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Show iManEiiKffl.ii I JH''Jx tt, -i ill ?V ll'f t. tt". til MN ILV .' w Ih 'J if - " I v"v 5K-v.jtrtir.- 71 I , A Gats In Tangier. (Prepared by the National Oaofraphlo Social, Washington, D. C.) MOST of northwestern Africa France has taken fur ber own. But In this Gallic empire em-pire stand two enclaves little lit-tle If any Influenced by France: the territory of Tangier, and the Spnnish Zone of Morocco, The chief cities of these areas, Tangier and Ceuta, are Europe's two nearest municipal neighbors neigh-bors In Africa. Only the narrow Strait of Gibraltar separates them from Spain. Tangier, on the Atlantic side of the strait Is In a permanently neutralized and demilitarized cone, administered Jointly by representatives of France, Great Britain, Spain and Italy. This arrangement was only arrived at In "more narrow winding lanes hemmed In by high white walls." The walls are blank except tor doorway leading Into courts. A peep through an open door reveals some of the city's garden gar-den spots flower beds surrounding fountains, shaded by lofty palms. Some courts are alio used as miniature minia-ture farmyards 1 where cattle and fowls are fattened for the market Most travelers agree that a visit to the large market, lying Just outside of the city wall. Is well worth a trip to Tangier. There city folk mingle with tbe rural folk from tbe fertile regions In the vicinity. Men, women and children, camels, horses, donkeys, dogs and fowls, all are huddled together tn the dust amid plies of oranges, bas- 1028. The Tangier question was of such delicacy that it was dodgtnl by mutual consent for more than a decade. Tbe Moroccan crisis of 1911 between be-tween France and Germany almost set tbe World war off three years before Its time, and when peace was preserved pre-served by tbe narrowest margin, the powers were glad enough to thurst the Tangier question hastily aside by stating that the dty Was "to be given a special regime to be agreed npon later." Meantime a temporary International Inter-national commission administered affairs af-fairs In the city and a territory of 140 square miles around It and failed to please Great Britain who wanted want-ed permanent Internationalization ; France, who wanted the sone annexed an-nexed to the French protectorate; or kets of eggs, casks of olives and improvised im-provised stands for nuts, dates, candles, can-dles, kitchen utensils and home-made shoes. Tbe country women wesr broad-brimmed straw bats. The stricter strict-er Moslems wear kerchiefs balf covering cov-ering their faces. Around the edge of the market place letter writers and fortune tellers ply their professions; black, portly Sudanese Su-danese negroes In tatters dance to tbe tune of metal cymbals and disks dangling about their bodies, and the fire-eater and snake-charmer amaze throngs with their clever tricks. Of all the side ebows, that of the snake-charmer, perhaps, Is Strangest As his assistant beats a doleful tomtom, tom-tom, he draws a hissing reptile from a sack, allows It to bite his tongue and wipes away the blood with a Spain, who wanted control herself. Situated only a few miles from Europe, Eu-rope, Tangier has been affected to a greater or less degree by Western civilization civ-ilization for centuries. Since the Moors set op their power In northwestern north-western Africa, the Portuguese, Span-lards Span-lards and English hare at times held the place; but the English, the last of the three to have possession, abandoned aban-doned It to the Moors In 10S4. For I long time afterward It was one of the chief cities of the sultan of Morocco. Moroc-co. But since the city bas been In the hands of "Infidels" It has been visited only on the rarest occasions by the sultans For many centuries It bas occupied a reserved seat on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, In full view of the parade of commerce to and from Mediterranean ports, but today Its unimproved un-improved harbor does not permit docking dock-ing of larger ocean-going vessels. No Wheeled Vehicles In Tangier. From tbe sea, Tangier Is the Arab city of North Africa par excellence, for the ugly dashes of yellow, green and red, with which scattered modern constructions have marred the otherwise other-wise glistening whiteness of the native na-tive city, are not distinguishable until the steamer lies close In. The traveler from Europe will be struck at once by tbe total lack of tbe well-known rumble of city streets, for though the uneven thoroughfares are tn most part paved with cobblestones, wheeled vehicles are practically unknown. un-known. The streets are nevertheless crowded with other means of transport trans-port So narrow are some of them that at the oft-repeated "Balaki" "Look out I" one must again and again spring Into some doorway In order to let donkeys, mules and horses, with their spreading burdens, pass by. Camels have to be unloaded In the "Socco," or market place, outside the walls. Things too heavy to be handful of shavings. After convincing his audience that be Is really wounded, wound-ed, be rolls the wet shavings into a pellet which he place in dry shavings shav-ings Then he blows on the mass until un-til It smokes and later bursts Into flames. Tour native guide will say '"ae is a very holy man." The variety and congestion of life In Tangier give an Impression of size which the estimated census does not warrant The city has only about (30,000 people. It is spread over a half bowl opening into the straits of Gibraltar. Little Is manufactured and the exports are slight. But there are heavy Imports for points throughout through-out Morocco. Tangier's strategic Importance lies In the fact that It Is at the southern entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar and as a fortified naval base might prove almost as effectual in blocking that exceedingly Important passage as the famous rock Itself. The city is only 85 miles southwest of the Rock of Gibraltar and Is barely 25 miles from the nearest point on tbe Spanish Span-ish mainland. Ceuta Is a Spanish City. Different Is Ceuta, on the Mediterranean Mediter-ranean side of the Strait of Gibraltar, and In the Spanish zone. Modern Ceuta Is a military and penal station for Spala The architecture and atmosphere at-mosphere of the town are predominantly predomi-nantly Spanish. For several hundred years the mosque bas been used ss a cathedral. The cathedral and the governor's palace are the only buildings build-ings of architectural Interest The modleval fortifications, wltb their ancient an-cient moat and drawbridges, have have been partly modernized. . The town Is peopled mostly by tbe Spanish garrison and the civilian convicts. con-victs. There s;"e a number of Moors resident them, and colonies of Jews and negroes. Lying behind the southern "Pillar of Hercules," Ceuta has the same natural nat-ural strategic position as has Gibraltar, Gibral-tar, opposite the strait Neighboring Spanish towns and Gibraltar are kept In regular communication with Ceuta by ateamcrs and "faluchos," small rowboats equipped with one lateen sail. Originally a Carthaginian colony, Ceuta was brought by various sieges under the control of the Romans, Vandals, Van-dals, Goths. Arabs, Berbers, Portuguese Portu-guese and Spanish. For a short time during the Nineteenth century Cents was even occupied by British troops but It was restored to Spain by Britain carried by a single animal must be transported by men, and tt Is no unusual un-usual sight to see great stones five and six feet long slung on poles and borne by a dozen or more half-naked Moors. In these narrow streets the little box-like shops, waist high, give the proper oriental setting to tbe whole. In them one sees the owner reclining and sedately reading, seemingly oblivious obliv-ious to the stirring scene around blm, until be Is "disturbed" by a purchaser for bis goods, all of which are within arm's reach. In the business" section coffee houses v-ffer the principal Tangier recreation. Patrons sit in groups on tbe floor, playing with odd-marked i cards, or lean against the walls slp-! slp-! ping a beverage, smoking their pipes, and sometimes singing to the tune of i a native orchestra. Next door an unkempt un-kempt shopkeeper, seemingly more interested in-terested In keeping his long-stemmed pipe lighted than in making a sale, presides over his shop displaying pottery, pot-tery, brassware and trinkets. Beggars are most Importunate. They beg for alms and often follow ( a "prospect" until he yields a coin. Shouts of camel men and street venders vend-ers and chatter of pedestrians make a monotonous din, broken occasionally by the weird strains of a holy orchestra orches-tra composed of dervishes who parade about the streets with Moslem banners, ban-ners, begging contributions for the mosques. In the Homes and Market An American's description of a Tan-Cler Tan-Cler residential district would be i at the close of the Napoleonic wars. Ceuta reached her pinnacle of commercial com-mercial greatness in the Middle ages when her Moroccan brassware found a lively market In Europe. The Italians Ital-ians prized it as highly as silver. Caravan trade In Ivory, gold and slaves brought prosperity from the south. Ceuta claims at this period to bave been the first place in the west to establish a paper manufactory. During the period of Its Industrial success, this African port was the commercial ally of Genoa. Tbe Genoese Gen-oese repaid a monopoly on Ceuta's exports by maintaining galleys In her port to protect ber from the danger of Invasion by Spanish pirates. In 1415 Ceuta was captured by Don Juan I of Portugal. The city became subject to Spain In 1580 when that country subjugated Portugal. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made by the Moors to besiege it since that time. - |