Show PURT SAID LOSES r ANK AS WICKED a CITY OB OE i OH ORIENT Damons amous Egyptian Town To CJ Cleaner but hut Less Picturesque Pic Picc tur Than of Yore fore B By Y Percival P Phillips of the Staff C Correspondent Staff Service and the tho o Netra 1 London T Port Said Sald March 27 Old Old travelers tomo C omo ashore and smile sadly New ot of I tn Into tho stronghold curio curlo merchants merchants' with surprise and I appointment Port SaId like tho rest I the of tho world has been changed by to be quito frank has war Var Port Said Sald been cleaned UP Timo Timo w was when a a. brief saunter through the ramshackle bazaar meant a a terrific battle with touts Shady gentlemen J of ot Ml all nationalities most of ot them known to be police of ot two continents plied their disreputable I Incredible trades trade with Impunity An amount of at rubbish was carted away Iby I IbY tourists in memory of ot a few fow hours hours' by stay star Murder was a n. pastime after dark and many sinister stories were told in the smoking rooms of depart- depart s 's wicked In In- In Said's Said pins ng liners of at Port J habitants Yearly Nearly url Re Now hoN this gateway to the east Is ie as ns asafo 6 Wo Baro afo and nearly respectable The hand of the tIle A. A P. P M. M has been laid InDO in inno no DO uncertain manner on tho the underworld underworld underworld under under- world which was the real Port Said Deportations cased the town of at its International 1 rogues and vagabonds A A p passport control second to none ineffectiveness In Ineffectiveness effectiveness keeps a a. tight grip on tho polyglot population Murder even routine robbery robbers which was a staple industry on steamer days is discouraged British of at aged by the representatives rule Gone too is the atmosphere of at piracy and pillage maintained b by br brazen guides and otner other varieties 01 of Thc They were vera wont to seize selzo on amiable and Inquisitive tourists with Ith the tho persistence perI per- per I I of or a a. leech They would extract extract extract ex ex- tract mane money b by entreaties argument I threats even cn violence Taught In Hard School Now Xo the touts and trinket sellers and rugged ragged bootblacks approach their prey with Ith marked ed diffidence A A. single sharp refusal usually suffices to turn them off The They drop t tho e trail immediately immediately imme Imme- lately they see SeG that no business is to tobe tobe tobe be doneThey done They never neer know said a n. cynical English resident when then they are arc likely to run run as' as against an Australian in mufti Tho To Australians It appears discouraged discouraged discouraged dis dis- dis- dis their attentions in a simple direct fashion ashton characteristic of at the breed b A blow squarely on tho the point of or the Jaw usually followed the third application for alms or a refusal to buzz off oft Broken heads heids were plentiful plentiful plentiful ful in Port Said until tho the native parasite parasite para- para site cite and his Levantine brother learned wisdom Dingier Than ThAD of Tore Yore The Tho lesson n sticks sUcks in their minds Achmed will plead for patronage for tor j i his harbor boats Mohammed trots beside beside beside be- be side y you u with a 0 plaintive appeal to be bo allowed to show you all the city the little and I still race race through the dust mean dust mean meanwhile while white adroitly scattering it on your boots with boots with shrill offers otters to shine cm em up all nIl bright but they keep keel a a. wary rye yo on walking sticks sUcks and soon drop iway Port Said is even dIn dingier cr more heel down than when I last saw It before the war The dingy unpainted wooden buildings sprawling against j I each cach other their verandas littered with every variety of rubbish give its principal street tho the appearance of ot a ai I third rate Earls Earl's court at tho the end of ot ofa a 1 hard winter Shops crammed with I I tawdry wares calculated to too catch the ln Inexperienced eye eo still fill it t from tram end to end ond Fat peep fur tur- fur S I lively through open half open doors ready to pounce upon tho the first traveler who 1 hesitates tes before his window The hotels on the water front house an changing over gloomy ever horde I of ot tr travelers veler The They r come corne from Cairo and beyond hunting for a berth in InI in I ever crowded ships They wait the the pleasure leasure of ot dirty little coastwise cargo boats oats In which they are to be carried up p to Syria They learn tho the value of ot patience and the of ot trust- trust i mar Jag any prophecy as the date dato of ot their departure Life In Port Said la Is Just ono one no postponement nt after another I I Ie A few e soldiers wander about the streets occasionally two mounted poi po- i lico In In khaki ride along the harbor tro front t. t Officers who steeped In a a. g gentle pessimism give each other t tea 3 outside the tho Eastern Lounge and talk of ot being No ono one no seems pa particularly I cheerful Reformed and hastened chastened as aa it Is Is Port Said Sald ca cannot be be bell called ll d an au a. a Ideal spot Tho men who must stay y thero there look enviously a at t the happy travelers who pass through day after atter day homeward bound I |