, and busi
ness and social matters are discussed.
I am told that the Copts do not trust
their wives. Each has but one, but he
does not make her his confidant; he
never tells her any of his business
secrets, and does not pay her as much
respect as the native Protestant Chris
tians pay their wives. He seldom sees
his wife until he is married, and he Is
forbidden by his religion to marry any
one but a Copt. As among the Mo
hammedans, marriages are usually a
matter of business, with a dowry bar
gained upon before hand. The favorite
wedding time is Saturday night, and
the marriage feast lasts throughout
the following week. When the mar
riage contract is made all the parties
to it say the Lord's prayer three times;
and before the ceremonies are complet
ed the bride and bridegroom go sepa
rately to church and the Eucharist is
administered to them. Just before her
marriage the bride is given a steam
bath, and her finger nails and toe nails
are stained red with henna. Prior to
the ceremony the bride sends the
bridegroom a suit of clothing, and a
woman from her house goes to see him
to see that it is delivered properly and
that the bridegroom Is taken to the
bath. Thus it is provided that both
start the married life comparatively
clean.
Assiout, Upper Egypt, August 20.
contractors have to keep the interiors
properly ventilated and dry.
Each column must also have distinctly
marked on the upper portion of it ths
number .of the city district and of the po
lice station, the nearest post and tele
graph office, the nearest fire alarm sta- .
Hon, the . nearest sanitary station, the
nearest accident station and the nearest
relief station. Delay In any payment or
violation or neglect of any condition on
the part of the contractors renders them
liable to a fine up to 1000 marks ($238), and
may even cancel the lease.
A bond of 60,000 marks ($11,900) was given
for the fulfillment of the terms of the
contract. The contractors have the ex
clusive right to use these billboards for
advertising purposes, subject, however, to
certain specified and agreed upon condi
tions. .
The rates for advertising are regulated
by the Berlin authorities. The charges
are according to space occupied, the maxl
muf;. varying Irom nine cents to 59 cents
a day, the latter being for a space of 19x29
inches. For placards larger than that
the charges are In proportion. The Con-sul-General
continues:
All placards must be approved by the
police authorities before being posted.
The contractors must keep a record of
applicants for advertising space, and un
less in urgent cases tiie applicants must
be served in their correct order.
The city authorities have the right to
demand at any time the free posting of
such official notices as may be necessary,
and for this purpose a special shade of red
paper is used, and no private advertise
ments may therefore use that shade.
The posting of bills on the pillars .must
always be done at such time as to cause
the least possible Interference with the
street traffic, and Is therefore usually
done at night.
No promiscuous filling up of scaffolding
on new buildings with advertisements is
permitted here. The owner of a building
may print any exposed portion of It with
signs' or hang out signs, but permission
must first be obtained from the police.
Dr. XAidwiff Pulda, th well-known poet
dramatist, has purchased the estate of
Karerlake, in Tyrol, and expects to erect
& castle and live there moat of the year.
He Is now at work on a new drama to b
presented In Vienna, at the Burs Thter,
next season.