. St. Nicholas [serial] . ning provision of pipes and coffee,and the men retire to their homes. The next morning our friend the cafe-keeperwashes out his pipes, places them in order onlong shelves, and is ready for another daysentertaining. Near-by is the native barbers place of busi-ness. What an odd little establishment it is!Like most Eastern craftsmen he is content witha simple outfit, and he finds his customers quitesatisfied. Almost everything in his shop is ofnative manufacture. The towels, of cotton andsilk, are woven on the hand-looms of Hamah;the brass water-vessel and the inlaid fra
. St. Nicholas [serial] . ning provision of pipes and coffee,and the men retire to their homes. The next morning our friend the cafe-keeperwashes out his pipes, places them in order onlong shelves, and is ready for another daysentertaining. Near-by is the native barbers place of busi-ness. What an odd little establishment it is!Like most Eastern craftsmen he is content witha simple outfit, and he finds his customers quitesatisfied. Almost everything in his shop is ofnative manufacture. The towels, of cotton andsilk, are woven on the hand-looms of Hamah;the brass water-vessel and the inlaid frame ofhis hand-mirror come from the bazaars of Damas-cus ; but the razors are doubtless of Englishmake. The demure victim in the picture is re-ceiving a fashionable shampoo, and, as usual, hehelps the barber by holding the tin neck-basinwhile the water falls upon his head from above. All sorts of mechanical arts in the East im-press us with their simplicity — not that Syriansare behindhand in making beautiful things, but. THE BARBER SHAMPOOING A CUSTOMER. the methods and machines are very is hand-made. The rich rugs whosecombinations of color and whose silky sheen BUSY CORNERS IN THE ORIENT. 475 are so much prized in our American homesare all made laboriously by hand in the vil-lages of Syria, Persia, and Kurdistan. Workin brass, silver, and mother-of-pearl, while someof it is exceedingly delicate, is all done withoutthe aid of any improved machinery. The ex-quisite weaving of cotton and silk that has madeSyria famous is wrought on the rudest of hand-looms. The carpenter behind the chips and shav-ings illustrates Eastern wood-working. He ismaking a chair-round on his rough turning-lathe. With his right hand he revolves thepiece of wood, using a kind of bow such asour jewelers use on small lathes. The chiselhe holds with his left hand assisted by his are inclined to pity him and his bunglingmachine, but our pity he does not need. Givehim time, a
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Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873
