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https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/e89ad1259f5eaf0afa174e8758c7afaf.pdf
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EDWARD C. SALEEBY
1115 DOGWOOD RD.
STATESVILLE, NC 28677
Revised 12-15-01
ECS Autobiography
INTRODUCTION
I had no idea that the time would come when I would be asked to write about my life.
The way this autobiography got started originally was when my granddaughter Taylor
Saleeby told me that she would be studying American History in her senior year in
high school. They would be studying about World War II, and she wanted to know
something about my experiences during my military service. Taylor asked me if I
would compile my recollection and memories of my experiences that I could recall in
World War II (WW II). Her sister Erin saw me later and told me that she would like to
have a copy also. In 1998 I wrote my “WW II Memoirs” that I could remember and
finished in time to send Taylor her copy on her birthday, and, at the same time, I sent
copies to all the other family members. A little more than one year later, after our sonin-law, Mark Selna had read the WWII memoirs, he told me that he thought that all
my grandchildren should know something about their background. In that way if
someone asked them, “Who are you?” they would know enough to give an answer
that would explain something about their background and family history. Mark asked
me to write down the things I could recall about my entire life including what I could
remember of what my parents had told me about their coming to America.
Here I am more than 55 years after WWII trying to describe what happened where
and when in my life span from childhood until now. There are going to be some
spaces of time that I know are too fuzzy, but I will try my best. I am sure that my
grandchildren will have some questions about my life that they might want the
answers to. Hopefully this will answer some of them. I will list my recollections of the
experiences that I remember the most vividly at this late stage of my life. The first
question to answer is, “Where do you start in a situation like this? “ I am going to try
to recall as many of the things that my Father and Mother as well as what my
Grandmother told me. I will try to include as much about what I have learned,
including what they told me about their coming to America in as much detail as I can
recall. I have enlisted my sister Helen Saleeby, and my cousin, Rajah Arab and his
niece, Toni, on my mother’s side of the family to help me be as accurate as possible
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�with all the information.
Both of my parents arrived in the United States very early in the 20th century.
Between the two of them, my Mother, whose maiden name was Nellie Arab, got here
first. The information that I have received from the records of Ellis Island is that my
Mother came to the United States in 1911 with her brother Alex. My Father came to
the United States in 1912. It will be easier to keep things straight if I tell each of their
stories separately until they got married. Since Mother came first, I will detail her
information first.
MY MOTHER’S EARLY YEARS HERE
My Mother was born on February 14, 1896 in Beirut, Lebanon. While she was a teenager, her older brother, Alexander Arab, decided that he needed to make sure that he
did not get into the clutches of the Turkish army as they went about the countryside
“conscripting young men into their army. ”. In many of my conversations with him I
was left with the impression that it didn’t matter whether the Turkish army was doing
their thing or not, he indicated to me that his basic and primary idea was, that he
wanted to come to America anyway. The Ottoman Empire was in control of the entire
Middle East – including Lebanon. Uncle Alex did not want to go into their military
service under any circumstances, and so he got in touch with relatives, the George
Habib family, living in Winston-Salem, NC, asking them to sponsor him to come to
the United States of America. He said he would work for them. They told him to come
on over, because they needed help in their business. When my Mother found out that
he was planning to go to America, she insisted that he would take her along. From all
I can deduce, their family was wealthy enough to finance the voyage. My Grandfather
Asaad Khalil Arab had a hardware store and gave them his blessings, and, apparently,
he could and did finance the trip. Since the Habib family was sponsoring them, the
two of them made their plans, which included the modern day applying for a “Green
Card”, and they were soon on their way to the United States of America. I have since
learned that My Maternal Grandfather died in 1917, and I remember how sad my
Mother was when she received the notice of my Grandmother’s passing during the
1930’s.
Their trip took them through France on their way to the United States, and the final
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�leg was from Le Havre, France aboard ship to New York. From the archives of Ellis
Island my cousin Rajah Arab learned that my Mother arrived at Ells Island on
“October 17, 1911” aboard the Ship named “Niagara”. The ship departed from “Le
Havre, Seine-Inferior, France”. She was listed as 16 years of age. Mother apparently
told my sister Helen, in conversations they had later, that she was seasick on the
whole voyage to the United States in 1911, otherwise I would have never found this
out.
After they had been here for about a year, I gather from what I remember that my
Mother went on to California with the Habib family to be with and work for another
relative that owned an orange grove near Fresno, California. My Mother’s cousin
Violet Habib was born to Aunt Emma while they were in California. Mother told me
on several occasions that part of her work in California during her stay was to drive a
truck between the trees in the orchard. While she drove down between the rows of
trees, the workers were to place the fruit into the back of the truck as they picked. She
always bragged about learning to drive before she was 16 years old, although, I don’t
believe she drove on the highways or streets at that age. I have no knowledge when
George Habib died, but I think that he died while they were in California. After that
happened, Aunt Emma and her family came back east to Norfolk, VA, to work and to
live. I have since learned, from records about Uncle Alex, which Toni my cousin
Rajah Arab’s niece kept, that my Mother stayed in California until after World War I
was over. The primary reason that she stayed out there was because Uncle Alex
wanted to be free to go and get jobs wherever he could. This would allow him to seek
many opportunities without having to worry about her, and, anyway, her job in
California was hers as long as she wanted to stay there, because they needed her.
I think that must be how all that must have happened because, while she was out west,
Uncle Alex had got various jobs up and down the East Coast. And, apparently, he
worked in several places including New York City as a carpenter, also in a Paterson,
NJ ice cream factory, and, in addition, he went to night school to learn more trades. In
October 1913 he came to Fayetteville, NC to work for Tom Saleeby, one of my
Father’s first cousins, who, at that time, had moved there in the interim and had a
candy kitchen. A year later when the war broke out in Europe, Uncle Alex went back
to New York to find a better paying job. I have learned that he worked 12 hours a day
in the job he found. He was very good as a manager, and he learned many things that
helped him later to go into business for himself. Uncle Alex learned about a small
candy store that also sold fruit that was for sale in South Carolina, and he moved there
and bought it from the owner. He was very successful at this, and, a short time later,
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�someone made him an offer to buy the store that he could not refuse, and he sold out
and returned to Norfolk, VA. In Norfolk, he worked as a mechanic in an auto repair
shop, and later he was hired to manage a soda fountain and drug store. He was
becoming more successful in all his endeavors as he moved from one enterprise to
another. When the United States started drafting men for the army, he tried to enlist in
the Air Force as a mechanic, but they would not accept him because he was not yet a
United States citizen.
This all seems to have been about that time the war was over, and now he was getting
to stay in one place longer, and so Uncle Alex sent for my Mother to come east to live
with him in Norfolk after he returned there in 1919. Things went well for them, and in
1920 Uncle Alex bought a store in Roanoke Rapids, NC, and he and my Mother
moved there. At this time in his life, he decided to go back to selling things he knew
well, and so he sold fruit and also made candy to sell. We will return to this part of the
story later and tie it all together.
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�MY FATHER’S EARLY YEARS HERE
My Father, Nasry Rashid Saleeby, was born in Souk El Gharb, Lebanon in June 1892.
Souk El Gharb is a mountain resort community about seven miles from Beirut on the
mountainside in a location that overlooked that city and the Mediterranean Sea.
During those years, my Father’s family sent their children to the Presbyterian Church
School in their community where they studied the English language as part of their
education.
According to some of the stories that I heard, as they grew through their boyhood
years, and into their teen years, they worked at various jobs in and around Souk el
Gharb that included construction and road building. As I mentioned earlier, the
Ottoman Empire was in control of that area of the world, and they were conscripting
young boys into their armed forces, sometimes taking them whether they wanted to
join or not. Father and his brothers had no desire to be part of the Turkish military
forces, and they definitely wanted to get out from under the threat of the Turkish army
conscription that was going on.
My Grandfather, Rashid Asaad Saleeby, owned some property and houses in and
around Souk el Gharb, Lebanon. I received the impression that my Grandfather and
the rest of the family must have had a family discussion and agreed to the idea that the
entire family would go to the United States. They all agreed, I think, that the idea was
for my Father’s older brother, Gibran, to go to the United States get settled and
establish a stabilized base for them all to come to later. My Father, being the next
oldest, would remain there with the family to help my Grandfather, Rashid, support
the family. The family had cousins already living in Wilmington, NC and in other
cities in the United States. They got in touch with several families to learn about what
to expect when they did come to the United States.
My impression is that their plans developed faster with three first cousins, Elias,
Mitchell, and Thomas Saleeby who were living in Wilmington, NC at that time. Elias
and his brothers agreed to sponsor Gibran to come to Wilmington where he could
work with them and learn what would be involved to bring the rest of the family later.
As a result, Uncle Gibran came to the United States and worked with their cousins in
Wilmington selling produce wholesale to stores in the area near Wilmington. He
learned enough to go out on his own and to start his own business in Goldsboro, NC,
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�but I don’t know what year that took place. I have assumed all along that from the
beginning the family had planned for the rest of the family to go to the United States
later. I have learned nothing since that convinces me that anything else was in their
plans or intentions.
Apparently My Grandfather, Rashid, died in 1912, and I assume that my Father
discussed it with my Grandmother and the rest of the family, and they came to the
decision that they should all just come on over to the United States as soon as
possible. Since the original plan was for the entire family to come to the United States
even if earlier than they had planned, the next step was to get ready and go. The
family’s finances apparently were adequate and such that they did not need to sell any
of the property in Souk el Gharb at that time to pay for their passage. I do remember
that part of the property they owned as a family was sold many years later to the
Presbyterian Church School to build a larger school.
The family arrived in New York in December, 1912, and my Grandmother, my father,
his brothers, Michael, John, George, Elijah, and his sister Mary were all processed
through Ellis Island like all the immigrants did in that day and time. Elva and I have
given a gift toward the restoration of Ellis Island and to The Statue of Liberty as a
Memorial to both the Saleeby and Matney family members that came through there. I
don’t have any information as to whether the familyl went to Goldsboro or if they
went directly to Wilson, NC on their arrived in the United States. If I learn later, I will
include it here.
Apparently, the family bought the house at 508 South Park Avenue in Wilson. I have
no knowledge of any other house being their residence in Wilson prior to my birth.
My Uncle Eli, the youngest son, was still young enough to be enrolled in school, and I
don’t know if he finished high school in Wilson or before they left Lebanon. He was
enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he studied medicine
and became a doctor. He did his internship in Philadelphia at the Jefferson Memorial
Hospital where he remained for his practice. He lived there many years, and later, I
had the opportunity to visit him during my military service in World War II. He was
still living there in the 1957 when my Father died.
I don’t have any data to tell when the family’s first candy kitchen was started. What I
do know is that my Father was an expert candy maker, and in 1914 the family was in
business together in a candy store with a soda fountain where they also made all types
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�of Peanut Brittle and Coconut Macaroons in addition to other kinds of candy. The
store was on Nash Street directly across the street from the county court house. We
have a picture of the interior with my Father standing in the open area with my Uncle
George and Uncle John in the background. The picture was taken in 1914 about the
time that World War One was starting in Europe, but the United States was not
involved in it at that time. Much later, when I was in college, I located and kept two
pieces of the marble that were on the front of the soda fountain in that picture. Each of
the two pieces of marble that I made into coffee tables is about two feet by four feet in
size. I still have one of the pieces, which I had polished, and we are using it today in
the 21st century, as a coffee table.
The one here in Statesville is for my daughter Anne’s family to have. In addition I
gave the other piece from that soda fountain that I had polished to my son Gary for
him to have for his family. I have used them and made candy on them many times
down through all the years. Having visited many other countries during my lifetime, I
think I understand much better now why my Father and Mother both left Lebanon.
I now can better understand why he wanted to come to this country, and why he was
anxious for his Mother, along with the rest of his brothers, and sister to come over
here also. My Father was more fortunate than many who came to the United States,
because he came over here knowing how to read and speak English, but maybe not as
well as he wanted to, but he was willing to work and learn to do it better.
My Father had a deep appreciation of what an education means in your life. When I
asked my Father how he learned the English language well enough to speak and write
as well as he did, he would laugh and tell me the following story.
“We had studied English at the Presbyterian Church School in Souk el Gharb when
we were children, and we knew how to speak English, but not as well as we wanted
to. We needed to know more, and also we needed to know how to write properly. The
candy store became a very popular hangout for the high school students after school.
Fortunately for us with the variety of ice cream and candy and prices of our sweets,
the high school students soon made our store very popular. They must have advertised
us to the rest of the students how good the candy and sodas were, because more and
more students would come by every afternoon after school to buy ice cream, sodas,
and candy.” Father told me that he got much better acquainted with several of them
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�and made them a deal. He said that the deal was that, “if they would teach me to speak
the language better and also teach me how to read and write properly, they could eat
all the candy and have all the sodas they wanted.”
The group of students he approached with that idea apparently thought it was a good
deal, because my father told me that he never lacked a day of teaching from the
students of how to speak properly and to read and to write better. I think this is one of
the principal reasons he was so anxious for all of us to get all the education we could.
In1917 the United States became involved in World War One and my Uncle John got
drafted first and went into service, and my father was to be drafted next, but did not
have to go anywhere. What I remember him saying once was that the Armistice was
signed just as he was about to be sworn in, and he got sent back home right away.
Uncle Gibran was the only one who was married at the time. Uncle Gibran had started
his family and all the rest of the brothers and Aunt Mary were still single.
I am assuming that since Uncle Gibran was married and had started his family, that is
why he must have been still living in Goldsboro, NC selling wholesale produce in that
area. The rest of the family still lived together at 508 S. Park Avenue in Wilson while
my Father and the others continued to operate the ice cream, soda fountain, and candy
store in Wilson.
It wasn’t long after that until they lost the lease on the candy store building, and as a
result the soda fountain candy store was closed. They discussed the possibilities of
what to do next and looked into the idea of opening another wholesale produce
business. They also discussed this with their cousins in Wilmington and Fayetteville,
and the family decided it would be a good business for the family to get into that line
of work in Wilson. They agreed with their cousin Elias that they would sell their
produce in the northern and northeast section of the state. The Wilmington customers
were mainly in the southeastern North Carolina towns and South Carolina towns in
the area nearby. About that time Uncle Tom Saleeby who had already moved from
Wilmington and was living in Fayetteville with his family had started another
distributorship so as to spread the total coverage the Saleeby family would have in
sales area. Each company operated independently of the others, but they probably all
agreed not to infringe on each other’s operating territories. They met the banana boats
when they docked in Wilmington and bought produce from them there.
It is amazing how things in our lives seem to take place without any control on our
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�part. Here they were in the produce business in Eastern North Carolina, without any
plans other than to be successful in business. My father had started selling to stores in
the area to the north of Wilson up toward the Virginia State line. At this time, he is 27
years old helping support the family the best way they know how. I am sure he was
interested in girls just like any other young man. What I have learned is that in 1919
he met Alex Arab, who had become a customer in his store in Roanoke Rapids, NC.
During some of their conversations he learned that Alex was also a young Lebanese
who had come to America for the same reason he had.
As they became better acquainted, Dad was interested in meeting some others,
especially girls who had come from Lebanon. He asked Alex if he knew of any young
ladies of Lebanese extraction that he could meet and get to know better. Naturally,
Alex thought about his own sister, and Alex told him that it just so happened that he
knew of a young lady that might be someone to fit that description. That young lady
was his sister, Nellie Arab. Can you imagine his feelings at that time? I know what
mine would have been, and I expect he was very pleased and surprised at this turn of
good fortune in his life. This was the highest expectation of good fortune to be in the
right place at the right time of your life.
Now we can start connecting my Mother’s story to my Father’s story as we return in
my writing of where Uncle Alex had his store near Roanoke Rapids, NC. Who could
ever conceive of two people having lived within seven miles of each other as children
meeting each other in another country over 3,000 miles away.
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�MY FATHER AND MOTHER BECOME A FAMILY
After meeting Nellie and seeing her on subsequent trips, Dad must have become more
and more interested in this young lady, because he ended up choosing that section as
his permanent sales area. He told me that he started making quite a few extra sales
trips to that section of his territory. He apparently went as far as to tell his brothers
that they didn’t need to worry about the area up toward Virginia, he would make all
the sales trips that were needed to the northern part of the territory.
To make a long story longer, my Father made so many extra trips that he ended up
asking Nellie to marry him. By this time, it was no surprise to anyone when she
accepted and they were married, joining the two families together on February 13,
1921. For a time after the honeymoon, my Father and Mother lived with the rest of the
family at 508 S. Park Ave, but apparently, after she knew she was pregnant, my
Mother started trying to convince my Father that they needed more space and should
have their own house. At this point the house was a little crowded, and Mother told
me many times that she had learned as a result of living in the house with my
Grandmother and Aunt Mary that no house is large enough for two or more women to
run at the same time.
While they were living at 508 S. Park Avenue in Wilson I was born on November 15,
1921, and that must have been the item that finally convinced my Father to agree that
my Mother was right, and that they really needed to move. By this time, I am sure that
she had little or no problem convincing him with me running around the house all the
time. To solve the congestion problem, my Father bought a house that was being built
in a new section of town that had just been incorporated into the city limits on Gold
Street. That would equate to a suburban development today. I remember that Gold
Street had not been paved yet, because I still have memories of seeing the sewer lines
and the water line ditches being dug and installed in the street. The big, long, and high
piles of dirt from the ditch excavation-trenching machine for the main sewer line are
still vivid in my memory. I spent quite a lot of time watching all the construction and
excavation and eventually, the paving of the street, before we moved. Those are the
experiences that convince small children that they want to become construction
equipment operators when they grow up.
During the time we lived on Gold Street, I have memories of arguments with Spencer
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�Smiley who was my age and lived next door. By this time, I must have been around
three or four years old. Our biggest argument was about where the property line was
between our two houses. After we moved from Gold Street, I never saw him again.
All of this sounds reminiscent of when we bought the lot and built our house at 1115
Dogwood Rd. in Statesville, NC in 1955. When we bought the lot on Dogwood Road
in 1954, the street had not been paved, and there were no water or sewer lines in the
street here either when we built the house there. There was an empty lot, on the other
side of our house from Spencer’s house, which was between our house and the house
where Evelyn Barnes lived. She was my age also, and she lived on the other side from
Spencer. A large group of children lived in this new neighborhood. Another person in
the new neighborhood who was my age was a boy named Tom Davis.
The Davis family had three boys - Jasper, Tom, and Bill - and they were living in this
area on what may have been their farm before this section was taken into the city.
They had cows, and I remember that we bought fresh milk from them every day.
That was in the days before homogenization when milk was delivered in glass bottles
and you could see the cream on top of the milk. My Mother would wash and sterilize
the bottles and return them so they could be used again. Today we get milk
homogenized in coated paper cartons and plastic jugs. All the children of the
neighborhood played football, baseball, and other games in that empty lot. Tom Davis
and I tried to be on the same team when it came time to choose sides and teams. We
did many things together as youngsters. Tom Davis and I have remained friends all
our lives. We were in the same grade all the way through school in Wilson, and we
were graduated from high school in the same class in 1939. He is one of my lifelong
friends, and he still lives in Wilson. I played on the basketball team and on the track
team in high school, and Tom excelled in every sport in high school. When we left
home to go to college, he went to Duke on a football scholarship and became an AllAmerican, and he played in the Rose Bowl against Oregon. I went to college at NC
State to study Ceramic Engineering, but I never excelled in sports. The college sports
I took part in were on intramural teams, but I never tried out nor played on the intercollegiate teams. The farthest I got was to teach gymnastics in college.
I have only a faint recollection of my brother Wade who was born in 1923 and died of
pneumonia about age three months. While we were living on Gold Street my brother
Eli, who lives in Maryland now, was born in 1925. We had many friends in that
neighborhood, and enough children to make teams to play many different games.
Another incident connected with my childhood on Gold Street that I have learned
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�about, but I only vaguely remember, was that in late 1923 Uncle Alex went back to
Lebanon and during the several months he was there, he married Aunt Najla on May
18, 1924. He and Aunt Najla stayed in Lebanon for a month after they were married.
When they were ready to come back to the United States, he tried to persuade his
mother, who was my Grandmother that I never met, to come with them, but
apparently, she wouldn’t. On arrival at Ellis Island, Aunt Najla had to spend 3 weeks
there for her total processing, and then they took the train to Wilson. Uncle Alex had
bought a lot where he had plans to build a house in a section called Five Points about
a block from South Goldsboro Street. Uncle Alex opened a furniture repair shop, but
the furniture repair business was not making enough money for them to live the way
they wanted to, and they moved to Goldsboro hoping to do better. He worked for
Uncle Gibran in the produce business for a while, and later moved to Fayetteville to
work again with Uncle Tom Saleeby. Uncle Alex sold produce for him in the area
around Fayetteville for almost a year. He was offered a construction job in Florida,
which he accepted and went alone, leaving Aunt Najla to live with us in Wilson for a
few months. Before the end of the year, he came back from Florida. He and Aunt
Najla decided to move to Fayetteville, NC. This time when he was back in
Fayetteville, he decided to go into business for himself. and he opened a fruit store on
Person Street.
I remember one thing that I had as a small child that was my prize possession. I had
an Iver Johnson tricycle that I dearly loved to ride. My Uncle John Saleeby got
married to Aunt Helen in either 1924 or 1925. I liked my new aunt, and one day I
decided all by myself that I wanted to go to see her. I decided I would ride over to
Park Avenue to see her, and so I got on my trusty tricycle and headed out from Gold
Street.
Nobody knew what I had done until I arrived at the house on Park Avenue. Aunt
Helen asked me where my Mother was, and I proudly told her I had come by myself.
She screamed! She hugged me and told me that I should never do that again. Then she
went to the telephone and called My Mother and told her what I had done. What I
need to explain to you now is that it is about a mile and a half from Gold Street to
Park Avenue. Part of the trip is down Nash Street, one of the busiest streets in Wilson.
Needless to say, I never did that again. . That’s only one of my crazy trips I took on
my tricycle. I guess you would say I was a wanderer.
I remember many trips to Goldsboro when we would visit Uncle Gibran and his
family. My cousin Richard, who is two years older than I am, was the cousin closest
to my age, and we ended up being the ones to play more together. I remember that he
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�and his family were still living there when I was less than 6 years old, and the time
that we were at their house in Goldsboro, when I had my finger in the doorway
someone closed the door. I will never forget the scream I let out.
By now the Wilson wholesale produce operation must have been operating very
successfully, and I assume that this is when the Wilson and Goldsboro operations
were combined in Wilson. I don’t know the year, but that the decision was made to
close the Goldsboro produce operation and do all the business for the entire area from
Wilson. Uncle Gibran bought the empty lot at 506 S. Park Ave, and built a two-story
brick house for his family to live in. It had large round columns on the front porch,
and the porch had a ceramic quarry tile floor. While the house was being built, I
wandered around the construction site every chance I had. I must have stepped on a
nail on one of those visits, because I have scar tissue in the middle of the bottom of
my foot until today as a result. I don’t know if they gave me a tetanus shot or not. I
think this may have been the year the family bought the brick building on the corner
of Goldsboro and Barnes Streets. It had a basement and a second floor. (If I find out
later when this actually occurred, I will correct this.) Their combined wholesale
produce operation was called G. R. Saleeby and Bros. The basement was just cool
enough to store bananas to ripen. The building also had a freight elevator that was
moved up and down by using manual labor pulling an endless rope over a large pulley
up in the top of the building. When we were children we had fun pulling each other up
and down from the basement to the second floor.
During the years that I was a small child, I remember that my father took us to
Wilmington almost every summer to visit Uncle Elias and his wife, and we also
would stay at other times with Uncle Mitchell and his family. Uncle Elias had no
children, and so I would spend more time at Uncle Mitchell’s house playing with
Emile, who was my age, and his brothers and sisters Mitchell, Jr., William, Isabelle,
and Lilly.
I will always remember the trips that we would take to Wrightsville Beach, which was
only seven miles away. We would either take the streetcar from town or drive out to
Harbor Island, where we would park the car. Then we would have to take the streetcar
or walk over to the beach if we had not taken the streetcar from town, because that
was the only way to get out to the beach. It was only after the disastrous fire that
burned 50 houses and some hotels in 1934 that the bridge for cars was built to the
beach in 1935. No fire equipment from Wilmington could get over to help stop the
damage since there was no highway bridge.
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�Charlie Robert’s grocery store was the only place to spend money on the beach other
than that the Lumina, hotels, and the Johnny Mercer Pier back then. Silent movies
were shown on a screen out over the ocean at the Lumina in the early years - until the
sound movies came - to entertain the children at night while the parents danced to big
bands nightly, fished, or went to parties in the evenings.
It must have been during this time period that all this took place that my Aunt Mary
got married to David Saleeba. That evening after the wedding, the reception was held
at 508 South Park Avenue with music and dancing in the living room. I was dancing
on the front porch, and one of my uncles came outside, picked me up, and put me in
through the open window and told me to keep dancing. We had lots of fun that night. I
don’t remember the month, but it must have been warm weather, because all the
windows were open around the room. My Aunt Mary and I always had a special
relationship as long as she lived. She and Uncle David moved to Washington, DC. I
don’t know how long, after that, I remember that my Father drove us in our family car
to Washington to visit them. I also remember that the 14th Street Bridge was the
biggest thing I had ever seen, and I was very impressed with the experience. They
were living on Wisconsin Avenue in or near the Georgetown area in a two-story brick
house. This was my first exposure to all the historical sites in our nation’s capital.
I am not sure exactly what year it was, but it was while we were living on Gold Street,
that we were at 508 S. Park Avenue visiting one evening when a severe thunderstorm
was in progress. I will never forget that night. A chinaberry tree was in the front yard
near the corner of the house very close to the living room. A lightning bolt struck near
enough that pictures fell off the wall, and things fell off the tables. The whole house
shook, the lights went out, items fell to the floor, and someone screamed. After things
settled down, we went home. The next morning we went over to see all the damage
that had been done when the lightning bolt hit. The chinaberry tree was completely
destroyed. Everybody was helping to clean up the debris, and we pitched in to help.
By this time, power had been restored, and we all said a prayer of thanks to God that it
was the tree and not the house.
One of my enjoyable memories about living on Gold Street had to do with my Uncle
George who was single and a real sporty person. He loved to go fishing in Eastern
North Carolina, and he would bring back fish that my Mother would cook for us to
eat. He just had to have a sports car, and I remember that the automobile he owned
was either a Hupmobile or a Bearcat Stutz roadster that he would drive over to our
Saleeby 14
�house.
He used to enjoy coming over to see us on Gold Street, and he would park the car in
the yard out in front of the house. Naturally all the children in the neighborhood
clambered all over it every time he came to visit. I really enjoyed it when he would
take me for a ride. We would ride out to Silver Lake where we all went swimming,
because there was no swimming pool in town yet. With the top down and the wind
blowing through your hair, it was a thrill to remember forever. I remember that there
were two spare tires in the front fenders – one on each side - with metal covers over
each one. It was very fancy and showy,
When you went down Gold Street towards the downtown business district, with
Atlantic Christian College three blocks away, you would pass the homes of the
Gliarmis family and the Ynoulis family. All the kids in the neighborhood used to
climb and play in the trees in front of their houses. Also nearby, in the opposite
direction from the college, there was an area that was made into a park for the city,
and it was named Gold Park. A spring that had water pure enough that we used to
drink some from it was located in Gold Park. Someone had constructed a small
concrete pool around the spring. I think I know why the name was chosen, probably
because Mr. P. D. Gold, who owned the Wilson Daily Times, either owned or bought
the land and gave it to the city for a park. After all, the street probably was named for
him also.
We lived on Gold Street until about 1927 when our family moved to a new two-story
house at 111 W. Hines Street. That house had both a front porch and a back porch.
The front porch had four brick columns, one each side of the steps and one at each
corner of the porch. The back porch had two doorways that you could come out onto
the porch from inside the house, one from the hall, which came down the middle of
the house, and one from the kitchen. The porch went from the kitchen, which
projected out from the main part of the house, to the corner of the house. The porch
was not screened or enclosed at that time, and either that winter or the next it snowed
deeper than any time that I can remember in my lifetime in Wilson. What I can
remember is that there were about four, or maybe five, steps up to the porch. That
would make it about two to two and a half feet above the ground. I remember sliding
off the porch because of the snow being up to the level of the porch and I was almost
covered up in snow. I can still vividly recall the trench that my father dug as a
Saleeby 15
�pathway through the snow to get to the garage to check on the car. As a 6-year-old,
when I walked in it my head was not very far above the snow on both sides.
On March 30,1928 my sister Helen was born at home and I have to assume at this
point in my life that her pending birth must have been the reason Mom and Dad
decided to move when we did. The Gold street house only had three bedrooms and a
bath upstairs. The house at 111 W. Hines Street was larger with four bedrooms and a
bathroom upstairs, and a living room, dining room, den, an extra bedroom, kitchen,
and a bathroom downstairs. The extra bedroom downstairs, where Helen was born at
home, was next to the living room. I remember the doctor and nurse coming to the
house that day.
I don’t remember how much later it was after Helen was born that I remember the
discussion between my parents about my Father wanting a larger living room. As a
result he hired some carpenters, and he told them that he wanted the wall removed,
and he also wanted an arch left in the section where the wall was removed to support
the upstairs rooms. In that way what had been the bedroom space would be included
with the living room to make it larger. Part of the house modification included French
doors with glass panels between the added living room space and the new dining
room. At that point, the den became the formal dining room with a table that would
seat at least 10 or more people. The French doors would be opened to stretch the table
enough when there were more than ten people to serve. The room that had been the
dining room next to the kitchen then became the breakfast room and play room for us
children.
The breakfast room table was almost 4’ x 8’, but it was large enough for us children to
play table tennis, and as we grew up we did lots of that. My Father was not much of a
drinking partner for his friends, but he kept his carafe always filled for them to have a
drink if they wanted one when they visited.
The lot on Hines Street had more space in the back yard for us to play in than at the
house on Gold Street. My Mother had plenty of room to plant flowers and vegetables.
Father wanted a Fig tree, and in 1928 he ordered one from California. When it arrived,
that tree was planted behind the garage. (The fig tree in the back yard at 1115
Dogwood Road in Statesville is a shoot from that original tree.) That still left plenty of
space to play ball in the back yard. We also had a wash shed for washing clothes in
addition to the two-car garage. The house did not have central heat. Wilson is so close
Saleeby 16
�to the Atlantic Ocean that the water table is very close to the surface of the ground,
which meant no basement. There may be one, but I don’t know of a single house in
Wilson that has a basement. The elevation of Wilson is only 243 feet above sea level.
The store downtown on the corner of Goldsboro Street and Barnes Street with the
basement was a rarity in Wilson.
Our house on Hines Street had a coal stove in the living room and one in the dining
room. When needy people came by asking for help or food, Mom or Dad would have
them break up the coal lumps into the coal bucket, and they would be fed and given
clothes, food, or money. Once in a while, I had to do the coal lumps. Soon after that,
my Father decided that Oil heat was the best way to go. He bought two oil stoves with
fans that would blow hot air out into the rooms, and he had a large oil tank installed
outside. That made life more comfortable. Soon after that electric clothes washing
machines with a wringer on top became available, and my Mother purchased one. The
washing machine was installed on the back porch because the porch was long enough,
and an electric outlet was provided there along with water and a drain line that was
piped out to it. When the washing machine was installed, the porch had to be
enclosed. One day when I was helping with the wash, I made the mistake of not
letting go of an article that was going through the wringer. My fingers got pinched
between the ringer rolls good and proper. I learned a lesson from that very quickly. At
this time the wash shed became a shelter for the push mower and other yard
equipment.
My grammar school education started in September 1928 at Frederick Woodard
School on Kenan Street, which was parallel to Hines Street and only one block over
from it. I only had eight blocks to walk up Hines Street to get to the school
playground and then cross it to get to school every day. When the weather was good,
walking to school was fun. If you lived at least a mile and a half from school you rode
the bus, and we didn’t live far enough from school to rate a school bus ride. I
remember one trip we took to South Carolina to visit relatives in Florence and
Hartsville. The trip was made in the summer and we arrived in South Carolina after
the sun had set, and it was dark. Dad drove us down in a car that had freewheeling,
which equates to modern day over-drive. I think it was a 1928 or 1929 model Reo
Flying Cloud. I remember standing up in the front right behind the windshield while
we went down the hill to get on the ferry to cross the Pee Dee River. That was an
experience to remember for a lifetime, because the ferry crossed the river with men
pulling ropes on both sides of the car manually to get the ferry across the river.
Saleeby 17
�The ferry could carry only one vehicle at a time. The car headlights were used at night
to see in front of the ferry as we went along. My Father had Saleeby cousins living in
both cities, and we visited often. In Florence we stayed at the house where we played
with Mitchell, Edwin, Isabelle, and Elaine. In Hartsville we played with Alice,
Laurice, Edmund, and Margaret. Several other Saleeby families lived in both cities.
Mr. Eli Saleeby had a very popular candy store in Hartsville. His son Edward has
been elected a state senator time after time in South Carolina for many years.
The teachers in grammar school that I remember best are Mrs. Culpepper, Mrs.
Roberts, and Mrs. Grantham whose daughter Jean was in my class. While I was in the
second grade I remember dipping one girl’s hair in the inkwell on my desk. For
which, I might say, I was punished, both at school and at home. We had relay races
and other games like high jump, long jump, and ball games during our recess periods.
We did all the things that children that age get into. We went through the 6th grade
there, and when we finished, we had a graduation ceremony on May 24, 1934 with a
diploma, which I still have, just like a high school graduation. From there we went
straight to Charles L. Coon High School. At that time, there was no middle school and
graduation was after 11 grades. I had plenty of friends on Hines Street. John
DeKeyser lived around the corner, and we became lifelong close friends. His brother
Chris, lived nearby and had children who were older than John. John had fun at times
telling his “nephews”, that were older than he was, to call him “Uncle”. Dick Taylor,
Roger Rogers and his brother Ed, the Etheridge brothers, Ralph Webb, along with Jim
Petway are some of the other boys that lived in the neighborhood there.
Several girls lived around there, and some I remember are Mildred Barnes, whose
father was a policeman, Velma Hutchinson, Shirley Pearsall, Zula Eatman, Juanita
Tedder, and Pearl Lamb. Each afternoon when my Father came home from work, he
would take all the coins in his pocket and put them on the table for me to take all the
dimes and put them in a dime tube bank that I had. When it was full, it contained
$5.00. He would take them down to the bank and put them in my savings account. I
wanted to start my savings account at Branch Banking and Trust Co., because my
friend Jimmy Paschal’s father was one of the officers of the bank there, but my
Father’s business banking was at the Planters Bank across the street, and he started
my account there. When the 1929 stock market crash came, the banks had to close
their doors because of the run on them for cash money.
I seem to remember that Branch Banking and Trust Co. was the only bank in North
Carolina that did not close its doors. Today that bank still operates as BB&T. I lost all
Saleeby 18
�my savings, all $200.00 of it, when Planters Bank had to close after the 1929 stock
market crash, because of people wanting their money. Eventually Planters Bank went
bankrupt, and I think we only got ten percent of our deposits back in the end. My
Father and his brothers lost nearly a million dollars as a result of the bank failure. We
lost a lot of money, but never lost the house.
My Grandmother lived with us quite a bit as I was growing up, and she would not let
me get away with any wrongdoing. She said I should always do things right or not do
them at all. I remember vividly that she told me one day that she would teach me
something that I couldn’t learn in school. I asked her what it was, and she said that I
was going to learn to speak and understand the Arabic language fluently. She did and
I learned to speak it well. My Grandmother could speak six languages, and spent
different times at the Governor’s Mansion as a translator for the Governor. I still
remember times when the Governor’s car would come to Wilson to get my
grandmother. The highway patrolman would park the Governor’s car and then he
would get out and walk up to our front door. He would be in uniform and have his
revolver on his belt, and I thought he was a giant. He probably was at least six feet
tall. All the neighborhood children would come running to see him and the car. I was
asked questions about why he was there at first, but they would still run over to our
house after they knew why he came there.
I think it was in 1931 that our family took the longest trip that I remember we ever
took while I was a small child. Aunt Mary, Uncle David Saleeba, and their children,
Helen and Emma, and David, Jr., were living in Portsmouth, Ohio. Our whole family
was loaded into the car and we headed out. When we arrived in Lynchburg, VA we
developed car trouble in the 1930 Pontiac that Dad had bought. We spent at least two
nights there in a hotel while the Pontiac dealer was repairing the car. I remember
crossing the Ohio River at Huntington, West Virginia as we crossed over into Ohio
and being amazed at the size of the river. We arrived in Portsmouth, Ohio just after
lunch that day. The city had hills around it, and I remember climbing several while we
were there. We met several other children friends with whom we played regularly
during our visit. I remember a spring that discharged water out of a stone bank along a
street. We often took jars and bottles to fill with water that we drank because it tasted
so good.
For several years after that, I can remember a man coming to the house in Wilson to
buy gold. He would take my Mother’s gold bracelets and scratch them on a bar to test
Saleeby 19
�their Karat value. He would give them some money and leave. Dad took the money
and used it to rent a small place at the front of the Carolina Theater. We used to sell
popcorn and candy to people going to see the movies. That’s one of the ways they got
started again after losing everything in the crash. For about two years I would come
down to the store and help him every day after school. This must not have been
enough income for our family expenses, because then Dad opened a dry goods store
selling clothes for the entire family. I still remember the code word – RichmondVa that Dad figured out to mark our cost on price tickets of the items. This lasted a year
or so. I don’t recollect exactly how long. We were in the depression, and making
enough money to support a family was very difficult. A candy making and ice cream
parlor replaced the dry goods store, and that went on for a while until the health
inspector’s reports required more than could be done to the store at that location. I
remember that we made 10 gallons of ice cream at a time. I had a licking good time
after every batch was emptied from the can and put in the freezer.
In those depression years, our family got along well enough for us children to do
many of the things that the other children enjoyed. I had a bicycle, skates with ball
bearing steel wheels, a scooter, and had fun with all the other children in the
neighborhood. I delivered “Wilson Daily Times” newspapers around our section of
town in the afternoon. Many times I would go skating in the late afternoon and
evenings with many of my friends and especially on the weekends. We would go over
to the tobacco warehouses and skate when the tobacco market was not in operation.
At other times, we would skate on streets that did not have much traffic.
One of my good friends, Marjorie Harrell, lived on Broad Street, and she loved to
skate. The street in front of her house had been re-surfaced and was very smooth
because it had very little traffic on it. Quite often she would call me to come and bring
my skating group over there to skate with her. I cannot possibly remember how many
times we did that. Many people going from one side of town to the other used our
Hines Street as a cross-town boulevard and that made it rough as well as having too
many cars and trucks going up and down all the time. Before our family bought an
electrically operated refrigerator, a black man named Tom delivered ice to our house
every day. He drove a wagon pulled by a brown horse that had a beautiful mane.
Apparently that horse had done this so long that he knew where to turn corners, and
he obeyed verbal commands to stop and go when they were given. I rode the back
step of the wagon many times just to get a free ride around the area. One day I rode all
the way to the ice plant, and, as a result, I had to walk home. The first electric
refrigerator we owned was a Westinghouse. It was equipped with a freezer section at
Saleeby 20
�the top, and it must have lasted about 15 years. Uncle Gibran bought a Frigidare for
his house. I remember it, because it came with the coil on top.
Mr. High owned many of the open areas in our neighborhood where he planted
different crops to sell on these lots he owned. He planted corn, cotton, tobacco and
watermelons every year. Naturally, we took advantage of their proximity every once
in a while to “rescue” a watermelon or some cantaloupes. Mr. High paid us 10 cents
an hour to pick cotton when we wanted to work for him. When the fields were not in
use by him, we flew kites and played ball games in the open areas. Walnut Street was
three blocks to the south parallel to the railroad with black families living there. When
we started choosing up sides for ball games, the black children would come out there,
and they were chosen for their abilities when someone wanted one of them on their
team. It did not matter that they were black, because we all knew each other and were
friends. Often, all the boys would all get together as a group in the summer time and
walk up the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks to the trestle that was about a mile up the
tracks. We would swim in the creek that had a pool just out from under the trestle.
Our city had not built a swimming pool at that time. R. J. Reynolds Corporation had a
tobacco re-drying plant along the railroad with a platform for loading and unloading
the hogsheads of tobacco. When Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
came to town they always unloaded on the tracks next to the RJR plant. We would
always come down and sit on the platform to watch the wagons and the animals
unloaded for the walk across town to the circus location. If you have ever done it, you
know the thrill we felt watching the unloading and re-loading afterwards. Many times
we would walk all the way across town with the elephants. Our town must have been
a good one for them, because they came almost every year.
In high school, the most memorable teachers I had were Mrs. Meyerberg for U. S.
History, Miss Grevilda Norman for European History, Mr. Underwood for all
mathematics courses, Mr. Morgan for Chemistry and Physics, Mrs. Hunter who taught
bookkeeping and typing, and best of all was Miss Jesse Brooks who taught each and
every one of my English classes from the 7th through the 11th grades. She made each
student give a 3-minute talk to the class every month. Once in a while, she allowed us
to pick our own subject to speak about. I had a pocket watch that had a second hand
on it. She appointed me as the timekeeper. She had us making these talks even when
we were studying literature.
That training has stood me in good stead all my life. I have never worried about
speaking in front of neither an audience nor how many people were in the audience.
Saleeby 21
�The largest group I have spoken to was a group of about 1,000 people in attendance
when I spoke about my trip to Russia in 1976. As a result, I have always been an
advocate of public speaking as a required course in school. I still believe that all
students should be required to take that course. Another course I think should be
required for all students – especially college students – is business law. We all are
going to be in the business world after graduation, and we should be familiar with
minimum requirements along those lines.
Apparently candy making and ice cream making were still in Dad’s blood, because he
and Uncle George went into partnership and opened a candy and ice cream store in
Fayetteville, NC while I was in High School. At this time, my Uncle Alex Arab and
his family were living there on Arch Street. Uncle Alex had a small restaurant in front
of Holmes Electric, which was right next door to our store. My Father was sleeping at
their house with them, and Uncle George was sleeping with Uncle Tom Saleeby and
his family on Gillespie Street. When school was out that summer, I went down to
Fayetteville, and I worked in the store with them.
It was a lot of fun, and it gave me a chance to be with my cousins, Rajah Arab and
Maurice Saleeby. Rajah and Maurice were younger than I was, but we still got along
very well. Maurice did not have a brother near his age, and Rajah had all sisters.
Rajah and I developed a very close relationship during that year that has endured until
today. Unfortunately for Dad and Uncle George, Branch Banking and Trust Co.
needed more space and the bank bought the building that the ice cream and candy
store was in. As a result they had to close the store when their lease expired, because
the bank wanted to expand.
At that point Dad decided to come back to Wilson for his business operations. This
time, he started a wholesale distributorship of school supplies, candy, chewing gum,
and paper goods that he sold in the area around Wilson. He sold mainly to the small
stores, service stations, and other businessmen in the rural areas that were not buying
enough merchandise for the large wholesalers to cover. Dad told me I should start
taking part in the school athletic programs in the afternoon instead of coming to help
him in the store after school every day. I started playing first on the Jayvee and then
on the varsity basketball team, on the track team, and on the swimming team. Our
school had a swimming pool that was 25 yards long on the first floor under the gym.
Since it was inside the building, we could swim all year round.
The Durham High School team had won the State Championship in Basketball the
Saleeby 22
�year before, and they had all their former team players back. We had to play them the
first game of the season in Durham. We had a hard time trying to stay close, and a few
lucky shots kept us within a few points as the game finished. We felt pretty good since
two of us were playing on our team for our first year. The year that I was in the Eighth
grade (1935), my Grandmother died during the winter months. I remember that,
because we had an ice storm, and the front steps were covered in ice. My Father had
sprinkled ashes on the ice to provide traction for visitors that came.
I was told to scrape what was being covered with more freezing rain so more ashes
could be sprinkled. The shovel handle had been broken and the end was jagged, not
big and round. I slipped on the slippery ice and punctured myself with the end of the
handle. I went around to the back of the house and motioned for my Father to come
out. I showed him what had happened and he took me to the Hospital Emergency
Room. They called Dr. Strickland, and he came and sewed me up. I was sent over to
Park Avenue to sleep for several days while my Grandmother was in her last days.
Mrs. Blackburn was my homeroom teacher. They knew at school that my
Grandmother was critically ill, and my absence was excused without question. My
Mother did not find out what had happened to me with the shovel handle until several
weeks later, if she ever did. Since I was taken over to Uncle Gibran’s house to sleep,
my father changed my bandages and dressed the wound every day like Doctor
Strickland had instructed him. His daughter Margaret Strickland was one of my
classmates at school. In 1937 I was going to be 16 years old, which would allow me to
get a drivers license. My Father decided I needed some driving lessons for my own
safety.
Dad took me to the Maplewood Cemetery on Saturdays where there is a wide street
over to one side away from the usual traffic pattern. He started off teaching me with
the car sitting in one spot, and he would tell me the things that pertained to safe
operation of the car and he answered my questions. He demonstrated the various
functions, such as, clutch operation, braking, turning, and parking. Then one day, we
went to the same spot, and he told me to get behind the wheel and said, “Start the
engine”. Before we left that day, I drove the car. I went forward, backward, turned
around using a 3-point turnaround, parallel parked the car between two cans on the
street, and I don’t remember how many other things. He made me turn a corner where
he had placed a can in the roadway around the corner. It was my emergency
avoidance lesson. I remember I was worn out when we finished that day’s lesson.
During the summer, I would ride with Dad to call on customers and rode with him
Saleeby 23
�some of the times to deliver the orders. Occasionally, when we were in a remote rural
area between calls, he would pull off on a dirt road to the side of the highway, and he
would let me drive a few hundred yards, then I would turn around and drive back up
near the highway and stop. On one of those trips, one of his customers had some
puppies that were just weaned. It was a litter of black and white fox terriers. One of
the puppies took up with me. I would like to tell you that it was accidental, but I had
been playing with them and fell in love with this one. Naturally, we had a new
member of the family when we came home that evening. Did you ask what his name
was? We called him King, and he acted like one. The first lesson we taught King was
to never chase cars. King knew every car and person in our whole neighborhood.
Neighbors and their cars could come and go, and King would just look, but let a
strange car or person come by and he would be barking to let us know they were
strangers to him. He even knew our regular mailman from his substitutes. I never
could understand all the nuances of his ability to distinguish people and cars. He
would identify the cars when they turned the corner to come up the street. He learned
and obeyed voice commands to sit, stay, go out, lie down, and others. If he was in the
house and needed to go out, he would go to the door and look around until someone
would come and open the door for him. King was never allowed to sleep inside our
house unless snow was out there.
He had his own little house, or he would go into the garage and sleep in there when it
was snowing or raining hard. King was a very obedient pet. We had a close
relationship that endured even after my absence for college and World War II. As a
matter of fact, King was so jealous when I got married many years later that he tried
to physically come between Elva and me when we were in the yard after we returned
to North Carolina from our stay in New Orleans. He lived to be 17 years old.
During my 11th grade senior year of high school, I had earned enough credits for
graduation from High School. But after learning the requirements for entry into N. C.
State College, I realized that I would have to go to college an extra year, or I could
take post-graduate courses in high school to be up to the level of students from New
York in my freshman year. My family would have to pay for postgraduate courses,
and so I decided to drop the last half-year credit in one of my courses so I could stay
in school as an undergraduate.
As a result there would be no extra cost for my parents to pay since I would not be a
post-graduate student. I didn’t know it, but I was jumping the gun by not asking what
was going on. What I did not know was that my father and others in town had started
a drive to give our school the first 12th grade in high school in North Carolina. In my
Saleeby 24
�12th year of school I took Physics, Chemistry, Advanced Algebra, and Solid
Geometry, which was required as a prerequisite for Analytical Geometry in College.
This was no picnic of courses to take all in the same year. This was the hardest school
year I ever had in my life, but in the end, it was well worth the effort, because I was
ready for college when I arrived. During the earliest events that took place prior to our
actually entering the conflict that came to be known as World War II, I was in the last
years of high school in Wilson, North Carolina. My studies had been aimed at
learning all the business courses I could take. I had planned to become a CPA, and I
wanted to then become a lawyer and specialize in patent law and do financial work.
But the war started in Europe and that changed everything.
The Congress had just started the program called Social Security just before this, and I
think it was in 1937. The National Guard had been called to active duty because of the
goings on in Europe. All of us that were 18 years of age or older were required to
register for the draft. I was graduated from high school in Wilson, N.C. in May 1939,
and I had applied at N. C, State College to go to school there. I had been accepted to
start in September. Having worked with my father in his business during the
depression that we were still in, I knew what the burden would be on my family if I
depended on them to pay for college. I realized the effects of the depression we had
been in since 1931. My studies helped me to prepare and keep a set of books for the
wholesale business, with all the accounts and correspondence. And so, I wrote to the
admissions office and told them to let someone else have my spot in registration and
room assignment. When I announced that I had cancelled my acceptance to N. C.
State, my father said to me, “SIT DOWN, we are not talking about IF you are going to
College, but WHEN”. I told him, “I want to work for two years so I can earn some
money and help pay my college expenses”. Then he asked what I would do to make
enough money. I told him I would sell wholesale school supplies and paper goods like
he did, but to different customers from the ones he called on. After my explanation, he
then agreed with my plans, and took me down to Abbitt Motors and bought me a
second-hand panel truck from the dealer to use in my work. On my 18th birthday,
November 15, 1939, I dutifully registered for the draft as was required.
I operated a wholesale company for those two years, and I made enough profit and
saved enough money to pay my way through college. I sold school supplies, patent
medicines, chewing gum, paper products, and other non-perishable items to small
country stores and service stations in eastern North Carolina.
We had a young people’s club named YALE –Young American Lebanese Elite – that
Saleeby 25
�was having a summer meeting at White Lake, NC on July 4th, 1941. I borrowed the
new 1941 Plymouth family car from my father to attend. I had invited Carrie Dell
McCall to go with me to the meeting. My brother Eli, my cousin Sam Saleeby and a
friend, Louis Kannan, also went with me. On our way down there I stopped at a soda
shop on the corner in Elizabethtown, NC, which is near the lake, to visit with friends.
While we were visiting with friends in the drug store next to the highway in
Elizabethtown, some young people came in. My first cousin, Richard Saleeby, was
one of the people in the group. Richard had been hitchhiking from Wake Forest
University where he was taking pre-med. courses. A group of young people from
Virginia had been invited to join our outing, and they were coming to our meeting.
They had seen Richard hitchhiking on the side of the road and offered him a ride.
They found out that he was going to the same place that they were. Richard apparently
recognized my family’s car outside the drug store as they were passing through
Elizabethtown, and he asked them to stop and let him go inside. All of them decided
to come in to get a cold drink or some ice cream.
As history will attest, one of the young people in the group that had given him the ride
was none other than the famous Elva Matney. I had never met her before. Her brother,
Victor Matney, had just received his driver’s license and wanted to drive their car
across the causeway and return. During his return trip another driver sideswiped their
car and that meant they were without an auto for transportation. My friend Louis
Parker was a lawyer in Elizabethtown, and he made the necessary arrangements to get
the car repaired for them. They were told that they couldn’t get it back for a week. We
had good weather and a good time all weekend. I offered to get Richard back to Wake
Forest University, and I offered the Virginia crowd a ride back to Danville, VA on
Sunday night. I tried to get Carrie Dell to return home to Smithfield, NC with some
other friends, but she wanted to stay and go with me. Richard said he would help me
drive, and so Carrie Dell sat on my lap in the front seat. We had ten people in the car
during that trip. Elva was sitting on the floor right behind me, and Elva and Carrie
Dell looked daggers at each other all the way to Burlington, NC. I didn’t know this
until later. I got home at about 5:00 a.m Monday morning.
I started writing short letters to Elva to exchange photos and to get to know her better.
Later that summer my brother Eli, my cousin Sam, Louis Kannan, and I were
planning to take a camping trip to the Smoky Mountains, and I suggested that we
would go by Danville, VA, on our way, to see how everything had gone with the
accident results. I really wanted to see Elva again. As history testifies, I saw her many
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�more times after that. I re-applied to go to N. C. State in the fall of 1941, this time to
take Ceramic Engineering. Business school students were not being deferred from the
draft, but all engineering students were not being called up in the draft and were being
left in school until they were needed. I started classes in September 1941.
The four courses I had taken in the last year of high school stood me in good stead
when I went into the college level classes. I could see and feel the difference when
tests were given, because I felt comfortable with the background I had in those
courses. I didn’t have to ask so many questions to understand the lesson material. In
that way I could spend more time on learning the techniques used in Drafting,
Ceramics, and the other courses that were totally new to me.
The dormitory I was assigned to room in was called 10th Dormitory, and it was the
building scheduled to be the infirmary for the school in the future. It had only 20
rooms, and that gave us the opportunity to become a close-knit group of freshmen,
even though we were four students to a room. I met freshmen students from Charlotte,
Gastonia, Greensboro, and Statesville. None of them were taking Ceramic
Engineering, and they asked me many questions about the course of study I was in.
Few of them understood what Ceramics was all about. Many of the courses we took as
freshmen were the same since we were all beginning our college life, and the basic
freshman curriculum was the same for all engineering students. One student was
studying Architecture; the others were in Chemical and Electrical Engineering. The
first few months were what I thought they would be, and I was thankful that I had
taken my twelfth grade courses to prepare me for the transition to college life.
All freshmen enrolled at North Carolina State were required to take ROTC as long as
they were physically qualified. We were enrolled in military science classroom
courses in addition to learning marching drills. It was a completely new experience for
me, but apparently I did well enough to be assigned as a squad leader. My Company
Commander was a senior class member named Ed Brown, and he was studying
Ceramic Engineering also. We were on the drill field three days a week learning how
to march, do left and right turns, in addition to “to the rear march”. However, we did
not have rifles, but we were taught about them and how to clean and care for them.
Saleeby 27
�EDWARD C. SALEEBY
World War II Memoirs
On Sunday, December 7, 1941 the Japanese Naval Forces attacked Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii. One of the students in our dormitory had been sent to school at N. C. State by
the U. S. Navy to study Electrical Engineering, since he was a radio operator. He was
listening on his short wave radio to navy frequencies when the clear message came
either to or from the naval base about the Japanese fleet attacking Pearl Harbor. He
yelled out down the hall, and we all rushed to his room to listen. We didn’t know it
then, but this message, unfortunately, was delayed in transmission to the commander
of the base. The rest is history.
The very next day, the entire student body at NC State started collecting scrap metal
and anything else in and around Raleigh in Wake County that could be used by our
country. They told us later, but I don’t recall exactly how many, but vaguely
remember that during the next two weeks we filled about 25, railroad gondola cars
with scrap metal. On December 19, 1941, along with 2500 other students, I enlisted in
the active reserves instead of waiting to be drafted. I was given Serial Number
14117390. We were told that the country needed Engineers, and, if we attended
school all year round that we would not be called until we were needed to fight. In the
meantime, we were required to attend classes full time 12 months of the year until
called. They wanted us to get all the education we could. At this point all our courses
became more important for all of us to get as much as we could out of them. In
addition, our military training course received more emphasis in our lives. None of us
knew how long we would be allowed to keep studying before we would be called to
active duty. All we knew was that we would be going to class year round until we
were needed. In my case, I was learning as much as I could every day. Our curriculum
did not change because of the war effort.
During one of my chemistry courses that I took, our professor - Dr. P. P. Sutton – had
one corner of the Laboratory closed off with a locked door. One day after class, he
asked me to stay for a discussion about the course. He complemented me on my work
and said that he had some special experiments to perform. He then asked me if I
would teach the lab as his assistant, to give him enough time to perform some special
experiments that needed to be done at our school. He explained that our school was
chosen for this project because we had the facilities to do them better than other
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�schools in the country. (I learned later that he was performing some special
preliminary work associated with the development of the atomic bomb). Little did I
know at that time what was happening in the world? The school kept us pretty busy,
because they realized that we would need to apply all the things we were learning
when we were called up to active duty in the military services. I would go to Danville
to see Elva when I thought I could leave the campus for the weekend. I would call at
the last minute on Friday to say I was coming. Naturally this did not always sit well
with her, because there were times when she had plans to see someone else.
The last time Elva and I were together, before I reported for active duty, I told Elva
that after the war and after I finished college, “I would come to Danville to get my
wife.” I didn’t want to tie her down to me in case I was seriously injured or something
else bad happened to me while I was on active duty wherever I would be sent. I had
the definite opinion that her family had wanted me to propose to her while I was in
College and before I left to go on active duty. I could not do that until I had finished
college and had a job to support a wife. I realized that people got hurt and killed in
wars and I didn’t want to have that on my conscience if I got seriously injured or
killed. In my family, when you got married, you were expected to support your wife,
and you didn’t expect your parents to do it for you. I understood that, but apparently at
that time, she and her family didn’t understand what I was trying to say. In addition, I
still had two more years of college to finish before I could go to work and earn a
livelihood for me and my wife and any family that I would have.
We were allowed to remain in school until March 1943, when the entire student body
was told to report for active duty to Fort Bragg, NC. We went through the
introduction to Army life and were issued uniforms, shots, and all the usual medical
tests. At the end of one week there, we were put on a troop trains and sent to our
assigned training facility. Since my R.O.T.C. training at N. C. State was in infantry
tactics, I was sent from Fort Bragg, N.C. to Camp Wheeler near Macon, GA, for
infantry basic training.
I was very fortunate because my Company Commander was Alexander Kahapea. He
was rated a Black Belt in Judo, and he used that background and training to teach us
survival tactics. We learned all kinds of hand-to-hand combat tactics, and learned how
to jump over obstacles and how to roll out afterwards. We were taught to take the
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�force of the impact on our shoulder, arms, and rumps as we landed. He showed us
how to defend ourselves if an attacker approached us from behind, and how we were
to deal with an attacker that was larger than we were. I can remember using some of
the things that I learned from him in my civilian life.
I also wrote to Elva trying to tell her what we were learning, and other things that
were permitted in letters. We went on many 20-mile marches, and we took part in
night patrols. I had been made a squad leader, and on one occasion I had to lead my
squad on a night patrol across a hilly terrain.
The route assigned to us was across an area with valleys at an angle, but not 90
degrees, to our assigned route. To make sure that we did not stray from the correct
line, I asked my assistant squad leader to help by watching my direction. He did this
because I chose a star in the sky that was in the direction we need to travel. Once in a
while he told me to go right a little or left a little to correct our route direction. Our
squad arrived at the checkpoint 30 minutes before another squad arrived. The major
who was in charge of the night test took us to the battalion office and questioned us as
to how we got there so far ahead of all the other squads. We finally told him that we
used the starry night, and he was very pleased that we had used what is now termed
and referred to as “astral navigation”. We were trained how to identify objects from
their shape while we were blindfolded. This was done so that we would learn how to
do things without exposing our position by showing a light. One of the principal items
we learned to do was how to take our rifles apart, clean them and put them back
together while blindfolded.
This was so we could do it at night if necessary and without any light to see by, and
more importantly so that we would not be giving our location away to an enemy if we
used a light to see by. This was demonstrated to by having another soldier light a
match one-mile away from us. We could see it very clearly. In addition, all of us were
tested for leadership qualifications, and I was asked to apply for Officer’s Candidate
School, and, afterwards, I was selected.
On my application, I indicated and stated that I wanted to be in the Corps of Engineers
or another branch of service, but they said they wanted me to continue in the Infantry,
because of my previous infantry training. They said Infantry or nothing, and I chose
nothing and remained an enlisted man. I declined the opportunity to become an
Infantry Officer. I was told to report to the camp headquarters. Then I was sent in to
see the Intelligence Officer who asked me if I would be willing to become a member
of the O.S.S. - later it was re-named the CIA – and I was to let no one know about my
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�involvement in that activity. Those instructions meant that not even my company
commander at the post was to know. I was told that I couldn’t tell my family either.
My duty would be to detect and report any service men or women of German or
Italian ancestry who showed any signs of sympathy for Germany or Italy. None of the
soldiers that I came in contact with during my entire tour of duty ever showed any
tendencies in that respect. In fact I soon learned that the soldiers of German and
Italian descent that I came in contact with, hated the enemy more than the rest of us. I
wrote reports and mailed them to my “Uncle Charlie” addressed to a Post Office Box
number every week. I was detached and sent to Stetson University for more testing.
From there I was sent to Rollins College in Florida and was enrolled in the Army
Specialized Training Program to study Electrical Engineering and Electronics. After
taking some preliminary courses at Rollins College in Florida, I was sent to the
University of New Hampshire to study more advanced courses in Electrical
Engineering. We were sent from Florida to New Hampshire in the cold weather
wearing our summer uniforms that were used all the time in Florida. When we arrived
there, we felt like we had been put in a deep freeze.
We were issued woolen winter uniforms on arrival, including underwear, and socks,
which immediately gave me contact dermatitis. At the infirmary, the doctor had the
nurses paint me with Calamine Lotion using a wallpaper brush, and I was given cotton
underwear, cotton sheets, and cotton blankets to use. Most of my body was as red as a
beet. Up to that point in my life, I had no idea that I was allergic to wool in that
degree. I had already learned previously that I was allergic to Poison Ivy. At the
University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire, we took all the normal
electrical engineering courses given along with the regular students. We made many
good friends with students we met there, and some of us were invited to some homes
of regular students for some of the weekends when we were given time off. It was
almost like being back in school again. The only difference was that those of who
were soldiers took classes 6 days a week. We were there through the winter, and had
many opportunities to go ice-skating, and we also took part in other winter sports.
Since the University of New Hampshire closed classes for the Christmas season, we
were given leaves to visit our families. Otis Clark, another soldier in our group, was
from Topeka, Kansas and did not want to spend the money to go all the way home,
and so, I invited him to go to Wilson, NC with me to spend Christmas with my family.
He accepted, and we bought train tickets and headed south.
Otis and I were the only two passengers in our railroad car during the first part of the
trip. When we were stopped in the station at Baltimore, MD, a young lady got on the
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�train and came into our car. She took a seat about three seats away from us but on the
other side of the car. At the same time two black men got on and came in from the
opposite end of our car also. The two black men first sat down at the other end of the
car. After the train started to move, and after the conductor took the tickets, the two
black men got up and came down toward our end and flipped the seat in front of the
young lady and sat down facing her. Otis said to me, “ I think we’ve got some
trouble”, and nodded toward the young lady.
I turned and looked. He said, “Back me up”, and he walked down to the young lady
and asked her, “Are these men with you?” She answered “No”. Otis looked at the two
men and said, “I think you gentlemen should go back to the seats you were in before.”
They looked as though they were not going to move, and he nodded to me, and I came
and stood beside him. I then asked them, “Are you moving, or do we move you?” We
were both in uniform, and they saw we meant business. They then looked at each
other, and one of them said to the lady, “We are sorry if we troubled you.” They got
up and went back to their original seats. The young lady looked up and said, “I don’t
know what I would have done without you two. I thank you from the bottom of my
heart.” The two black men got off in Washington, DC, and she went to the next stop
where she got off. After finishing the required courses in electrical engineering, I was
transferred to Camp Edison, NJ, to be trained in Long Lines Telephone
Communication at Fort Monmouth, NJ, which was nearby. God must have been
looking after me or wanting me to do something else before I died. I learned later that
the group that I had been in training with in the Infantry basic training at Camp
Wheeler had been sent to Anzio Beachhead in Italy where they suffered 98%
casualties in that battle.
We were extensively trained at Fort Monmouth in long distance surface
communications using the latest technology available at that time. We used 4-wire
cables and open wires on poles. We were sending four conversations over one cable
using the basic Army 4-wire system along with Teletype messages. Later we were
using FM radio frequencies to put even more calls on coaxial cable using both the “C”
and “J” Carrier systems. Some of these techniques were not in use yet in the public
sector. Some were in the development stages, and we helped perfect them to be used
in civilian work later.
Near the end of our training, we were put into teams to work together on problems.
We were classified as Telephone Repeatermen in the Signal Corps. A few weeks later,
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�when the hurricane that broke the Atlantic City Steel Pier in two came through our
area, we were all asked if we had previous experience driving trucks. Those of us who
had driving experiences with trucks were asked to drive the big two and a half ton six
wheel trucks, called 6 x 6’s, to open up the coastal highway and keep it open. It was
needed because of the military installations up and down the coast. We stayed in our
pyramidal tents with four trucks parked around them to protect us from the wind when
we were not on duty to drive our turn to patrol the highway. We used the trucks to
help rescue people and clear the highway for emergency vehicles. On one of my trips
I came to a house that had been washed partially across the highway. I got out and
knocked on the door. A lady came out and I told her that I had to clear the road.
She told me that she was staying in the house trying to protect it. To clear the
roadway, I needed to break off a section of her house. I didn’t have any choice,
because my orders were to clear the roadway for emergency vehicles that needed it.
She asked if I could leave her house where it was and as it was, and I had to tell her
my orders were to clear the road for ambulances and fire trucks, in addition to the
military needs that might arise for the highway. She understood, but she asked me to
help her get some of the items in the room that was on the roadway out of it and into
another part of the house. We did that and I put her in the truck with me while I put
the truck in low-low transfer and eased the truck bumper against that corner of the
house. As I broke the room off the house, she covered her eyes so she would not see
the damage.
I did not feel it was safe to leave her in the house, and so I took her along on the rest
of my run. She watched as I pushed a big yacht that was on the road back into the
water by getting into that low-low transfer again and pushing against the bow of the
yacht. I aligned the truck with the centerline of the yacht so as to minimize any more
damage to the boat. We pushed it just far enough to get it clear of the roadway, and I
hope it was without any extra damage to the hull. After completing my run to the end
of our assigned area, I took her to a safe place and dropped her off with some of her
friends. So that you can visualize the strength of a hurricane, I will give you an
example that you can understand.
We did our target practice with rifles at the firing range at Camp Edison. The solid
concrete backstops behind the rifle range were at least 7 feet thick 30 feet high and
100 feet long. The force of the water being pushed by the hurricane washed those
concrete backstops into the ocean, and I don’t mean just in the edge of the surf. The
concrete blocks were washed 500 feet off shore during the storm. That is where the
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�Coast Guard found them later. That gives you an idea of the force of water in a
hurricane. If anyone ever asks you to go to the beach to save a house, refuse to go. It
is not worth the risk to your life, and is definitely not a safe thing to be involved in.
On one of our night training projects, we were practicing laying some communication
cables and picking others up. During one of the loading operations, someone pushed a
200-pound reel of cable into another one that I was positioning in the bed of the truck.
I had my hand almost out of the way when the two reels came together. The end of
my ring finger on my right hand got caught between them and it almost severed the
end of my finger. I was rushed to the field hospital unit taking part in the project. The
doctor wanted to cut the end that was holding the little piece that was hanging down. I
told him that blood was coming out of it and I wanted to keep it. When he asked how,
I asked for a bandage pad and a strip of tape. When I folded it over the end, he agreed
to try to save it that way. He put sulfanilamide antiseptic powder on it and gave me a
bottle of peroxide to bathe it in every day. He also gave me a metal guard to protect
the end of my finger while it healed. As instructed, we changed bandages and bathed
it daily, and the only problem I have had connected with it until today is that there are
seven bone chips still inside, but I have been told that they are covered by scar tissue
now. Any x-rays taken now still show the bone pieces still in there. The doctor should
have removed the bone chips and used stitches to put it back together. It was ugly, but
it never got infected. Our teams were formed into companies and battalions and we
were assigned to the 3160th Signal Service Battalion.
THE 3160TH SIGNAL SERVICE BATTALION
COMPANY B, 10TH PLATOON
Lt. Paul W. Biehler
Otis L Clark, Louis H. Goddard, Lester S. Johnson, Walter F. Kugel, John R. LeGrys,
M. Keith Millhollen, Edward C. Saleeby, Albert B. Siegel, Albert L. Seigel, Fred M.
Simons, Kenneth M. Smith, Thomas F. Sweeney, Robert L. Terry, Clarence J.
Theilmann, Walter F. Thomson, and John Whitmore.
We received intensive training at Fort Monmouth with instructors from AT&T as well
as military people. We were taught and trained in the latest techniques to use in our
work. Our training continued in target practice and other military training, as well as
our communication skills. We were taught to be Wire Chiefs for a communications
center. We were taught about circuits, the sequence of color-coding of wires in cables,
terminal assignments, vacuum tubes, transformers, and all the complicated testing
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�procedures that we would need to use. We learned to determine how far a problem
was from the test point by using an instrument called a Wheatstone Bridge. In that
way, we could tell repair units where to find the problems.
They must have finally considered that our training was adequate, because on October
12, 1944, our orders came to be moved to Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts.
This was our Port of Embarkation where we would be shipped out through Boston
Harbor where we would board ship to go to Europe. Some of the other teams went to
California to be sent to the Pacific.
We were told that we would be near the front lines at times, and that our function was
to maintain communications between Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary
Forces – called SHAEF – and the various Division headquarters and Army and Corps
headquarters. At times we would go into an area on the back of a tank that was in the
first wave so that we could get communication systems in operation as quickly as
possible. Our instructions were that if there was a counter-attack that would over-run
our position, we were instructed to join the infantry unit nearest us until we could get
transportation back to our headquarters unit. I tried to write Elva some of this
information without spelling out details, and she misunderstood the mission of my
letter.
We were going to be in harm’s way and I wanted to let her know that I could get
killed and may not get back. How do you let someone know you might get killed and
never see them again without shocking their senses? To this day, she still calls my
letter to her a “Dear Jane Letter”, which (she thought) in effect says, “we’re through”.
After a couple of weeks getting all our gear in proper order and training in drills on
how to abandon ship, we boarded the “USS West Point,” which was originally the
luxury passenger liner “SS America.” They had stripped all the trimmings to use it as
a troop transport. It had set transatlantic speed records, and, as it turned out, we were
scheduled to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a single ship without escort. We made the
crossing in less than six days instead of the longer time a convoy required. No
German submarine or warship could have kept up with us if we were attacked. Our
captain utilized a zigzag course at all times.
Two or three times during the crossing, the Captain diverted our course when
anything suspicious was sighted or suspected. Our ship was the fastest ship afloat and
too fast for any convoy, and so it was not unusual for our ship to take its chances solo
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�crossing. We were not the first troops that had used it. It had made many trips before.
Of course, we were blacked out all the way across, and no smoking was allowed on
deck at night. Apparently our captain decided to take us on a course through the South
Atlantic to avoid any German Wolf Pack Submarines known to be operating in the
North Atlantic. As I see it now, the southern route chosen by the captain is why we
were able to bask in the sunshine on deck. It was almost like a luxury cruises, but
definitely cheaper, and maybe a little more crowded. There must have been about
10,000 soldiers aboard. In some areas the bunks were stacked eight high to get as
many aboard as possible. The warm weather was a welcome change for us from the
Massachusetts weather we left in October. Our team’s compartment was right next to
the forecastle on the main deck. We found out later that our good fortune was to be
paid for by being on KP (Kitchen Police as cooks, servers, and clean up crew) for the
entire trip. Apparently our battalion commander had felt he should “volunteer” us for
that job. We were sharing the ship with a fresh infantry division, and our commander
felt that we should serve those soldiers who were on their way to combat on the front
lines. I have to agree with his decision now that I know why he did it.
However, like all military soldiers, we griped about it every day. But, the good side of
it is that we ate good food and plenty of it. I can’t complain, I was in the Signal Corps
and they were in the Infantry. If it was not for my good fortune of being sent to
electronics training, I may have been with them, because my ROTC training in
college at NC State was in the Infantry. As always, all good things must come to an
end. We arrived in the Irish Sea without incident. Unfortunately, (I’ll never
understand why) most of the tugboat captains were on strike, but our captain was not
going to sit out there as a target for the Germans. On November 8, 1944, with the pilot
boat leading the way, the captain decided to take the ship in to the dock under steam
without any tugboat assistance. We docked at Liverpool, England. In my civilian life,
I had the opportunity to operate a boat before getting in the army; I could appreciate
and admired the captain’s skill in maneuvering that large ship in the close quarters
that we had to deal with in coming in to the dock. Our captain had to dock our ship
parallel to the dock between two warships already parked there. The space allocated
for our ship was almost too limited to get in without tugs to push us in sideways. We
parallel park cars and have problems. Can you visualize the captain parallel parking
an ocean liner? The Captain literally “walked” the ship sideways into the space
allocated for us to use. He used one propeller forward with the other one in reverse at
the same time to move it into place. I think that every soldier on that ship was on the
rail watching the performance. We all cheered to show how much we appreciated and
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�marveled at his performance and the captain smiled and waved back to us. Since our
space was to be parallel parked between two warships, in the process of putting the
ship against the dock on the starboard “right hand” side, we ended up too close to one
of the warehouses. It was built out too close to the edge of the water and as a result
damaged a section of the flying bridge of our ship on that side.
The International Red Cross had a stand on the dock, but we were told that it was not
for Americans on guard duty to use and we didn’t like it. One of our soldiers told his
family about it, and I learned later that they cancelled a check to the Red Cross
because of that incident. I learned later from one of our team members that were
stationed in Bastogne, that when the infantry division that we shared the ship with
reached the shores of France they were sent to a “quiet” section of the front. They
were sent there to get acclimated to military life at the front without being involved in
too much action too soon or in too much danger until they were “ready”. It turned out
that they were sent to a place called Bastonge, Belgium, where the “Battle of the
Bulge” took place that December. (You may have seen the movie that was made later
with that title). The 101st Airborne Division came in to help defend the area from the
German counter-attack. Our team members joined their outfit until they could get
back with us. They told us all about it later.
After disembarking, we were taken by train to the little town of Hereford near the
border of Wales. It means a great deal to me but it won’t mean anything to you, but
when they let us out of the trucks that night about midnight, we had to walk some to
get to our sleeping quarters. We took our gear and walked between these brick
structures. After riding in the back of those trucks, it was a pleasure to be able to do
some walking. Some of the soldiers were commenting on how nice it was to get to
sleep in brick buildings. When I looked and saw what they were talking about, I
immediately realized that the “brick buildings” were ROUND DOWN DRAFT
KILNS, where bricks were fired. I knew what they were and I smiled and agreed. You
must remember that I had been studying Ceramic Engineering in college about how to
make bricks, sewer pipe and other clay products. Bricks are fired in these kilns to
2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The walls are about two feet thick and they have a small
vent hole in the peak of the crown to let the smoke, vapor, and other volatile products
of combustion out. So, my first experience at sleeping in Great Britain was in a brick
kiln with straw as a mattress. Apparently other soldiers had been there before us
because “Kilroy was here” was painted all over the place with the caricature of Kilroy
included. I don’t know anybody that ever met Kilroy in the flesh, but he sure got
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�around all over Europe. Our stay in Hereford was about 12 days, which ended up
being our total time in England. A local pub near the brickyard was our place of
learning about English money, culture, and slang. The bartender taught us about
pence, shillings, pounds, and crowns. We found out that they used no ice in drinks,
beer was never chilled, and when you wanted a beer it was either a “pint” or “half and
half”, but pronounced “arf and arf”.
A couple of soldiers wanted to call some girls they met. The girls had told them to,
“Knock me up”, if they wanted to see them some more that really said “call me on the
telephone”. Most of us walked around the town enjoying the sights and meeting
people. I met some of the people that had worked at the brickyard. The soldiers were
all interested in my explanation of how bricks were made. All the British kilns were
fired using coal that was plentiful there. A coating of soot prevailed everywhere. Soon
our orders came to move out. These were our orders to be sent to France. From
Hereford we went to Southampton, England to be put aboard the British ship “Pearl of
India”. The crew was from India, and the ship was what you would call a “Rust
Bucket”. The condition of the ship was terrible.
After being on that tub, I wanted to kiss the American seamen that kept our ships
spick and span. The decks were so slimy and dirty, that it was dangerous to try to
walk on them without using a safety rope to hang on to. Rusty metal abounded all
over the ship. The food they prepared was so bad that we finally sent all of it back to
the Galley. A few of us went to the galley to see the food prepared, and when we
returned and told the others what we saw, no one would eat any of it. The kitchen help
wore no shirts and leaned over the vats to stir the food and their sweat dripped into the
food. One soldier told us that when he went by the galley, he saw some of the Indian
crew washing their clothes in the cooking vats. We asked to have our “C” rations and
“K” rations opened so we could eat them instead of doing without. We lived for the
most part on bread, water, and coffee. Our British allies under the command of a
British general were supposed to have cleared the city and port of Le Havre, France so
we could land there. Apparently the British general had been involved in the attack at
Dunkirk and didn’t want to expose his troops to heavy enemy fire, and he sat in Le
Havre without attacking the Germans with a strong force. This was causing us to lay
around on the harbor on our “Rust Bucket” with the inedible food. The British were
not advancing far enough out of the city, and we had to spend two weeks on the “Pearl
of India” waiting to go ashore. I’ll have to be honest and tell you, my impression of
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�the English went not just down, but way down. It took us less than a week to cross the
Atlantic on the “USS West Point”, but it took us two weeks to cross the English
Channel. When our ship was to move us to the point where we would board landing
craft, the anchor was drawn up and it had snagged a mine. They let the mine back
down in the water so that it would not hit the side of the ship, and they moved the ship
very slowly to where we could get off. We all went to our assigned embarking
stations.
We got off the ship into landing craft that came alongside, but some of our belongings
didn’t make it. We had to climb down netting to step over into the landing craft. One
of our men missed his footing and fell into the ocean between the ship and the landing
craft. Fortunately, one of the officers on board caught him by his collar when he came
up for air and hauled him safely aboard before he was crushed between the landing
craft and the ship. The Corps of Engineers had cleared a strip of the beach from mines
so we could walk off the landing craft safely. The safe path was marked with flags to
indicate the area had been cleared of mines. They showed us where a soldier had gone
outside the line of flags to see something that caught his eye. He stepped on a mine
and was killed. The hole in the ground was still there when we came by. On shore, we
marched off to bivouac in a field outside of Le Havre. We had to march about two
miles into the countryside. The location was on a hillside overlooking the harbor. On a
clear day, we could see the smokestacks in the city and ships on the water. Between
the time we were camped there in 1944 and the end of the war, it was given the name
“Lucky Strike”, and that name is one many of us will remember. Our rations while we
were camped there consisted of Spam, Jam, and Bread. Three meals a day! To this
day, I cannot tolerate Spam. Our water was purified using chlorinated pills in Lister
Bags hung on tripods throughout the camp area. Our “bathroom” was a series of slit
trenches dug each day in a different spot. We were issued a canteen of water each
morning. It rained off and on every day. during our stay there, and everything was
muddy as could be. That muddy field had been someone’s beet field. Beets were still
in the ground, and I found some of them to eat as a supplement to our meals. I still
like beets and eat them often.
I don’t want to sound like I am complaining, because if I were in the Infantry, we
would have been where we would be shot at and shelled by German artillery. My lot
in life was a hundred percent better than life in the Infantry. Apparently, since we had
just come ashore, we were not assigned to any specific Army Group, and this created
a problem for drawing rations. Maybe that’s why we ended up on a diet of Spam, jam,
and bread. After two weeks the war front had moved enough, and our orders came to
Saleeby 39
�move out to make room for others coming in. When we left camp Lucky Strike, our
team was sent to the little coastal town of Cartaret, France, to live in what may have
been an unfinished hotel or a group of condos or apartments. At least in Cartaret, we
were out of the mud and under roof. We had no electricity, no running water, and no
modern conveniences, but we were dry and out of pup tents. I have to wonder after all
these years if it was completed. If it was, I probably could not afford to stay there
today. At this point we were assigned to an Army Group, probably Third Army, and
once that took place, we could draw rations. That meant that we could depend on
receiving regular rations instead of boxed and dehydrated food. We washed our
clothes, strung lines to hang our clothes on to dry, and made lamps out of empty tins
filled with sand, and we used gasoline, diesel fuel, or any other liquid that would burn
as fuel to give light at night. The only problem was the soot that got on everything
from the open flames.
In our job, as I explained earlier our primary assignment was that we were required to
maintain lines from Division and Army Corps headquarters back to Supreme
Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), and to the Pentagon outside
Washington, DC. We offered no services to battalions or companies. That was the
responsibility of each division. As I said earlier our training at Fort Monmouth was in
“C Carriers” and “J Carriers” that were able to carry several conversations on one pair
of wires. I cannot emphasize too strongly how my ROTC training at NC State helped
a great deal in handling military life. We had no responsibilities until 30 miles of
territory had been gained. The Companies of 3160th Signal Service Battalion were
dispersed and the teams were assigned to locations in France and Belgium. Our Team
was sent to St. Lo, France, after General Patton’s forces cleared it of Germans. One of
our teams was assigned to – you may have guessed it - Bastogne, Belgium. Again,
that could have been me. As I mentioned earlier, during the Battle of the Bulge, they
had to abandon the Communications center and join the Infantry unit to help defend
the area from the German counterattack. That is how we found out where the Infantry
Unit that came over with us ended up after they came ashore. Some of our team
members ended up with them until after Christmas that winter.
Those soldiers that were sent to Bastonge really took it on the chin from the German
counter-attack that was mounted just before Christmas in the snow, cold, and
miserable weather with overcast cloudy skies that prevented our Air Force from
helping them most of the time. I think that it was our Fourth Armored Division
changed direction and came there and did get in to rescue them later, but it was a
Saleeby 40
�terrible time for them until the relief came. I have always thanked God for my lot in
life. The city of St. Lo was in a strategic position, and had been fought over very
fiercely several times, because of its location. The German high command recognized
this fact as well as we did. The communication center was a reinforced concrete
blockhouse with walls and ceiling about five or six feet thick. You could see the
places where artillery shells and bombs had hit the structure.
The impact points were pockmarks without apparent structural damage to the
building. The entire city was one large pile of rubble, and the blockhouse was about
the only safe structure still standing. Some of our men went into partially standing
buildings and camped out there. The area around St. Lo was littered with abandoned
and damaged war materiel both German and American equipment. The repeater and
carrier equipment in the blockhouse was a combination of French, and German, and
we added some American equipment. I did not stay in St. Lo more than two days.
We were split up into small groups of four and assigned to various locations. I was
assigned with three other team members to the communications center in Averanches,
France. Averanches is on a bluff on the coast near the famous “Cathedral at Mont San
Michel”, France. In fact, we could look out our windows of the communication center
and see the Cathedral on any clear day. When the tide rose at the same time that the
moon was near a full moon, the area around the cathedral became an island, because
the water at times covered the causeway leading out to it. Thank God that the
Germans had enough faith left in them to leave the Cathedral as it was and not involve
it in the war effort, because it was intact. The German Army had used the Cathedral in
downtown Averanches as an observation post, and as a result, our field artillery unit
had to use artillery shells in the attack to get them out. The French people in the city
understood and did not hold any animosity against America for the damage to the
Cathedral. The seaport of Granville, France was nearby, and the port was used to
bring in supplies for our forces. We were able as a team to draw rations from the
Military Police (MP) unit in Granville. They were assigned to provide us with our
requirement for MP guards on the door to our communications center. We needed the
guards on the door, because we were very near the front lines. In addition, the
Germans still had soldiers on the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, which were
nearby. Those soldiers were left behind when the Germans retreated in the face of the
American breakthrough at Averanches and St Lo. We were getting information that
led us to believe that they would attempt to come ashore and try to re-take Averanches
where we were.
Saleeby 41
�We got in touch with some of the members of the French Resistance, and we found
the man who had worked in the telephone office before the war. His name was Roland
Thomas, and he also helped us understand and repair the German equipment that we
decided to put back in service. Using their equipment reduced the work we needed to
do, because this put us in communication with St Lo immediately with the lines that
had not been damaged. We hired him to assist us in the major repairs we needed to do.
We kept him on during my entire tour of duty in Avaranches, France. As a matter of
fact, we had no trouble working out an arrangement with local people to wash our
uniforms for us. We hired a lady after checking her out to be our cook and clean house
for us. Our living quarters had enough sleeping space for the assigned MP guards and
us.
The German Army had installed the communication center in an excavation that had
three levels underground, and they had built a house on top to have it appear as a
residence on the edge of town. That is why there was enough sleeping space for us
and the MP’s. After we had been stationed there for a while, we were able to buy eggs
and butter from some of the farmers nearby.
These were a delicacy to us as army troops, because our rations had no butter, and the
eggs we could get were made from powdered eggs. We were living in high cotton
with a cook, house cleaner, and someone to help with the communications equipment.
We made it a point to make friends with all the townspeople. French language, we had
to learn. Fortunately, Roland Thomas spoke English very well, because he was one of
the contacts the allies had used in communicating with the underground. He taught us
enough French to help us to communicate with the people in town. Our responsibility
was to maintain telephone communications day and night.24 hours a day. Some of our
circuits had a requirement that they must be repaired or replaced within 20 minutes.
As a group of four men, we arranged our work schedule with one man on for each 8hour shift. In this way, the time we worked each day shifted forward one segment. In
that way we all were able to use the day light hours to enjoy the environs of the
community all day long once every four days. In this way, we were able to make
friends with the citizens and shopkeepers in the community.
We learned a great deal about French people by sitting in our upstairs window when
everything was going well. We could see couples walking toward town holding hands.
It was not unusual to see the couple stop and the young man turn his back toward the
girl walking with him to urinate beside the road. If the young lady needed to, she
would walk off to the side of the road and squat behind a tree. It wasn’t a case of
Saleeby 42
�deliberately looking; it was there to see. Having lived under German Occupation, they
apparently had come to accept the normal bodily functions, as they needed to. During
my entire stay in Europe, I never was stationed near or with anyone from North
Carolina. Only on one occasion I saw a second Lieutenant from Newbern, N. C. who
was stationed where we got our food rations. He came to the Averanches station while
I was in France to inquire why 4 men needed so much food. We explained that we had
the MP’s that guarded the entrance to the Repeater Station living and eating with us.
That satisfied the Quartermaster Corps.
One day, I was on duty and the primary circuit for General Patton’s Army Tank Unit
was out of service, and I was working with our open wire line crew to get it repaired.
We notified the switchboard operator that it was out of service and worked toward
locating the break. All of a sudden General Patton was on the line demanding that I
open it up right then. We had our orders from ComZ, and I told him we were working
to get it back in service. I told him that if he would get off the line, we could get it
done. He asked, “Soldier, do you know who you are talking to?” I responded, “Sir, I
don’t care who you are. I’m trying to fix our problem, and I can’t do it if you don’t
shut up.” He told me who he was and then he asked for my name, rank, and serial
number. I gave it to him and told him to get in touch with General Bradley, because
he was my big boss. Naturally, I expected to be court-marshaled, but at the moment I
was concerned with getting the circuit back in service. He did file the complaint report
about me failing to obey an order from an officer, and the paper work came through
later with statements from SHAEF and my company commander and team leader, Lt.
Biehler, that I was performing my duties as assigned. General Bradley, our Battalion
commander, our Company Commander, and Lt. Biehler had signed it. I signed it as I
was told, and I sent it back through. I never heard anything more about it.
The Germans were re-supplying their troops on the Channel Islands of Jersey and
Guernsey by air. The word came that the Germans on the Islands were really planning
an attack to recapture Averanches, and I sent word with the MP’s to get in touch with
the Infantry Commander in Granville. I am sure that some of our army ground forces
were sent out on the peninsula toward Brest, France, to keep them from coming
ashore. As for the defensive positions for Averanches, we planned a defense that
included a machine gun emplacement on the only road coming up from the beach.
From there, our field of fire covered the ways they would try to come up to attack us.
Other units were positioned along the crest of the hillside next to the beach coming up
Saleeby 43
�to the city. Despite any reports to the contrary, the Germans never made it up the hill
to the city. With our defensive position planned as it was, we kept them from
accomplishing their mission. As a result of that incident, I think the high command
decided that we didn’t need to have the German soldiers in our back yard. An air
attack was planned and carried out to keep them from threatening us any longer. The
most impressive sight I ever witnessed was when the Air Force sent 2400 bombers
down to the Channel Islands. Wave after wave of bombers came over our area all day
long. The German soldiers there didn’t have a chance, and they finally surrendered.
On our day off, we could go anywhere in the area we wanted to. As a result most of us
took advantage of the opportunity to visit the Mont St. Michel Cathedral. I was
stationed there until after V E Day. The whole city had a great celebration, and we
were the center of attention by the townspeople. We were friends from before, but
now we were heroes in their eyes. They had a parade with all the trimmings, and they
asked us to be a big part of it. They treated us like we were the Grand Marshals of
their parade. I felt proud to be a part of it. Around the end of May, a new outfit just in
from the U.S.A. relieved us and we started to speculate if we were to be sent home, or
if we were to be sent to the Pacific Theater to help end that section of the conflict.
Would we go home, or would we go toward Japan? That was the question. We found
out very soon that we were not going home. We were sent to a military base outside
Versailles near Paris for a few days. I was able to get quite a few pictures of some of
the famous Paris landmarks. I still have the photos and negatives in black and white of
Napoleon’s Tomb, the Eiffel Tower, Place de Concorde, the Louvre, Rue de
Montmarte, Place Pigalle, and other notable sights. The guillotine was still there in the
middle of the square.
Then on May 30, 1945, we were loaded on a train and started east toward Germany.
That train ride was memorable only in the fact that several times as we were climbing
hills, we had to get out and literally push and help the engine get to the top of the hill.
Many times, we were able to get off and walk as fast as the train was moving. Maybe
that was why it was able to make it to the top. We went through Metz and
Kaiserslautern on the way to Wurzburg, Germany, which was our destination.
Wurzburg was to be our Battalion Headquarters. I only stayed in Wurzburg a few
days before being assigned and sent to Hallenburg, Germany, which is north of
Frankfurt on the Main and north of Marburg on the way to Hamburg. Our little group
of four apparently relieved a U. S. Army Infantry Company. I immediately put up my
large 48 star American Garrison Flag, and I have used it here and still have it in the
Saleeby 44
�closet at the end of the hall.
Remembering the things we had learned in Averanches, we found out about Herr
Westermann. He had worked in the long distance telephone installation during the
war. We found out very quickly that he did not like Hitler. He and his wife and
children were good people. He was not a Nazi, but was a communications expert. He
quickly told us that he would be glad to help us operate “his” repeater station. He told
us who were the Nazis and who could be trusted. He and I spoke the same engineering
language. I evaluated his knowledge as excellent. We hired him to help us work in the
repeater station, because he knew all about all the equipment. He could do anything
that needed to be done from starting the Diesel generator to repairing repeater circuits.
Here in Hallenburg as they had everywhere else, the Germans had dug a hole in the
ground that was three stories deep and built a house on top of the ground to make it
appear as only a residence. The installation had its own diesel generator power plant
in case it was needed. In addition there was a complete filtration system to purify the
air in case of a gas attack. All the communication lines came in and went out
underground. Here again, we were a four-man team, and again we worked 8-hour
shifts. In this way, every four days, each of us had the all the daylight hours off. Each
of us could do all the jobs, and with Herr Westermann available we had more freedom
and the ability to enjoy the surroundings.
I decided to learn to speak German, and used every opportunity to learn how to use
their language. Herr Westermann knew enough English to be understood, and he
taught me how to speak German very well. In teaching me to speak German, he
learned more English. I could carry on a conversation with most of the people. Since
then I have used my knowledge of the German language on my trips to Germany,
Denmark, and Russia. In addition, I have used it with the Germans who came to
Statesville to see brick making equipment and do business with J. C. Steele & Sons,
Inc. during the many years I worked there before retirement.
As I mentioned before, Hallenburg is in the northern section of Germany with hills
nearby. Right after we arrived, we had found a large crock and filled it with grapes
and other fruit to produce wine. We had bottled it in preparation to celebrate the
Fourth. On July 4, 1945 we were celebrating by inviting any American soldiers that
came through town to join us. Quite a few trucks with American soldiers in them
came through, and we invited each one and all to come in to help celebrate the Fourth.
We made some good friends in Hallenburg. Since the German civilian population was
Saleeby 45
�not allowed to have firearms, we took some of the townspeople out into the hills
around town to go hunting. We killed deer and boars and had them brought to the
town-square. They were hung for two weeks to age. The town butcher cut them up
and gave all the people some to take to their families. We told them all we wanted was
one meal out of each animal. Needless to say, when we wanted to buy fresh eggs and
butter, we had no trouble to get some from them. We paid for anything we got. We
had no trouble getting laundry washed and ironed. We found the German people easy
to get along with in that town. On one of the hunting trips, I found some equipment a
German soldier had abandoned. A pair of field glasses and some other military
hardware that I tried to bring home. .
Our team was the only American presence in Hallenburg, and we were supplied with
a Very pistol to fire in case we needed help. As I described earlier, Hallenburg is near
Hamburg, Germany. When the division of the country was made in the agreement
between the Russians, British, French, and Americans, Hallenburg ended up in the
British Zone. After the areas of responsibilities were established, an entire Company
of British soldiers came to relieve us. We still had some of our Very Shells, and
decided we would have a royal transition to British rule by firing almost all our shells
into the air as part of the transition of power celebration. This immediately brought
our nearby assigned American soldiers that were to help us in time of trouble. Our
Very pistol was to be used if we needed help, and they thought we were in need. We
invited them to help celebrate the transition.
After reporting back to Wurzburg, I was given some time off, and I used it to make a
one-week trip to Switzerland. We entered Switzerland at Basel and were sent by train
to Berne, Zurich, Lucerne, and Interlaken and on to a mountain top town named
Murren. We spent a day or two in each city. One part of the trip was by cable car to
get up the side of the mountain to the level of the next set of train tracks to get to
Murren. Murren was near the top of a snow-covered mountain. The famous peak of
Jungfrau was across the valley. It was very impressive. We went snow skiing and
were taught by a young lady who had competed in the Olympics. It was fun having
that young girl as our instructor. Not only was she a good skier, but also she was good
looking to go with it. We saw several people on crutches with casts on legs or arms.
When we asked about them, our instructor told us that all the people on crutches were
skiers that thought they were experts. She said that very seldom were any of the
beginners hurt. Naturally, we believed every word of it, with tongue in cheek, but she
Saleeby 46
�was a great teacher. Our instructor started us on the beginner slope, and by the third
morning we went all the way to the top of the ski lift. Our first trip down the mountain
was down a bobsled run. When we asked why we would be going to ski down the
bobsled run. She said we would be stopped at various points on the way down to see if
we were all there. While we were doing our thing, she cut across country and waited
at different points. She waited where there was no side to the bobsled run. It was
exciting, and we all made it without any problems. We went up on the lift again and
again, and those who wanted to ski cross-country went down the mountain with her
while some of the others did the bobsled run again. After that, we were pretty much
on our own with the privilege of getting more instruction if we wanted it.
We visited cities where Swiss cheese was made. We were allowed to go through the
Cheese factories, where they explained how they aged Swiss cheese. The building is
seven stories high, and the cheese is moved up one floor each year. They core the
cheese to see the size of the holes. We buy Swiss cheese with large holes in it. They
keep the cheese until the holes get very small – less than the size of the hole punched
in our three-hole notebooks. That tells me that Swiss cheese sold here cheese is very
young, because all of it has large holes inside. At Lucerne, we could see the
Matterhorn across the lake, but were not taken up to the top. The restaurants served
very delicious food. In Berne, which is the capital, we had a good opportunity to shop
for watches and other items that Switzerland is famous for. We went into the
Government buildings and watched their legislators in action. We were told about the
agricultural methods and manufacturing systems of their nation’s largest industries.
All of our travel in Switzerland was by train, but in the large cities, we were able to
ride in Taxis and Horse Drawn carriages. A few of the cities had trolley cars on the
streets. It was fun to do all these things after the war we had been through. On my
return to Wurzburg, I was sent to be part of the team at Giessen, Germany. Giessen
was in a hilly area much like the area around Hallenberg-, and I thought that game
should be available there. Remembering the eggs and butter we were able to get in the
other towns, I adopted the same tactics there that had worked before. Get the people
meat, and they will get you whatever you need in the surrounding area. I organized
hunting parties several times. I would furnish the gun, and they would furnish the
people to flush the deer or boar. We would field dress the animals, and they would
take them down to the center of the town to finish cleaning them, hung, and later
divided up with the citizens. As always, all we wanted was one good meal of venison.
That’s the time we started thinking of how soon we could get to go home. I hired the
smartest German technician that I could find to work for us here the same as I had
Saleeby 47
�done everywhere else before.
The most embarrassing incident I had to deal with while I was in Giessen was when
Fred Simons, one of our team members, was arrested by the MP’s and brought in. I
had to put him under house arrest, guard him, and keep him there until his situation
was disposed of. The MP’s that brought him in told me that he had posed as a Military
Policeman someplace nearby. Apparently he had found a motorcycle and used it
during his outing or outings. I guess they naturally didn’t appreciate it. I never did
find out what they did with him after I sent him back to Wurzburg. I assumed that Lt.
Biehler did what was required under military law and handled it for him.
It didn’t take the War Department long to come up with a system for bringing the
troops home. Our discharge date was to be based on “points” which were awarded on
the basis of length of service, length of overseas duty, wounds, awards, and probably
some other items that I didn’t know about. Most or all of us had more than enough
points necessary to be discharged. I certainly had more than enough points to go
home, but they told us that as “Telephone Repeatermen” we were classified
“Essential”. The reason was given that we couldn’t go home now was that we were
charged with the responsibility to maintain communications between the Potsdam
Conference and the Pentagon in Washington. As a result, we could not be discharged
until “replacements” were available. After quite a while of this, my response to that
was that I sent in a request for 12 men to be sent to our installation. Apparently the
training program a Fort Monmouth had been curtailed when the war was over. They
asked why did we need twelve, and I responded that I was setting up a school as a
training program for replacements. I was planning for the twelve to take the place of
the four of us by teaching them how to operate the repeater station as a group if
necessary. As I have mentioned earlier we had circuits that could not be out more than
20 minutes. That required people who knew what they were doing. We started off
teaching some simple lessons about the difference between AC and DC. From there
we progressed as they learned. I used blackboards, equipment from the repeater
station, and anything that pertained to the operation of the repeater station.
We taught classes just like regular school, except this was complete hands-on teaching
some of the soldiers that had requested this new service had no idea of the complexity
of their task. Some of them had thought this was a piece of cake. After the first week,
Saleeby 48
�some of them wanted out, and we said, “You asked for an inside job, and you’ve got
it.” Two more weeks and they got into it with both feet and applied themselves when
they learned this would help them get jobs after discharge. With some tutoring, all of
them learned how to run the station, especially with the German technician being on
hand. In the meantime, our life was changing. With the German surrender, the Army
issued orders that there was to be no fraternization with the German girls. With all
those American soldiers in Germany who had no female companionship for years, it
was inevitable for the natural desire for companionship to raise its head. In our group
Otis Clark was the first to begin to get involved with a German girl. He told me that
he would stay there until they let him marry her. Well, why not? German girls were
just as appealing to men as American girls. Nature took its course, and eventually Otis
did all the necessary paper work to get married. As far as I know he still lives in
Topeka, Kansas, with his German wife. I had met her and she was a nice person and
pretty.
I had an opportunity to take seven days leave to go to one of Hitler’s vacation spots in
the German Alps. The name of the area was Garmish Partinkirken, Germany, and the
snow and the scenery was beautiful. In order that I could go there, I was put on
temporary assignment to the Seventh Army so I could go to that place. I had a good
time skiing every day that week. The winter Olympics have been held there in recent
years. I never did go to the top of the highest ski run, because I knew I was not
proficient enough to come down the mountain from that level and do it safely. They
had beginner slopes and intermediate slopes all the way up in difficulty to the ones
they used in the Olympics.
One of the most moving experiences of my life took place in Geissen, Germany on
Christmas Eve in 1945. The German people there asked if they could do something
different, and they decided to have an international and interdenominational
Christmas Eve service. Soldiers and civilians with Chaplains from the Army and
civilian priests, and pastors and preachers from the churches in town got together in a
local movie theater. We had Bible readings, and we sang Christmas Carols. They sang
in German and we sang in English. Believe it or not, it was wonderful and moving.
The words fit, the music was just like at home, because, apparently, they sang the
same songs that we did. The tunes were the same, only the words changed languages.
Oddly enough, the English and German words fit together nicely.
I don’t remember why I was in Fulda, Germany a little later, but I assume it was to fill
Saleeby 49
�in for someone who had been sent back to the States. While I was helping out there, I
came closest to being killed than any other place in Europe. The occasion was in the
office area where we were having a discussion. Someone, maybe a driver, was
showing another person his 45-caliber handgun. It’s amazing what can happen if
people don’t know what to do. I remember watching him remove the magazine out of
the butt of the 45. I remember him handing the gun to his friend. As he raised it to
shoulder height to act like he would shoot, it was aimed toward another soldier (who I
don’t remember) and me.
When I saw his finger tighten my infantry training made me push the other person
sitting on the desk with me off the desk to the floor while I fell off the other side. The
crack of the bullet made everyone gasp. My automatic reaction came from my
previous infantry training, because my involuntary mental picture realized that they
had removed the magazine, but that they did not pull the barrel slide back to be sure
that no bullet was in the chamber. At Camp Wheeler in Infantry Basic Training, this
was one of the things that we were drilled over and over to remember. Rule Number
One, after you remove the magazine of bullets, always pull the slide back and release
it to be sure that no bullet is left in the chamber. We were trained to do this with both
rifles and pistols. If I had not reacted, I may not have been here today to write all this.
I learned that my cousin Albert Saleeby was stationed about 50 miles from Fulda. I
checked a vehicle out of the motor pool on my day off and drove down and spent the
day with him. He was amazed that I could get a vehicle to come to see him. I
explained that I told them I didn’t care what size vehicle it was, and that was all it
took, because they gave me a 3/4 ton 4 x 4 truck to drive. When Sgt. Kugel got his
orders to be sent home from Limburg, Germany, I was sent there to fill in for his
absence. He left his “Haus Frau” that did the cooking and cleaning in Limburg, and as
a result, I had to get a vehicle to return her to her town that she came from. Once he
was gone, she did not want to stay in Limburg to cook for us. Many times after that I
wished he had taken her back before he left. I placed her in the rear of a 3/4 ton 4 x 4
with the canvas cover in place to hide her while I took her back to her original home.
Fortunately, no one challenged me on the trip. Outside of that, our life in Limburg was
similar to the other places I had been. The difference here was that this was a large
city, and we had no hills or forests to hunt in. All our rations came from the local
Infantry Company located there. Limburg, Germany is on the Lahn River, and it was
one of the cities that the Germans used for execution of Jews.
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�The people of the city had not been aware of the atrocities that the Germans were
committing, and when they found out later, they were fearful of soldiers in general. I
spent some of my time trying to reassure the locals that we were not like the Gestapo.
They soon began to believe, and that made our lives more pleasant after that. Limburg
is an urban city, and so, we were not able to hunt game to furnish them with meat like
we had in the other towns. These people liked to work and make money. Cleaning our
uniforms and general cleaning up and cooking were the most needed items in
Limburg. We had no trouble finding those services. I missed the ability to hunt and
trade for fresh eggs and butter like we had done with the farmers in the other
locations. Apparently my suggestions for training our replacements were beginning to
bear fruit. The training of telephone repeatermen at Fort Monmouth had been
curtailed since the war was over. I had suggested that we start teaching our potential
replacements at all the stations. It must have worked for me, because my orders to be
discharged came while I was in Limburg, Germany. I was surprised and pleased that
this turned out to be the best solution to our problem of going home. On my way back
to France, I went through Belgium and Holland. The people there must have really
suffered. They begged for scraps and bits of food. Any rations that we did not eat
completely, they wanted the scraps. Candy was like gold to them. It was heart-rending
to see them in that state. You almost felt like giving them the shirt off your back.
Some of the stories they told made you wonder if the German soldiers were human.
The primary goal that all of us had was to get home. Finally, the group I was with
ended up back in Le Havre, France, at good old Camp Lucky Strike – this was where
we had come ashore and stayed in the beet field. The camp had barrack buildings now
with paved walkways and a little grass. But it was still on that famous beet field we
had camped in on our way to the fray. We could still see the harbor and smoke stacks
from the area. They processed us for the return trip, and gave us our orders for
returning to the United States. My return trip to the good old U. S. A. was not to be
aboard the USS West Point. We were loaded on a converted Liberty Ship that had
been used to carry munitions equipment, supplies, and troops to Europe. Again, we
had bunks, but we had an American crew instead of that crew from India. The ship
was obviously on its last legs, but it was painted and had clean decks that you could
walk on without sliding. We didn’t need any safety ropes to hang on to either. I was
surprised to learn that I was the only one of our communications team in this
repatriation group. I think that this ship could get up to 6 knots at full speed. I didn’t
complain, because I was on my way home!
Saleeby 51
�As we were leaving the harbor, the captain came on the loudspeaker system with the
announcement that storms were predicted over the Atlantic for the next two weeks. He
had asked for and received permission to use an alternate route to avoid rough seas.
We all were glad that he did, because we were only two days out of port when the
captain announced that we were altering our course. He needed to take a more
northerly course so that we could be in position to go to the aid of another ship taking
soldiers home if it became necessary.
The captain told us that we needed to be in position if they had trouble and if it
became necessary to rescue the soldiers on the other ship in the eye of the storm. They
had radioed that their ship was taking on water, and may need help. They also were on
a converted Liberty that had seen heavy service during the war. Here we were trying
to get home and the last thing we needed was to go into a stormy sea and delay our
return. I wondered at the time if we were actually in the storm itself, but after the
years in the war, this was like fun when we were kids. We laughed and joked about
the ride we were on. All the creaking and groaning the ship was doing was like some
of the shows we had gone to at the fairgrounds back home. The only difference was
that by now we were a thousand miles from land. Every heave of the bow meant we
were that much closer to home. The wind was howling and the salt-water spray was
blowing all over everything. The closer we got to the storm, can you picture the
heaving deck with soldiers lined up scanning the sea for the other ship? Some of the
soldiers got seasick, and nobody wanted to be standing near them. I got as far forward
as I could and enjoyed the ride. There were times when the ship would crest a wave,
and as it passed underneath the ship would drop about twenty or thirty feet and splash
water in all directions. The feeling you had was like falling through space. There was
very little weight on your feet. The sensation was like being on the Ferris Wheel at the
Fair and if the wheel speeded up to twice the normal speed. Breathtaking is what it
was. We got a bath whether we wanted it or not. But it was exhilarating to all of us
who were used to boating. This went on for two days and nights.
We stayed outside the worst of the storm, but close enough in case we were needed.
The captain apologized to us, but we told the crew to tell him we understood and
wanted him to stay on course to rescue the other soldiers if, as, and when, in case we
were needed. He had the radioman put messages that were received from the other
ship on the bulletin board for all of us to read. Finally the message came through
telling us they were out of the storm and had the leaks under control. Our captain then
moved a little farther away from the storm area to give us a smoother and more
Saleeby 52
�comfortable ride. These ships apparently had double bottoms and that made it safer in
situations like this. The reason I know this is that the captain told us on the last day
before docking in New York that the ship we were on would never make another
ocean crossing. The double bottom on our ship had finally given in to the storm
effects and started leaking, but it was not bad enough to be alarmed. He explained to
us that it would cost more to repair the damaged plates on our double bottom than the
ship would be worth. It had made hundreds of crossings during the war, and he felt
that it had earned its cost in tonnage it had carried to the war. It would be probably
sold for scrap metal.
For our patience in putting up with the rough seas, the captain had the galley crew
cook us a special dinner the last night we were at sea. When we came in to the New
York Harbor, the Fire Boats shot streams of water into the air following us in, and
other ships blasted their horns as we passed them on our way to the dock. It was very
impressive. When I saw the Statue of Liberty, I could easily imagine the emotion that
my Father and Mother had when they saw that beautiful sight for the first time. We all
cheered, because this meant that we were now back home.
After being processed through the port customs and Immigration in New York, we
were sent to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. The army group there processed us and put us
on trains to our final destination for separation from service. Normally we were to be
returned to the fort or camp where we entered active duty. When we came back, we
had a choice of army installations to be sent for discharge. I went with a group bound
for Fort Bragg, NC, since that was where I went to report for active duty, and it was
the fort nearest my home. The trip was uneventful. Out of all the soldiers going back
to Fort Bragg, I did not know a single one of them. I didn’t care. Every city we went
through on the way back had familiar sites that made me feel good. Philadelphia, the
Washington Monument, the Capitol, Potomac River, Richmond, Rocky Mount, and
Wilson all gave me a warm feeling. Why didn’t they stop and let me off? That would
save a lot of time and trouble. I looked out at the station in Wilson, but nobody was
waiting for me. They should have called Mom and Dad to tell them I was on the train.
Oh well, I would have to wait to see them. The date was Good Friday 1946. On our
arrival at Fort Bragg, I received a message to report to the office. I was informed that
no discharges would be given over the weekend. However, I also learned that my
cousin Renee’ Arab was working in the Separation Center for the Officer in Charge.
Her boss, Paul Bissette was from my hometown of Wilson, and when he saw my
name on the list of returnees, he arranged for me to have a weekend pass to spend
Saleeby 53
�Easter with my family in town. My Father, Mother, and my sister Helen had come
down to Fayetteville when Renee’ called and told them I was on my way home. They
were staying at Uncle Alex’s house with them. No wonder they weren’t at the station
in Wilson, (some joke).
I found out later that I had made one big mistake by trusting the soldiers in the
barracks we were sharing. While I was spending the weekend at my Aunt Najla and
Uncle Alex Arab’s home, someone went through my duffel bag and stole all of my
valuables, and German souvenirs, even down to my Argus C3 camera with exposed
film with pictures of the boat ride home from France. At this point, I really didn’t care
about those small things. We had a good time over that Easter weekend, and I was
discharged on Monday morning. In my discharge interviews, the army officers kept
asking if I wanted to remain in the Army Reserves.
My standard answer was that the only thing I wanted to be was a P.F.C. (Poor Free
Civilian). You must realize that I was going to be 25 years old with still two years of
College studies to complete. All my friends were already working and making good
money. I can tell you, as enticing as it was, that was one of the hardest decisions I
ever had to make. I could have gone to work for AT&T the next day as a Central
Office Wire Chief because of all the work I did in the Signal Corps. That was
enticing, and as it turns out I could have had a great retirement today if I had done it. I
realized that an education is more valuable than a quick good paycheck in your pocket
right away. That has been borne out many times over in the succeeding years. I
wouldn’t change it if I could. That is truer today than it was then. So often, workers
only look at how much money can they can make instead of what they can
accomplish. Best of all, hard as it was to make that decision, I came home and
finished school at NC State University and graduated in Ceramic Engineering.
I may have left out some details, but they are probably insignificant. As I said in the
beginning, trying to remember things that happened over 50 years ago is not easy. The
important items are easy; the details are a bit fuzzy. I am proud that I was able to take
part in World War II, and I am glad that I came home with only minor injuries. Many
others were not so lucky, and some did not come home at all. The memories are all we
have of them. World War II was a time in history that we had to do something good
for mankind and we did it.
Saleeby 54
�MY RETURN TO COLLEGE
I applied to re-enroll at NC State to complete my studies toward my degree in
Ceramic Engineering. Dr. A. F. Greaves-Walker had retired, and Dr. Worth Kriegel
had been hired to head the Ceramics Department with new professors brought in to
teach the courses. I re-entered and took up my courses where I had left off as a rising
junior. I was elected president of the local chapter of the American Ceramic Society at
the first meeting of the group. My major laboratory project that year was to determine
if Haloisite could be used as a commercial product for the refractory industry. The
results were positive, but I never learned if they were utilized. I made new friends of
students who had not served in the military, and I did not have too much trouble
getting back into the swing of being a student.
I learned that a course in Business Law was available for me to take as an elective,
and I decided that I probably needed to have some knowledge of the subject. I found it
to be very interesting. Another subject that I chose was Public Speaking to help me in
being able to stand before strangers and talk without feeling uncomfortable. These
two courses have come in handy many times since then in my life. The largest group
that gave a speech to in my life was at an annual Ceramic Society Convention in 1976
after my trip to Russia. My presentation had to be moved to a larger room because
over 700 people had indicated that they wanted to hear it, and there were more than
that who came in to create a standing room only crowd in that meeting room.
The following year I was elected president of the student chapter at NC State of
Keramos, which is the Professional Ceramic Engineering Fraternity. My Senior-year
project was to design an automated plant to produce wall tile. I designed an automatic
hopper freight car weighing and unloading system for raw materials when they
arrived. Full cars were weighed coming in and weighed empty when leaving to
determine how much material had been delivered to the plant. I designed the plant
with pneumatic conveying systems, and screw conveyors for transferring the materials
to storage bins and silos from the hopper cars that they were delivered in. I was
designing a plant that would have minimal human contact with the product until it was
ready for packaging for delivery. The tiles were manufactured, dried, fired and color
matched using a photometer for packaging. Dr. Kriegel and Mike Lamb, my lab
professor, decided it was too impractical and gave me a C- on the design. I was going
to learn later that it was more than practical. We performed laboratory experiments
that required staying at the laboratory 24 hours a day tending to the dryers and kilns
Saleeby 55
�when drying and firing some of the products. As a result, we were set up in two man
teams so that we could alternate to perform the required duties.
After I was graduated from college in 1948, I accepted a position with US Gypsum
Corporation as an Industrial Sales Engineer. We had a good family discussion about
my leaving our home area to work. I felt that I needed to learn about corporate
business and how they operated. I knew how to run a small business. None of my
cousins had left our area after finishing their college education, and most, but not all,
of my uncles and aunts thought I might be making a mistake – all but one. My Uncle
George, who had never been married and had no children, came up to me and asked
me how much money I had in the bank. When I told him the amount I had, he gave
me a $500.00 check and told me to add it to my account. He said I didn’t have enough
money in my bank account to get along in Chicago. He was a wonderful inspiration to
me in our talks about my new venture into the corporate business world. There are
times in our lives that have incidents in them that are memorable. One such for me
occurred after I had been working at USG for about a year, and it was when an
account I handled for USG – Trinity Portland Cement – got too far out of balance. We
had been providing and were still shipping them one fifty-ton carload of gypsum rock
every day for the last three years. Gypsum is a required component to be included for
the manufacture of cement. In one way or another due to the freight allowance we had
in the contract, the account had gotten completely out of balance to the point that
Trinity Portland Cement claimed that we had overcharged them over $4000.00 during
that period. Mr. M. R. Druliner, Vice President of the Industrial Sales Division, asked
me to go see Mr. Edward Dutton, the Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation. I
was to learn if we could come up with a solution to straighten it out, since I was
handling the Southwestern Section accounts for gypsum rock. The Accounts
Receivable office didn’t want the job to try to fix it, the billing department didn’t
know what to do, and our Transportation Department didn’t want to touch it. They
asked me if I could or would tackle the problem and solve it in a way that both
companies would be satisfied. He told me that it would be my sole responsibility until
the problem was resolved. There were over 1,100 carloads of Gypsum Rock involved
with varying freight charges. I even called the Transportation Dept. in Washington,
DC. It took me quite a while to itemize, check, verify, and list all the amounts of
money paid, received, and charged. I listed every invoice with how much we charged
for each invoice, what they paid, the applicable freight rates, and what they should
have been charged, and determine any difference, whether plus or minus. I got in
touch with the railroad as well as Trinity’s transportation department. When I
Saleeby 56
�compiled all the information and did the necessary corrections I was surprised to learn
that we did not owe them any money, but they owed us. It turned out that Trinity’s
traffic department knew of the variations in approved freight rates, and they had
already made claims to the railroad for the overcharges on freight bills and had been
reimbursed. Their financial office misdirected the refund amounts in their books. I sat
down with their people and explained all my numbers, which correlated with their
books, and showed them that instead of USG owing them over $4,000.00, Trinity
owed USG $475.00. A check was cut and given to me with thanks from their accounts
payable office.
When I explained everything to Mr. Dutton in our office, and gave him the check, he
instructed his secretary get a file folder to put all this information in. He proceeded to
seal it with instructions written on the outside that it was never to be opened without
the CFO of the corporation present – he felt it was that important. The next day he
sent me a personal note of thanks for doing something that no one else would tackle –
not even his office. His secretary attached a personal note to me on the outside to the
effect that I should cherish that note from Edward Dutton as a once in a lifetime
message. She had been his personal secretary for 25 years, and he had never sent a
note of thanks like it to anyone else. That gave me a very good feeling to have done a
job that well for the firm.
In the summer of 1949 I was transferred to the New Orleans area to call on Architects,
Contractors, Oil Refiners, Sugar producers, and other sub-contractors in the
construction industry. My territory covered Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. I
had an efficiency apartment near the Naval Air Station next to Lake Ponchartrain.
Since I had only a few customers in New Orleans, I was away from New Orleans 5
days a week for 5 out of every 6 weeks. Most of my contacts in New Orleans were
with Architects and Contractors as well as American Standard Corporation where they
manufactured sinks and commodes in that plant. My Ceramic background came into
use at that location. It was interesting to work with the Ceramic Engineer at the plant
and to meet the needs and solve the problems of the manufacturing situations as they
arose from time to time. At Exxon Corporation, in Baton Rouge, I learned how our
lime products were used in the Oil Processing Refineries in the production of oil and
gasoline.
I chose to take vacation time during the Christmas season in 1949 and planned to go
Saleeby 57
�to visit my family in North Carolina. When I came home for Christmas, I went over to
see Uncle George. While we were talking, I put my check for $500.00 in his shirt
pocket. He asked me what was I doing, and I told him I was returning his $500. He
laughed and said, “You’re the first nephew that ever returned my gift.” I answered
that I had considered it a loan, not a gift. The day after Christmas, I told my parents
that I was planning on going to Danville to visit Elva to see if she still cared for me,
and, if she did, I would ask her to marry me, because I had to ask and find out if she
still cared. I went to Danville, VA, and when I called her house Mrs. Matney, Elva’s
Mother, answered the phone. I told her that I was in town and wanted to see Elva. She
told me that Elva was working at Clark Equipment Co. and she would call her and ask
if she would like to see me. Later, she called me back at the pay phone where I was
waiting and said that Elva would see me. We spent the evening together talking after
she finished work, and I reminded her that I had told her that after the war I would
come to Danville to get me a wife. Then I asked her if she was still interested in
getting married, and, if so, would she marry me. Elva accepted my proposal of
marriage. We wanted our families involved, and I told her I would get my Mother and
Father to come back up there for a formal engagement so that we could include both
our families in the occasion.
When I got back home and told my family about Elva accepting my proposal, my
Mother, Father, and I went to Norfolk so I could get Elva an engagement ring. We had
found out about the Norfolk Navy Base having a special arrangement with a jewelry
importer with good prices and good quality diamonds especially for Veterans. When
we spread the word to the rest of the family about Elva and me, my Uncle Gibran said
he wanted to go with us to Danville because he remembered Eli Matney. He
remembered Elva’s father, from their childhood in Souk el Gharb, Lebanon. The four
of us went to Danville for the formal engagement. Everything went as smooth as silk.
When we came back to Wilson and told all the rest of the family that she had accepted
the ring and we were officially engaged, Uncle George called me over to the side and
handed me a check for $500.00 as a wedding present. His comment at that moment
was, “You remember that I said that you are the only nephew that ever returned my
$500? I want you to use this to buy a refrigerator and stove”. He was always a special
man in my life. This is one of my precious memories. You can’t ask for better than
that no matter how far you go or how good you get.
Things like that are the ones that you treasure for the rest of your life, and it still gives
me a warm feeling to bring that memory out and embrace it for what it meant to me
on that day.
Saleeby 58
�No matter that I had to return to New Orleans for the next three months without Elva
at my side, I was looking forward to the day we would be together every day and
every night for the rest of our lives. She wrote me about the parties that her friends
gave her, and we talked on the phone frequently. I told several of my customers about
the impending marriage, and they all wished us well. Several asked if I was planning
to bring her with me on my trips to see them. Some of the secretaries wanted to meet
her.
Saleeby 59
�MARRIED LIFE
I don’t need to tell those of you that are a part of my family that we got married on
April Fool’s Day in 1950. The number of guests that could be invited to the wedding
by my family was limited. I had reserved the bridal suite at the Roanoke Hotel, which
turned out to be a large room over the entry area of the hotel. We spent a few days
there and visited the Natural Bridge area – one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the
World - and other historical sites in the vicinity while we were there. A program is
given there during the spring and summer months and is presented below the Natural
Bridge nightly. The program is presented about the first chapter of Genesis in the
Bible. That night as the program reached the pint where the Bible says, “And God
said, ‘Let there be Light’,” lights are programmed to flash on the hillside below the
Natural Bridge. I think God decided to have a hand in it, because as the lights flashed
on the hillside, a lightning bolt flashed across the sky at the same instant. As it flashed
across the sky, everyone in the valley gasped aloud.
After we returned from our honeymoon in Roanoke, my Mother and Father gave us a
second reception in Wilson, NC, and this one included many of our family friends and
relatives that could not be invited to the wedding and reception in Danville on our
wedding day. The next day, Elva and I went from Wilson, NC, by train through
Atlanta to New Orleans. After a few weeks in New Orleans the humidity began to
take its toll on Elva’s complexion, and she developed a serious case of Acne. A visit
to a Dermatologist proved to us that we needed to move to another location. The
Dermatologist was humorous in his diagnosis about how this condition came on Elva,
but he was serious in his recommendation that we move and live elsewhere.
As a result of the Doctor’s recommendation, I made a telephone call to Chicago and
requested a visit by Mr. Roger Seng, my district manager, and I asked Mr. M. R.
Druliner the head of the USG Industrial Sales Division to come also. I explained our
problem, and asked them if they would come to New Orleans to discuss if a transfer
could be worked out for me to be transferred to a different location. They agreed to
come down for a conference. I reserved rooms for them at the Monteleone Hotel in
the French Quarter. During our conversation, at one point, Roger Seng complained
that he thought that I was taking their company’s time to seek employment elsewhere.
I responded that if that was what I was doing, I would have had a job already and this
would be only telling them I was leaving. Mr. Druliner said, “Roger just shut up and
listen.” He then told me that he understood our problem, and he was sorry that they
Saleeby 60
�had no position open at another location where I could be transferred. Mr. Druliner
told me that I could tell all the contacts in the applications that I made that I was still
employed by USG and to send their inquiries about me and recommendation requests
to him personally at USG. I am pleased and proud to be able to say that he kept his
word indicating to all of them that USG had no other positions available where I could
be moved to, and that he would have to accept my resignation with regrets. When I
left the company, I had been employed as an Industrial Sales Engineer with US
Gypsum Co. in Chicago and New Orleans over two years. I started corresponding and
interviewing with Cunningham Brick, Champion Spark Plug Corp. in Fostoria, Ohio,
the Atomic Energy Commission at Oak Ridge, TN, and J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc. that
summer.
One of the stipulations at the Steele interview was predicated on the fact that no one
other than a member of the Steele family had ever gone out in the plant to tell the
employees what and how to do something. As a result, they asked if I would be
willing to take an eighteen-month trial period to see if I liked them, or whether they
liked me, and whether the men in the plant would like me and accept my instructions
to do something, because no one outside the Steele family had ever told employees
what to do. After all the discussions with each of the companies I had contacted, we
chose to go with J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc.
The primary reason I wanted to go to work there was because it sounded very
interesting and challenging. On August 19, 1950 I reported for work with J. C. Steele
& Sons, Inc. in Statesville, NC as the assistant to the Vice President for Engineering
as the Chief Ceramic Design Engineer and Chief Field Service Engineer. The owners,
and employers, were J. C. Steele, Jr., Preston Steele, Clarence Steele, and
Montgomery Steele, all family members and first cousins to each other. My duties
included designing new machine lines and designing modifications to older models of
machinery for the Structural Clay Products manufacturers throughout the world.
When Elva and I moved to Statesville, the first house we lived in was at 336
Westwood Drive. While we were going around the neighborhood meeting all our new
neighbors, I found out that Evelyn Barnes – my early childhood friend and neighborand her husband lived almost directly across the street from our house on Westwood
Drive. I was never so surprised in my life than to see my former friend again after all
those years, and I was even more amazed that she remembered me.
I had been at work less than two weeks learning the layout of the plant, meeting the
workers in the machine shop, pattern shop, and foundry, and becoming familiar with
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�the facilities. Preston Steele sent word to me out in the shop, where I was watching the
assembly of an extruder, that he wanted me to come to his office. He introduced me to
a new customer from Australia that wanted us to build a machine that was larger than
any the Company had ever built. The bricks they used were larger than any bricks
made in our country. These new sized units meant that we had to design and build a
larger machine with more capacity than any we had ever built before. They also
wanted the machine shipped by the end of the year. Preston told me that evening as I
was leaving work that I could forget the orientation period. He wanted me to design
all the necessary components to build this new machine line. That meant designing
new patterns, and utilizing components of current machines that could be made a part
of the new design. Not only would I design the patterns, but also I would be
responsible for the machine drawings and executing purchase orders for the necessary
components to assemble them. Our pattern shop was overtaxed, and I learned about
and got in touch with the man in charge of the pattern shop for the L & N Railroad in
Roanoke, VA. He had a shop at home and often worked for others. He agreed to make
the patterns for me if I would get the drawings to him soon. I did what was needed so
he could build the patterns I needed for the new machine. As he finished each pattern,
I would go to Roanoke and bring it to Statesville for casting in our foundry and
machining in the machine shop. The machine was on a ship loaded and tied down in
Charleston, SC ready to depart the harbor on December 20, 1950.
Our first Thanksgiving of our married life was spent with three inches of ice on the
ground. The floor furnace in our rented house on Westwood Drive had to be repaired,
because the burner nozzle was clogged. Here we were with no heat and the
temperature well below freezing, Elva was feeling the effects of her pregnancy, and
we had a time getting our lives back to normal with the furnace acting up and our
water line frozen. When the plumber came, he knew exactly where the water line
problem was, since he had done this before. It turned out that the water line was in the
middle of the vent opening under the house. I wrapped the water line with newspaper
after he left to insulate it like I remembered my father doing in Wilson many years
before. I didn’t want to have to call him again. Once was enough.
We had our First Christmas as a family in that three bedroom brick house with
thoughts of the future, because our first child was due to arrive in February. On
February 18th we took a trip to the mountains. We took pictures up along the Blue
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�Ridge Parkway. That night Elva started having labor pains just before midnight. We
called Dr. John Stegall, and he said to call him when the pains were more frequent.
We did and met him at Long’s hospital about two o’clock AM. They gave me a cot at
the end of the hall to lie down on, and Gary Charles Saleeby arrived at 6:45 AM on
February 19, 1951. After seeing that Elva and Gary were all right, I went home and
called both sets of parents. Mrs. Matney said she was coming on the first bus. My
Mother waited until she left to come to help us. We needed it, because we had a
colicky child. Every afternoon when I came home from work Elva greeted me with,
“Your child needs you to hold him.” Gary was an active child, and he was very alert.
We had a lot of parenting to learn, and we learned it the hard way, one day at a time. I
was learning the ins and outs of my job, and learning the duties of a father with on the
job training. Before the next winter came, we had moved to the Montgomery House
on Mulberry Street. We had a nice yard with grass and trees as a play area. We had
our second Christmas there, and bought our first Television set while we lived there.
We stayed there for several months, before moving to the Duplex that my employers
owned across the street.
We were looking forward to our second child, and we went to Davis Hospital on
January 29, 1953 when Labor Pains came with a rush at 8:00 PM. The nurses took
Elva immediately to get her prepared, and Douglas Edward Saleeby came into our
lives before midnight. He didn’t waste any time getting here. We had thought that we
were busy before with one child, we learned fast that two children were not just twice
as much to take care of, but, to us, it seemed like four times as much. But we were
learning to enjoy the boys more and more every day. By the time Christmas came
around, we had electric trains, wagons, and tricycles in that little apartment.
The house had a coal stoker furnace, and it kept the house very warm, and the coal bin
had to be kept supplied by me shoveling coal from the pile. The hot water tank was
heated in the winter from a coil in the furnace. In the summer, it was heated from an
electric element that was controlled from a thermostat. The Stoker Coal was delivered
to the basement with a chute that went through one of the windows.
This was the beginning of my modifications to all the older model machines that were
in production. I had plans to convert them from bronze and poured babbit bearings
where they were on the machines to ball bearings, spherical bearings, and roller
bearings throughout. In addition, I instituted a design program to maintain all cast iron
machine component fits to within close tolerances of less than 0.005” (five
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�thousandths of an inch), which they had never done before. I had this done on all
machines that we built from that day forward, and we redesigned all the old machine
parts to the same limits. This new concept came to me, as an idea after being on the
assembly floor, while watching Ed Shoemaker align the master gear and pinion that
would drive the entire machine. He had spent 8 hours aligning one pair of gears using
a feeler gauge between the teeth on the driving pinion and master gear for the
machine. He was only able to drill and tap the holes to mount the bearing housings
after the gears were aligned in this manner. I considered this to be too inefficient. I
wanted to build one machine with my new ideas incorporated into all the parts. I had a
long discussion with I. L. Beaver, the pattern shop superintendent, about my ideas,
and how it could be incorporated into the older patterns we were already using. He
agreed with my ideas about the changes, and said he would have no problems doing
what I wanted. After discussing my thoughts with Preston Steele, he asked if
everything could be changed back to the way it was originally, if it didn’t work out. I
assured him that we could. I had purposely approached Preston Steele with the idea
instead of Montgomery Steele. The reason for going to Preston was that he would let
me try something innovative on a test, whereas Montgomery would want to “think
about it for a while”. I had already been through that response from Montgomery with
decisions delayed for a long time. I wanted to try this right away. I loved my work at
J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc., because I was given the freedom in my designs of machines
and to be creative.
I returned to our Pattern Shop Supervisor, I. L. Beaver, again and asked if he could
modify a set of bearing housings and the master gear case in the manner I wanted for
a test on a machine that was on the production schedule. He agreed that what I wanted
could be done very easily and in time for that unit. If it didn’t work, the modifications
could be removed without any problems. I thought it would save labor and give
customer installations of our equipment better performance. I assured him that if it did
work, it could be applied to every machine we made including the old ones that we
were modifying and up grading. I made the pattern drawings and machine drawings
and had I. L. Beaver supervise the pattern modifications. Then I discussed the
specifications for the machine drawings with, Fred Crawford, the machine shop
superintendent and the machinists that would be machining the parts, since I had
chosen the particular machine that was to be assembled for the test. The castings were
made, and they were machined in time to meet our current production schedule. I
talked with each machinist that had a component to make for me.
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�We put the gear case on the sills with the bearing housing seats bored to
specifications, and the holes were pre-drilled and tapped to receive the bearing
housings. The pinion and master gear were in place on their shafts with their driving
keys driven in place. I asked Preston Steele to come and observe the test on the
assembly floor, and he watched Ed Shumaker do the work. He assembled the shafts
and gears in the Master Gear Case in 30 minutes instead of 8 hours since the holes for
the bearing housing bolts were pre-drilled and the gear case holes already tapped to
receive the bolts.
Previously the holes couldn’t be drilled and tapped until after the gears were mated
using the feeler gauges. This time the holes for all the bearing housings were predrilled and tapped when the castings were sent to the assembly floor. The parts did
need to be taken apart and returned to the machine shop to have the holes drilled or
tapped as needed. This was the beginning of the modification of all our old patterns
for current and previous models of machines in the entire Steele machine line. This
idea was utilized wherever it could be applied. It saved thousands of man-hours of
labor every year thereafter. In addition the gears gave better service in our machines
since the gear teeth were perfectly aligned every time. This allowed replacement parts
to be put in service without tedious alignment.
Manufacturing bricks and sewer pipes were very labor intensive, and reducing the
manual labor in these operations would not only be beneficial to both in labor costs,
but they would improve quality. In 1953 we embarked on a program to design and
build a “Brick Hacker”, which is a series of automatic sequencing machine
components to stack extruded green bricks on dryer cars as they were being extruded
and cut into individual units. W. H. (Bill) Massey was assigned to work with me in
the test plant to design, manufacture, and assemble these components. He was an
expert welder and a well-qualified machinist. In addition we also designed
components to manufacture sewer pipe to specifications of diameter and length. The
idea was to extrude, cut, and place them upright on pallets or cars to be dried. In the
process of these design parameters, I came up with ideas to improve the manner in
which water was mixed with the clay and shale more efficiently. To accomplish this
result I started spraying the loose clay as it was falling from the conveyor belt into the
Pug Mill instead of pouring water on the pile of material as it sat in the machine. In
this way I was theoretically trying to get one drop of water onto each particle of clay
or shale as it fell from the conveyor into the Pug Tub. If we could do that, we would
make the system far more effective. I designed Water Spray Systems with flat
spraying nozzles and sold them with the machines after that.
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�By the beginning of the following year we had our first automatic sewer pipe
manufacturing system designed, built and shipped to Pomona Terra Cotta Co. in Gulf,
NC. I had just been elected as president of our local chapter of the Statesville Jaycees,
and it was unfortunate for E. H. (Mac) McJunkin, my Vice President. My
responsibilities required that I had to go to Gulf, NC every week for the next 13
months improving and modifying my designs on these machines. Fortunately for Mac,
I had appointed all the necessary committee chairmen and members for the entire
year’s program.
We laughed many times in later years about the only man who served two years as
president of the Statesville Jaycees, because he was the one elected president for the
following year. In 1955 my Father started having health problems, and by that
summer it was diagnosed as cancer. He was admitted to the hospital in Raleigh for the
necessary operation. Later while he was recovering, I asked Dr. Paschal, the
pathologist, to tell me the truth about his chances. His response was very simple,
“Two weeks, two months, two years at the outside.” How prophetic was his diagnosis
to the actual truth. On June 6, 1957, the 14th anniversary of D-Day, my Father
breathed his last on earth. I spent the last 11 days at his side trying to help keep him
comfortable. I have wonderful memories of his teachings and help during my life.
I was sent to the national convention of the American Ceramic Society in Pittsburgh,
PA as a representative of the Corporation. While I was at the meeting, a man from
Washington, DC, who had come to hear my talk, sought me out after my speech to tell
me that they had just completed certification of the Ceramic Department at NC State.
My automated tile plant design was the design project they had chosen to evaluate
when they were evaluating the Ceramic Engineering Department for certification. He
said it was the most advanced design they had seen, and he wanted to know where my
ideas had come from. I couldn’t wait to tease Dr. Kriegel about it. When I saw him
later that day I asked him if the Ceramic Department had been approved and certified?
He looked at me askance and sheepishly said that they had asked to see some of the
designs and chose mine as soon as they saw it. Dr. Kriegel said the Ceramic
Department owed me an apology for the grade they had given me on my plant design.
By this time pneumatic conveying was being utilized quite generally in industry. My
ideas for an automated hopper-car weighing system were also being used in many
installations. The design parameters were those that occurred to me while designing
my project to save material, man-hours of labor, and an attempt to reduce dust
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�problems in the environment and within the plant itself where the employees had to
work every day.
In 1958 I had been traveling extensively during the summer, and I needed to make a
trip to Pueblo, Colorado in August. I told Montgomery Steele that I had not been able
to spend any time with my two sons that summer, and I felt that I should be able to
take them with me on this trip. The company would not pay half of the airline fares,
and I offered to drive if they would pay the mileage and housing expenses. The
Company agreed, and we took a three-week trip while I visited plants in Wichita in
Kansas and Pueblo plus Denver in Colorado. We also took side trips to the Rocky
Mountains south of Pueblo and to Central City north of Denver. It was fun. All of us
remember Bob Brietweiser telling the boys not to go beyond his back fence in Pueblo
because of the rattlesnakes in the desert. When we went up to the mountains, we put
watermelons in the cold mountain streams to chill. We did a lot of sightseeing and had
a lot of family fun. We spent a week in Pueblo to teach the plant personnel how to
operate and service the automatic sewer pipe manufacturing equipment. They had not
previously had any automatic sewer pipe manufacturing machinery in that facility. We
went to Denver, Colorado before returning to Statesville, and I talked to them at
Denver Brick and Pipe about the order for their plant, because their equipment was to
be delivered soon after my visit and I would be returning after it arrived.
I went to Camaguey, Cuba for the start-up of the Automatic Sewer Pipe
manufacturing equipment for the Azorin family in 1959 during the time that Fidel
Castro was beginning his rebellion against Batista. The situation was so tense that four
bodyguards were assigned to protect me while I was there. The Woolworth Store, that
was next to my hotel, was threatened to be bombed by Fidel Castro’s followers one
night while I was there, and my protectors put me in a car and drove me out of town
for a few hours until after the threat was dealt with. I was provided with an interpreter,
Raphael Gonzales, to help me deal with the Spanish language while I was in
Camaguey, and unfortunately for him his mother died just a few days before we were
to go to Santiago del Sur for a deep-sea fishing trip.
I insisted that he should remain in Camaguey and take care of the situation for his
family, and I would just go on the trip and try to make out, since it was already paid
for.
It turned out that none of the crew on the deep-sea fishing boat knew any English. As
result, I found out that I could understand many Spanish words. The reason I could
understand was that the Moors had influenced the Spanish language during their
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�occupation of Spain in the Eighth Century. The Spanish people apparently started
using many words taken from Arabic, which I understood. I just didn’t know how to
use them yet. The personnel in the plant worked very diligently and learned quickly. It
was necessary for me to make another trip to Camaguey, Cuba in 1962 after Castro
came to power. The first person I spoke to outside the air terminal was the chief of
police. He remembered me, because I had been introduced to him when I was there
previously. He was polite and very friendly in welcoming me to Cuba again. That
made me feel more secure and comfortable with my being there. The Azorin family,
who owned the brick and pipe manufacturing facility, apparently, had paved the way
for me.
Little did I know that fate would have it’s own hand in the future, because I had the
opportunity to return the favor when I helped arrange for the entire Azorin Family as a
group to come to the United States. They eventually become citizens of our great
nation. I arranged for them to work in an automatic sewer pipe manufacturing plant
that I had designed for a company in Harlem, Georgia. The people that owned the
plant were happy to have them operating the equipment, since I told them that the
Azorin family had owned and operated a plant just like this one in Camaguey, Cuba.
Castro’s government eventually had not paid for many of the sewer pipes and bricks
that the Azorin family had furnished to them. These factors led to their coming to the
United States, and I am proud to have had a part in helping them come to this country
where they have become good citizens. Their family, which today includes children
and grandchildren, now has their own successful brick plant in Plant City, Florida. I
am proud to have them as friends.
Very shortly after my second trip to Cuba in 1962, I went to Australia on a two-month
trip to visit old and new customers. While I was there, I presented two seminars on
brick making for the manufacturers in that country. I visited many of the brick plants
and tile plants, as well as sewer pipe manufacturing facilities. While I was in Australia
I had the occasion to visit ceramic plant installations using our equipment in Sydney,
Melbourne, Ballarat, and Adelaide. A memorable incident for me took place in
Melbourne at the Hotel Australia. After checking into my hotel room, I came down to
the pub to have a “pony” (glass) of beer. When I placed my order a man seated across
the room that heard me, when I spoke, called out, “Yank”, and I responded. He then
told the bartender to bring my beer over to his side of the bar and to put my tab on his
ticket. He told me that this was his way to thank the United States for sending a Navy
fleet with Marines aboard to Sydney harbor after England pulled their navy ships and
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�army including the Australian National Guard out of Australia when they declared
war on Germany in WWII. He felt that England had betrayed them by leaving them
defenseless against the Japanese threat at that time. I gathered from my conversation
with him that we have a closer tie to Australia than England does. I will always
remember that incident in my life. As a result of my trip “Down Under” for two
months to Australia, we began to sell many more brick machines and other pieces of
equipment in that area of the world.
I was asked by the Australian Ceramic Society to give a seminar on the Installation,
Operation, Lubrication, and Maintenance of Brick making machinery. The audience
was very interested in all those aspects relating to their manufacturing operations.
Many of the attendees had never purchased any J. C. Steele machinery, and several
asked me to visit their installations. I did so, and as a result, we made many new
friends and customers during the time I was there. The Company was very generous
with an offer for Elva to come to Hawaii and meet me there on my way home to spend
a few days with me. However, she decided that since Anne Marie was so young, she
couldn’t leave her for a short stay in Hawaii. I was disappointed, because I thought
she would have enjoyed visiting that part of the world. I had the opportunity to meet
Preston Steele’s sister, Lila, and her husband who were living in Honolulu. I had
known her name all the time, but had never met her or her husband. They entertained
me for the few days I was there.
During the years from 1959 to 1964 that J. C. Steele and Sons, Inc. owned a twin
engine Aero Commander 560E airplane, I was a passenger during about 50 percent of
the hours it was flown. Since I had been gone from home most of the summer again in
1961, I asked permission and was given the opportunity to take Gary and Douglas
with me on a trip to Canada. Our new daughter Anne Marie was less than one year
old, and she and Elva flew with us to Danville, VA on our way where we dropped
them off, and picked them up on our return trip from Canada. New equipment had
been shipped, and I needed to be in Ottawa to visit the plant nearby. This gave me an
opportunity to show Gary and Doug that country while the Canadian Exposition was
in progress. We went through the Air Museum, and saw the Parliament House with all
the pomp and ceremony that went with it. We toured the exposition and saw the
parade that went with the celebration. We had a great time, because our hotel was
right down town in the midst of all the activities. “Wimpy” Mosser was our company
pilot, and he enjoyed being with Gary and Doug while I was doing my duties out at
the various nearby manufacturing plants. I think Gary and Douglas had a good time
visiting Canada with me.
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�In 1968 I needed to go on a trip to South Africa and I arranged my trip to make a stopoff in Germany, and so I arranged my stop-off to be on the weekend so that I had an
opportunity to see Ed and Herma Matney with their two sons Marc and David, who
was very young. We had a delightful weekend, and I used the time to also see two of
the places I served in during WWII. There was quite a bit of change in the 20 years
that had gone by since I returned to the United States. I enjoyed seeing many of the
places where I had been to, and stationed at, during this brief visit. I guess that I had
to contrast the previous visit with this one, since I came this time with a golf glove
and golf shoes instead of a soldier’s uniform with a gun and military boots. I’ll have
to admit that I enjoyed the peaceful pursuit of playing golf in Heidelberg. On the way
to Johannesburg from Frankfurt, Germany, my flight landed in Lagos, Nigeria to refuel the plane, and we took advantage of the short break in our trip. On arrival in
Johannesburg, one of the passengers was detained because he did not have a yellow
fever shot. The comical part was that he would be detained for eleven days while a
shot took effect, and the funniest part of all this was that his return trip to Germany
was supposed to be in12 days.
I asked and was informed that the requirement for the yellow fever shot was due to the
landing in Lagos. His travel agent neglected to tell him that even though we only
landed in Lagos, it would require a yellow fever shot. I stayed in South Africa for
eight weeks visiting factories all over the country including Kimberly and Cape
Town, where I saw the Peaks of the Twelve Disciples. During part of my return trip, I
also had an opportunity to see the Kimberly Diamond Mines. During my visit to the
Welcome Animal Preserve, a Park Ranger gave me a personal guided tour much like a
short safari in a vehicle built like a Jeep, and I saw many wild animals close up. One
of the most interesting animals I saw about 10 feet away was a rare white rhinoceros. I
saw many animal species close up since we were in a vehicle and the Ranger knew all
their natural habitats. On my return to Johannesburg I was asked to make a
presentation to the Brick Makers Division of the South African Ceramic Society on
the Installation, Operation, Lubrication and Maintenance of brick machines. About 75
people came to the meeting. As a result of that meeting, many of the manufacturers,
who had never owned our equipment before, eventually purchased some equipment
from J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc. That made the trip very worthwhile. Ken Hanafey was
working for our representatives in South Africa, and he expressed an interest in
coming to work for J. C. Steele and Sons, Inc. in the U. S. I talked to Preston from my
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�hotel room, and then I told Ken that J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc. could not offer him a job
to bring him to the U. S. The reason we could not hire him at that time was because he
was working for our representative in South Africa. I explained to him that he would.
need to quit his job and come to the United States, and at that time he could apply for
a job. He did that after I returned, and, as a result, J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc. hired him,
and he worked for the company until his death many years later.
On my return trip the first leg was through Nairobi, Kenya, and one of the passengers
was to make a connection to India. The Air India employees had gone on strike and he
spoke no English. I ended up translating his Arabic to the Airline employees in the
plane to make arrangements for him to transfer his flight plans from Nairobi to India.
We had a ten-hour layover in Nairobi to look around. Just outside Nairobi the wild
Animal Park and refuge is just outside the city. My plane took off and the flight path
went right over the park on takeoff. It was very interesting to look out the window and
see all the animals in their habitat. On landing in Cairo, we had to spend the night in
the transit hotel, and the next morning when I came down to breakfast a young lady
came to me and identified herself as an airline employee. She said she would make
my arrangements for boarding the plane. I learned later that my mother asked a
relative who worked for the airline to arrange this for me.
I had arranged my return flight plan from Johannesburg with a stopover of twelve
days in Beirut, Lebanon, to see Elva’s parents, where they were spending a year there.
I arrived in Beirut on Good Friday and was privileged to attend church services at one
a Greek Orthodox Church in Beirut. The church was filled with people standing in
every available spot inside plus enough people outside to fill the steps and out to the
street. They told me that, to them, this was the holiest day in Christendom, because
without Jesus Christ arising from the dead on Easter morning that there would be no
Christianity. I had not thought of it precisely in that vein previously. I realize now that
what they said is true. Easter morning their church was more crowded than Friday.
During the next week while I was there, I had the opportunity to visit Souk el Gharb
where my Father was born and grew up. I also visited Zahly, Broumana, Baalbek,
Bhamdoun and other historical sites. I saw aqueducts built to transport water from the
mountains hundreds of years ago still standing. I met distant cousins on my Mother’s
side of the family. My Father’s distant cousin, Elias Saleeby had me in his home for a
meal in Souk el Gharb, and while I was there I saw the Presbyterian Church School
that my Father and his brothers attended as children. I knew that my family had sold
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�land to the church on which to build the new Presbyterian school that I was seeing in
place there at that time. This school building replaced the one my Father’s family had
attended as children. It was a beautiful learning experience about my family’s past. I
was taken on a sight seeing trip to Baalbek where I saw the Temple to Baal. It was
very impressive with all the different temples within its confines. It was large enough
to put our present Pentagon building inside its walls. You could see what the Romans,
Assyrians, Baabylonians, and other captors had done as they captured it during its
centuries of existence.
As a part of my scheduled flight back to New York, I spent the next week in England
and Scotland visiting various plants that used our equipment. I had the opportunity to
visit with the Fawcett Company who was licensed to build and sell Steele equipment
in Europe. I went to some of the brick plants using our machines and discussed
manufacturing techniques with their production personnel just as I had done in South
Africa. I spent many hours in the Fawcett Inc. assembly room discussing techniques
with the plant personnel.
In the ensuing years, I was sent to Mexico several times to be on hand for start-ups of
machines we had sent to customers in that country. I had the opportunity to visit
customers in Mexico City, Chihuahua, Monterey, Puebla, and other locations in that
country. I was still making my scheduled visits to plants in Texas, Arkansas,
Oklahoma, and other Southwestern U. S. customers.
In June 1976 I was necessary for me to travel to Yaroslavl, Russia to be there for the
start-up of some of our machines that had been sold to them in 1971 through an Italian
firm. The Italians had the machines shipped to Italy, and it turned out that they had
taken the machines apart to learn how we built them. They copied our techniques to
start manufacturing machines like ours in Italy. Our machines were finally shipped to
Russia and installed. Preston Steele had never told me that he had sent my name to the
Russian embassy in 1971 as the person who would be going to Russia to start the
machines, and I was quite surprised to learn that I would go there.
When I learned that I was to be the one to go there for the start-up, I originally applied
to the Intourist division for a visa to visit Russia. They told me that I would need to
get my visa from the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC. I called the embassy for
instructions, and they said to send my passport with two extra pictures. The next
morning after talking with the visa expediting service, I sent my passport and pictures
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�to them rather than traveling to Washington. Eastern Airlines (EAL) carried my
passport and other papers to Washington, and a man from the visa expediting service
picked them up at the EAL ticket counter. He was accustomed to doing this, and he
took the passport to the Russian Embassy.
He asked the lady at the information desk when he should return to pick up the visa,
etc.
She told him to wait and she would let him know. She went to the other room, and
came back ten minutes later with the passport and visa completed. She handed them to
him and told him he could take them to me. He called me from the airport and asked
me who I was, because he had been going to the Russian embassy for visas many
times before, and this was the first time in his experience that he didn’t have to wait
ten days to two weeks. I found out later that the reason was that I was considered as
being “invited to come by the Import Minister of Russia”. My passport and visa were
back in Charlotte at 5:45 p.m. that same day.
I arrived in Russia on June 7, 1976 after a weekend stopover in Copenhagen,
Denmark. I never realized the detail that the Russian Government wanted followed
about visitors. The first question I was asked was if I had any books. I had a
pocketbook novel with me, which the customs guard scanned through the entire book.
I was then asked if I had a Bible. I said that I did not, but if I did, what would it mean.
The guard informed me that they would keep it “in safe-keeping” until I left the
country, and then it would be returned to me. I was there in Customs for over an hour
while my baggage was inspected. I have never had that detailed inspection of my
luggage going into or out of any other country and that is including the United States
on coming home.
So that I could be properly contacted on arrival, I had been instructed to have
something that would be indicative of my connection with J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc. I
chose one of the Parts Identification Books I had designed for our machines that had
our name emblazoned on the cover. A young girl interpreter came to me and said we
must hurry. She had a taxi waiting outside the airport with the engine running. We
went across Moscow from the airport to a train station at about 50 miles an hour. The
driver got into an express lane and we just flew. I found out why when we reached the
train station. A man was waiting to take our bags for us, and we literally ran to get on
the train. I put my luggage in the overhead rack and took a cursory look around the car
we were in. We no more than sat down, when the train lurched forward starting us on
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�our trip. That’s how close we came to missing our train for that day. We were on the
last train leaving for Yaroslavl, which is 300 miles north of Moscow, and it is only 7
degrees of latitude below the Arctic Circle. On the way up, we passed through a city
named Rostov, which is a city that has a Russian Orthodox Monastery. As we were in
the station at Rostov, it started snowing. Please, remember that this is on June 7, and I
had never seen snow on that date before. We had left Moscow at 5:30 p. m. and
arrived in Yaroslavl just before midnight.
The sun awakened me at 3:00 a. m. because we were very near the Arctic Circle. I got
out of bed and was ready to go until I saw what time it was. Naturally, I went back to
sleep, but not before I placed a blanket over the window. I knew three Russian words
when I left home, and they were “Da” for “Yes”, “Nyet” for “No”, and “Spaseeba” for
“Thank you”. Needless to say, I learned many more while there. After I had been
there about three weeks, a German smooth roll crusher broke a section of one of the
36” diameter rolls and killed the Russian worker working there by crushing his skull.
The piece of the machine that had broken out of the roll then traveled through the air
and broke through a 14” thick wall and landed about 15 feet away from the wall it had
gone through. The plant was shut down to determine the cause of the accident. Since I
had been learning more words in Russian every day, I had a three-hour conversation
with the chief mechanic, and I explained to him that no one should be walking on the
platform behind those machines when they were running. The part of the machine that
broke was made of cast iron and it was three inches thick, thirty-six inches wide and
twenty-four inches long. The piece that broke weighed several hundred pounds. I
examined the machine and explained to him and the Russian Ceramic Engineer that
the break had occurred because of the design of the scraper system the German’s had
used. The design used an air cylinder in the center to push the scraper, and it was
pushing more on one side than the other side, because material had blocked the
groove on that side. This created a stress in the part that made one end much hotter
than the other from friction, and the differential temperature across the casting caused
it to break. The plant remained closed until the Russian Government sent their
inspectors to examine the break. I made every effort to learn new Russian words daily,
and I had the opportunity to spend quite a long time talking to the maintenance
manager. He asked about our freedom and who could own property and cars. He
especially wanted to know if Black people could own cars and homes. At the end of
our conversation he asked me, “Could you put me in your briefcase and take me to
America with you?” It broke my heart, because, out of three hundred employees, he
was one of only three people in that entire factory that owned an automobile.
Saleeby 74
�After another week of investigation with no manufacturing being done, I decided to
return home. I arrived back in New York on July 3, 1976 at 11:30 p. m. We were
given overnight lodging in a hotel because we were late since the baggage handlers in
Copenhagen were on strike. The next morning, I took my bags to the LaGuardia
Airport, and then I took the subway down to the Battery Park at the lower end of
Manhattan. I took up a position about 100 feet from the Network Television Cameras
that were sending pictures all over the country showing the Tall Ships Sailing up the
Hudson River commemorating the 200th anniversary of our U. S. Independence. I had
film in my movie camera and took movies and stayed until I needed to go to the
airport for my flight to Charlotte.
As things turned out later that year, it was necessary for me to return to Yaroslavl,
Russia between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 1976 for another visit to help the plant
improve production. The Italian firm had problems meeting the production goals that
had been promised, and they needed some technical advice on how to achieve it.
Some of the discussion was about contract agreements between firms. On my return, I
told Preston that if any more trips needed to be made to Russia, he should be the one
to go. The reason I told him that was because the Italian contractors were bringing up
things that needed a Steele to answer. The Italian firm was under a performance and
production goal in their contract, and they were having a hard time achieving the goal
that was in the contract
Saleeby 75
�GRANDCHILDREN AND NEW FAMILY MEMBERS
Gary was married, and later Erin Nicole Saleeby came into the world as our first
grandchild on November 9, 1978. That was a wonderful occasion for us. It was an
experience that we enjoyed to the utmost. We took every opportunity to visit so that
we could see her. This was a new experience we loved and enjoyed it very much.
Three years later we had a second chance to be super happy when Taylor Richel
Saleeby came into the world as our second grandchild on August 15, 1981, and we
could dote on and be happy about her and with her as the newest addition to our
family. Life was getting better all the time.
I had an opportunity to take Elva with me to a meeting in Monterey, Mexico where I
delivered a paper on brick manufacture when Preston and I went to this meeting
together. He decided that we should take our wives with us to entertain our customers
that would be having their wives with them. After the meeting, he asked me if Elva
would mind if we took a side trip to Mexico City. He felt we should visit a customer
in Puebla, which was near Mexico City. Of course she agreed, and he used this as an
opportunity to rent a car with a driver to take us on a tour of the environs of that great
city. It was a lot of fun, and I know that Elva appreciated his generosity. We had
dinner in the best restaurant of the city, and toured their wonderful museum while we
were there.
I retired from J. C. Steele & Sons, Inc. on October 19, 1984, and when I got home that
evening, I called each of my children and told them that, “I was coming to see each of
them twice a year whether they wanted me or not”. We have pretty much done it too.
Since my retirement in 1984 I have served as a consultant to the Ceramic Industry.
During my life, I have lectured and given seminars at many Universities and Colleges
in addition to Corporations that manufacture ceramic products. And I have made
speeches at the National and Regional meetings of the American Ceramic Society, the
Canadian Ceramic Society, the Mexican Ceramic Society, the Australian Ceramic
Society, and the South African Ceramic Society.
I mentioned to Elva that I felt that in ten to twenty years after I retired that we would
need to move from our home in Statesville to be within 50 miles of one of our
children. At that time, Gary was in Chapel Hill, NC about 125 miles away. Douglas
had moved by this time from Las Vegas, Nevada and was now in Memphis, TN about
625 miles away. Anne Marie was living in Raleigh, NC about 150 miles away. We
Saleeby 76
�investigated the Research Triangle area for prices of houses and learned that we
would pay almost twice as much as we would get if we sold our house to get one with
half of the square footage in our present home for one in that area. That didn’t sound
too enticing to me.
During my retirement, General Shale Corporation asked me to give a seminar in 1986
for all their plant managers plus the production supervisors about production
efficiency and how to achieve it on Steele machines. At the end of my presentation,
the CEO called me aside and asked me to make a visit each of their 15 plants. He
wanted me to visit each installation every other year and give recommendations on
things that I observed, and I did that until 1996, at which time we agreed to terminate
the program.
Like all graduated High School Classes, we were having our usual class reunions.
During our 50th Charles L. Coon High School Class Reunion in 1989 Marjorie
Harrell Benton and I got together and reminisced about skating together when we
were teen-agers. We both remembered and talked about the fond memories of the
afternoon and evenings we skated together. She reminded me of the good fun we had
in those days. She and her husband H. P. (Red) Benton still live in Wilson.
In 1990 Gary asked Debi Berrier if she would marry him and become part of our
family with her daughters Shannon and Amy. She accepted and we were overjoyed.
Erin and Taylor have developed a very close and loving friendship with Amy and
Shannon in the ensuing years. Also, in the fall of1990, Mark Selna started coming
from Denver, Colorado to see our daughter Anne Marie in Raleigh, NC where she was
working for General Electric Capital Management. After several trips for him flying
to Raleigh and her flying to Denver, Mark came to Raleigh to spend a part of the time
before Christmas with us so he could become more acquainted with “all of her
family”. Apparently Mark and Anne Marie had already discussed the subject of her
asking for a leave of absence from her employer so that she could go to Denver for
two months for them to get to know each other better without all the traveling back
and forth. They could see each other every day. When the subject was bought up for
discussion about furniture and house rental, etc. they had answers for everything. We
agreed when Mark said that he had arranged with a friend nearby for Anne Marie to
live with while she was in Denver. As Mark and I were moving her furniture to the
storage unit, I told Mark, “If I was a mountaineer father in the Smoky Mountains, I
would walk over to the mantle and take my shotgun down from over the mantle. I
Saleeby 77
�would then place it so the barrel was under your chin. Then I would ask you, ‘Young
Man, what are your intentions toward my Daughter’?” At that point Mark broke out
laughing and told me that he promised me one thing, that I would be the first to know
if he was going to ask her to marry him. He kept his promise.
You will have to ask him for the details, it was fun because it involves them calling us
on our anniversary. The following year in April 1991 Mark Selna asked our daughter
Anne Marie if she would accept his offer of matrimony, and she said yes. They were
married September 29, 1991and they set up housekeeping in Denver where he worked
for Kaiser Permanente. Just as I had “threatened”, we traveled to Denver to visit them
twice a year during the time that they were living there, Their first child, Weston
Louis Selna, was born on November 5, 1994, and Elva flew to Denver the next day to
be with them. On the way from the airport to their home, Mark went by the hospital
and picked up Anne Marie and Weston, the newest addition to our family. I went
there one week later to greet my grandson. During my visit I took a beautiful picture
of their home with the snow covering the nearby park in the foreground. We enjoyed
meeting many of their friends in Denver. During one of our visits, I learned about
battery powered water control systems for gardens and plants. One of their neighbors
had a simple system set up to water his flower garden, which intrigued me, and I went
over and introduced myself and asked about it. I enjoyed working with Mark to
improve their landscaping around the house. On January 10, 1996 they added another
member to our growing family when Elaine Matney Selna came into the world.
Needless to say we have thoroughly enjoyed all the blessings and pleasure that all
grandparents have with grandchildren. Anne Marie and Mark lived the first six years
of their married life in Denver, CO. We used the trip to visit Doug in Memphis both
on the way going and on the way back to Statesville.
In 1994 the Charles L. Coon High School 1944 State Championship Football Team
was planning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of winning that honor. That team
wanted to make it a gala celebration, and they decided to invite all the players that had
played for Coach Leon Brogden while he was in Wilson. We were all to be invited to
be there to join in the celebration because the Coach was going to come from
Wilmington, NC, where he lived at that time. He wanted to see all of us and be a part
of the festivities. It was a memorable event to see all my old friends again after all
those years of being away from home. Tom Davis, H. P. (Red) Benton, my cousin
Saleeby 78
�George Saleeby, and I played a round of golf at the Wilson Country Club together
while we were there. I was able to renew acquaintances with many friends that I had
not seen for over 50 years. Many of them had not changed much in the ensuing years.
In 1997, Mark and Anne Marie moved to Birmingham, Alabma where he worked for
a different HMO for only one year. A better opportunity was presented, and they left.
In 1998 Mark accepted employment with Partners Health in Winston Salem, NC and
moved the family there. In so doing, Mark and Anne Marie provided the solution to
my original plans to move within 50 miles of one of our children. That was much
more convenient, since the distance was only 40 miles instead of 2,000 miles that we
had to travel when we wanted to visit them earlier in Denver. We were able to see
them more often and spend more time with Weston and Elaine as they grew up.
Erin completed her undergraduate college work at George Washington University in
Washington, DC, and graduated with honors in the year 2000 on completion of her
studies in pre-med. Erin was later accepted for Medical School and the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC. Amy was graduated from UNC Wilmington with
her degree in Marine Biology in the year 2001 on completion of her college
undergraduate studies. She was chosen to go to Sweden to observe and take part in a
research project being undertaken in that country before she started her work toward
her Masters Degree. In the meantime, Taylor was offered a scholarship and accepted
to study her chosen work in Stage Production and Management at Webster Hall
College outside of St. Louis, MO. After her sophomore year in college, she was
chosen to work with the Los Angeles Opera Company as an intern, and she was given
one year’s college credit for her work there.
It gave me a great deal of pride to see the accomplishments of not only my children as
I grew older, but to see the wonderful things that our grandchildren also were able to
do. I can say that it has made my life more complete to see them in their success.
Having done the things I did in my work, I was able to visit over 40 of the 50 states,
and I have visited more than 25 foreign countries, including Russia, South Africa, and
Australia. I was privileged to literally go all the way around the world.
My travels have given me the opportunity to learn and use about 6 languages in my
lifetime, and I have met some great people in my travels. Elva and I had three children
– two boys and one girl who have brought grandchildren into our lives to love and to
Saleeby 79
�add to our enjoyment down through the years.
We had our family that you are now a part of. Our children and grandchildren are the
joy of my life. One of the things I have observed in life is that when you enjoy doing
something it is much easier to be successful. The things a person does to get rich
always seem to end up being hard work, while the things we do that we like and enjoy
are fun and give us a sense of accomplishment. I do not and cannot really complain
about any of my choices that I have taken in my studies and work. My parents taught
me these things, and they have been the guiding lights of my life. My Father and
Mother loved this country of ours, and they taught me to love and appreciate it also. I
often tell people today that the greatest blessing that I ever had in my life was the fact
that my Mother and Father were living in the United States of America when I was
born. The more I have traveled over the rest of the world, the more I was convinced of
that fact. Even until today, peoples from all over the world continue to strive to come
here.
I hope that you can learn to come to know the warm feelings and the pride I get from
seeing the wonderful accomplishments of my children and grandchildren. One of
these days when you get to my place in life, you will understand what I am telling you
now. It is my fervent hope and prayer that God will bless each of you in your lives,
and that God will continue to Bless America.
Saleeby 80
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Edward and Callie Saleeby Papers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>The Saleeby-Saliba Relief Association was created in 1916 with the objective of unifying and supporting members of the Saleeby-Saliba family across the Lebanese diaspora. The association sponsored members who emigrated from Syria and Lebanon, aiding them in their transitions to new countries. The association (now called the Saleeby-Saliba Association of Families) focuses on preserving family history and culture, especially through genealogy. Members of the extended Saleeby-Saliba family have documented the family’s diasporic history, including N.D. Saleeby's <em>A Brief History of the Saleeby/Saliba Clan and Their Branches</em>, published in 1950, and its updated version, <em>Worldwide Saleeby-Saliba Family from Ancient to Modern Times</em>, published by Callie R. Saleeby Stanley in 2008.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p>This collection contains three autobiographical accounts of members of the North Carolina branch of the Saleeby-Saliba Family, including iral history and written testimony. The collection represents inter-generational experiences of members of the Saleeby family in North Carolina. The subjects are descended, by blood or marriage, from the same Saleeby ancestor who lived in Souk-el-Gharb in modern-day Lebanon.</p>
Relation
A related resource
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/38" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saleeby Family Papers</a>
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Language
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English
Contributor
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Processed by Khayrallah Center staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 December.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Emigration and immigration
Lebanese--United States
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Edward Saleeby
Callie Saleeby Stanley
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001-2013
Identifier
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KC 0047
Access Rights
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
autobiography_wm
Title
A name given to the resource
Edward Saleeby Autobiography
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Emigration and immigration
Description
An account of the resource
The autobiography of Edward C. Saleeby, revised in 2001. It contains detailed reminiscences of his childhood, time serving in the United States military during World War II, and his marriage and children. In addition to covering Saleeby's own life, it contains narratives of his parents' immigration to the United States.
Creator
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Edward C. Saleeby
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Edward C. Saleeby
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Format
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Text/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Families
Immigration
Lebanon
Military
World War II
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/60210f86f42b3d7417b705e6562190ae.pdf
8343324380f37a51959e1236936a68db
PDF Text
Text
��•
,,-'
..
_i"
THE MEM OIRS
of
W ADEA K A S S A B
THE SON OF ABDOELIAS KASSAB
of
DAMAS CUS, S YRIA
----"
/0
_� �.J.�,�,
���,
�,
· 0
��•
TO M Y W IFE
who was my companion
through "thick and thin"
I dedicate the s e memoir s .
c
��II
OF
TABLE
CONTENTS
Page
Chapter
Preface
1
••.. • • . • • ••..•. . • ...•• • . •.••........... • • .•......• ...
•
•
....... e ••••• ••••• ••••••••••• • • • ••• e • •• • • •••
3
My Uncles and Aunt
4
Incidents
5
Last Days of School
6
Off to AIIlerica ...........................................
7
Arne rica
7
South Petersburg, Tennessee
8
Chattanooga, Tennessee ...............................
9
Chicago, Illinois, &t Clinton, Iowa
10
o
1
Some of My Earliest Recollections
Childhood Days
Salesman
. � • ..••..•. • • ..• • .. • • .••.. . • . •. . • •..
.. • ....•...•..•....•.... • .•.•.....• • • ... • . . • •...•..
.. a.A.•••• e .••• • • •
i
.......••..••.• .......... • •..•....•..
8
17
38
43
.
48
� ................................................ .
56
................. � ..... .
.
66
...•...• •••..•..•..
8Z
- .. � .•..••••..•....•..•....•....••.•.•.. • • • . • .•...
11
Chester, Pennsylvania
lZ
The O'Neills
13
58
94
.. • ...•..• ...........•..•.••..• • •
98
. ......•... • .• • ....•. • • . • .•...••.. • . • .... • • .•.
10Z
Dentistry
.....•....•.• • ...... • . • . . . • .. • . • • . • • • • •..••• • ......
115
14
A Dentist
.......• .••• • ..•.. • . ... • ....•. ••..•. . • . . • . . • •...•.•
1Z8
15
Returned Home
16
Meeting My People ......................................
17
Back to My Adopted Home
18
Getting Married
19
Married �i_fe
ZO
Ocean City, New Jersey
ZI
Return to Work ...........................................
.
171
ZZ
The War
...•..••...........•......•..•..•..•.... • • ......•..
177
Z3
Retrospect
Z4
Potpourri
Z5
My Faith
.. ..
. ...•.••..•....•.•.•. • .... • • • . • •••.. • ....•.
13Z
.
136
................•...•. • •.....
148
.....•..... ..••.••..........•.•.. ...• .....
153
·�• • ••••...• • •
• •• • •• • • • • • • • • •• • • •• • •••• • • • • • •••
.
'
. .......................•.......
160
166
. • . • ••....•..•.•.............•.....• .....•.•..•.
188
..•....•.•••.••.•....•............••.•...•••.. • • . .
193
..••..••...••.•••.• ...•.•.....•...•.••..• • • • .•..•..
197
��•
i
PR E FA C E
..
Q
The writing of the se memoir s was begun in the year
1928 when, afte r the crash in r eal e state , the writer launched on
a new adventure in New York City. Thi s nec e s s itated commuting
between Ocean City, N. J. and New York on weekend s .
1 found that the r eading o f news pa pe r s and magazine s
on the train wa s time wa sted and it occurred to me to spend the
four hours on the train in j otting down the things 1 remembe red
since childhood. So looseleaf notebook became my constant com
panion . Half of the se memoir s we r e written on trains and waiting
for trains .
1 always had in mind that my children and their
childr en would like to know the life story of their dad and the his
tory of hi s people. 1 have found it de sirable to describe at l ength
various uncl e s and an aunt (1 had only one aunt ) and their familie s ,
in order to acquaint them with their r elatives abroad. 1 a sk the
reader s ' indulgence when they find the name s of per sons a s well
u.s placEs hard to pronounce.
As 1 wrote the thoughts flowed freely but wheneve r
memory failed a look at the pa s s ing s cene ry had the magic powe r
of awaking the s e thought s and the words again would c ome rushing
as fast a s 1 could pen them.
My adventure in New Y ork fizzled out and put an end
to train t ravel so the manuscripts were set a side until twenty-five
yea r s later, to my great surpri se . my memory still s e rved me
well.
Please remembe r that in writing the se memoirs 1
had in mind the life and state of affair s a s they exi sted in the
middle of the la st century in the near Ea st. A c omparison must
not be made with conditions a s they are today be cause some thing s
have g r eatly changed. while other s are still a s primitive a s they
were in our Lord ' s time.
1 wrote of the time when most of the se people , e spe cial
ly the Arabs , were illiterate, simple -minded , content with c ondi
tions in life , and resigned to thei r lot calling it "Kismet" . The word
'kisme t ' means divided, or God has divided and thi s i s my portion
or my fate . No wonder then that you find thes e people sati sfied with
their lot and having no desire to push ahead. no ambition , slow in
movement, s aying that if it is not done today plenty of time tomo r r ow.
1 have often a sked myself are they not better off than we in today' s
world of hus tle and bustle ? This question 1 have not been able to
answe r because 1 am biased, a s 1 have tasted civilization and like
it.
�Ii
'f
Whether better off or not, civilization has c r e pt in
during my lifetime and the people have learned to desire it; to
envy and long for it. Little did they know that the French bonnet,
the high heel, short dre s se s , lipstick. the painting of finge r nails ,
whiskey and be er, the European music and dancing , the cabarets,
gambling and many othe r things were lowering their morals and
sapping the gold out of their country. Civilization closed many of
their industries and has made them poorer.
In thes e memoir s I have endeavored to stick to facts
and shun exaggerations. As a matter of truth I did not give the se
sto rie s their full due lest it be said that I am boa sting or giving
flattering impr e s sions of my peo ple.
I a s k the reade r's indulgence �'henever he finds in the
context that I have digre s sed from the subje ct in orde r to explain
about it o r tell a story pe rtaining to it. Also, I trust that the
reader will kee p in mind that this is not a literary effort and at
the same time remember that I have offered my apology in
advance .
I want to thank my :.siste r�in-law, Mrs. Samuel Kas sab,
my ne phew's wife , Mrs. Wadea Kas sab , and my niec e , Mis s Salma
Kas sab for d oing my typing for me. I also wish to thank Mr. and
Mr s. Willis Wi s sler for the final compo sition and reproduction of
the Multilith plates, and , last - but not least - the g ood, old Noah
W ebste r ' s dicti onary without which mo st of the words would have
been s pelled a la Arabic .
One will also notice that I have dated this book with
four diffe r ent date s . This i s done to further prove certain state
ments I mentioned in the la st chapte r.
Thi s book is about to go to pre s s a s I am entering my
eighty-third year of life . I am thankful to God for enabling me to
complete this story.
The hour s and hours I spent on it have been hour s of
ple a sure which have paid me over and over a gain for all my
efforts . I have lived in the past for hours at a time going over my
life and I truly believe that it was the best exe r cise for my
tnemory cells, because up until the pre sent it ha s been my best
companion.
Thank God for Memory !
W ADEA
The
The
The
The
•
If
..
KASSAB
year of our Lord dating fr om His birth
year of American Inde pendenc e
Jewi sh yea r dating from Abraham
Mohamm edan year dating from his birth
1954
178
57 14
1384
.1
.
a
.
�C H A P T E R
1
SOME OF MY ; EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS
•
Of cour s e , ther e a r e s ome things in one ' s life
that he doe s not fo rget---hi s home , his people , his surrounding s ,
a s well a s his friends and neighbor s . My father wa s born in the
City of Damas�u s in Syria, the oldest city in c ontinuou s exi stence
in the�wo rld. Hi s fathe r wa s a school teache r who had the ambi
tion in the early part of the Eighteenth Century to go to Europe to
study. On his r eturn he wa s attired in the conventional Euro pean
clothe s , which were quite differ ent from his native garb. He wore
a hat instead of a fez , and pantaloons in place of the umbazz ,
whi ch wa s a garment open in the front and fa stened with a belt.
So the people ·nicknamed him Signior. To the outside world we
were known as the house of Signi or. This name followed us even
to the time when I wa s a boy. I wa s not sure whether my name
was Signi or or Ka s sab.
I have an idea that were you to visit our old quar
ter s and a sk some of the old neighbor s about the hous e of Signior.
they would give you a lot of information about the Ka s sab s ' grand
dad who, a s a re sult of hi s learning and travel, wa s looked up to
and ve ry much r e s pe cted. The story is told me , and I believe it
to be true , that Abrahe em Pa sha , the once ruler of Egypt by ap
pointment of the "Sublime Portl:, ( a name history ha s given to the
Sultan of Turkey) wa s a very good Governor. which was an exc e pt
ion to the rule. He did eve rything to advance thE; c onditions of the
people under him, e s pecially education. He offe red a scholar ship
to any young man who wished to improve himself. Grandfather ,
having heard of this o pportunity, went to Egypt to vi sit some rel
atives but mainly to try to win one of the scholar ships. So he
pre pared an application addr e s s e d to Pasha and went to the palace
to pre sent it in pe rson. At the entrance the guard would not allow
him to ente r . He decided to watch hi s o pportunity, and when the
Pasha would come out he would run and hand it to him. He waited
a long time
It was a hot day and, being tired, he sat on the curb
and fell a sle e p. The Pa sha , walking by, noticed the lad and walked
toward s him. He pulled out a piece of paper which wa s sticking
out of the lad'� pocket. When he found that it wa s an application
he signed it and r e stored it to the boy ' s pocket, so carefully, that
grandfather did not awaken. The Pa sha in structed one of hi s
gua rds to watch the b oy and when he woke up to tell him to come
and s e e him the next day. Thi s is the .story of how grandfather
got the scholar shi p to Italy.
He came to a premature death a s a re sult of a
kit= k by a hor s e , leaving grandmothe r with a young family of six
boy s , the olde st, my father , about . fourte en. It i s either that my
father wa s not fond of learning or due to the new re s ponsibility
on his shoulder s , that he left s chool and went to work to support
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hi s family. He l earned weaving , which wa s a big industry in tho se
days . The looms were made of wood and each loom occupied a
lar ge s pace. All of the mate rials, whether silk or cotton, were spun by hand. They had no machinery, ther e were no good s com
ing from outside , and the re was a big demand fo r the se home
product s. So skillfull the se weaver s became that they were turn
ing out some of the mo st beautiful materials for whi ch Dama scus
was noted.
In a short time my father became very adept, and
soon he was able to suppo rt hi s family. I am told that a s a young
man he was hand some and po pular. He must have be en quite boa st
ful that he wa s afraid of nothing---haunted hou s e s , gho sts , o r
devils . Hi s friends de cided t o play a tri ck on him t o te st hi s cour
age. One night he was wo rking on hi s loom whi ch was in the mid
dle of a large building, with about 3 0 columns supporting its roof.
All the looms were idle and the place wa s dark and still with only
the fli ckering of the candlelight and the noi se of the shuttle .
A
loom oc cupies about 1 2 by 7 feet. The o pe rator sits on a stool
and with hi s feet pu she s pedals up and down and with hi s hands
pushes a shuttle back and forth, stopping occasionally to r eload
hi s shuttle . He was alone and was working away at hi s loom by
candlelight. For in tho se days the r e were no other means of
lighting. He heard a sound. When he looked up he saw an obje ct
on the floor close to hi s loom which looked like a human form
wrapped in a white she et. He pretended he did not see it and
worked fa ster than eve r , making a s much noi se as he c ould, all
the time shive ring with fear, ho ping this apparition would fade
from sight . Midnight came --no change --the quiet of the large and
empty r oom was interrupted only by the weave r ' s shuttle. He
tried to sing and whistle , but hi s voice was hardly audible and
eve ry fe � minute s he would glance in the di rection of the white
sheet without lifting hi s head. The a pparition wa s motionl e s s all
the time"which added to my fathe r ' s fear for. thought he, surely
no per s on could remain still s o long. Hi s supply of candle s was
exhausted and now, long afte r midnight, he wa s about to be left in
darkne s s . H e could not sum u p enough courage to run out. His
fe et refused to move . There he was, hi s hair standing up like
ne edles over hi s scalp, and hi s voi ce e scaping hi s control as the
light wa s flickering out. In anothe r minute the apparition could
have. its way with him. He summoned all hi s courage , picked up
a heavy club, and called out, "In the name of God, g o , or else I
shall hit you with thi s club ! It The apparition straightened quickly
and walked away. By that time the light had g one out and my
father stole out the doo r.
This joke caused my father a six month I s illnes s ,
which s ome thought would end i n tube rculosis.
I often wondered in later year s if my father was
treated with the same remedy that wa s given once to our neighbor
who had a s eve r e fright. I remember so well that one afte rnoon,
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as I ar rived from school, grandmother rushed to me with a gla s s
in her hand and asked me t o fill i t with my urine . I cried be cause
I did not like the idea. But she insisted and explained that Mi s s so
and-so had a te rrible fright and this i s the only- thing that will
cur e her. Because it ha s to c ome from the fir st-born son. No
other will do .
Thi s put an end to his weaving, and when he was well
again he opened a dry grocery stor e . Ove r ther e , the green gro
cerie s and the dry groce rie s do not mix.
B efo re my grandfather died. Ame rican Prote stant
Mis siona ri e s came to Dama s cus , and somehow my fathe r had
come in contact with them. The fir st thing they did was to study
the language in order to be able to s peak and preach Christianity.
This simple form of wor ship appealed to my father ' s
young mind, a s contrasted with the Greek Orthodox Church and
its ritual. All hi s people belonged to the Greek Church; his
mothe r ' s brother wa s a prie st and he was an altar boy. Grand
father caught him reading the mi s sionary Bible. He watched him
and to his great sur pris e found that he was fr equenting the little
mi s siona ry rooms which had been e stabli shed. He forbade him
to go ther e and many time s cha sed him out of the hou s e , telling
him neve r to return. But hi s mothe r ' s gr eat love would prevail
and again we would s e e him back home .
In.the grDcery business my father wa s very succe ss
ful, and in a short time he had the leading store in that s ection.
He was a shrewd, keen buyer and an hone st seller .
. He had the cleanest sto re and the neate st plac e . He was neat and
clean himself and very tidy and methodical. I s peak of him in
thi s way not be cause he wa s my fathe r but because many yea r s
later when our American friends met him they kept rema rking
how clean and neat he was. I have to confe s s that I did not
inherit tho se trait s.
We find him in hi s full manhood a suc c e s sful store
kee per who helped to educate his younge r brothe r s and to support
his mothe r. He used to attend the G r e ek Church to please hi s
mothe r and his uncle , but wheneve r he had a chanc e he would go
to the protestants ' me eting plac e. They held their meetings in the
evenings in some sec ret place , trying to conve rt a s many pe ople
as they c ould. It is my impre s sion that the simplicity of worship
and the good behavior of the pioneer mis sionary won more re
c ruits than the teachings themselve s . People were tir ed of kis s
ing the priest' s hand and going through outer forms of wor ship.
When the native s saw the contrast between the two forms of wor
shi p, many with independent s pirit argued to themselve s that the
religion of such people who we re ange l-like in all thei r dealing s
and showed so much love and charity must be the right one. B e
fore long the se newcome r s had a following who loved them and
loved to mix with them, and do homage to them, and in doing SO
they seemed to be ble s sed spiritually and mate rially.
�Page 4
At the same time the mis sionary i s shrewd and he
can soon tell whe r e hi s work i s most effe ctive . We find that my
father was doing a lot of busin e s s among them. Meanwhile , a
British mi s s ion opened a school in Dama scus for girls whi ch wa s
a branch of the ir large boa rding school in Beirut.
Thi s consisted of a large five room house with a
lar ge court for the childr en to play, which was used a s a school ,
and another hou se adjoining housed the B ritish superintendent,
five or six young teache r s , a cook, a chambe rmaid , and a ser
vant. As a rule every house ha s a courtyard with the rooms
built a r ound it. Many of the courts are large enough to have
tree s in them, mo stly lemon and citron. Thi s s chool, the fi rst
of its kind in Dama scus , naturally c onsumed a lot of groc e ries
and my fathe r was succe s sful in getting the busine s s. Some
time late r we learned that he gave up the store and was appoint
ed the pur chaser of the school , a move which in later year s I
think proved to be a big mi stake . He had been on the high road
to a ve ry thriving busine s s and gave it all up for the empty honor
of a s s ociating with the Eur opeans and Americans, becoming sub
s e rvient to them and catering to the ir wi she s , and left us in much
wor se cir cumstance s than we would have been in had he kept hi s
sto r e . In a way it wa s a n honor t o work fo r the early mi s siona ry,
for he wa s Chri st-like , but the later come r s were more worldly.
i imagine my faiher preferred the white color to his native dre s s
a s a stor eke e pe r and found plea sure i n his new occupation in
place of the early and late hour s that one has to kee p in a stor e .
H e r e again the mi s sionarie s had made a wi se appoint
ment, for my :athe r under stood not only how to buy and what to
buy but he unde r stood the building trade and saved greatly on
contracts be cau s e he knew value s and und e r stood the native way
of bar gaining. The Euro pean could very easily be mulcted
because , as a rule , the native take advantage of tho se European s
whom they think are rich and often a sk double fo r their goods.
In going in and out of the living quarte r s of the
s chool , whe r e he had to be pre sent at the daily prayer and some
time s conduct the servic e s himself, he gradually became attract
ed to one of the young teache r s. He watched her and gradually
became more inte re sted in her.
Thi s young teache r ' s name wa s Mary Raye s. When
she wa s a girl in the village of Hasbaya , in the Anti-Lebanon
mountain s , her fathe r was killed in the ma s sacre of 1 8 60 by the
fanatical Dru s e s and Mohammedans in a sort of Holy War intend
ed to kill all the Chri stians , not only in that village , but through
out Syria and Lebanon. Were it not for the English and the French
who landed an army and quelled the upri sing, thousands more
Chri stians w ould have been killed. From that time on Lebanon,
whi ch wa s unde r the rule of the Sultan of Turkey, wa s given its
independence and pla ced under the prote ction of Fran c e and
England. Syria, on the othe r hand, being predominantly Moham-
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medan remained unde r Turkish rule.
Mary Raye s , he r mother, siste r , and four brothe r s
.escaped with whatever they could carry of their belongings and
� came .to Beirut whe re Mary and her si ster found a sylum in the
mis sionary boarding school for girls the re. It seems that in
this school the re were many girls by the name of Mary. and in
order to be able to distinguish between them. they gave each
Mary anothe r name . So Mary Raye s ' name was changed to
Ma reeta, and many time s in the yea rs I heard that sweet name .
It wa s natural for Mareeta Raye s , who was baptized
a Greek Orthodox, to be come an ardent Prote stant about the time
of he r gr aduation as a teache r . The mi s sionarie s had taken a
diamond in the rough and had it beautifully polished, and set in
one of the sweete st characte r s who ever lived. Apparently my
father wa s a ke en observe r and , a s in othe r matte r s , could
appreciate a good thing when he saw it. He be came more and
more attracted to her , and no doubt she was attracted to him.
although she did not encourage him be cause he wa s a Damas cene
and she was a mountain girl -- and would not fit in with his
family and friend s . She knew that Dama s cene s are ve ry proud of
their city and they believe that in all the orient they a lone have
refinement, cultur e . good taste , good family and can trace their
ance stors for generations . Their etiquette and politene s s was
well-known. It wa s in vain that the efforts of hi s mother and his
uncle . the prie st. and all hi s relative s tried to dissuade him from
marrying a girl not from his home town, a strange r , a da rk
complexioned. poor girL with no dotta , not of the same taste s and
ways or faith of hi s mothe r with whom she would have to live.
While on the othe r hand he , being such a fine looking cha p . c ould
ask for the best girl in hi s Greek Chur ch, beautiful. of a good
family and with a large dowry. It is said that love ' s c our se never
run s smooth. How much roughe r it must have been in hi s time
. when he had no chance of meeting with he r alone . He had to steal
a time when in company to show he r his affections. and it was not
long before they were able to under stand each othe r. How easy,
oh how easy. to make love and fall in love nowaday s. But I venture
to say that a look of acknowledgment in return for a love r ' s
affe ctions is by far sweeter than the fr ee me eting s of the love r s of
today.
Be that as it may. the superior of the school as well
a s the teachers caught on to thi s clande stine love affair. For s ome
rea s on pe ople are very quick to catch on and take inte rest in such
things. They will put themselve s about. stay longer out of bed to
watch, or to get distracted from a good sermon, to ke e p their eye s
on.two love r s . So you s ee my father ' s love cour se did not run easy
but once it became known the mis sionarie s did not dis approve .
They ponde red that he re is a young man practically Prote stant at
heart, of good family { mark you, family counts much} , and hand-
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some (for he was of fair complexion and very good form with
good feature s , and in that country whe re the majority are dark
a fair looking man would be considered a good catch) . So they
.. liked the idea of him for their ' daughte r ' , the girl they had rai sed
from childhood. S o they encouraged the match. They also had
learned t o love my fathe r and wanted to see him married to one
whom they c onside red one of the fine st girls in the s chool.
Entertainments were ar ranged so that they could me et more
frequently, for they were not supposed to me et alone until they
were e ngaged. This is another of the customs of the country
whi.c h make s courting a tantalizing pleasur e .
How long the courtshi p continued i s not known but
the marriage did take place at any rate and the wedding ceremony
was pe rformed by a Prote stant mini ste r in the school building,
contrary to the custom of having the wedding take plac e in the
groom ' s house .
I will never forget as a boy about ten year s old when
my uncle wa s mar ried. Hi s mother and brothe r s , the family and
gue sts, left the house leaving the groom alone, and in a body they
went t o the bride ' s house whe re they were expe cted and welcomed.
by the father of the bride and the family. Afte r receiving refre sh
ments they told the fathe r that they had come to e s cort him and
his daughter and their gue sts to her new home whe r e the groom.
was anxiously waiting. The y tarried. a while to l'eceive refresh
ments then they all left the house , the priest and the bride lead
ing the pro c e s sion. When they arrived the groom met them at
the door and imm ediately after that the prie st j oine d them in
marriage . The bride and groom were placed in the best part of
the room with the ladies sitting on both side s and the gue sts
filed by to c ongratulate the m. This ove r , refre shments were
served. Mu sic and dancing consumed the time until the wee hour s
of the ·morning when a hot dinne r and sweets were served. A
honeymoon was not known in tho se days but for many days callers
continued to vi sit and congratulate the new couple who were
sup posed to r eturn the call. How different from Ame ri can cus
toms ! Here the wedding take s p�ace in the bride ' s house and
often the groom goe s to live with he r people. Over the re she
take s his pe ople a s her own and s eldom goe s home. She is expe ct
ed to do most of the work in the house.
I am not able to say if grandmother or any of her
folks w e r e present at the unusual wedding of my father and his
bride. I do know that my fathe r took hi s bride to hi s house. I
say "his bou s e " as he was paying the r ent for the house and had
his mothe r and br other s living with him, he being their main
support. Fathe r having married against his mothe r ' s wi she s,
not only made hi s mothe r ' s life unhappy but my mothe r ' s early
dome stic life was far fr om being happy too. She did her be st to
please and do her duty toward all he r in-laws. She taught s chool
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every day, going to work in the morning, coming in at noon and
returning in the afternoon.
1
need not dwell on this phase of mother's life. Only
those who have gone through similar conditions can appreciate
its meaning.
Here is where mother's true Christianity was her
greatest help. She was able to overcome evil with good. Little.
by little she won the love and admiration of all her brothers-in
law.
She not only did unto others as she would have them
do
unto
her, but she actually turned the other cheek.
Little by little grandma I s dislike turned into like,
and as the years went by, into love.
As evidence of that fact,
when three of my uncles were married grandma went to live
with them in turn and though the wives were of her selection and
faith, she could never stay any length of time in their homes.
Often she had been implored by her sons to come and live with
them, and to please them she would go, only to come back soon.
She never said why she shortened her visits, but the fact was
that her other daughters-in-law were not very good to her.
Grandma, therefore, made her home with us; she was
not interfered with in her religious exercises for she was very
devout; she had her friends and callers and wa.s a very generous
entertainer, and my father saw to it that she had her tobacco {for
she
5mokad
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her friends.
the.narge�leh)and
ccffcc <::.nd. swe ets fer herself ar..d
He provided her with the special food for the fast
days and sweet meats for the feast days, so you will see that
father was attentive to his mother and there was no doubt that my
mother was an unusual character who could win her mother-in
law to her side.
Speaking of fast days, the devout do not eat meat,
eggs, butter, milk, or fats.
They eat fish twice a week.
forty days they cook everything with olive oil.
For
When the feast
follows the fast they indulge in meats and pastries, and all the
things denied them during the fast. Our family did not fast but
joined grandma in the celebration.
o
�CH A·P TE R
2
CHILDHOOD DAYS
I was born in the early· hour s of June 26, 1872 in
the City of Dama s cus. It was no fault of mine that I was born a
boy , yet I neve r had an o ccasion to r egret it, though I do not
recall that I was much e lated about it. I had good lungs and used
the m to a gr eat advantage knowing what wonde rful music it was to
the ears of thos e around me.
My debut to this grand world 82 years ago was
looked upon a s a great occasion. itA boyl " Thi s at once put my
mothe r on a highe r pedestal a s though she had the making of it.
How welcome a boy i s - and how unwelcome a girl is! I once
read that a man in California· shot his wife be cause she presented
him with a pair of twin boys-- -you can wager on it that he was
not a Syrian - a Syrian wants no girls!
When a girl i s born in Syria the fathe r i s encouraged
by his friends that they hope the next will be a boy; they make no
fus s and say ve ry little . On the othe r hand, if it i s a boy. and
e s pe cially the first born, they treat all come r s to cinnamon tea
with nuts and also boiled wheat with sugar and nuts . Thi s take s
the place of cigar s. The fathe r i s congratulated and a lot of
music and dancing and good time s are enjoyed by eve ryone .
Mother e stablished he r self at once in the house of
Kassab d-i"Ad won hex rnother-in-Iaw's respect as she ( grand
mothe r) in the days gone by had experienc ed a similar occasion
when my father wa s born. They tell me that I wa s a good crier
and gave them very little peace - and no wonder. When I see
how children ar e brought up now and how they did it then it is
surpri sing that I and the re st of us lived t o maturity.
I am told that shortly afte r I was born my mother
develo ped bilateral brea st abs c e s s e s and she was no longer able
to nur s e me . In orde r to suck out the inflammation from he r
bre a st s my father had to scour all the alleys and street of the
neighborhood where dog s are to be found. In Dama s cus the
streets and alleys ar e filled with dogs of all age s about the size
of she phe rd dog s. A dog is a semi- sacred animal with the
Mohammedans and they are allowed to multiply fre ely. They
have no own e r s, sle e p in nooks and corne r s and are to a great
extent the scavengers of the city. They are ve ry tame and
harmle s s . Father wa s looking for a newly-born pup. He watch
ed hi s opportunity and when the mother dog left her br ood to feed.
he stole one of the pups and br ought it to nur se fr om mother's
breast. In about thre e days the pup had sucked all the inflam
mation and the breast was r e stor ed to normal. Thi s was the
only r emedy known then. In tho se days they neve r had a doctor
to deliver a baby. It was always the midwife that was called in
for the delivery. The se midwive s have no training except
experie nce. She has a s pe c ial chair built rather high and broad
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with arms and. with the seat carved out in a semicircle and a
rest for the feet.
The chair was the property of the midwife.
When the time arrives the women is placed in that chair from
which delivery is made.
When it is all over the midwife leaves
a few instructions and departs, leaving the care of the case to
the family or some good experienced neighbors who knew many
home remedies.
No wonder, therefore, that I cried so much -
it must have been from hunger.
In those days the bottle and
nipple were not known and I was carried by our servant to the
neighbors who had babies and they were asked if they would be
good enough to give me a meal.
ment, and I consider that
I
I must have had enough nourish
drank the milk of human kindness,
because these mothers fed me out of the kindness of their
..
hearts.
I guess we were too poor to afford a wet nurse
•
It was customary to employ a woman of poor cir
cumstances as a wet nurse for a newborn baby.
to the home with her own baby.
She is brought
She is not allowed to do any
thing except rest and eat the most nourishing food in order to
have enough milk for her own baby and that of her employer.
In my case, however, after my mother got over her sickness thanks to .the sucking power of the pup (evidently I was no
sucker I
)
- she was able to nurse me.
We, the Damascenes,
were supposed to be the civilized people of our time and suppos
etis-te-�-l!mewhGw�tota<k�ca-�-of�o'tl-r--little-'ones as compared with.
the Bedouins who live. in tents and migrate from place to place.
Often-times, as they are migrating a woman with child, and
who has been walking most of the day, stops on the road and
with her mother or a neighbor assisting gives birth to her
child, and after an hour or two of rest picks up her newborn
babe and catches up with the caravan.
Thanks to the fresh air
and sun's rays and hard work these women have the stamina the like of which is not known in civilized countries.
It is be
cause they eat the healthy foods with no pastries, sweets or
sugars of any kind.
It is because they live nature's way.
Bacteria were present in those days, of course, even though
..
bacteria were not yet discovered.
Mothers in that region are
healthy and strong and are able to bring to maturity about
fifty per cent of their babies, despite the scarcity of water and
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filth and flies.
Sometimes the drinking water is stagnant and
unfit to drink.
These nomads are illiterate and do not know the
meaning of hygiene and education, but they believe, "MittIe ma
bereed Allah" - "As God wills".
My mother, as soon as she was able, resumed her
duties in school leaving me to the care of grandmother and the
servant, Takla.
I really should not call her servant or maid;
aunt would be a dearer name to me.
Takla came to grandmother's
house as a little girl and she helped to raise my father and four
uncles.
She carried them all and later on nursed me and my ten
brothers and sisters.
A more faithful and honest, loving and
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careful pers on never lived. When I look back to the times when I
would run to her for a penny for candy or s omething to buy and
how she w ould pretend that she was not going to grant my request,
it makes me sorry that I did not do my part in rewarding her for
all that she had done. Later$ when she became feeble and there
was no one at home to take care of her she was placed in a home
for the aged and my sister Farreedeh contributed to her comfort
until she died.
I imagine that I was a s poiled child between grandma
and. Takla . They took care of me from nine to twelve and fr om
one-thirty to four; our house being about five minutes distance 10from the s chool. Not only the home folks spoiled me but the
school folks$ and the mi s sionaries$ the teacher s and the e:m.ployees .
l-Ay earliest recollection w a s when Moo s a would
come for me. He wa s the servant from the s chool. an old man,
and I do n ot remember what he looked like but I can see his neck
now as he carried me on his back. I used to take my fingers and
trace the line s s and c r o s s lines s o well defined in his neck the like of which I have never seen on any other person - perhaps
because he wa s so old$ but not too old to carry me back and forth.
Mrs. McIntosh. the mi s sionary lady. would car ry me
and give me bis cuits and candys and her husband would ride me in
front of him on hor seback.
! remember one teacher. Malmeh (Rogina). would
play hide-and-seek with me. I have forgotten what she looked
like but I never forgot the hiding places. I can see them now .
When I was five I had t o g o to s chool and naturally
to the s chool where I wa s so much at home. although it was ex
clusively a girl ' s school.
There I learned my alphabet and how to sew like
the girls. When I wa s still in girls' s chool I woke one morning
unable to stand up as my left leg was doubled under me and I
could not stretch it. In those days antiseptic surgery and anes
thetics were not known. The doctor had to cut the tendon under
my knee and you can bet I had good lungs. After the cut they
packed lint -or linen fiber into the wound. This wa s dres sed every
day to ar rest the continu.ous disclui.:rge of pus . This condition
kept up for about four months. Changing the dres sing s twice a
day all because in tho se days antiseptic care was not known.
Meanwhileg I went about Sliding on my hands and hips. The
doctor learned the cause--l had been making jumps from the
steps of the school and could jump higher than any of the girls.
I am a shamed to boast of it.
About the a ge of six I was transferred to a boys'
school. Over there the boys and girls do not mix. I can see the
room in the boysi school. I had a little desk in the middle of the
room. I'll never forget the time I was taught how to write. I
took up the pen with my left hand; teacher Ferhan corrected me.
lt seems I was left handed and it was awkward to u se the right hand$
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s o a s soon a s the te acher turned his back I took up the pen in the
left hand again. No soone r did I do it than he came back and took
the pen and put it in my right hand and held my hand as I tried to
write . Somehow I c ouldn' t make any headway using my right hand.
So I changed to the left hand a gain and when the teacher saw what
had happened he took a stout ruler and hit me on the finge r s of
the left hand so hard that I never again attempted to use my left
hand for writing. Although I am still left-handed, all my writing
is done with the right hand thanks to that teacher , Ferhan. of
whom I shall mention more late r .. To him I have felt a sense of
gratitude since.
My rdothe r used to dre s s me diffe rently from other
children. It wasn't s o bad when I was attending a girls' school,
but when I wa s a little olde r and among the boys it was tortur e to
me and, for thi s rea s on, which I cannot forget. There I wa s
dre s sed like a Euro pean boy with trouse rs to -P'ly kne e s and fr ills
on my ve st and a Scotch cap, shaped like a boat. with a tas sel
dangling down my back. I-wa s made the object of laughte r . I
suppose I remonstrated many a time and cried but it did not d o
any good. If my fathe r wa s stern my mothe r was mo re ste rn
and the s e clothe s had come to me from time to time as pr e se nts
from our Eur opean mi s si onarie s who . by the way. were eithe r
Irish or Scotch, and my mother felt proud to dre s s me different
ly. I suppo se I was the fir st Syrian child to go to school in such
a freakish costume and have the boys make all sorts of fun of
him and of his cap. I can see them now and in later yea rs have
laughed about it myself. But my. how I did hate myself with
those thing s on !
Many yea r s later my teacher Ferhan reminded me 0:
the way my mother used to dre s s me . I longed to be dre s s ed the
same as the r e st of the fellows with gown sha ped garment and a
belt an� a fez.in place of a hat, blit it Was out of the que stion.
My mother was very handy with the needle and many a suit she
made fo r me out of home s pun washable goods . copying pictur e s
in magazine s. Mothe r was not only good with the ne edle but she
al so wa s mechanical. She examined a straw hat one time and
de cided to make her own. So in Bluedan, a village where we spent
our summe r s , mother went out to the thr e shing floor s to which
the wheat i s brought fr om the field , gathe red the long stems of
wheat, brought it home and soaked it in wat e r over night. Then
taking seven long stems whi ch had become pliable she be gan to
braid or plait one stem ove r the othe r like plaiting a gi rl' s hai r .
When suffi cient yards had been done mothe r made the hats by
starting at the top and sewing the side of the braid over-lapping
the next in a r ound way forming a hat a s she went along. But it
was very c rude looking a s she had no mean s of pre s sing it or
molding it into form. Then she would get a white crepe or s ome
other soft mate rial to make a band and make it hang down the
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back about a foot. Fancy, I had to wear that and then go play
with the children of our mi s sionarie s whose hats we re imported
and ve ry neat looking. Although I was a child I used to make
the se comparisons to my r eal di sgust.
When I was old enough to help I used to get the
straw and braid it. Later on it was made into hats which my
sister and brothe r s had to wear. I delighted in making the braids
becaus e I knew my siste r s and brothe r s hated to wear them. So
you s e e , misery doe s love company.
The farme r s , after harve sting the wheat in the
fields, bundle it up. load it on their donkeys and bring it to the
thre shing floor s. Each farme r has hi s floor and here he make s
a big mound in the cente r of the floor. The thre shing method then
was a s primitive a s it was in our Saviour!s thne. The farmer
s pr ead s a bed of the wheat around the mound about six feet wide
by eight inche s thi ck. Next he place s a heavy thick board, six
by three fee t wide . T o the unde r surface of the board little squar e
pockets a r e carved out whi ch are fitted with pie ce s of flint stone
pr otruding half an inch above the surfa c e . T o thi s board he
hitche s two cows for the pur pose of pulling the board around the
mound and the farme r sits on it to add to its weight. As the cow
goe s r ound and round ove r the be d the stone s on the under part
of the board act like teeth and cut and chop the blades of wheat
and straW. After a f�w hou.rs of circlin.g around the straw i s
chopped up fine and the wheat is se parated from its blade s. This
done , the whole mas s is pushed to the side and a new lot of straw
is spread a round and the cow pulls thi s board as before until the
mound is reduced into s omething like fine chaff. The farme r
waits for a certain gentle breeze and then he tos se s, by means
of a fork� s ome of thi s ground straw into the air. The breeze
blow s the chaff a di stance of about 1 5 to 20 feet away, leaving
the grain to drop back. This i s r e peated until the chaff i s s e par
ated enti rely fr om the wheat. The time it take s to complete 5 0
bushels o f wheat depends o n the breeze - - if i t is too strong the
farme r stops the throwing of the straw into the air becau s e the
wind car r i e s the grain with the chaff. I have seen the farmer
come down fr om the top of the mound becau s e the wind died down,
or be cau s e it be came too strong. The whole operation r equired
about 3 to 4 weeks. C ompare thi s with the Ame rican harve ster
which could do all thi s in 5 minut e s time. How fortunate the
Ameri can farmer is; what a saving of time and effort, while the
Syrian fanner even today carrie s on the same a s did hi s fore·
. fathe r s befo re him. Lucky for him, however , he doe s not worry
about rain which would ruin hi s c ro ps, a s all summer long they
have n o r ain or cloud s .
I said before that my father wa s very severe; I had
to obey him at onc e. espe cially when I received no syxnpathy from
mothe r. Grandmothe r once in a while would stand between me
and the stick, and Takla often would get the stick on her in my
defens e . Neve rthe le s s, I learned e arly in life t o obey my father
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and mother . My father used to say that the stick was c reated in
paradise. The effect of such fear followed me long afte r I be came
a father myself so that years afterward should I be told even by
lette r to do something, though enti rely against my Wishe s, I
would do it. I can it say that it was all fear, some of it wa s due
to my desire to obtain long life, according to the holy promise.
In my early life I was-ve ry sickly and was obliged to
take a lot of old-school medicine - and it really was old-s chool.
Quinine and castor oil and mustard plaste rs, which I had to grind
in a mortar by hand and, believe me, fre sh mustard is hot stuff.
I can see myself dancing when I would be obliged to kee p the
mustard plaste r on my che st for fifteen minute s. It did the trick,
however.
Teacher Fe rhan used to wonder how quickly I could
recover from a bad cold or cough. I might be very ill with a
cough on leaving school but I would be out one day only and the
following day I would be back as well a s ever. He did not know,
howeve r, that my treatment started with a mustard plaster of
the hottest kind, then bathing the feet with wate r that had mustard
in it, followed by a hot drink and the next morning a doe s of
ca stor oil, and in the afternoon a dose or two of quinine. My
expe rience s with ca stor oil I will never forget.
My earlie st recolle ction i s of one rnorning when I
wa.s-told�Qcdr,in�,halLa glass of it. My rI.lot1l.ex coax�d and
coaxed and bribed but every time I put it to my mouth and smelled
it no money in the world could entice me to taste it. Then my
fathe r came on the s cene. He tried until hi s patience wa s exhaust
ed. He threatened to whip me, which he did, and between s obs 1would s crew my mouth, then he would lick me again until g rand
mother could not stand it any longe r so she called out to him,
"The boy i s sick; you will kill him! II This started me on anothe r
crying s pe ll. Fathe r told he r that if I should die I would have to
drink it.
Finding that I wa s getting too much sympathy and he
was being conque red, he had to dre s s me up, took me by the
hand, and in the other hand the gla s s of castor oil and a stick
which he hid unde r hi s c oat, and took me to the girl's s chool.
It happened to be Sunday and all the rooms were empty. He took
me into one room, locked the door and said, "Drink! I I I put it to
my lips but I couldn't g et it any furthe r. Angry, he stooped and
took off both my shoe s, laid me down flat on my back. took up
both my fe et between his legs. exposing the sole s. and with the
stick gave me a few sharp stroke s. 1 cried out, "I will drink, I
will drinkl", but when the glas s went to my lips and I smelled
the stuff it se emed impo s sible for me to open my teeth. "All
right. ", he said, and down I was thrown with my feet between
hi s legs again. and thi s time the blows were more seve re.
"Please, plea se, I will drink. ya abee ." (fIlY fathe r ) . He stopped
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and the glass was again applied to my lips. For s ome reason I
could not drink it; again he had me between his leg s and thi s
time the stick was te rrifi c. "Please; ya abee (my fathe r ) J I will
. drink!", but s omehow as s oon as I was on my feet though they
were' s o sore I could hardly stand, s omething would stop me from
drinking. This pe rformance re peated itself five or six time s and
you can imagine with what severity I was whi pped as hi s patience
was exhausted and he forgot that I wa s sick. Howeve r , my crie s
of, "I will drink this time , I will drink thi s time 1" che cked him
and the minute the glas s touched my lips I swallowed its contents
as though it w e re the be st cup of chocolate . In fact, if it had been
poison I would have devoured it. Thi s proved to be the greate st
le s son for me. Afte r that there was no medicine too bitter or
too dista.steful to takeo From that tirn.e on the minute my father
or mothe r s aid, "E shrab. drinku, down it went. Thi s was a
great help to the family for I was always sickly and frequently
taking medicine and when I wa s not sick I had to take code live r
oil, the c rude st kind. thre e time s a day . About ten o ' clock one
morning my father walked into the s chool room with a large spoon
in one hand and a bottle of the horrid stuff in the other. He called
me to him, poured the oil down my throat and walked out without
saying a word. to the amazement of the teacher and the boys . and
to my mortification. D o you suppose that I eve r forgot to drink
my mp.dkine before going to school? I have known myself to
come back halfway to drink it. Is it any wonder that when I had
children of my own I had home opathic medicine for them ? I was
dete rmined that I should not let them suffe r as I did. Though my
fathe r wa s ste rn, he als o wa s kind. He often made me eat chops
and dr ink wine to make bloods as 1 was pale looking and he loved
to see me with pink cheeks, but. alas, it was not the nature of the
beast.
There was nothing within fathe r' s means that he did
not get or do for hi s familYa Early in l1is n1.arried life» if not
before he mar ried. he heard of a small village in the Anti-Lebanon
mountains where the summe r s are cool and the climate i s ideal
for children. Damas cus. being conside red hot be cause it i s
closely built, h e cho s e Bluedan for hi s summer vacation of three
months. To realize what it means to take the family the re one
would have to know what Bluedan wa s then.
' and, though s omewhat
improvedg what it is now.
B luedan i s a small village 5 5 0 0 feet above sea level
on the side of a high mountain looking down ove r a beautiful
valley called Zebdani . Thi s valley i s surrounded by mountains
and at the ve ry farthe st end. standing majestically opposite the
village. i s a ve ry high mountain, Mt. He rman, capped with per
petual snow, completing a beautiful panorama. Mt. Herman i s ,
or I should say used t o be , the s ource of supplying snow for all
the 250. 0 0 0 inhabitants of the city of Dama s cus for all summe r .
It was quite a n industry until manufactured i c e was introduced
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to the country. The se snow deale r s go up and pack the snow hard
in canva s bag s , load them on their donkeys , and bring them to
town Many 'is the time when 1 was rl11!, h ed to the market to buy
three-quarte r s of a penny ' s worth of snow to make lemonade or
some soft drink when vi sitor s called to see u s . The deale r sawed
off a pie ce of snow about a foot long, wei ghing two pounds. This
was our only way of refrigeration. Howeve r . it was seldom that
we had to buy snow as our mode of life was governed by using
the things that the hot atmos phe re would not affect. For instancep
milk will sour in summe r in le s s than twelve hours unl e s s it i s
boiled and then i t might la st twenty-four hour s. T o ove rcome
this the milkman br ing s hi s goats to the alley close to the hou se
and milks the goat in front of you into your own pail. He is ready
to milk for you any goat you prefer. A s a rule he has what we
call a milk r oute. He know s his customer s and about how much
each needs. When all the goats have bee n milked he take s them
to graze until the next morning. It i s amazing how they know the
way in and out of the city. The milk i s consumed raw by young
and old. The rest is boiled for the use of the children that even
ing. Goat milk i s the national milk food of Syria. One can get
cow milk but not in large quantitie s . All our che e se s a re made
of goat milk. I unde rstand that the medi cal world prefe rs goat
milk for tuberculosis patient s; perhaps this accounts for the
small percentage of this disease in Syria where less than �even
per cent suffe r from tuberculosis.
A s for meat, the butche r slaughte r s j ust as many
goats and she e p as he estimate s he can s ell. Meat i s bought to
be eaten the same days othe rwi s e it would go bad. So the snow
from Mt. Herman was used for making i ce cream and for cool
drinks only. No doubt it was the high e st mountain as the early
sun hit its white peak before the other mountains, making a ve-r:y
be autiful sight in the stillne s s of the morning. To me the scenery
of Bluedan is unsur pas sed and I might state here that there is noi
a spot in the world that I love as well a s Bluedan: I love l(;S
wate rp its air 9 its rocks and rills. its mountains , and, above all,
its c ool summer s and quiet atmosphere, its stars which seem so
bright and close that you fe el you could touch them. I have
traveled into many lands but have not seen anything to equal it.
I might have been pre judiced be cau se of its being the playground
of my boyhood days, but I have vi sited it in my more mature day s
and i t still ha s its charm. So to thi s spot my father br ought the
family when i t was compo sed of three only and the maid.
To go the re from Damas cus it was nece s sary to ride
a donkey or mule and travel for about ten hour s , a very long and
tiresome trip. At fir st I had to ride in front of my father who
carried me in hi s arms. When sister Fareedie carne I had to
ride in front of mothe r or Takla be cause I was not old enough to
ride alone. When siste r Asma carne my father conceived the
idea of making boxe s. Inside of each he placed a board for a
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seat so that a child could sit on the seat a s though he were sitting
on a chair , with all the sides high enough to prevent him from
faJling off. T o the four corner s of each box stout sticks were
. placed upright and ove r them he threw a pie ce of cloth fastened
to form. a little tent to shelter the child from the sun. It wa s a
unique idea. He called it Maharra. The two boxe s were fastened
to the side s of the donkey- making it a ve ry safe way to carry a
child a distance of thirty-five miles and consuming ten hour s time .
It eliminated the danger of falling off but the child could stand up
and m.ove about. Sister Was placed in one and I in the other and
we could just about see each othe r ove r the back of the animal.
When Adele carne ,. A sma and Far eedie were placed in the se boxed
chairs with cushions and with cushions unde r me I rode on the
back of a donkey between them. It wa.s very picture sque with the
white tent covering all. Fancy me riding under thi s tent and
having the bridle of the donkey in my hand with my si ste r s look
ing at me in wonde r. Taufeik carne , Fare edie took my place on
the donkey and I could ride on a mule between two packs. The se
packs were big bundle s of bedding and clothing which we needed
on our three m.onth' s vacation. They were cove red with canvas
or car pet and two of them made a mule load. Sometime s I rode
between large boxes c ontaining pots and di she s , and also our
supplie s for the whole time such as flour . lentils , butte r , oil,
taheeneh, addameh, and bizzer sweets and sugar be cause little
could be obtained at the one small store in Bluedan.
But what joy the s e pre parations br ought to my
heart l I shall never be able to de scribe them. For a we ek be
forehand we were pre paring. Our start was never decided on
until the evening before or until enough donkeys and mule s had
come from Bluedan with their produce and were going back empty.
s o we alway s had to have everything ready. The idea of packing
up for Bluedan was great. I packed up my game s early and plan
ned many things ! wa s going to need the re and ! wa s going to
sur pirse the Bluedan country boy s with toys such as flare s ,
matche s , fir eworks and other game s .
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MY
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3
and AUNT
The summe r vacation, I thought, would neve r c ome,
and it didn' t until the middle of July. We always looked fo rward
to Uncle Saleem' s visit. Thi s wa s one of the g reat occasions of
my life. Uncle would c ome from B ei rut about the middle of June
to examine the s chools and s end a yearly re port to the mi s sion
in England. Hi s wo rk was to vis it about thirty-five s chool s in
Syria and to r e port dir e ctly to the mi s sions. The day w a s always
set and we would all g o out to mee t him for about an hour ' s car
riage ride from Damas cu s . He used to c ome by diligen c e , a
lar ge coach with two decks holding about s ixteen peo ple and
pulled by s ix hor s e s .
In those days ther e w e r e n o railroads in Syria and
this was conside red one of the mo st c omfortabl e . a s well a s one
of the swifte st, mode s of travel. C e rtainly it was an improve
ment ove r hor seback. which requir e d about thre e days to make
the j ourney while the dili gence could make it in ten hour s . A
French c ompany had the c once s sion from the g overnment to e s
tabli sh this road, about ninety mil e s l ong, consi sting of c rushed
stone with fine r smooth stone on top. pre s se d down by heavy
steam r oller s to make it smooth and hard. Thi s c om pany had
two coache s , one leaving Bei rut and one leaving Dama s cu s e a ch
morning. T o make the tri p in such a short time they had to
divide the journey into nine stations at hour interval s , and the
hor s e s galloped the gr eat e st part of e a ch hour. Immediately upon
their ar rival at the fir st station six fre shly groomed and harne s s
ed hor s e s wer e standing and ready , and the tir e d hor s e s were
r e plac e d in le s s than five minute s . It wa s .amazing to us Syrians
to obs erve the pe rfe ction, neatne s s and promptne s s of thi s
company and to notice how the equipment was well kept and the
hor s e s ver y well groomed .
This mode o f travel c ontinued until the r ailroad wa s
introduced into the country which took pla ce after my d e partu r e
f o r Ame rica. I t w a s very exciting t o watch the s e six hor s e s
gallop and I used to walk a little di stance past the station to s e e
them c oming and would run with them. Dumme r was the la st
station before arriving at Dama s cu s and we would hir e two , and
sometime s thre e , carriage s and the family and friends would g o
out to Dumme r to meet Uncle Saleem who was s cheduled to ar
rive about 4 P.M. But we would go out· early and make a day of
it, a r eal picnic with many g ood things such a s chopped meats in
dough c alled J sfe eha ' , and thick c r e am in dough crusts , candie s
and fruits. W e would g o t o a garden along the banks of the river s
Abana and Pha r pa r . the two rive r s mentioned in the Bibl e , and
with our rugs and cushions we sat under the shade tree s and
amongst the flower s enjoye d a rar e day in June . F r om my ear
liest childhood I r emember my great longing to ride with the
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c oa chman and to have the coachman hand me the rein s of the two
hor s e s to h0ld. That wa s a thrill in my life and my g re at ambi
tion for year s was to be c ome a c oachman when I grew up, s o
Uncle Saleem' s trip was a red lette r day in my life .
At 4 P.M. we would me et the diligence and welcome
uncle and take hold of hi s portmanteau and hi s ba sket of lunch
which would contain enough food for a dozen men. I always made
sure to take care of it, at least look at it. for it u sually c ontained
fried chickens , orange s . banana s , and cane sugar . The two latte r
are foreign to D ama s cus , a s the climate i s too c old for banana s
and the s oil i s not fit for cane suga r , s o you can s e e why I took
good care of the basket.
After the ki s s e s of welcome . (the Syrian men also
ki s s each other . One time in America I witne s sed the me eting of
two brothe r s who had not s een each othe r for 17 year s . Y ou can
bet they were not Syrians be cau s e they were s ati sfied with the
cold shake of the hand. Syrians would have ki s s e d and hugged
each other ) lemonade and a na r ge e1eh smoke we r e enj oyed and a
general g ood time wa s had until dark. The drive home often was
by moonlight and this wa s to me the most wonde rful trip in the
world. Late r in life I took that drive a s often a s I could and on
the way at one of the se spots I had the dream of my life fulfilled.
Uncle a s a rule s pent two Sundays with us and he was s cheduled
to preach one Sunday in the chur ch. He wa s short and lame; one
shoe wa s:iC padded wiih a hee l about iour inche s high, and he carr
ied a stout cane . He was fai r of c omplexion with blue eye s . Hi s
mothe r died when he wa s s even and grandfather ma r r ied a s e cond
time , with my father being the fir st-born s on of the se condcma r r
iage . But Uncle Saleem wa s rai s ed by my gr andmothe r and she
loved him a s dear ly a s he r own and he loved her also. So we
always looked up to him a s the olde st uncle . He was very bright · . .
and studious from hi s ea rly boyhood. I am told that he used to
take the oil lamp to hi s room and study until his fathe r would
ord e r him to put it out. He would put the light out for a few min
ute s and late r he would light it up again and study. Late r he went
to England and while the re delive red a le cture in London and wa s
congratulated for his good English. One man went s o far a s t o
tell him that he knew Engli sh better than h e himself. He said
what surprised him mos t was that after the le cture he wa s in
vited to partake of refre shments and on the way home he bought
the evening paper and was astoni shed to find hi s speech already
printed in it. He was ma ste r of s ix languag e s and the author of
several books . and the c ompo s e r of the only Arabic-English
dictionary.
In Beirut, hi s home city. as well as in Syria and
Egy pt, he wa s considered one of the thre e learned men of his
time . It i s no wonde r that he would be invited to preach, and hi s
se rmon w ould be c onsidered a gr eat tr eat to the pe ople who knew
him. But it was no treat for my i mmature mind.
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While I believe a child should learn the habit, of going
to church r egula rly, I think it is cruel to make a little boy sit
still in church as �y father used to make me do. With him ne ar
me it was out of the que stion to move about or look back at the
peo ple behind. In fact, I never was able to fall a s le e p fo r just a s
soon a s my eyes clo sed a little h e would nudge me to stay awake ;,
and, what made matter s wor s e , he used to drag me to the evening
service . Perhap s thi s i s one r e a son why I was lax with my own
children and did not forc e them to go to chur ch again st thei r will.
The wee k he s pent with us eve ry year wa s memor
able as we had a 'lot of company and so many good things to e at.
Of c our s e , I was on my be st behavior a s hi s son, Amin, was ten
months younge r than I and while I did not know him I used to hear
how bri ght he was and hoped that Uncle would think well of me.
At time s he would a sk me a few que stions but I neve r was able to
know if he thought well of my learning.
I never forgot how Uncle Saleem used to thr ow him
self on the divan aft e r lunch for ten minute s . He had the powe r
to relax, snor e and wake up at the exact la st minute.
He had thr e e sons and thr e e daughter s . The elde s t
s on Ameen mar ried my s i ste r . I n the e arly part o f this story I
mentioned that g randfathe r mar ried twic e . Accordingly . s i ste r
Far eedeh mar ried her half- c ousin. Ameen, Shukri and A s s e z
cotnbined�toget"he r cmd in tirn�e had the large�t department stor e
in Beirut. Salma mar ried and i s living i n California. Najla died
at the a ge of 1 7 and Ma rrie r etired afte r e stablishing a national
gi rl s ' s chool in Bei rut during World War 1. Due to the fact that
all mi s si on scho ols we r e clo sed, this s chool has flourishe d and
today it i s r e cognized by the g ove rnment. Since then cousin
Mar ri e has retired and live s in England, having mar ried a di s
tant cou s in by the name of George Ka s sab.
Uncle Sale em died suddenly while praying at the a ge
of 7 3 . He was at the girls s chool c onducting the morning s ervice .
A s he was praying he c ould not finish but stamme r ed and the
li stene r s noti ced that something wa s w rong. They caught him
just before he r eached the floor . It wa s a most w onderful ending
to a wonde rful life I
Some of the othe r memorable days whi ch I go over in
my thought s quite often are the o c c a s onal vi sits of my othe r
uncle s . Fi r st Uncle G e o r ge . Uncle was about twelve ye a r s old
when he left s chool and started to work in an office. Hi s abilitie s
a s a bookke e p e r be came r e cognized and when the o p portunity
opened for him while he wa s still in hi s teens he a c c e pted a pos
ition in the gove rnment in Nablous . a city in Pale stine , known in
the Bible a s Shake em. He became a keen politician, tall and p r e
pos s e s s ing . gene rou s to a fault. o f a lovable nature whi ch soon
won him hi s way to the highe st position in that di stri ct. A s the
year s w ent on he be came the city treasurer and that wa s the
hi ghe st offic e a Chri stian could hold in the Turki sh governme nt.
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He r e ceived a de coration and a sword from the Sultan of Turkey
in r e c o gnition of spe cial se rvi ce to the g ove rnment. Also a title of R afatloo , which pr e ce ded hi s name a s we u s e the word 'honor
able ' . I r e c all his fir st tri p home when he came to choose a wife ,
and hi s subsequent wedding. Grandmothe r and mother canva s s e d
the Orthodox G reek Church member s and followe d up any lead
until they found a pr etty girl of a good and healthy family. The
health of the family is one of the fir st thing s t o c onside r . After
me eting her a few time s the engagement ring was placed on her
fing e r , and late r the wedding took place in our house. I was still
quite y oung but I will neve r forget thi s g rand o c ca si on. The house
wa s de corated with li ghts and a s pe cial canopy in the court for
the musicians with one r oom e s pecially for pre paring the refre sh
ments and drinks. But what m.ade me proud was the pre s ence at
the gate of a Kawa s s , or gendarme , who wa s stationed at the gate
to admit only tho s e who we r e invited. The re we r e a lot of boys
and gi rls who lived in the neighborhood standing outside looking
in and I felt so big going in and out feeling how the other boys
envied me , e s pe cially when I would c ome out with sweet mef3.ts for
the Kawa s s . I s till can s ee the table laden with good thing s , the
little r oom whe re the lemonade and arack ( the national drink) wer e
s e rved fr om, and the pa rt of the court whe r e the or che stra was
playing , and the bride sitting in the parlor with all the ladie s .
The r e 1 did not entcI" but just pee ped in once i n a while .
Thi s i s the Uncle George who pur chased Jacob ' s
well, whe r e our Savio r a sked the Samaritan woman to give Him
a drink, and the ground around it from a Mohammedan. Uncle
George late r gave it to the Greek Orthodox Chur ch. He himself
belonged to the Orthodox Church. Ja cob ' s Well was owned by a
Mohammedan who wa s delinquent in hi s taxe s . The pr ope rty was
bei:ng sold for taxe s and Uncle bought it. although he could have
s old it to the Catholic C hur ch for a ve ry la rge sum of money, s o
you c a n unde r stand what a welcome uncle r e c e ived each time he
visited D ama s cu s after that. He br ought hi s valet with him eve ry
time he came to s e e us, partly to lighten the work of the family
and pa rtly to wait on him, a s hi s vi sits we r e very lengthy. Uncle
was ve ry gene r ou s . He would give me a dollar to get him s ome
thing and then he wouldn 't take the change . And I was proud of the
cla s s of p e o ple who carne to call on him. Pa sha s , bisho p s , and
banker s c arne . Uncle wa s ve ry generou s with my father - many a
load of s oa p and olive oil he s ent u s . He loved Dama s cus and
whenever he c ould he w ould corne and s pend a month or two . His
vi sits we re delightful to me a s we always had a lot of company
and friends with s inging and game s . and what gave us the most
delight w a s Unc le Ge or g e , the banana man. ofwhom rshall � pea.klate r .
Uncle John wa s next in a g e to Uncle George. H e wa s
a fur r i e r by trade and made hi s home with u s . He loved us a s hi s
own and loved my mothe r and she loved him. In fact, all my
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uncle s loved my mother . Uncle John was one of the family. Many
a night he brought hi s work home and would start to work after
supper. I c ould see him s pr eading his work which w ould be a
long ove r c oat . down to the he els . for some rich Mohammedan
mer chant. Eve ry part of the inside he lined with fur . leaving a
fluffy fur mostly made of fox showing the full length of the coat
on the outs ide edge s . making the a ppearance most attra ctive. He
took small pi ece s . matching them and sewing them from the bac k
by hand s o that when h e w a s done one would think the fur w a s one
pelt. He was ve ry s killful in hi s line . I r emembe r when Mi s s
Lizzie O 'Neill. of whom I shall s pe ak late r . was in Dama s cu s .
she wanted a fur colla r . H e could not get he r one whole skin but
found a lot of pie c e s of fox fur which. when he placed togethe r .
you could not tell i t was not one pie c e of fur . Later when she
took it to a furrier in Philadelphia the man told he r . "Madam.
whoever s old you thi s fur cheated you. Why it is made up of
many piece s . 1I But when she explained the man was sur prised
and praised the work
Many morning s about four-thirty o r five 0' clock he
a r o s e to fini sh his work and mama w ould get up and do her sew
ing . and she would als o wake me up to do my studying. The three
of u s w ould sit about a coal oil lamp p e r ched on a long bra s s
candle stick and a cha rc oal stove . which I fanned to glow, nea r
us . Often uncle s ent me t o buy him. homo s-bet.,he eneh fer
breakfa st or homos to make ti s kyeh. This w a s one of our winte r
breakfa sts. Another was fried dough with olive oil. Eve ry family
made their own bread. In fact they bought thei r yea r ly supply in
the fall. Many time s the whole family would sit togethe r and
pick the little stone s f ound in the wheat, making sure it wa s
thoroughly dry. Lat e r it w a s s ent to the mill in sacks t o be mill
ed into eith e r whole wheat flour or white flour with the bran r e
moved. It w a s my j ob to a c company the sack, which i s carried
on the donkey ' s back, to the mill. I was cautioned by my fathe r
to kee p my eye on it and s e e that the miller didn't exchange it
for an infe rior g rain o r steal any of it. U sually it consume
. d a
whole day from s chool .
The flour w a s mixed the ni ght before; a pie ce of
dough the s i ze of an orange i s ke pt fr om the previou s d ough.
Thi s dough be come s the yea st c ake for the next mix and it
enleavens the whole bread a s illu strated in the Bibl e . I am sure
our Savior did not have in mind the small square yea st cake you
buy at the corne r store . In the morning it was r eady to be made
into loave s - usually about a hund r e d loave s or mor e at a time.
The s e flattened dough c ake s or loave s are placed betwe en sheets
of cloth to kee p them f r om sticking togethe r. The bake r s ends a
boy to c arry the dough in a large wooden tray on hi s he ad to the
bake ry whe r e it i s baked and then returned. Many morning s w e
fried s ome o f the b r e a d with oil and eve ryone i n the family ate
it with r eli sh, e s pecially with butte r and mola s s e s. Our main
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wint e r breakfast c onsisted of che e s e , black and g re en olive s , also
mola s s e s mixed with se same seed oil and pre s e rve s . Hot milk
was pr ovided for the children and coffe e and tea for the olde r
folk s . In the s pring and summe r fruits were added, pink and black
mulbe r ri e s , apricots , fi gs and cucumb e r s . I recall with pleasure
the little g roup on an early winte r morning a round the oil lamp,
each one qui etly doing hi s work. When Uncle had one of the s e c oats
fini shed quite often he w ould send it to its owner by me and often
I would be handed a tip. Uncle John als o dealt in goat skins. He
would buy twenty to thirty skin s at a time just out of the s�aughter
hou se and we had a d rying pla ce for them. He always paid me so
much a skin to hang them on the line to dry. Thi s gave me a
sou r c e of income in pennie s and dime s .
After my father gave u p his houle in DaIna s cu s , when
all the children had left him, and he made hi s horne in Bluedan in
winte r a s well as summe r p Uncle John ke pt house for hi s mother .
H e had hi s horne nicely furni shed and when any o f u s went to
Danlas cu s we felt we we r e going horne to him. He had a cha rac
te risti c c ough due to hi s inveterate smoking. He took life easy
and never married and did not seem to worry . Eve ry afte rnoon
about four o r five o ' clock you would find him in a cafe bridging
the rive r whe re he and Uncle G e o r g e , the banana man, met to
play e ithe r dominoe s or ba ckgammon. He and the banana man
we !" e !!O! o!!ly � ousins but inse parable Chllm.S . He died at the age
of 70 due to pneumonia. In other word s , he smoked him.s elf to
death.
N ext to him carne Uncle Alexande r . Uncle , I was
told , was qu ite young when hi s fathe r died and on s eve ral occa s
ions my fath e r had t o lick him. All I know of hi s early life was
that he went to a city called Sult when he was still in hi s teens
and wa s employed a s a g overnment cle rk. He, too, like Uncle
George., advanced very rapidly and be came a favor ite among not
only the Turki s h employee s but among ihe native Arabs. As soon
a s he c ould afford it he bought a hor se and learned to ride. He
was tall, well built. quite athletic , and hor seback r iding developed
him a great deal. As he prospered he bought five hor s e s from the
fine st Arabian sto ck. He rode s o well that he c ould turn unde r the
belly of the hor s e while it wa s galloping. It was no trouble for
him to pick u p a handker chief at a fa st gallop. I am told that the
Arabians marvelled at hi s skill. They said, IIHe learned from u s
and beat us. 1t He loved h i s hor s es. and s eldom went to b e d without
first g oing to the stable s to pat them.. He neve r allowed hi s s e r
vants to give them unwa shed barley, and often s aid he could never
love a wife a s well a s hi s hor s e s . Uncle Alexande r p r o s pered in
Su},t as much as Uncle G e orge pros pered in Nablous . He, too,
attained the highe st offi c e a Christian could reach under the
Turki s h rul e . The gove rnor and Turki s h officials w e r e frequent
vi s itor s in his horne . SuIt was an out-of-the-way plac e with no
hotels and visitors were welcome at hi s house. He was loved by
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the native s and practi cally had everything his own way. Pe ople
would seek him for advic e when in trou�le. They would go to
Abo Kas sab, as they used to call �im.
It wa s nothing to kill a. lamb for a vi sitor or a she e p ,
or two or thre e chickens. He had plenty o f servants and plenty o f
money. Little by little he c olle cted s ome o f the fine st Arabian
steeds . Among them was one s pe cial mar e which no money c ould
buy from him. Uncle G e orge ' s fir st son was called, Habeeb, and
Uncle Alexander wa s ve ry fond of him. He was a boy about ten
(he died befo r e he was twenty ) . Uncle promi sed to give him half
inte r e st in the c olt should hi s fine stee d have one . In the c ourse
of time the mare gave birth to a beautiful female c olt. It wa s s o
beautiful that uncle wa s afraid it would b e stolen i n that r e gion,
so he de cided to s end it to Dama s cu s whe r e it would be safe . He
wrote to my father and told him that half of thi s little hor s e be
longed to his ne phew Habe eb, but he being too young to rai s e it,
he thought that if Wade a , meaning me , would take care of it he
w ould give him one half of Habeeb' s sha r e . I raised it, fed it,
s c rubbed it, g roomed it daily , and also c ombed it and took it out
to the c ountry outside of the walled city. At fir st it was about my
' he i ght but in a short while it be came s o large that I could hardly
reach its back, but, oh, I loved it and it loved me . In the c ountry
I would let it loo se and she would run so far away that I thought
she had run away for g ood. I w ould call he r . and she w ould stop
and li sten and then start to gallop in my dire ction. I always had
s ome rai sins and would hold them in my hand and she would pick
them up so gently with he r lips. I was so proud taking he r in and
out of the city. D ama s cu s w a s a city surr ounded with a high wall
and one ente r s it through the gate s . The outs ide was a1l c ountry
and open r oads and the little c olt was free to run. Eve ryone
would look at he r in admi ration and s ay Y e kzi-ee-aine , meaning
I tkeep the evil eye off he r " . Thi s is a very c ommon saying; it is
a wi sh o r praye r meaning , " God kee p the evil eye off ! I I You
naturally s ay it eve ry time you s e e something out of the ordinary
and want to say s omething ni ce
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When the time came for the colt to be br oken my
uncle would not trust anyone to do that but himself, s o he s ent fo r
he r . He, s ent a lette r of thanks for my good care for he saw a
wonderful change in he r . She r eally was beautiful.
While he had he r and was riding he r the governor saw
he r , admired her and s aid to uncle , " Thi s horse �S' fit to be in
the Sultan' s stable s and I would like you to s e ll it to me to send
to the Sultan a s a pre s ent. " Of course uncle knew what he me ant !
He wanted uncle to send it to the Sultan o r give it to him. It had
been the practice , or I should s ay the custom, that should a
gove rnor or a prominent per son admire anything in your hou se.
you are suppo sed to send it to hi s house a s a pre s ent. And many
a thing uncle s ent to the g ove rnor and high offi cials whi ch he
really needed and should have ke pt for himself. For instanc e ,
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he almost neve r wore out a pai r of embroide red slippe r s which
my mothe r made for him. Very little of the gallons and gallons
of wine and arack which my fathe r made for him did he kee p o r
drink. O f c our se thi s gene r o s ity gave him mor e pre stige and
. the re was nothing that uncle wante d from tho s e offic ials which he
did not get.
He had taken many a per s on out of prison and put
many into pri s on and pe ople from all a r ound r e c o gnized thi s fact
and would a ppeal to him when in trouble . Y ou can appre ciate what
a r eque st the g ove rnor made when he admired the hor s e .
My uncle s aid to him, " Y our honor , the r e i s nothing
I po s s e s s whi ch I would not gladly s end to the Sultan but, unfor
tunate ly, thi s hor s e i s not mine . It belong s to my ne phew s , one in
?{ablou s and one in Darna s cuso I shall \.v rite and a s k them if they
would want to s ell it. " He wrote a lette r to my father and said to
him, I I W r ite me a lette r and s tate in it that Wade a is very fond of
the hor se and it w ould break his heart to part with it. II Uncle
George s ent a s imilar lette r about hi s s on and when the governor
saw the lette r s he wa s s ati sfi ed.
While on the subj e ct I want to tell of the time when
Uncle Alexande r shared owner ship of a hor s e w ith a Moham.m.edan
friend . It had c o st uncle one thousand pounds o r · five thousand
dolla r s , which i s e qual to fifteen the s e days. The Mohamme dan
had the hor s e in Dama s cus . When he heard that uncle wa s home
on a vi sit he br ought the ho r s e over to show it to him. A prettier
hor s e I neve r saw� beautifully forrned, lar ge and plump. Uncle
Alexande r was di sappointed. The hor se had had no exe r cise and
too much food whi ch, a c cording to the Arabian' s idea of a good
hor s e , i s wr ong. A hor s e should be thin and lean and hungry look
ing , one that doe s not get tired in a race. Of c our s e it must be a
ste ed with a full pedi gre e . which i s taken into c onside ration.
Thi s friend gave the hor s e plenty to eat and little if any exe r c i s e
so thai the poor thing was anxious t o get out and run and jum.p.
The Moham.m.edan went into the parlo r with Uncle Alexander and
I stood outside watching the hor s e . I, too, must have been fond of
hor s e s and c razy to ride. Uncle John came along and was admir
ing the hor s e . I begged him to lift me up and let me take a ride .
The hor s e wa s quite high and it was impos sible for me to get on
it alone . Uncle lifted me up thinking that I w ould just go up and
down the lane once or twi ce'. I went up and down the lane s everal
time s and then ke pt going towar d the Bazaar , called Babtooma.
The ho r se started to prance fi r st to one side and then to the othe r .
When you realize that the street had n o pavement and that people
walked in the middle of the street as well as the s ide s , it is a
wonde r that I didn 't run ove r s omeone . It occupied the full width
of the stre et and everyone had to get out of its way. My fathe r
happened to be one of tho se who had to ste p out of the hor s e ' s
way and when he saw me he looked at me angrily and s aid, lIG od ' s
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wrath on you" . Of c ou r s e I anticipated a licking but what wa s
that to my thrill. fo r no king ever felt bigge r and greate r o r had
a greate r s ensation of pride. I was hardly able to contr ol the
hor s e for it wanted to run and in holding he r back she would
thr ow her s elf fi r st on one side of the street then on the other .
But s omehow I manag e d to stay on he r back although my fe et
w e r e ve ry short. I shall neve r for get the thrill I felt when I s aw
how the people were admi rin g my ho r se . I went out of the Bazaar
to the gate of the city at the wall of Dama s cu s , which i s the
s outhern entrance . As s o on a s the hor s e felt he r self in the coun
try she be came unmanageable and sta rte d to gallop. I de cided to
turn he r back, which I did , and got home safely much to my
fathe r ' s r elief. Instead of giving me a beating on telling him that
Uncle John permitted m e , he said nothing to me but s colded
uncle for allowing me to run such a r i s k.
While I am on the subj e ct of hor s e s I want to s ay that
this very hor s e , my ho r s e , my hor s e ' s mothe r and anothe r fam
our Arabian steed w e r e in uncle ' s stabl e s one winte r when the r e
w a s a heavy snow storm, s omething that part o f the country had
neve r s een. The weight of the snow wa s too much fo r the r oof.
It collapsed and killed the four of them - an immens e blow and a
great lo s s to my uncle and me . I always valued my qua rte r sha r e
a t about a thousand dolla r s , at least; I lost that and my uncle ' s
, lo s's was in the thous ands � Fr om that time on he gave up hi s
'ho r s e s and ke pt only one for his daily u s e , which in tho s e days
was as ne c e s s ary a s an auto i s today.
Thi s uncle got mar r ied and came to live in Heifa.
We did have a lot of fun when Uncle Alex came to Dama s cu s to
vi sit u s . H e . like Uncle G e orge , the Banana Man. wa s gene rous
and many a ni ckIe and dime he gave us. On one o cca sion he,
Uncle John. Uncle G e orge the Banana Man. and Uncle Michael,
be gan to exhibit thei r strength before us. I stood in amazement
wi shing that I could do the s e stunts . Uncle Alex proved to be the
stronge st. My fathe r c ould do one stunt that none of the other s
c ould. My fathe r was ve ry strong. too. a little talle r than I but
heavi e r .
Just pictur e four o r five young men all in the p rime
of life . all healthy. all p r o s pe r ou s . all mor e or le s s hands ome ,
and when late r you r e ad the de s c ription of Uncle Mi chael and
Uncle G e or ge the Banana Man, you will agr e e that their meeting
in our hou s e was s omething that could not be forgotten. Not one
of them wa s mar ried at that time . exc e pt my father , and all of
them loved my mothe r and t r e ated he r as thei r queen. She in
turn loved them all and the r e was nothing that she would not do
for them. Y oung a s I was I can see them all togethe r and r ec all
the many funny thing s they s aid and did.
,
They planned 'pi cnic s and invited friends to meals and
for evenings and they w e r e invited by the i r friend s . of whom the r e
w e r e many, who we r e glad t o take the opportunity to r e pay them
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for thei r hos pitality. 50 our house was the headquarte r s for all
thi s excitement. H e r e I want to say that Uncle Alex and Uncle
George kept us we ll supplied with Syrian butter , which. by the
way , kee p s months without s poiling; butte r by the hundred pounds
and raisins by the sack. and s oa p . They a lways valued my fathe r ' s
car e ove r them when they w e r e boys and Uncle Alex often s � oke
of the licking s my father gave him to kee p him out of bad company,
but he always appre ciated it.
Uncle Alex wa s a great charact er , as good-hearted
as any man eve r w a s . He always meant w ell but the poor man
c ould not attain hi s desi re s . He had s o many c omplicated busi
ne s s e s and affair s and land and property in Pale stine and T rans
Jordan that at thi s writing ( 1 9 28) he is conside red poor. although
at one time he was a millionai r e . He wa s venture some and in
Inany ca s e s did well, but after the fir st W orld War he lost his
influence with the pa s sing of the Turki sh gove rnment.
I am told that Uncle Michael was one of twins born
at s even months . the other baby dying at birth. W ith it all he grew
to full manhood and was ove r six feet tall. I r e c all that on one
trip to Syria , Uncle G e o r ge the Banana Man called to welc ome
him and instead of saluting him in the r e gula r way Uncle Michael
lift e d him up in hi s arms. "let me down " . he cried, "you are a
s even monther and one of twin s , What would you do with me if
you we r e born like o Uler pe o ple ? " Uncle J:,,11 t:: h ael was about
s even when my mother was mar ried. His mothe r raised him but
mama helped a g r eat deal. He was he r favorite of all the uncle s ,
and when I was about six and h e was about fourteen h e arid I used
to play to gethe r . He and I s le pt in one room and quite often we
would race t o s e e who got d r e s s e d fir st. He often would beat me
g etting dre s se d and would poke a lot of fun. One morning he got
up early and got fully dr e s s ed and with hi s sho e s on went back to
bed. c ove red himself and let on he was asle e p. When I awoke I
saw him in hi s bed. I sneaked quietly and started to d re s s feeling
sure that I was going to beat him. Just a s I was about fini shed he
jumped u p from be d and said. "G ood morning ! " and out he w ent.
Y ou can imagine my di s gust. When he was about fifteen he w ent
to boarding s chool in Je rus alem. After he came out of s chool he
lived in Uncle G e o rge ' s hou s e in Nablous and learned the tailoring
busine s s � In COur s e of time he o pened hi s Own shop for making
made-to- order suits as in tho se day s the re was no r eady made
clothing. While European suits were not the common dre s s in
thos e day s quite a few people wore suiis . as well a s all the
Turki sh offi c e r s and soldi e r s . So while the field was limite d
g o o d tailor s w e r e scarce and uncle be came well known i n the
city of Nablous .
In hi s youth uncle was unusually attra ctive , tall. well
formed , and well featured. Uncle had a winsome way about him.
He had a good s ense of humor and was fond of ple a sure and fun.
He wa s the life of any party and whenever he wa s p r e sent eve ryone-
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had a good time . He had a way of imitating a d runka rd. If you
had not known him befo r e you c ould not believe that he was not
drunk. Once at a pa rty whe r e there we re strangers pre sent I
heard them say with di smay to each othe r . II What a pity, such a
fine fellow. Isn't it too bad ! " Uncle had one fault. He wa s n ot
ambitious and wa s extr emely carele s s . He trusted eve ryone and
lost a great deal of money. I am told that often his brothe r s came
to the r e s cue and paid hi s debts to ke e p him from fore closure by
the sheriff. He was very gene rous and whenever he came to s e e
us h e always brought with him remnants of cloth or s ome suit he
had made and had not s old. Of c our se I had to wear them afte r
mothe r had alter e d them the be st she could. His car e e r a s a
tailor was unsuc c e s sful s o he ente red politi c s . Late r he be came
the r e pr e sentative from hi s di strict to Beirut. He m.ar ri e d a
girl from Jaffa and while hi s children, two girls and a boy, were
still quite young uncle died of peritoniti s at the age of fifty. His
children are noW grown and I am told that the girls and the boy
a r e handsome .
Now I shall di s cu s s my mothe r ' s family. G randmothe r
lived to an old age; granddad , a s I said befo r e , was mas sacred.
The i r children were Uncle Habeeb , Ma r rita (m.y mothe r ) , Uncie
A sad . Auntie N e phe geh, Uncle Michael, and Uncle Nech ola .
Uncle Habe e b wa s a tailor by trade . When my mothe r
earn.c to Dan-La s cu s to live he canLe to vi sit and late r rr..a r ricd 3.
Damascene and s ettled only a few door s from our house. Late r
he gave up tailoring and o pened a dry groce ry store in the
Bazaar. Uncle was very fai r with almost reddish hair and mous
tache . Y ou could not imagine him to b e the br othe r o f my mothe r
who was very dark. He married a dar k woman and a s a r e sult
thei r children , four boys and two gir l s , are mixed - s ome light
and s ome dark. He lived to an old age . He w a s good hearted and
good natured and would do anything for one . G randma K a s sab
de pended on him mor e than on my dad to do things fo r her .
H e had four boy s . The elde s t died at the age of
twenty. The othe r s a r e a banke r , a lawyer and a me rchant. H i s
two girls are ma rried and have familie s .
Uncle A s sad, I think, i s about e ighty-five at thi s
w riting, 1 93 5 , yet he can do a day' s w o r k a s w ell a s any car pen
te r , which is hi s trade . He i s the father of Najeeb, G e orge ,
Butr os , and Hale em. Hi s fir st wife die d and he mar r ied the
s e c ond time and had four childr en by he r . I knew ve ry little
about him but I am told that he i s a wonde rful me chanic and a
builde r known all ove r Beirut for his ability and experience in
the building trade. Uncle Nick, his younge st brothe r . i s ve ry
·
pr oud of him and believe s that the r e is no better builde r than he .
My mothe r came next, then Auntie Ne phe geh. Like
my mother she starte d a s a tea che r and late r mar ri e d a d octor
(Sahyoan) . She was very bright in he r w ork in s chool and mo st
industrious at home . Her husband was not much help to he r and
..•
�Z8
with hi s lack of ambition Auntie did not have a bed of r o s e s . She
has one daughte r and six boys . One studied farming; one , Philip,
studie d medicine; and Melville is doing re search work in chem
i stry and biology and ha s a lar ge laboratory of hi s own in Santa
Barbara, California. All are bri ght boys but not good mixe r s .
The girl i s a tea ch e r . Auntie ' s husband , Doctor Sahyoon, was
very bright but never e stabli shed hims elf in the practice of med
icine. He was quite an authority on medicinal he rbs and wrote
the only A rabic Mate ria Medica. I am told that Auntie with her
knowledge of G e rman, a s well a s Engli sh, helped him in compil
ing the book. She lived to a ri pe old a g e .
Uncle Ni chola came to thi s country and lived in
California. He wa s a wood carve r and violin make r , very skillful
with hi s hands but did not have a good bus ine s s head and was not
able to make u s e of hi s talent s . He would not conform to s ociety
and had his own ideas of how to live and be healthy. A s a r e sult
when he was pa st eighty he had the veins and arterie s of a man
fifty. He neve r mar ried and lived like a hermit, ha ppy in hi s own
way of life . He died at the age of 92 .
.
The last of this family wa s Uncle Michael. H e wa s
employed a s a cle rk in a French department store and later was
made manag e r of a store in Dama s cu s . He mar ried and went to
E gypt. The r e hi s cir cumstance s did not improve and , leaving
his wife , who was a teacher in E gypt, and a little baby girl he
w ent to S outh Ame rica in the hope of bettering hi s c ondition. His
health failed and he wa s obliged to r eturn horne , but on the way
the poor fellow die d and wa s buried at s ea . Auntie neve r r emar
ried and still live s in Cairo wher e he r daughte r . Elaine , who
after teaching s chool in Cai r o , married Doctor Habeeb Rehan, a
denti st and i s living now in Beirut. Cousin i s a bright girl and a
very f�ne entertainer . Thi s in brief i s the story of my immediate
uncle s and aunt s .
The r e i s one per son who i s an immediate cousin of
my fathe r ' s and this hi story without mention of him would not be
complete a s he ente red into my life . I had a s much love and ad
miration for him a s I had for my· uncle s . In fact I always called
him uncle . Hi s name wa s Ge orge Kas s ab Al-Ab-Shall-leh. The
nickname wa s given to hi s father who always wore a s carf
( shall-leh) for a belt, and instead of calling hi s father Ka s sab
they called him Ab-Shall-leh. ' _ , ' . B e ing a hate r of bananas , I
have often r efe rred to him a s the Banana Man. He was a hous e
painte r and W a s conside red the be st i n Dama s cus . I t s eems
strange to prai s e my relative s a s I have done but in r eality I am
telling the fact s .
In Dama s cu s , for instance , a good painte r i s not
only a common painte r who handle s a brush and paints a house.
Since wallpape r is not known in Syria all of our inte rior walls
are painted with oil c olo r s and de c orated with d e s i gn s and flower s .
'
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�29
In the parlors of the rich months are s pent in painting a c e iling.
A painte r i s an arti st, like s ome of the Italian de c orator s who
c ome to this c ountry to paint banks and publi c bUilding s . G e o r ge
was an artist in hi s line . He was called to the house of a pasha
one day and was shown many rooms that needed r e painting. He
wrote down room after r o om the work that had to be done. Final
ly the pasha said, "Geor g e , I want thi s d one in a week. " "Ah
Seedi , Y e s , my lord , plea s e o rde r the fir e department to come and
and we will fill the pumps w ith paint and s pray the wall s , " Poor
fellow, little did he know that �he invented the paint s praye r
machine without knowing it. G e orge was ve ry qui ck with his an
swe r s; in fact , he was the wittie st man I eve r knew. Whe r eve r
he was the re could not be grief or sor r ow , only fun and laughte r .
When my brothe r T oufeik died I r e call w e we r e home alone the
evening ' bf the fune ral and my mothe r and fathe r sat qui etly
saying ver y little . I felt with them and was for my age a s sad a s
they. The door was opened G'..nd cousin G e or ge came in. Young a s
I was and to thi s day I can feel the atmos pher e changing. He made
them chat and talk and I think for the time being they fo rgot thei r
so;rr ow.. I know I did.
He and Uncle John were chums and had simila r
ta ste s . Carefre e . able t o earn enough to live on like Uncle John.. ,
He liked hi s little a ra ck of an evening and s pent the time .in r ead. lng_or vi siting. I r eally do not think he was fond of game s like my
fathe r o r Uncle John; he prefe r red talking , r eading, or looking
'
at pi cture s , the latter being hi s greatest pleasur e . He l oved mod
e rn views and mode rn art and , yea r s lat e r when I went back to
Syria , he would listen to me attentively when I would re late to
him the wonde rful things of thi s country. No one was as eage r to
li sten o r a sk que stions a s he . I de s c ribed to him the fir e engine s ,
how the hor s e s were trained to run out o f the i r stall s when they
heard the fire alarm which o pens the stall doo r s and stand in
thei r re s pe ctive plac e s r eady to be hitched automati cally to the
fire engine s. If any of the firemen happened to be on the s e c ond
floor he slid down a pole to a seat in the wagon. All thi s w a s
done i n a few s e c onds and the hor s e s galloped t o the s c ene o f the
fire as though thei r home s were burning. I told him about the
telephon e , the swiftne s s of the railroad s , the picking up of the
mail bag s while the trains are traveling at a high speed. the bath
ing beache s , the trolley c ar s , the sho p s with thei r open gla s s
windows unprote cted a t ni ght. and of the electric iron. How he
enjoyed my de s c ription of John Wanamake r ' s store; the elevator ,
the organ, the wa sh r o om s , the ele ctr i c dri e r s for the hands , the
waiting rooms , the fact that you a r e welcome to walk anywhe r e
i n the b i g store without being a s ke d what you a r e doing or d o you
want to buy, the method of de livery and the privilege of returning
the a rti cle s and getting your money back; how the money i s plac
e d in a tin can and sucked in a pipe to the ca shie r ' s offi c e wher e
the change i s made and the balance returned ) all within two o r
�thre e minute s). I de s c ribed to him the twelve story building on
Twelfth Stre et in Philadelphia and its c onstruction, how it was
buiit like an iron cage with iron r e pr e s e nting the flo o r s and walls .
. The contract called for lar ge Ve rmont stone for the fir st floor
and brick walls to the to p. Finding that the lar g e stone s would
not get to him in time and being bound by contract to fini sh the
building on time or forfeit many thousands of dollar s for every
day late , the contractor took no chance s but went to work and
bui lt the building c omplete fr oIn the s e cond floor up to the r oof
and painted and fini shed it so that it looke d like a huge structure
standing on sti cks . By the time the huge stone s a r rived e ach
pie c e was fitted in its place and beautifully poli shed. The build
ing wa s c ompleted on time . I wa s ve ry much inte r e sted in watch
ing it grow week afte r w e ek. I told him that the s e Ameri cans
valued time to such an extent that they did away with watche s
that needed Winding with a key , then they did away with the c ove r
to a watch because it took time to pre s s a spring to life the lid
and s e e the time . They also found that you lo s e time taking out
the watch fr om· the pocket. s o they made the wrist watch. They
go to a lot of tr ouble and expens e to save time. For instance , it
take s fift e en minute s to put wate r in a locomotive so in order to
save this time the company built a long channel in the middle of
the tra cks between the r ail, about a quarte r of a :mile long about
the level of the tracks, and h, d it filled with wate r . As the locc=
motive i s running at full speed the enginee r drops a scoop into
the wate r and s coops enough to fill hi s tank.
I often said that if I could afford it, it would give
me the g r eate st pleasur e to pay hi s way to this country and take
him ar ound jus t to hear hi s r emarks and obs e rve the astoni sh
ment on his fac e . I s aid that he i s witty. and in a gathering you
were sur e to laugh until your side s be came s o r e . He was of a
very:. r efined nature and I never hea r d him tell an unclean j oke
or use a vulgar expr e s sion. Thr oughout hi s car e e r he must have
had s ome unusual occur enc e s to which he added some salt and
pepper (an expre s sion of exagge r ation) when he told it and the
way he told all hi s storie s they s ounded ve ry funny. So, for in
stance , if you had heard the story and you knew that s omeone in
the gathe ring had never heard it, everyone brought p r e s sure to
bear to get him to tell one pf the s e storie s . Sometime s he needed
a lot of coaxing. I re call that s oon afte r I wa s married and went
with my bride to D ama s cus he came to s e e us and , being anxious
to have my bride hea r s ome of hi s storie s , I c oaxe d him and lor
my sake (as I knew he c ared a lot for me) he did. I neve r saw
Sara laugh so much; not only she , but all of u s , could always
hear him as though it were the fir st time because he inje cted
s ome variations.
The mo st fun wa s when he and my fathe r played
cards togethe r . I don l t know whethe r my father cheated or not
but he alway s had the be st hand and George the poore st. What
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made it wor se my father always tea s e d the life out of him. I
often saw my fathe r bring the de ck of cards and pull George to
the table , with George prote sting that he did not want to play. I
am sure he prefe r r ed talking to the r e st of the company but my
. fathe r wanted t o play mostly to entertain the c ompany who would
be anxious to watch and hear s ome funny rema rks. I neve r for
get one night we had a r oomfull of people , about twenty, and
father dragged George to play. The cards w e r e unusually bad
and every card that he w ould put down my fathe r would pic k up.
It looke d bad for him and he knew that the whole crowd wa s g oing
to make fun at his expen se. He said to my father , n it i s your
deal. Y ou deal while I go to the wa sh r oom for a minute . " He
went out and my father s at waiting for about five minute s . My
fathe r s aid to me , "Go out and s e e what ha s happened to him. "
I found that he had g one home and by that time he must have
beeri. .in bed. The re was hardly an o c c as i on that we did not have
him for suppe r , e s pe cially on Sundays to help entertain , and
when any of my uncle s would come fr om a di stance they would
not let him go home .
One ni ght he evidently w a s tir e d and afte r he ate
hi s supper he went to bed. Uncle Michael mis s ed him and sent
me afte r him. I r eported that he had g one t o bed. W e must have
had s ome calle r s and the evening wa s dull, s o uncle sli pped ove r
t o hi s house , whi ch wa s about a five minute walk, ana got him
out of bed and br ought him home. I c annot be gin to tell you the
stori e s and incident s that gave us all s o much plea sur e . I
might later on tell of s ome things that happened when w e werp.
togethe r .
The greate st fun wa s when w e had banana s. Bananas
are a scarce article in Dama s cu s ( they do not g r ow the-re ) and
once in a whole a pre s ent would come for us from Bei rut. To
make it funny he exaggerated hi s dislike and if he should s e e or
smell one you would think that it was the wor st thing that eve r
was . One day Uncle Sale em sent him a Chr i s tmas pr e sent - a
large box for which he had to pay expr e s sage. He opened the box
and unwrapped one wrapper after another until he came to one
banana. He calle d to hi s mothe r , " Mothe r , mothe r , hur ry and
bring the tong s and throw thi s into the toilet. " It i s s aid that
when he vi sited uncle in Beirut he saw a banana tree at the
entrance and cur sed it and it dried up.
One summe r night we were gathe r e d in the courtyar d
with some friend s . My fathe r slipped a bi:inana in the po cket of
hi s umbazz ( similar to a bathr obe ) . W e c ould hardly kee p straight
face s . A s he wa s talking he slid hi s hand into hi s pocket to s e e
what wa s weighing him down. When h e s aw what i t w a s he took
off the garme nt and walked to the pool and di pped it all in. Y ou
can ima gine how we all laughed. W e had to give him an umbazz
s o that he could go home.
�3Z
He wa s like the Egyptians and the Iri sh - very -quick
with his answe r s . We have a s aying in Arabi c . 'Arrick-el-Sakf'
meaning that the c eiling ha s per s pi r ed. Thi s saying i s 'often said
. to people who have be en eating a long time . A s much as if to s aYg
"Stop eating . the steam from your food ha s made beads of water
on the ceiling. II 1 never forgot when he vi s ited my si ster Asrna at
Hot Springs near the River Jordan with me . Asma was a good cook
and our a ppetit e s were greatly stimulated due to drinking sulphur
wate r , (very di sta steful yet suppo s e d to be medi cinal) and bathing
in the same Rot Springs . We were s itting enjoying our food like
hungry hunte r s when a friend came in and said , "Me s sieur s
George, Arrik- el-Sakf. " Immediately he answer e d . tlBy gum ! I
am going to kee p on eating if I have to carry an umbrella . "
On the same trip we rode in the plains of Arabia wher e
one c ould s e e in the s pring an ocean o f whe at about four t o five
feet high with the top s w aving in a gentle bre e ze . The tops looked
like the w ave s of the ocean. It wa s a tri p I cannot forget. Siste r ' s
husband , Sale em Haddad. was di stri ct attorney of that di stri ct.
He s ent G e orge and me two hor s e s and a g ove rnment hor s eman to
prote ct us from maraude r s . The r oads w e r e not wide . the s oldie r
riding ahead with George and I in the r ear . A s we went along
singing and enj oying the gentle breeze I noticed smoke coming
from G e o rge ' s left pocket. I hur ried to hi s side and c ried, " Y ou
are on fir e ! At fir st J thought you w e r e smoking. lt H e r e pli ed,
IIIf 1 w e r e smoking would I smoke from the back ? 11 B oth of u s
dismounted qui ckly. Hi s coat was aflame the minute the a i r enter
ed it. Fortunately I had glove s on and ke pt the flame s down while
he took off the c oat. In s o doing a lot of nuts dropped from the
other pocket. A s we w e r e still putting out the flame s . which we re
cau s e d from loose matche s , he lo oked ar ound and found the s oldi e r
sitting o n the g r ound eating the nut s . H e shouted at him. "Darn
you, corne put me out fir st ! I will later supply you with all the
nuts in the mar ket. I I
Anothe r time I cannot fo rget was when my br other-in
law and he w e r e playing ba ckgammon. He had very poor dice and
was losin g all the time. Suddenly he pi cked up the dic e and walked
out. I follow ed him and he went to a branch of the Jordan nearby
and di pped the dic e in it. I aske d . I! What a r e you doing ? \I H e
replied. " l want t o baptize them. Pe rha p s it will bring me good
luc k. " I c ould fill a bo ok about thi s character . I often said a man
like thi s should never die a s he give s che e r to s o many othe r s .
C ou sin did not get married until past hi s middle life.
I did not know hi s wife but was told that he was quite happy with
her . Unfortunately thi s happine s s did n ot la st long as his wife
died leaving him two little girls. He and hi s mother rai sed them
until they c ould put them in boarding s chools . Uncle s George and
Alexande r defrayed thei r expense s .
•
�33
Poor Cousin G eo r ge was working one day and fell
off a ladde r , and thi s was the end of one who was fit to be what we
called in. Arabi c , a Nade em.
In the early part of the s e memoir s I mentioned that
father ' s uncle on hi s mothe r ' s side was a prie st. Y ou know, it
always bothe r s me when I have to explain on what side of the
family. In Arabic we have one word for the uncle s on the fathe r ' s
side , (Amm) . And the uncle s on the othe r side are Khal. S o that
if I say the word Ammi you wouldn ' t have to ask. Y ou will know it
i s an uncle on my fathe r ' s side. In thi s c a s e fathe r ' s Khal was a
prie st. In due time he be came a bi shop in the Greek O rthodox
Church. He wa s given charge of all the Chri stians who belong e d
t o hi s faith i n Arabia, t o look afte r the work of the pri e sts and
vi sit their pari she s .
It i s s-aid that originally they were C rus ade r s who
never went back to their country. It i s not uncommon to find fai r
skin and r e d hair and blue eye s among them.
Uncl e , (the bi shop as we u s e d to call him) had a
very large te rritory to c over on hor s ebac k and very simple and
illiterate people to deal with. He went from one settlement to
anothe r , settling their di s pute s and looking after them s pi ritually
and otherwi s e . They we r e poor and had neithe r churche s nor
schools s o they used thei r huts and tents for wor ship. One would
be amazed at the r e s pe ct and reve renc e the s e people have for the
cloth. Uncle had for his share not only r e s pe ct but als o their love .
He had ve ry go od featur e s , lar g e , black pier cing eye s , and long
bla ck hai r and beard. He was tall and wor e a long bla ck gown and
a hat, very much on the order of our derby without the rim, and
the re you s e e a ve ry di stingui shed per s onality at whom one would
take a se cond look should he be pas sing by. I have no doubt but
that he wa s quite r eligiou s , but, more than that . he wa s shrewd
and, shall I say , a politician. He unde r stood human nature and
thr ough his diplomacy had his way among the s e people who used
to welcome him a s if he had just c ome from heaven. It is ve ry
har d to d e s c ribe Arabia of eighty to ninety yea r s ago unde r the
Turki sh Empi r e .
The i gnorance and pove rty, filth and eve ::,y�hing that
goe s with it, and when you add to it the lack of safety and the risk
of one ' s life in· going among them, and the dange r on the roads
from thieve s and maraude r s one w ould have an idea of the r e spon
sibility uncle had to a s sume .
F ortunately for him a prie st i s
neve r harme d o r hurt.
It s e ems the r e w a s a tribe on the farthe st border of
Arabia which the Turkish Gov ernment wa s not able to contr ol.
They r efus e d to pay tribute and taxe s and eve ry time an a rmy was
sent a gainst thel.fl. it was defeated. F i r st, the Turks w e re not g ood
fighter s , and , s e cond , the climate was against them. They c ould
not stand the ter rific heat. Uncle w ould go among them and preach
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�34
to them explaining the wisdom of obeying the law. Little by
little he was able to bring them under the suze rainty of the Turks ,
if pot .completely, he at lea st made them drop their ho stility to
the government. When the Sultan heard about it and the work he
was doing among the se peo ple he sent him a beautiful decoration
in the sha pe of a c r e s cent, in appre ciation for his labor s . This
dec oration wa s 'c onside red a great hono r , e s pe cially if confe rred
on a prie st. Wheneve r he had an o c c a s ion to call on the WaH
(the g ove rnor of Syria) and wore the de c oration he had r e ce ived
he was accorded the re s pect of all the court. I am told that on
ente ring the Wali stands up to salute him - something that i s
seldom done except to a for eign di plomat.
Thi s i s one tiIne 'when the c r o s s had more pow e r than
an army and armanent. war s and bloodshed. I delight to think that
the power of the c r o s s i s just a s potent and alive with pow e r today.
and if we could ap ply its principle s today we would all live in
peace.
Uncle must have been a real di plomat, or should I
say he had an eye for busine s s . He seemed to do thing s whi ch
dir e ctly or indi rectly furthe red his plans and gave him mor e
pre stige.
For instance , I remember a s a little boy going to
vis it hilll w ith m y siste r s a.nd broth e r s afte r church. as we were
wont to do every Sunday. We saw a boy , about ten yea r s old,
dre s se d differently from us and looking diffe rent from a Dama s
cene b oy. W e w e r e told that h e wa s the s o n o f a Sheik, or the
head of a tribe, and that uncle had br ought him to Dama s cu s for
the purpose of sending him to s chool. Since the re were no board
ing s chools he made a home for him with hi s family. Thi s ge sture
on hi s part r edounded with added love and appre ciation and
increa sed uncle ' s influence among this tribe . The most startling
to u s chiidren was when we were told that thi s young boy wa s
engaged to a young gi rl of five or six year s of a g e . Of c our s e ,
amusing a s it wa s t o u s , we. who often played husband and wife
and houseke eping. di smi s se d the idea a s a joke until we . were
old enough to unde r stand it. It. s e ems that the Arab tribe s who
are friendly in order to cement their relationshi p with the othe r
tribe s by s o doing inc rease their dealin g s with e a ch othe r and
combine thei r strength for the pur pose of attack or defens e when
called upon to c ome to the aid O r r e s cue of each othe r . It i s not
unc omm on for a fathe r of a boy of s ix to ask for the hand of a
girl two or three yea r s old for hi s s on , ba sing his judgement and
that of hi s wife ' s on the characte r of he r people , their position in
life and thei r suitability one family to anothe r . Hi s father goe s
to her fathe r and s ay s to him, "Hal bint bintee " . meaning thi s
girl i s my daughte r also. The matte r i s c onside r e d for a while
and often the gi rl ' s parents I c onsent i s given, and after s ome ex
change of trinkets the girl is c onsider e d engaged and is looked
afte r with tende rne s s and care by the groom' s pe ople , who
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�35
gradually instill into the boy the idea that h e i s engaged. This
brings the two famili e s clo s e r togethe r . They help each othe r and
look afte r each othe r s welfa r e .
One wond e r s if such enga gements were car ried
thr ough and result not in crazy love a,Jfair s a s a requi site to a
happy ending but a simple mar ried life . For they are a p r oud
peo ple and want what they call "AI Sitra. " Thi s Arabi c word is
ve ry expre s sive meaning to be always cove red, shielded, pr ote cted
from evi l , from the eyes of those who c riticize and not to be left
subject to the talk of the neighbo r s , which also means to avoid di s
grace. No d oubt the r e a r e exc e ptions but the majo rity of the se
ma rriage s a r e happily consum.m.ated . When it i s known that a g i rl
is engaged no othe r father trie s to take he r away. Als o a s early
as the two young one s are able to under stand they are taught that
they belong to each othe r and are allowe d to play togethe r . In
many things the se primitive people are mor e pr oud and have more
honor than the Damas cene s . Their code of ethi c s about woman
hood and manhood i s ve ry strict. They can be thieve s or cut
thr oat s , but cut them to pie c e s and they will not violate thei r c ode
of ethi c s .
The boy i s taught that h e i s honor bound t o prote c t
the girl and defend he r , and should he show any cowardice he i s
taught it would bring dis grace upo:o hi s pe ople and hi s tribe. Why
wouldn ' t they be happy and get along togethe r since they ma r ry at
an early age . Thirte en to fifteen is not too young for a gi rl. (My
grandmother was not fourteen when she mar ried.)
I have s een some of the se ma r ried girls playing with
dolls but what do they know about love or beauty ? Of cour s e , they
do not play with their dolls long be cau s e they s o on play with living
dolls . . Bi rth control was not known and everything mu st be carried
on the way the i r forefather s did and a c co rding to the rule s of the i r
code o f ethi c s .
I hea rd o f a c a s e whe r e a n Arab did s omething which ,
according to their belief, was shameful. It had nothing to do w ith
morality and it wa s I?- l t sinful. But he could not face hi s pe ople s o
h e ran away and was gone f o r forty yea r s . When h e r e turned a
woman saw him at the well whe r e they g ot thei r wate r and r e cog
nized him. The poor man left and neve r saw hi s home again. No
doubt thi s story i s exagg e r ated but I tell it to impre s s the fact
that the se peo ple have their own idea of honor and right and wrong .
For instance , it i s not conside red wrong for a woman to open her
dre s s to nur s e her baby in a public pla c e . but let a woman do it
her e and she would be frowned upon. It i s nothing for the ir women
to go about to the la st day carrying a child, but I reme mber the
time when a woman carrying a baby felt di s g raced if she wa s s e en
in public . She tightene d he r cor set and wore a s pe cial d re s s to
hide the mo st natural and sacred thing in life . ·On the oth e r hand,
should one of thei r women appear in a bathing s uit of 1 95 3 vintage ,
�36
ther e wouldn ' t b e enough stone s in all Arabia t o throw a t he r. Let
.
us return to our young groom. His fathe r did not pick a gi rl from hi s own tribe but
one from another tribe who se father wa s the Sheik of that village.
Naturally he wa s inte re sted to know whe r e hi s s on-in-law to be
wa s . Thi s brought about a friendship and a great a ppre ciation for
the bishop. Thi s i s what I meant when I said that uncle was shrewd.
He knew that by bringing the boy to hi s home he would naturally
ple a s e both tribe s and in return hi s influence w ould increase
great�y. It is not surpri sing that he was de corated by the Sultan
of Turkey in r e cognition of hi s ability.
Thi s story would not be complete if s ome of uncle ' s
per s onal life was not told.
In the G r e ek Church a prie st i s permitted to ma rry.
I reme mber the priest in Bluedan had a family of eight children.
However , uncle did not mar ry and wheneve r he was in Damascu s
h e made hi s he adquarte r s i n the patriar chate whi ch w a s t o him
like a home . Hi s brothe r died leaving a widow , thre e girls and two
boy s , not one of whom were sel£.. supporting and they w e r e in poor
circumstance s . Wha t made it wo r s e was that the girls did not go
out to wo rk, s o the mother had to take in sewing to support the
family.
Thi s was not very profitable as the re is very little
demand for dre s smaking as all the w omen learn to sew while in
s chool.
As a matte r of fact, while I wa s still in the girls '
s chool I w a s taught how to sew. The r e i s a big industry in Damas
cus whe r e individual busine s smen study the kind of dre s s e s the
Arabian women and men wear and have them made for them. The
Arabian women a r e · hard worke r s but poor sewe r s . Thi s industry ,
though large , wa s never organized into one company and manufac
tured on a lar g e s cale . The individual busine s sman cut3 the
mate r ials into sizes and style s de sired and make s a bundle which
he car ri e s on his back, along with buttons , trimmings , and thread s .
H e goe s around t o the home s o f people who a r e in n e e d o f w or k and
leave s the mate rial with them late r picking up the fini shed work.
He hag gle s ove r the pay, which i s ve ry little for the time s pent.
The y work until late hou r s of the night for a few penni e s a day.
Of cou r s e , he r work and that of her two daughte r s kept
the wolf away. The third daughte r , being good looking , got mar ried,
but the other two , not be ing so fortunate , r e mained single . One of
the drawbacks ove r the r e i s that outside of teaching and nur sing
the r e is no r oom in the market plac e for a gi rl since the Moham
medans will not enter a sho p and have a w oman wait on them.
They believe that it i s a sin to look upon the fac e of a woman not
their own.
When uncle , the bi sho p, saw the c onditions of thi s
family while the boys we re still g oing to s chool he left hi s luxur*
•
�37
ious quarte r s in the patriar chate and went to live with this family
for the main purpose of taking care of them. Even a cler gyman
the re is poorly paid and what he was getting was not much for a
family of six. Of cour se , it was not be coming for one in his station
to go out to work, yet he was not above work, so he had a 100m con
structed in hi s bedroom for weaving .
The se looms a r e constructed of wood and are lar ge
and clumsy and ve ry primitive . He learned how to weave , working
at nights , making pongee silk. Later he taught his two ni ece s and
had two l ooms con structed for them. Many a time I watched them
working. I never forgot how he used to tease me .
With it all I used to love to g o to that house , eithe r on
an errand or a vi sit, for I was sure of a piece of cake or candy.
Uncle raised thi s family in a very re spe ctable way
and they in turn served him with loving hands and took care of him
until hi s death. He died a poor man but lived a glorious Christian
life of servi ce. They say that comparisons are odi ous; but I cannot
hel p make a compari son when I see the comfortable way our cl ergy
live today.
�C H A P T E R
4
IN CIDENTS
Now 1 shall be gin to pi ck up s ome of the incidents of
my e a rly boyho od. Being the olde st 1 was the e r rand boy for the
family . My fathe r wa s a c r ank about hi s and the family ' s health ,
and imagined that the wat e r w e had in the hou s e w a s not good t o
drink, s o 1 had to car ry a heavy jug from the s pr in g outside o f the
Dama s cu s gate every afte r no on . I had to have a ve ry good excu s e
the night the r e wa s n o s pring water i n the hou s e , othe rwi s e 1 g ot
a g ood li c king . My , but 1 hated to carry that heavy ju g . Anothe r
thin g he wanted us to do was take long walks in the c ountry, and
my enjoyment w a s to take hold of my younge st b r othe r o r s i st e r
and take car e of one o f them on the way. Whenever they walked
s lowly or we r e tir e d , whi ch they alway s did , 1 had to c a r r y them
on my ba ck. I am sure that I had a lot of enjoyment from my
trip s , don ' t you think s o ? 1 have car ried A sma and Adele ,
T oufie k and Aelya s . Naj e eb and Same e . Then followed a pair of
twin b oy s , Braheem and Kale e l. B r othe r K e l e e l died at the same
age a s T oufi e k when he died. And last came si ste r W adad. mak
ing all to gether e leven children of whom nine a r e living. Same e
was about a ye a r and a half old when I left home .
Anothe r thing I will n ot forg et was my j ob eve ry
Saturday to shine up eve ry pai r of shoe s in the hou s e . I used t o
line the m up i n a r ow be ginning with fathe r ' s - he had high sho e s
with e la sti c on the s i de s and n o lace s . Thi s w a s the fa shion. B oys
and gi r l s had high sho e s with hole s not ho oks fo r la c e s . Often the
metal tip s w ould c ome off and it to ok s o much longe r to la c e them
that that u s e d t o e xa s pe rate me . I u s e d to long for the time when
1 c ould s li p my shoe s on like my da d did. Then c ame my mothe r ' s ,
then rnine , and s o on, lined u p like ste ps . On Sunday morning all
had clean, shining shoe s to w e a r . The only othe r thing whi ch wa s
a ta s k, but which I r e ally u s e d to love , wa s to go down on
Saturday to the big ba zaar , or mar ket, about a half hour ' s walk,
and help car ry our family ' s shopping .
1 loved t o watch my father buy and haggle with the
s elle r . M o s t all the big sto r e s knew him, a s he w a s a big buye r
for the s cho ol, a s w e ll a s for our la r ge family.
I wa s too youn g ,
o f c our s e , t o b e c onsulted but I u s e d to li sten attentive ly to the i r
a r gume nt s . A t the c onclusion o f the i r a r gume nts , after the money
was paid, 1 had to c a r ry the bundle or load. What I enjoyed car ry
ing the most wa s swe etmeat s . such a s buklawn and kinnafeh. My
fathe r knew whe r e to get the be st and often would buy a pound for
him s e lf and for me to eat in the store , and that pai d me for all my
tr oubl e . S ometime s he w ould treat me to a plate of i c e c r e am o r
lemonade . T h e trip to the bazaar was a lways a g r eat treat to me .
My memory ca r r i e s me back to the e arly s pr ing in
..
�39
Dama s cus. It i s a typical custom in the heart of eve ry Dama s cene
to long to get out of the city and into the c ount r y in the e a r ly s pr ing ,
and it i s no wonde r - afte r a p e riod of cold and damp weathe r
mixed with rain and snow. Dama s cu s i s not an attra ctive pla c e
t o live in winte r , and he r e I wi sh t o s ay that i n all m y trav e l s I
. have not seen a c limate a s well define d a s Dama s cu s . On the
contra r y in thi s location in Pennsylvania often time s we jump
from winte r to summe r and s ometime s have cold s p el l s with a
lot of rain, and even hai1� in July and Augu st. It s e ems to me
that whoeve r divide d the s e a sons of the year mu s t have be en a
Dama s c ene . In the s pring eve ryone who can gets up e a r ly and
gets out of the wal l s of the c ity, walking into the gar den s out s ide
among the blo s s oms of the a pr i c o t , peach and a pple tr e e s . They
fo rm pa rti e s and take thei r b r e akfast along and the fa rrne r s never
obj e ct. Many of the s e tri p s I made with my mothe r and un cle s .
I don ' t r emembe r fathe r going out with u s . H e must have liked
hi s late sle e p.
Pictu r e a clear s ky , the air fille d with the swe ete st
fragran c e of the blo s soms of the white and pink t r e e s , the bir d s
singing the i r prai s e s just a s the sun i s painting the hor izon with
gold. Picture your s e lf unde r one of the s e t r e e s , with the white
petal s on the ground r eminding you of snow flake s , a dding glad
ne s s to your heart that it is not s now , with carefree and j olly
company, e ating a b r eakfa st of homo s - bet-take enh and s callions
and oliv e s � and drinking fre s h milk as the farme r milks hi s c ow
in your pre senc e . Thi s latte r part I know you would not like , but
it wa s a tr eat to u s to dr ink fre sh milk with fr oth on top.
Anothe r of the s e outing s I shall not forget and that
begin s in the e a r ly s pring about the latte r pa rt of February and
o c cu r s onc e a month till summ e r . I c an r ecall so well the tea che r
making an announceme nt that the following W e dne sday , if the
w eathe r is suitable , the s chool will go to the c ountry f o r a pi cnic .
How I watched the s ki e s the ni ght befo r e and e a rly the next day.
What plans I made for the outing; how I was going to play ma r ble s
and othe r game s . The s chool hi r e s an o r cha r d , o r I should say a
garden, and we have many of thos e which a r e called j enaneh .
.
Tabl� with marble top s , can o pi e s , and divan s , nar ge el e hs , c offe e.•
a r ack, and a li ght lunch.
The s chool would charte r one of the s e gard en s fo r the
day and we children w ould go w ith lunch unde r our a rm s , ma r bl e s ,
kaab, and s ome small c oi n which w e had to b e g from our parent s ,
whi ch, in my ca s e � wa s ve ry hard to e xtra c t from my dad ' s pur s e .
But i f my mothe r was abl e t o get hold of it before he got d r e s sed
I , pe rha p s , had my few penni e s . But, thanks to grandmothe r and
Takla , I could alway s get penni e s . So I had , al ong with the ma r
ble s , penni e s and pe rha p s ni c kl e s , which made the t r i p p e r fe c t.
At ei ght o ' clock in the morning the teach e r lined u p
the b oy s two abr e a st , s e e in g to i t that they had unifo rmity o f
�40
height. Then w e mar ched through the ma r ke t plac e out of the gate
and into the c ountr y. Of cour s e the boys played togeth e r , c limbed
tre e s , waded in wate r , and played game s . For the last part of the
day the teache r , divided the boys into two g r oups to play a game on
the orde r of a battle . Thi s wound up the day. Then w e lined up .
again , to make sure all the boys a r e in line , and w e ma r ch di s pe r
sing a s e ach boy n e a r e d hi s home .
Another memorable day w a s the year ly pi cnic the
mi s s ions gave the i r teache r s and thei r a s si stants .
Thi s took pla. c e
in June aft e r exams and wa s he ld in Dumrnbar al s o at the home of
a r i ch Jew who , out of fri endshi p to the mi s si on s . o pened hi s hou s e
to them e ve ry y e a r . The hous e wa s a r e al palace w ith its marble
floor s ; be autiful Dama scus drape rie s and rich fixtur e s of gold
and s i lve r , oil painte d c e ilin g s w ith arti sti c de s i gn s , flow e r s and
small mi r r o r s on trimming s of hardwood clo set d o or s . The r e we re
lar g e , s paci ou s r o oms with running wate r ; fountain s made of
beautiful de s i gn s of carved white marble with bla ck marble trim
ming . A s for the garden it wa s famous in al1 Dama s cu s for its
flow e r s and r o s e s of all kinds . e s p e cially 'the Dam.a s cu s fragrant
r o s e , from whi ch r o s e water and attar of r o s e s a r e made . When
you consi de r that our pi cni c wa s in June , the month of ro s e s , you
can a p pre ciate our deli ght at s pe nding a June day in the ga r den
with its rustic seats and in str olling he r e and the r e admi ring
eve ry little patch of gar den .
When you c o n sider a day in June it i s bound to be
cle a r , bri ght, sunny, and not hot. Whoeve r said, " What is so rare
as a day in June ? " w a s not, I am sur e , a Syrian. Once a new
tea che r came t o the Ame ri can Unive r sity. The fir st day he s ai d,
"What a n i c e morning. " No one s e emed· to praise the day. Shortly
aft e r that he stopped r emarking about the weathe r but sta rted to
grumble about its samene s s - no clouds and no r ain. Like the
sailor s on a sailin g v e s s el aft e r s pending six months in the cle a r ,
h o t weath e r o f the South S e a s a r r ived in L ondon on a foggy damp
day and thr e w the i r c a p s in the a i r shouting. I 'N on e of this d - - -
cle a r w e athe r for me . "
Y ou can al s o s e e what a memorable day I had winding
up with a ride nea r the c o a chman.
In that part of the c ountry the s e a s on s are very well
define d - - thr e e months of winte r with rain, sleet, i c e and snow,
li ghtning and thunde r J followed by thr e e of s pring with the blo om
ing of flow e r s and the blo s s oming of t r e e s (the most deli ghtful
time of the y e a r) with showe r s and cle a ring, neith e r hot nor c old.
Then c ome s the summ e r se a s on - the s e a s o n of flowe r s and r o s e s ,
fruits , and v e getable s . There i s not a cloud i n the sky and not a
dro p of r ain; the weathe r i s hot a nd humid. Eve rything grows
luxuri antly by i r ri gation with the wate r s of the two rive r s men
tione d in the Bible . Almo st the fi r st day of fall a patch of cloud i s
s e e n in the s ky and a few drops o f rain c ome with cool w eathe r
and the turning of the color of the leave s .
The rain be come s
..
�41
heavie r a s it ente r s the wint e r s ea s on.
I r ememb e r the diffe r e nt tea che r s of my s chool day s .
T ea che r
(Mal em)
Abdo Kahil taught the highe s t cla s s e s every
morning gramma r , hi sto r y , and mathemati c s . T ea cher ( Malam)
Mitt r e e Kandeleft taught Engli sh and Turki s h in the afte rnoon .
. B oth we r e exc ellent tea che r s and what little Engli sh and Turki sh
I learned wa s all gleaned from T ea ch e r Mittr e e .
E xaminations we r e ove r , n o mo r e le s s on s , the la st
day for me in s chool, and some of the boy s w ent to the library
bringing ba ck bo oks to r e ad in the cla s s ro om. T ea che r al s o was
reading and the s ch o ol was ma rking time . Instead of r eading I
started to write a lette r to my oId teache r , Fa rhan Elia s , who had
gone to Ame r ica two year s p r eviou sly. Evidently I wa s w o r r ied
about my life work and did not know what I mu st do n ow that
s chool days w e r e ove r for me , a s I had studied in D ama s cus a s
much a s any s ch ool the r e c ould teach. The r e w e r e two things for
me t o d o - eithe r to go to B e irut C olle g e o r to stay horne and
learn a trade. I knew my fathe r c ould not aHo r a.. to s end me t o
colle ge and, be side s , I did not like B e i rut. I n B e i rut I would b e
t o o clo s e to my c ou s in s the r e and the r e would be a s pi r it of
rival ry. It did not a p pe al to me to learn a t rade in view of the
fa ct that a young Chri stian had no o p po rtunity to pus h ahead and
make
a
suc c e s s .
W e boys who m.e t the mi s s iona r i e s and heard and
read so mu ch about that wonde rful c ountry, Ame r i c a . l o oked at
it not only as a haven whe r e one c ould get p r ote ction from tyranny
but a s a place of fre edom and o ppo rtunity to w o r k and gain the
fruit s of one ' s effor t. Add to it the fact that, a s we all a r gued , if
the Ame rican s a r e like the s ample , the mi s siona ri e s they s end
out who a r e s o good , then the c ountry they c ome f r om mu st be
heaven. I believe that if ther e w e r e n o immigration law s and no
quota to - keel' fo r e i gne r s out , all the Christi an s of Syria and a
lot of Mohammedan s , t o o , would have mig rated long a go . I wa s
getting a s pi r it of adventu r e , e s pe c ially when I be gan to hear
�
r e ports of Fa rhan Elias and othe r s doing so well in Ameri ca. I
wanted to go to Ame r i c a and c on c e ived the idea , while waiting in
s chool f o r thi s half-day to pa s s , of w riting to T e a che r Far han
..
and a sk him if it w e r e p o s sible for me to find s omething to do
if I should g o · to Ame rica.
S o I sta rted w r iting on my de sk, whi ch had an old
fa shioned high top with a shelf unde rneath for bo oks. I wa s bu sy
w r iting and thinking what to w rite and had mor e than a half pa ge
w ritten when I saw my te a che r sne aking on hi s ti p toe s in my
di r ection. I sneaked the lette r und e r my de s k. On s e eing that
he ran to take the pape r f r om me and demande d that I give it to
him. I r efu s e d. I told him the r e wa s nothing in it that was w r ong ,
but I wa s w riting a lett e r to a fri end. He ins i sted I show him the
lette r . By that time all eye s and e a r s w e r e pitched in my di r e c -
�4Z
ion. My last hour in s chool, how bitte r I The mo r e I r e fu s e d the
more he in s i sted, explaining that I was still unde r hi s authority
and must obey him. At lea st I gave in and pr odu c e d the she e t
•
•
. When he say , liMy dear T e a cher Fa rhan" , he walke d away without
saying a w o r d.
What hurt me mo st wa s that he did not b elieve me.·
He s u s pe cte d me of making s ome bad p ictur e s o r w riting s ome
thin g bad and wanted to catch me by sneaking up on me . He knew
that in my four ye a r s unde r him I neve r was guilty of such a
thing and wa s c onside r e d a s one of hi s we ll-behaved boy s . Why
at the la st hour when he saw me busily engaged did he have sus
pi c ion s ?
Thi s e pi s ode u p s et all the love and r e s pe ct I had for
the g o od and kind tea che r . I d o n ot know whe the r I told my mother
about thi s incident , a s I did not want anyone to know about. ii, and
that was my r e a s on for hiding the lette r fr om my tea che r . I had
no othe r motive than to ke e p it a s e c r et. Had I been w r iting to my
uncle I w ould have given him the lette r to r e ad at once .
..
�C HA P T E R
5
LAST DA YS A T HOME
July
1 88 9 had come ; s chool day s fo r me had gone
for eve r . I mu st enj oy life a s I had a hunch that I wa s not going
.to be home very long .
Uncle S ale e m had c ome and gone , the pi cni c s
w e r e ove r and the pr e parations for Bluedan we r e i n o rde r . The
mule s and donkeys w e r e hi r e d and the caravan starte d . I say
car avan, for , by thi s time , we had bec ome a large family and my
fathe r , out of r ivalry with s ome friend s , tried to rnake the tri p a s
c omfo rtable a s po s sible s o that late r he c ould talk and boast
about it.
H e r e tofor e a whole day ' s journey w a s made in the
hot sun and at one pla c e , c r o s sing the d e s e r t , you did not s e e a
blade of g r a s s . The tr i p wa s v e r y ti r e s ome and we all had back
a ch e s from the long r i de . S o fathe r dec ided to pack up and make
the sta rt in the afte rnoon, s end the animal s with the drive r s , and
ins truct them to go to a c e r tain s pot and wait fOJ: u s . About an
hour or two lat e r , about fou r 0 ' clock in the afte r n o on, one or two
car riage s w e r e at our door and we c limbed in. Of cour s e , my
d rive r ' s seat goe s without saying . The d r ive r s w e r e paid to take
us as far as we c ould go by c a r riage until we f o r k away, and by
so doing we saved thr e e to thr e e and a half hour s r iding. About
six in the evening our ride be gan and we r ode on in the c ool of
the twilight until we r e a ched the inn , Khan Saad, about nine
o ' c lock. We got off, ate our su ppe r while our b e d s we r e spr ead
out , and s l e pt until about four in the morning. Soon afte r we
c r o s sed the d e s e r t and from that we r e a ched the banks of the
R iv e r Fa r pa r ( Barada) . We traveled along for an hour pa s s ing
through the mo st haza rdous pla c e s . Not only did we fear ma rau
de r s who hid in the c liffs , but a l s o the nar r ow paths u p and down
nar r ow pa s s age s . I shall neve r forget my fear when my donkey
would cho o s e to take the path that I felt led to sur e death . I c ould
not with all my powe r make him take the path ne a r e r the moun
tain side becau s e the se anima l s have no bits in the i r mouths , just
halte r s . The donkey w ould cho o s e the very e dge of the p r e c i pic e ,
whe r e to look down w ould make you dizzy - a g r e at ravine and in
the bottom r oar ing ru shing wate r s . But the animal s w e re su r e
footed and if left alone they could pi ck the i r w ay out s afe ly, al
though I had no confidence in the donkey I wa s r iding on a s he
s e emed to prefer the ve ry e dg e , now and then slipping on the
smooth r ock which is ke pt c onstantly wet by the little s pr inglets
from the side of the mountain. I had many a s c a r e . H oweve r , in
s pite of the many hai r b r e ath e s ca pe s , I neve r had an a c c ident,
pr oving how sur e - fo oted the s e animal s we r e .
I r e c all one night my fathe r w a s te a ching m e my le s s on
and I made the same mistake ove r again. He said to me . " Y ou a r e
wor s e than a donkey-for once a donkey sli ps into a hole h e never s li p s i n
�44
that same hol e , but he will know it and walk a round . " A s I grew
olde r I unde r st ood what he meant, not only in r efe rence to the
donkey, but to my self a s well a s to oth e r s who never l e a rn with
one mi stake .
It was a delightful s e ns ati on which I c an neve r de s
cribe when w e approa ched Bleudan. I t w a s o n the s ide o f a high
mountain
5500
fe e t above s e a level. W e saw it f r om the valley
and again late r be gan the ste e p c limb. The donke y climb e d the
winding r oad and pre sently he stopped a s though to r e st and take
hi s b r eath.
The n he star ted up of hi s own a c c o r d , then another
stop, and s o on until we rea ched half way up. when we struck the
fi r s t s pring of wat e r . The animals rushed to it and drank and the
mulete e r s helped us with cu ps filled wi th cool s pa r kling wate r such a cont r a st to Dama s cu s wate r . At once we w e r e r ef r e shed
and felt that it was worth all the inc onvenience of t rave l if only to
r e a ch that s pot . Late r when I wa s old e nough to j ump off the don
key una s s i sted I neve r waited for a cup. but would rush to the
s pring and thr ow mys e lf down on my stomach and drink with such
d elight. Afte r a br ief re st on' and up we went , highe r and highe r
until w e r ea ched the Umshakakif - a g r oup of old oak tr e e s c on
'
side r e d by the native s a s a s a c r e d s pot and to which we u s e d to
c ome at time s for a picni c .
I
have an idea it is simila r to the
grov e s menti one d in the Bible wh e re G od cauti oned the I s raelite s
to s tay a wa y {r olli and. not to offe r s a c r ifi c e s to i d c l s . Even noW
the village r s make vow s to Umshakakif, the mothe r of b r o ken
pot s . F o r instance , i f the re i !3 s omething you long for and hope
to attain you make a vow that if it shall corne to pa s s you will take
a la r g e new c lay urn or pot , or c lay wate r ju g , and br e ak it among
the t re e s of the g r ove .
On we went until we r e a ched the thr e shing floo r s 9 but
bef o r e that w e be gan to hea r the c r owing of the r o o s te r s from the
village - a sweet mus i c t.o my e a r s . Then we saw the villag e it
self, one hou s e highe r than the othe r with the i r whitewashed
front s - Bluedan - Bluedan at last l
Our fa rme r and hi s family
me t u s . The lu ggage wa s car r ied to the r o oms ; the place was all
pr e pa r e d . Milk or tea and fruit s , mostly mulbe r ri e s , we r e set
before u s fo r b r e akfa st. The thing we enjoyed mo s t was the thin
bread. E ach loaf i s about
24
inche s in diameter and very thin.
Eur opeans often mistake it for a table napkin. We found our s elve s
stiff fr om the r ide with our backs aching and v e r y ti r e d and sle e py.
It did not take us long to fall a s le e p but it took thr e e days to get r id
of the stiffne s s in our mu s cle s . I c ould go on and on and s pe ak of
the things that appeal to me even to thi s day in that poor village ,
but s pace will not pe r mit. I will just touch on the thing s that have
made a strong impr e s s ion on my memory.
I used to g o d own to the vine yard e a rly in the morn
ing about a half hour s walk down and an hour up. Abd-allah EI
Mu s r i , who watched all ni ght to ke e p thiev e s and wolve s away,
would welc ome me and find the b e s t g r a pe s for me . Afte r a sh ort
�45
stay h e would let m e c a r ry an old sword that h e had. I w ould gird
it to my wai st and with my �and on the handle pre s s on it to ke e p
i t from dra gging on the gr ound. The polrc e i n Dama s cu s carry
similar swo rds and you can hea r them from quite a di stan c e
by the clanking of thei r swo r d s on the r oad s . H e would car ry a
ba sket of grape s for bre akfa st and I w ould walk be side him a s
pr oud a s a pe aco ck. When w e r ea ched the aine , the s pr ing o r
fountain which suppli e d all the water t o the village and whe r e the
women filled the ir jugs and c a r r i e d them on the i r heads o r
shoulde r s t o thei r home s and whe r e the pe o ple u sually c ong r e
gate , some of the villa ge r s who knew m e pr e tended t o b e afraid
of me and my sword and w ould run away. I w ould d r aw the sword
and run aft e r them; my , but I felt big then ! Y e t I mu st have been
ve ry young .
Anothe r thing I r e c all wa s getting on the thr e shing
d
boards and riving the c ow s r ound and r ound ; watching constantly
the backs of the two c ow s l e s t the call of natu r e c au s e it to lift
its tail . When it did I w ould fi r st b ring them to a sto p by pulling
the l ine and cal iing, " h o , ho t " . I c a r r ied a pan whi ch was pro
vided at all time s for the pur po s e of catching the dung. Some
time s two c ow s had the same notion and the r e wa s n othing to do
but go f rom one to the othe r . Thi s done , the content s w e r e de
po sited at a c e rtain c o rne r , the pan with a little dust in it was
r e sto r e d to the boar d and the thr e shing c ontinued . Ii OnE: g o t
ti red of standing he could do a s w e l l s itting down.
, I played with the Bluedan boys so that I b e c ame like
one of them and if you w e r e in anothe r r o om you would not know
it wa s I talking for I learned the i r dialect, whi ch wa s di stinctly
strong. One would be a stoni shed how every village , even though
but 5 mil e s apart, ha s its own diale ct.
One yea r the family stay e d in D ama s cu s . U ncle John
had bou ght the tax r i ghts of all Bluedan. In othe r w o r d s , he wa s
the highe st bidde r for the amount that he gua r ante ed to pay the
g ove rnment for the right to levy a 1 0 % tax on all the pr oducts o f
Blue dan fo r that yea r . If , for instan c e , you thr e shed your wheat
and we r e r e ady to c a r ry it home you dared not do so until the
tax c ollector carne and c ounte d it. He c ounted nine bu shds into a
bag - thi s was your s. Then one bu shel into another bag , and thi s
w a s hi s , and ,so on. If you got 9 0 h e got 1 0 . If you got 9 pounds of
butte r he must get one p ound o r its value in money. Then a com
mittee w ent through your o r cha rds and vineya r d s and e stimate d
the numb e r of ba ske t s o f fruit that you had. They gue s s e d a t i t
and you had to pay c a s h for the amount they de cided up on. If it
was ove r -e stimated a lot of fu s sing took pla c e . but the fa rmer
always got the short end. So as a tax gathe r e r he opened a sum
me r hou s e and took a c o o k along. b e c au s e he wa s not ma r ri e d , and
s pent hi s summ e r the r e . Thi s was the only y e a r that the family
stayed in D ama s cu s a s my fath e r was in cha r ge of -a building
-\
�46
ope r ation fo r the s chool and wa s obliged to stay the r e zno st of
the tizne . They allowed zne , howeve r , to g o and stay with zny
uncle in B luedan. Very likely thi s cazne about aft e r zna.ny plead
ings .with zny znother to let zne go and my prozni sing to take c a r e
. of mys elf and zny clothe s . I had a grand time in B lue dan and w a s
pra ctically zny own b o s s . During that summe r my fathe r and
Uncle the Banana Man came up to spend a few day s with u s . I
neve r had such fun , due to the tri cks that Uncle John and my
fathe r playe d on the Banana Man.
The night my fathe r wa s r eturning to D ama s cu s we
had a lot of c ompany and I was out with the boy s . I ran into a
red hot a sh pil e , but fo rtunately only one foot got into it and with
zny low shoe s , whi ch w e r e like slippe r s , I wa s burned seve r e ly.
The fi r st thought while s till in pain \x/as not to let Iny father know
a s he might w o r r y about me or take zne back. The pain wa s in
ten s e . I w e nt to Um Mousa , our far me r ' s znothe r , and be gged he r
not to tell my father but to doctor it a s be st she C OUld. I do not
know what primitive stuff she put on it but I c an s e e mys elf now
c r ying in b e d with the cove r s pulled ove r my head. H ow I slept I
do not know. I s o on found out in the morning that Iny fathe r had
gon e . This e a s ed my mind but I was surpr i sed to find that I
c ould not walk on my foot. Suffi c e it to say that for thr e e months
I was not able to put a shoe on even after going down to Dama s cu s .
When I we::t heme i t 'va s fR r from we ll. N ow a s f o r Blue dan and
zny love for it I can w rite volume s but I have said enough.
In the summe r of
1 8 8 9 I r e ce ived a lette r from my
tea ch e r , Farhan E lia s , in Ame r i c a in answe r to mine . ove r which
I had had a fu s s just befor e leaving s chool. He s ent me such an
enc our aging lette r to come to Ame r i ca that it s e t me on fir e with
the d e s i r e to leave home at onc e and fly. figuratively s p eaking.
a s flying wa s not known then. Not only did he encourage me but
he told me that he had s poken to the su pe rintendent of the factory
and he pr omi s e d to give me wo rk. Furthe r , he w e nt o n in detail
how to t r avel thr ough F r ance , and told me what and what not to
do. My mothe r r e ad the lette r ' and was inclined to let me go. She
felt that I would be safe with Farhan once I got the r e . My fathe r
did not like the idea and di s c our aged it.
All my love for Bluedan dis a ppear ed; picni c s lost
the i r c ha rm and the r e w a s nothing in my brain but vi s ions of
Ame r i c a and plans of how to get the r e . My poor znothe r . noticing
the chan g e in me , would say to my fathe r . " What do you want him
to b e - a car pente r o r te acher 1 '·
What i s the r e for him to d o in
Syria ? W hy don l t you let him g o ? I I Poor w oman, little did she
know that she was ple ading a c au s e that w a s to d e priv e he r from
eve r s e e ing he r s on a gain. Yet I believe her g r e at l ov e for me
would have e n c ouraged her to let me go even had she known the
futu r e . Finally my fathe r gave hi s c on s ent and the p r e parations
for my tri p be gan . I had to go to Dama scus to have a few suits
made for zne .
�41
My fathe r , to my g r e at sur pri s e , w a s no longe r the
ste rn. e xa cting fathe r but w a s s oftened and chang ed and treated
me r oyally the la st w e e k he and I w e r e alone in D ama s c u s . T hi s
drov e away that old fear I had for him and c r e ated a s pirit of
love and c ompani onshi p whi ch lasted until hi s death.
I bid Dama s cu s g oodbye . but without inward grief.
although I may have p retended that I wa s s o r ry. One thing that I
r e call i s that my fath e r in Damas cu s wanted me to give him
a
promi se that I w ould neithe r drink n o r smoke . He di d n ot include
chewing toba c c o a s he did not know the r e was such a thing. It was
ve ry ha rd for me to d e ny hi s reque st but it wa s the fi r s t time that
I da r e d deny hi s wi sh. I felt that he was grieved yet my boyish
mind ke pt telling me that he had no ri ght to curb me and my
fr e edom s o much. Whethe r I wa s w r ong o r r ight I am not pre pa r
e d to say.
Neve rthe le s s m y fathe r attained hi s w i sh e s f o r I have
neve r smoked or u s e d alc ohol. I did smoke · a c iga r e tte onc e
medi cine . One day I had an awful stomacha che ( that wa s in
as
T enne s s e e ) and I wa s suff e r ing and doubling ove r . My c ompanions
insi sted that if I smoked a ciga r ette it would help me . D id it ? Not
much ! It made me awfully sick and gave me a violent he ada che .
Thi s wa s bett e r than all the s olemn promi s e s . A s fo r d r inking ,
I have on diffe rent o c c a si on s ta sted liquor but neve r enjoyed the
flavor of it and only u s e it � s a me di cine .
All the pr e pa r ations for the trip w e r e made and my
mother kept h e r e ye s dry in my pr e senc e , but I felt sur e that she
mixed her tea r s with the c lothe s she packed f o r me . I c an s e e h e r
and the s pot whe re s h e ki s s e d m e go odbye and stood lo oking afte r
me a s I wa s getting farthe r and farth e r awa y.
Only a mothe r can d e s c r ibe he r emotion s and only a
moth e r can te ll of the thoughts that ente r e d he r mind that day. and
all the day s following it.
la st of me ? A s k
a:..
Did she think that she p e rhaps saw the
mothe r and you will get the true ans we r .
Ala s . it w a s t o b e s o , a s i t w a s the last vie w o f her
fi r st-born s on . and it wa s the last ki s s I e v e r r e c eived from he r .
I may have fo rgotten he r at time s but I doubt i f she eve r l o st the
thought of me day o r night. I am told that my name w a s the last
w o r d she utte red befo r e he r d e partur e from thi s life . I kn ow that
he r p raye r s have followe d me a ll through my life . H e r life and
he r influen c e ove r my childhood have made me what I am. and to
he r . mo r e than anyone e l s e . l owe eve r ything. Poor mothe r . He r
life 1
But I should not s ay mo r e
now .
�C H A P T E R
6
OFF T O AME R ICA
It so happened that my s i ster Fareede h w a s my
c ompanion on the way . She was going back to s chool in B e i rut
afte r the summe r vac ation. E a ch of u s w as r iding a d onkey and we
had our guide who was taking car e of u s on the way. We went down
to the valley and up the mountain oppo site our mountain and we
were able to di stingui sh the villa ge and even our hou s e . We g ot up
to the su mmit and went down anothe r valley and then began to
climb Mount Le banon. W e had to sle e p at an inn and e arly the
next morning we r e sume d our j ourney. Then we r e a ch e d the top
of the mountain and I shall never forget my fir st si ght of the
Medite r r anean Sea . F r om a high distance the oc ean, in stead of
looking flat, looke d like a high mountain. The wake s of shi p s lo ok
ed like r o ad s . At the fir st glimpse Far e e deh c alled out . " There
is the s ea ! " I s aid , I I Where ? " She said, " D on l t you s e e ? R i ght in
front of you. I I I s aid, " D o y ou mean whe r e the r oa d s ar e ? " She
replied, II The se are not road s . " I answe r e d . " hn p o s sible . Thi s i s
not the s e a , for I d o not s e e the wave s . " She s aid , " That i s true .
The o c ean i s calm and tho se a r e wake s of ve s se l s . I I It wa s a big
sur pri s e to me and what made it WOr s e wa s to think that my
s i ste r KlleW me re th3.rl ! did ; hecau s e she had been to Bei rut the
year befo r e to the s ame s chool whe re mothe r went and I u s e d to
"
tea s e he r and make fun of her kn owledge and Beirut expe rienc e s .
I have the most tende r r e gard for Far e e deh for she and I were
companions of childhood.
In B e i rut, Uncle Saleem and hi s family treated me
r oyally. The r e was a s ort of r ivalry between the two fam.ili e s .
My c ou s i n Amin, the old e s t son, w a s 1 0 months youn g e r than 1 ,
and t o my g r e at sur pri s e I found him i n s ome thing s , e s pe cially
in langua ge s , to be fa r ahead of me and in some thing s I wa s ahead.
Still, a s a family, uncle I s children were all studious and all
bri ght. U ncle wa s ve ry seve re with them and in c e rtain g r ade s he
was thei r tea che r , and 1 wa s t old that he w a s hard e r on them in
the c la s s than any of the other pupi l s , punishing them s everely for
the lea s t negligenc e .
My stay in B e i rut wa s short - about t w o we eks . Not
wi shing that I s hould go alone , the folks set about inquir ing as to
s ome g o od c ompanion fo r the tri p . They we r e succ e s sful in thi s
for the r e wa s a young man. ju st out of c olle g e . who had ambiti ons
the same a s I and the idea appealed to him even to staying with me
in Ame r i ca and d oing the s ame w o r k 1 was to do. Najeeb Rubaiz
wa s hi s name . He wa s of a g ood family, and being Pr ote stant wa s
well known t o uncle l s family. That w a s fortunate , for he s poke
French or had at l e ast s tudie d it in s chool. and held a bachelor of
arts d e g r e e . He w a s 2 1 yea r s of a ge , and I wa s s eventeen and
thr e e month s . I had to wait for him to make hi s pre paration s and
�49
I had to wait for a c e rtain ship.
Uncle Michael a r rived fr om
Nablous on busine s s and of c our s e took != a r e of my affair s , a s
Uncle S aleem wa s enga g e d i n the s cho ols and c ould not devote
much time for me . So uncle de cided the r oute for u s , e s pe ciaJ.ly
following the r e c omme ndations s et forth in Fa rhan' s lette r .
Poor Fa rhan had left nothing h e d i d not j ot down for
my benefit , even to the extent of warning me not to leave the train
or get off at the stations in F r anc e . Uncle c ame home one evening
and said that the re was a fre ight ship which Uncle s G e o r ge and
Alexand e r used to charter to c a r ry g r ain , mostly s e same , se ed,
to France and Uncle Michael knew the ca ptain. The ca ptain told
him that he had orde r s to go dire ctly to France and would be in
Ma r s eille s qui ck e r than the re gular pa s s en g e r ships and the
char ge was ve r y nominal, le s s than half the steerage fa re. The
idea suited me. Fir st. le s s money for dad to s pend; and , s e cond ,
to make the trip fa ster than the r e gular ship which u sually made
s eve ral sto p s . We we r e delighte d with the idea and planned to"
leave on this fre i ghte r . In the meantime another young man by
the name of Mar o on Baddoo r . who wa s n ot s o well known to Qur
family but from what we heard was a g o od young man , wi she d to
cast hi s lot with our s . We de cided the more the me r rie r and -that
he should c ome along. On my la st Sunday in B e i rut the family
de cided to take me out sight s e e ing and e s pe c ially to a c e rtain
garden called the Hur sh, out side the c ity on the Dama scu s r oad.
It wa s a gr ove of pine tre e s and flowe r s , an attractive plac e for
parti e s to me et and dr ink and have a g o od time , along with a band
stati oned about the middle of the g r ove . Of cour s e y ou paid to
enter and when in you we r e expe cted to s pend s ome money. This
w as one of the outstanding pla c e s of amu s ement in B eirut, and
naturally on Sunday pe o ple floc ke d to it in c ar riage s , on hor se
ba ck, and on foot. While the r e Uncle Mi chael me t a friend and
both became eng r o s s e d in c onve r sation in whi ch I wa s not at all
inter e sted.
So I conceiv e d the idea that I would enjoy riding the
ho r s e that wa s hitched n e arby and belonged to thi s fr iend. I whi s
pe r e d to un cle to a s k hi s friend if he would mind my riding hi s
ho r s e . The gentleman said he would be deli ghted to let me r ide
he r but wa s afraid she wa s too treach e r ou s to be handled by a
strange r . I sat quietly by but the good fri end r ead plainly the
di sappointment on my fac e and said to me if I c ould ride t o go
ahea d and take he r . The yea rning in me must have be en awfully
strong b e c au s e I got u p and took he r out. I mu st have been fond of
riding for I recall what pleasure I had in g etting on her and ,
pe rhap s if the truth we r e told , I wanted to show off before my
cousin Amin that I c ould ride J whi ch he w a s afraid to do. Out of
the g rove I went and got on the ma in r oad to D ama s cu s with my
ba c k to B e i rut. T he r oad wa s fairly smooth, be cause it wa s the
same road u se d "by the Diligen c e , and the ride promi s ed to be
enjoyable. Slowly - - slowly--the hor s e went. Fir st I w a s patient
�50
with her , but I did not g o out to r ide a hor s e just walking. I want
e d her to trot or g allop� but could I make that mar e budge ? Not
at all. I be gan to think ill of that friend who thought I could not
. handle he r , for she looked mi s e r able , tall and thin and half- starv
ed. S o I be gan to s pur with my he e l s and with the sti r ru p, but,
out side o f a few short trots , she would fall back to a r e gula r walk.
After ten or fifteen minute s of thi s s o r t of thing I wa s di s gu sted
with her and with the ride and decided to go back to whe re I was
having a much bette r time . N o s o on e r had I turned the hor s e ' s
head t oward the city than she started to gallop ! T he more I tri e d
t o pull back o n the r e ins the fa ste r sh e would g o. an d when 1 pull
ed bac k hard she would stand on her hind le g s . I held on tenaciou s
ly and the blamed thing went fa ster until I became frightened. I
thought of home . and good Ame r i c a , and even life itself. I c lung
on while I w a s tr ying to sto p he r , but on he r hind feet she would
get, and the fa ste r she would g o a s s o on a s I would let he r d own.
I pa s s ed the gr ove and they all he a r d the c ommotion and g ot into
the i r c a r ri a ge s to follow me . "�unaway . runaway ! It the pede s -
trians shouted, and s o many w ould get to the middle of the street
and hold the i r cane s ac r o s s to stop her but w ould s� ink ba ck for
fea r of getting ste pped on, for the r e w a s no stopping he r . I clung
to her like a le e ch; I neve r d r e ame d I could ride so w e ll. On and
on she w e nt, tl;le dust flying behind; my fez o r tarboo sh flew off,
and the n ag . excited mo r e by the cane s the pe ople put in front of
he r , went the fa ste r . It wa s no u s e trying to sto p her for every
time I pulled the bridle up she would stand on he r hind fe et. The
s oldie r s from the bar ra cks got to the middle of the street and put
the i r r ifl e s out to sto p her but that did not help. Being a straight
road it w a s fortunate that the pe o ple had time to get out o f the
way , s o that no a c cident happened. On and on she w ent and the
fir st blank w all of the city that I came to I hit he r hard on the
ne ck and turned he r fac e toward the wall a s hard a s I c ould. This
obliged her to stops and I alighted . The pe o ple gathe r e d a r ound
me and s oon after that my uncle and the r e s t came along , my fez
wa s r e c ove r e d. and they took me to the bar ra c ks to get a drink
and to g et rid of my urin e , whiiili.. they sai d should be done at the
time of f ri ght. Y ou c an ima gine my state of mind at such a time.
The only good feature about the whole thing wa s that I pr ove d I
could ride well. G od. howeye r . wa s good to me and wanted me to
take the j ourney towa rd the new land of p r omi s e . The ma re , it
seems , w a s anxi ou s to get ba c k to her c olt.
Uncle ' s family supplie d me with a basket full of
good thing s to e at for the journey and fru it s J a s we w e r e suppo se d
to supply our food on the s hi p . A s a freighte r it had no a c c ommo
dation s , but the ca ptain told uncle that i t w a s only a matte r o f four
or five days and that we would make out. The c o st of the ship was
something like ten dolla r s . Uncle Mi chael w a s unusually kind to
me as he took me ar ound and bought me everything t ne e de d.
Uncle Saleem ' s family t reated me like the i r own sonJ and the week
..
�•
II
c
51
I s pent in B e i rut wa s my fir st expe rience away fr om home but
it s excitement made me for get home.
I look back and can s e e what the s e a looked like for
the fir s t time . I look back and I can vividly see Uncle ' s home
and its sur r ounding s . I look back and can s e e myself h olding the
hor s e ' s ne ck with a ll my might. I c an s e e all thi s a s though it
ha ppened ye ste rday .
The tiIne c ame t o e mbark and uncl e s and their fami
li e s , Uncle Ni chola and hi s brother and auntie , all bade me G od
s pe e d. With my two c ompanions I s aw the c ity of B e i rut fade into
the distanc e with emotions that cannot be de s c ribed. It is no fun
to leave horne and l oved one s on a j ourney of life . not knowing
whethe r you s hall s e e the ir fac e s a gain - yet with su ch thoughts
of the future and a fie r c e dete rmination to make good and to b e
true and faithful to the i r teaching s an d warnin g s ; to work har d
and to su c c e e d s o that they c ould b e proud o f me .
I do not know
what the other tw o felt , but I fo r one was ye a rning and anxious t o
make s omething �f my se lf m or e to ple a s e m y mother than anyone
e l s e , fo r she was my ins piration and I did not want to di s a p point
he r .
With lofty thoughts churning my br ain I felt something
else churning my stomach for I wa s s e a sick. T o our gr eat di s
appointment the r e wa s n o r o om pr ovide d for u s , but ove r the
hold of the ve s s el they thr ew a canva s over the c r ane and fa s ten
ed it to the side s to form a tent. Thi s was our r o om. The r e wa s .
no bed exc e pt so me old canva s bag s and s ome cushion s . I ha sten
e d in side to thi s make s hift bed and lay d own. My two c ompanion s .
though I had s e en them only once befo r e , we r e exce e dingly kind.
They made me take s ome lemon and some o range and did eve ry
thing for my c omfort. Neithe r of them w a s s i ck.
The next morning e arly one of the s ailor s w oke u s up.
"Get out ! Get out ! I t . said he , s pe aking in F r en ch . Naj e e b Ruba i z
w as the only one who knew Fr ench but only the w a y it i s taught in
s cho ol - in other w or d s , not ve ry much, but it wa s bette r than
nothing. He inte r pr et e d that the captain w as orde red by tele gram
just before s ailing to stop in Haifa and load s o me g r ain. S o off
came the tent, our trunks and belonging s w e r e s e t a s ide , a nd the
loading began. Only tho s e who have travele d and have heard the
s ound of the se engine s and c rane s going can unqe r stand what it
meant, e s pecially when w e had no comip rtable place to sit exce pt
on the de ck, and the day dragged. The wate r wa s something
awful and the s anitation wor s e . At evening they r e stored our tent
and belonging s and we we re glad to get in and r e s t our bone s even
though it was on a c anva s bag. Our inte r preter wa s informed
that the re were no mor e s to p s , for whi ch we w e r e thankful.
The, next mo rning we wer e awakened in Jaffa a nd told
to get up a s they we r e to load g rain. The pe rfo rmance of the day
before w as re peated and toward evening we we r e r e s·t ored to our
ca stle. W e ll , it developed that the ship whi ch wa s to make a non-
�5Z
stop tri p to Franc e sto p ped at eve ry s e a port on the Medite r ranean.
It p roved to be one of the w o r st tri p s I eve r expe rienc e d . T rue
enough , unde r different cir c umstance s I would have enjoyed the
trip along the Medite rranean shore s . for we we re traveling very
clo s e to shore and saw s ome be autiful land s c a p e , and had we been
rich we w ould have g one a shore while the loading wa s g oing on.
But when you conside r a state of home s i ckne s s . poor food and
wate r and no c omfort. it is not e a s y to re main 1 7 days on the trip
to France when it should have b e en made in 6 days . S evente en
day s 1 The "longe st days of my life !
At la st we ar rived at Mar s eille s . Qui ckly my s e a
s ickne s s and home s i ckne s s left me and the r e I saw the bi'g ele c
tric a r c lights and a glimpse o f mod e rn Eur ope. What a contra st
between the sto r e s of Sy ria of that day and the sto r e s of Europe.
Dama s cu s s to r e s had no show windows and at night everything i s
shut ti ght with i r on r olling doors that c ome down and a r e locked
at the floo r , and the bazaar i s da r k. The br ight lights in the s e
window s i n the sto r e s and on the str e e ts o pened my eye s for the
fi r st time to the modern life of Europe and the wonde rful ele ctric
lights . C om pa r e the pushing of a button and pr oducing a bri ght
li ght t o striking a match, lifting a gla s s globe , raising the wi ck
by me ans of a s c r ew , touching it with the flaming match until it
eithe r li ghts or burns your finge r s . Then you r e pla c e the globe .
At la s t you pr od"".1c� :'! fairly brigh t H e-ht but you a r e not through.
Y ou s mell your thumb and index finger and you get a strong odor
of c oa l oil; then you are obli ged to w ash your hand s . And you
know h ow much boys like to wa sh their hands . Furthe rmor e , if
you sat up late you would have to r e pleni sh the ke r o s ene , which
me ans more hand wa shing. C ouldn ' t you ki s s Edi s on ' s hand s a
million time s ?
The next day we took a tr ain to Pa r i s . I had s e e n a
pictur e of trains and ra i�s and lo c omotive s and car s , but to think
now I w a s r iding on one -- I c ould hardly believe my eye s . Fa rhan
had wa rned me in the lette r not to g et off the train for fe a r the
train would go and leave me stranded. So imagine how I felt
becau s e in tho se days they had no toilets on the train. Since then,
I found that Farhan wa s wr ong b e c au s e they give you ample time
to get off at eve ry stop and they r ing a bell before the train
leave s .
The story i s told de s cr ibing F r ench politene s s . Two
men w e r e r idin g on an expr e s s train which made very few sto p s .
Finally the t rain stopped a t a small station. They both ru shed t o
the r e st r o om s but unfortunately the r e wa s but one r e st r o om
for men. One gentleman invited hi s c ompanion to g o in fir st but
he w a s too polite and insi sted that the fir st g o in. " Impos sible " ,
said the one; I t lmpo s s ible " , said the other . Thi s ke pt up for a
few time s . Finally one s aid, " You go in. I a m fini shed ! 11
The ship wa s the fi r st I had s e e n and the train wa s
the fi r st on whi ch I had ridden. In fact. everything I wa s s e e ing
..
�53
•
was new , a stoni shing and wonde rful. In Par i s we had ju st one
ni ght to s pend and while we were having suppe r in the hotel
s omeone talked us in to g oing with him to the W orld ' s Fai r , whi ch
was going on at that time in Par i s ( 1 88 9) . All I remembe r of
the tri p to the Fai r wa s that g r e at ye a rnin g . mingled with wishe s ,
mixed with s o r row. that no one o f my l oved one s wa s with me to
s e e it. Thi s feelin g . by the way , h a s c orne t o me all thr ough my
life . If I w e r e enjoying anything I did not r eally enjoy it to its
fulle st e xtent, because my loved one s w e r e not with me .
In Havr e we w e r e put on a tende r . a small ship . a t
the harbor ' s pie r . We thought that surely thi s c ould not be our
ship, On inquiry we found that our ship did not corne in side the
harbor but thi s boat went out to it. I w a s puzzled a s to how thi s
ship could g o out of thi s ba sin with walls a r ound it and it low e r
than the wall s . I t showed that I didn ' t know about tide s . It s e e m s
that the boat was waiting f o r hi gh tide to c a r ry i t ove r .
My companion . Naj e e b . a s w ell a s we , worried about
enter ing the United State s and we w e r e afraid that they would
send us ba ck. While they w e r e not ve r y strict the re wa s d oubt in
our mind s . Naj e e b . in hi s hur ry in B e i rut. did not bring along
enough white colla r s , and in order to look re spe ctable he thought
that we thr e e should dr e s s up in our b e s t cloth e s on landin g . But
what about the white c ollar ? I said. " L et ' s go and buy one he re . "
He s aid , " I am afraid to ventur e fo r fe a r of g e tting l ost . 1t I
r e pli ed. uNo. we won ' t get lo st, be cau s e I s aw a sho p on the w ay
in the van. I am sure I can find it and with your smatte rin g of
F rench you can buy what you w ant. Y ou ju s t corne with me and
let Ma roon Baddoor watch our belonging s . " We left the edge of
the wate r and went a r ound through na r r ow streets until we found
what we wanted and c ame back with me le ading the way. I proved
my powe r of l o cation from that time and thi s powe r was to me
the bigge st ai d in my travels .
The shi p we carne on w a s neithe r E ngli sh nor French
but was either G e rman or Dutch. Many of the crew had beard s ,
yet thei r mu s tache s . cheeks and chins w e r e shaved, and t o me
they looked like monkeys . We found that ou r tickets gave us the
gr and privilege of the ste e r a g e s al on, an o pen s pa c e unde r the
bow of the ve s s el with a s e rie s of bunks , one on top of the oth e r ;
enough to a c c ommodate many pa s s enge r s . The place was ' poorly
ventilated and the smell s were awful. Only one who ha s smelled
ship odo r s and shi p paint know s what I me an.
I was given a lower bunk and a pla c e to put my be
longings unde r it. T o our great sur pri s e , we found that the re wa s
no place to eat but that we we r e suppos e d to g o to a c e rtain
kitchen window outside on deck and stand in lin e . We would be
handed a la r ge ( the size was all ri ght ) tin cup of c offe e . the w o r s t
stuff eve r ta s te d . a lar ge sli c e o f bread and some stale butte r ,
and at noon a baked potato and s ome s oup. S omeone whi s pe r e d
that the me at in the s oup was hor s e me at and it looked like it.
�54
But what hurt me mo st was standing in line like be gga r s . The
ne c e s s ity of worrying about food did not last a s the s e c ond day
out the ocean became ve ry rough and I began w ith s e a si ckne s s .
The seventeen day s on the Medite r ranean w e r e of
no hel p. It wa s s o cold that you c ouldn' t be in the o pen fr e sh ai r ,
and the only thing for m e w a s my bunk. I neve r wa s s o s e as i ck
in my life , and my own moans, mingled with the moan s of othe r s ,
added t o my mi s e ry. I c an s e e mys e lf yet i n that bunk and the
one in the uppe r bunk vomiting into the cus pidor hanging on the
side and s pl ashing all ove r . Who can de s c r ibe the thoughts that
came to me a s I lay ther e ? What home sick feelin g s and how
often I wi shed to die and how I c ried and blamed mys e lf for eve r
thinking of getting away from home. I ate ve ry little and w a s
sick a l l the way .
Many ye ar s later when my C ousin Azeez went to
England on hi s honeymoon, he was lying in hi s bunk very sick.
His wife came rushing t o the cabin· and s aid to hiIn, I l Az e e z . I
am afraid the ship i s going to sin.k. II He s aid to he r , " I am afraid
it i s not g oing t o s ink, 1f Thi s is the way I felt.
At la st New Y ork ha rbor was r e ached and the si ght
of land cur e d me . Anoth e r flood of thoughts came to me a s I got
rid of my s e a s ickne s s and on the clear day of Octobe r 24 , 1 8 8 9 ,
afte r a j ou rney of 3 5 day s - days of worry, sickne s s . expe ctations .
antici pati ons , and fea r - we saw land.
I am sure that C olumbu s wa s not more happy than
we w e r e . W e hur r ied and put on our be st clothe s . T he other boys
shaved , but I had not sta rte d t o shave becau s e my fathe r did not
want me to shave until I wa s 2 1 , and I imagine I looked funny with
hai r o r fuz z on my chee k s , and my c r o p of hair mo r e than a
month old. I wond e r if C olumbus had the fear that the Indian s
would s end him back t o delude hi s g r eat j oy ? We did , and I pic
tur e d my s e lf going back on that ship . H ow c ould I enj oy the grand
s cenery and the G odde a'5 of Liberty with such thoughts in mind ?
At la s t we landed in what they called C a stle Garden, late r named
the B owe ry, whi ch i s the lowe r pa rt of New Y ork. the be ginning
of B r oadway . S ince then the Imm i g r ati on D e par tment ha s been
transf e r r e d to E llis I sland and an aqua rium wa s built in its pla c e .
W e w e r e taken into a large building with i ron pens O r cage s . They
put e a ch nat i onality in a pen and lo cked us up like pigs to await
our turn to be examined.
What su s pens e ! We knew our e ye s w e r e good. They
vaccinated u s on the ship. The only thing we needed wa s ca sh.
E a ch pe r s on should have thirty to forty dolla r s , and we did not
have enough. I had the most so I divide d what I had betwe e n u s .
At la s t our turn t o b e examine d came . W e thr e e , the only Syrians
aboar d , went in to gether with hea rts be ating and praye r s on our
li p s . Our gloom tu rned into re al j oy and only tho s e who go through
our expe rience can unde r stand its depth. The examine r , afte r
que stioning about our he alth, di s c ov e r e d that Najeeb Rubaiz had
..
�55
been to the AIne r ican Univer sity of B eirut. He a sked hiIn i f he
knew a ce rtain pe r s on, hi s c ousin, and Najeeb said, "Ye s , he wa s
Iny teache r . " The ques tion about the teache r took the pla c e of
the exaInination. He tnade u s wait until he fini shed hi s work and
took us to hi s a partInent. It was the r e that I s aw an autoInati c
flush toilet for the first tiIne . I tna rvelled at it and wanted to
know what tnade the water stop.
The exatniner wa s ve ry nice to us and took u s to a
Ge rInan hote l , or boarding hou s e , ri ght a c r o s s the park or C a stle
Garden. Now we w e r e hap py - we w e r e fre e 1 We w e r e in thi s
land o f proIni s e ; w e we re in N e w Y or k City. We had the oppor
tunity of beholding its g r e atne s s without any linge ring fear .
�C H A P T E R
7
..
AMER I CA
I be gan to enjoy its wonde r s - its me chanical ma r- .
ve l s . big and small; the elevated tracks , the cable car s on B r oad
way . B r oadway show window s and li ght s . I ke pt saying to my
companion s , "Are we re ally in New Y o rk $ or a r e we dreaming ? lI
We s e t about to fin d out how to go to S outh Pete r sbur g . Tenne s se e ,
our d e stinations . I found that w e c ould go the r e by train o r by
wat e r and train. T o our di s a ppointment we did not have enough
money to take u s by train, but we had just enough to take us by
wat e r and train afte r paying our hotel bill. But who wanted to go
by wate r a ga in ? I r e s olved neve r in my life to get on a boat
a gain. I had enough money to take ITle by train but the other s did
not have enough to take them even by wate r . So I loaned them the
money and b ought our ti cke t s . We had to wait two days for the
sailing date s o we s p ent it sight- s e eing.
The next morning e arly the thr e e of us sta rted to
walk up B r o adway . We decided to walk its length, being a c cus
tomed to Dama s c us short stre et s . We walked and walked and
walke d , p a s sing more fanc y stor e s and shop window s .
Of c our se w e sto ppe d he r e and the r e and we r e pu sh
ed by the c r owd s who w e r e in an eve r la sting rush in c ontra st to
our s aunte r ing alcng. Aft e r '!-!e h::!.r'I gon e about two hour s walking
in a trance , whethe r due to · the long walk or the bla ck G e r man
bread or rye bread which I had lea rned to like or the fact that I
wa s starved on the shi p and made up fo r it on land , a call came ,
It w a s ur gent and still mo r e urgent. In Pari s on the bouleva r d s
they had latrine s s catte r ed eve ry little distance whe r e you pay.
But in New Y or k I looke d for such a c omfort station a s I went
along but in vain. Imagine one in such a fix and not knowing
enough to a s k a polic eman and too shy to a s k a pa s s e r -by. If I
had I didn ' t know enough Engli sh to make mys e lf unde r stood I was in a t e r r ible fix, I did not know about stations o r d e pa rt
ment store s . o r s aloon s , and didn i t know ,that the e levated station s
had c omfort stations. T he only place I knew of in all New Y o rk
wa s the one in the hotel and that wa s far away. " B oy s ,1 I I said,
I a m rushing to the hotel. " But they said it w a s too far away. I
r e plie d that I w ould g o to the next street and take the e levated.
And he r e i s wh e re my p ow e r of location helped me . 1 knew that
Castle Ga r den was the te rminal of the elevated. I knew that the
sta.tion w a s not far from the hotel . I also knew that if I would
leave Broadway and c r o s s ove r to whe r e I could s e e the e levat
e d, about two blocks away, I c ould get on it and ride to the hotel
but the que stion was , c ould I last until then ? No othe r s o lution
c ould be had and the d e c isi on had to be made quickly. I said
goo d - bye to the boys and , " We will meet at the hotel. " and off I
w ent. I found that I c ould not run and that I c ould not go u p the
ste p s fa st. I found the train slow , ve ry slow$ and I wa s in a gony.
..
�51
1 hoped eve ry station would b e the last, but alas I I s i t any won
I
der that thi s e pi s ode i s so vividly impri?ted in my inne rmost
memory c e ll s . Imagine your s elf in a strange land, young and
a s hame d to a s k, and going through such pains and not knowing
what next. T he hotel was r e ached at last and all wa s ha ppine s s
again.
The next day we found our s elf on the coa st-wi s e boat,
a s usual in the cheape s t a c c omm odati on s and ve ry mi s e rable ,
too. But two or thr e e day s are be a rable even though I w a s s e a s i ck.
Soon after thi s w e landed in Norfolk, Vir ginia . The r e I got my
fi r st glimp s e of ne g r oe s . I had s e e n four or five bla ck men in
D amas cu s and our milkman w a s one . My fathe r ' s uncle had two
( abe ed) girl slave s , black a s can be , who would not take the i r
fr e edom but pr efe r r ed t o stay with the family. W e u s ed to go
vi siting the re ju st to h e ar the ir a c c ent. The re w e r e very fe w in
New Y o rk City but the way the s e blac k men swarme d ar ound the
boat I thou ght the whole city wa s black. W e had our lug gage
transfe r r e d to the t rain and our next de s tination wa s Chattanooga,
T enne s s e e .
It wa s a long j ourney but what I liked about i t w a s the
fa ct that the t rains were warm, unlike the French train s , and
opened so that we c ould s e e the s c enery and not the c ompartmenta
a s in Eur o pe . I al s o noti c e d that the c ar s w e r e divided half fo r
the white s and the othe r for the bla c k s . It w a s about the last day
of Octob e r . The c ountry wa s peaceful and a s teady dr izzle of
rain made the trip gloomy.
W e a r rived in Chattanooga on Sunday morning hoping
to catch a train to S outho Pete r s bur g , our final de s tinati on. But t o
our di smay the r e w e r e no train s until five o ' cl o ck the n e xt morn
ing. We ar rived in Chattanooga with only fifteen cent s . Our
ti ckets we r e paid fo r and we had to be s aving in our food on the
way. W e w e re all ti red, hungry and slee py. There wa s a fruit
stand and s ome fine looking banana s . After a lot of c on sultati on
I cho s e a banana for five cent s and it did taste good. This grand
expenditu r e exhausted our exchequ e r . W e c ould not go to a hotel ,
Or buy a pa pe r to amu s e our se lve s , s o we par ked our luggage in
one c or ne r of the waiting r o om and took turns watching it. The
afternoon was d e li ghtfully s pent on the streets looking at and ad
mi ring eve rything. But evening carne and we w e re ti red and the r e
w e r e n o m o r e uncomfortable s eats to b e found than in that station.
They we re divided up so that only one could fit in a s pa c e , and
with no way at all to stretch your l e g s or lift them like one can
on a bench. W e had the waiting r oom to our s elve s after midnight
but the c olored porte r s did not do much to the c oal s tove which
w a s pla c e d in the middle of the r o om. So, between hung e r , c old ,
fatigue and no plac e to stretch out, that ni ght wa s the longe s t
ni ght o f memory. A t five o ' cl o c k w e boa rded the train on the
la st leg of the j ourney. Now , we thought. all our wor rie s a re ove r
for we will s e e T e a che r Farhan and he will take care of u s .
�C HA P T E R
S OU TH PE TERSBURG,
7
TENNESSEE
A t about seven o ' clo ck in the morning we ar rived
i n S outh Pete r s bur g and carried our belonging s to Farhan' s
. add r e s s . It wa s a boarding house , and to our g r e at di s appoint
ment we di s cove r e d that Fa rhan had g one away to work in
R oanoke , Vi r gini a.
T he peo ple i n the boar ding hou s e made u s c omfort
able , gave u s breakfa st, and entertained us mostly by telling u s
how much they liked Fa rhan. and how the whole village knew and
loved him. We c ommuni cated with him by mail, borr owing a two cent stamp f o r a lette r . In a few days h e came . I n the meantime
we w e r e not idle and the boarding hou s e people helped us a good
deal. They told u s whe r e Farhan used to work, s o we d e c ided to
go to see the supe rintendent and see if we c ould get a job.
To our great sur pri s e he gave us a ni c e r e c e ption
and told u s that Fa rhan had a s ked him about me and that he would
be glad to put u s to work. He took us thr ough the building , or I
should say buildings . whe re you could hear the hum of machine ry
and s e e the men and boys at work. We must have looked like
typical fore i gne r s for eve rybody wanted to take a look at u s .
Finally w e r e ccherJ the oute r buildin g, built m o r e like a large
she d , and thi s we were told was the found r y. We found that the
place whe r e we w e r e to work was a stove manufacturing c ompany ,
maker s of diffe rent kind s of c oal stove s all of c a st i r on. Our
work w a s to be in the found r y to make parts for the stove s . We
were introdu c e d to the foreman by the supe rintendent. Mr .
R ichards , who told him to s e t us to work. W e w e r e delighte d with
the idea that we had found work, and unde r such a man who s e em
ed ve r y s oli citous even to telling us that our clothe s w e r e too
g ood and we ought to buy ove r all s . On telling hirn. that we had no
money he gave u s a note to one of the habe rda she r s guarante eing
the amount if w e did not pay. I think it wa s for about $ 1. 7 5 e ach.
We r e ported to work the next mo rning and w e r e
given thr e e flo o r s clo s e t o e a c h othe r with benche s , fla s ks , s and ,
and ramme r s and w e r e shown how to work. I took to the w o r k and
liked it v e ry much. F i r s t of all the s and must be moi st s o that
when you squee ze s ome in ·your hand it sticks together and holds
its sha pe. Thi s was done by wetting the s and and mixing it to
gether to a c e r tain consi stency. Next you plac e a patte rn made
of wood in the b ottom of the fla sk. Then you take a s ieve and
sift the s and ove r the pattern until it i s cove red. The obj e c t i s
t o make the fini shed article smooth. Y ou then £ill the fla sk with
sand and ram it with rammer s until it i s quite ha rd. Then turn
the fla sk down- side up and put the s e c ond part of the flas k in
plac e . Now put a r ound tap e r e d s tick. about an inch in diamete r ,
touching the patte rn the hei ght o f the fla sk.
Sift the sand and ram
�59
..
a s befo re ; r e move the r ound stick le aving a hole , which i s call
e d gate; lift the u pper half and set it to one side ; gently and
stead ily remove the patt e rn with a s little di sto rti on as pos sible ;
and finally re turn the upper par t of the fla s k to it s pla c e and
c arry the fini shed fla s k from the bench to a c orne r of the flo o r .
By four o ' clock i n the afternoon you may have completed 1 0 t o
1 5 fla sks and now you ar e r e ady for ca sting. Each of u s w a s
given a ladle . A ladle i s a n i r on pot lined with a s pe cial ki nd of
clay. The obj ect of the clay i s to ke e p the molten i r on from bur n
ing the i r on pot. T o thi s ladle i s attached a 4 feet long handle .
The length wa s intended t o enabl e one to c a r ry the heavy molten
i r on away from the body to p r event one I s clothe s from being
s c o r ched and the face burne d . Thi s can be done by c a r r ying it
.
sideway s .
In the c ente r o f the foundry a cupola w a s 'placed i n
which the i r on was me lted. A cupola i s a furnace about ten fe e t
i n diamete r ; stand.ing· about five fe et above the flo o r . Th e woo d ,
coke , and i ron a r e pla c e d togethe r inside . At the right time a
fi re i s started an.d a bellow s with for c e d ai r i s started producing
intense heat which in time melts the i r on. When the time C Ome s
a plug i s taken out and the i ron c ome s gushing out like a s tr e am
of wate r , only r e d and hot. B y tu r n w e c atch the running stream
into ou r ladl e !'> and wal k slowly and carefully lest we slip o r hit
s omething. When you r e a ch the £lobi" you hold the ladle ove r the
gate , or hole in t�le fla sk, and let the molten metal t r ickle in .
being c are ful not to pour too slowly l e s t the i r on chill and not run
down fa st enough to fill the mould. A s s o on a s the i r on i s poured
out you g o ba ck and stand in line for more iron until all the moulds
a r e done . Aft e r a few minute s you shake the fla sk s and the
fini shed ca, sting , as well a s the hot s and, d r o p s out thr owing
steam and dust i n your fa ce and adding furthe r wetne s s to your
already s o aking unde r s hirt. But the wor st of it w a s that half of
the c a stin g s w e r e bad. I nev e r fo r got the fi r st ca sting I made
whi ch wa s a c a sting for lifting a stove lid. The c oal stove s in
tho s e days w e r e made with four r ound lid s fitting tightly. One
had to lift a lid to add coal to the fi r e . The s e handle s u s ed to fit
into a hole in the c over and lift the hot lid. Every home had to
have them be cau se g as and electric stove s w e r e not known.
New c ountry, new work. new sur r ounding s , in fa ct,
new life its elf l Our fir st Sunday we went to Sunday School. T o
our g r e at sur pri se Mr. R i cha r d s w a s the Sunday Sch ool Su pe r
intendent. Of cour s e w e w e r e welc ome and later h e invited u s to
have su p pe r in hi s hou s e the following Monday evening. He had a
daughte r about my a g e who w a s ve ry sweet looking with fai r hai r
and good feature s . H e r fathe r w a s r e ddi sh looking and had a r e d
be ard and blue e ye s . I c onfe s s I liked he r ve ry much and s he , I
felt, liked me . But what a g ap between u s whi ch was s o pr onounc
e d afte rward I She was r i ding h o r seback one day and wa s a s p r im
�60
as can be and the r e I w a s with an almo st black fac e and soiled
clothe s .
The exc itement o f our new life was ve ry fas cinating.
Fa rhan came back in o r d e r to be with u s . He took up hi s old j ob
in the machine shop of the s ame c ompany. . H e w a s like a fath e r
to the thr e e o f u s and taught u s how t o get along , what to d o , and
explained many thin g s to us and many a s entenc e which we c ould
not und e r stand. H e W a s very popula r and won the affe ctions of all
who knew him. Pe rha p s the story 1 am about to tell br ought him
into what you w ould say the "lime li ghtll .
H e was ve ry punctual in hi s work. It was hi s habit to
get to the shop at lea st ten minut e s before the whi stle blew and he
would change his clothe s and stand near the e ngine r o om with two
oih e r men , who were as punctual as h e , and the thr e e would chat.
and t e ll j oke s . Thi s w a s c arri ed on for months without a day ' s
inte r ruption and ever yone s eemed to know whe r e to find the s e
thr e e machini sts e ach morning. One day Farhan started on time
a s usual, but a s he w ent a few ste ps he noti c e d that one of his
trous e r buttons had c ome off. He looked at hi s watch and found
that he still had time to go bac k to hi s r oom and s e w it on, which
he did. As he went out of the hou se again he heard a seve r e ex
plosi on in the dire cti on of the shop. He r an , and in getting the r e
the boy s ran t o him and shook his hand with j oy on finding him
aliv e . They had expe cted to fi!!d. him pj n n e d und e r the wall whe r e
h e u sually stood with hi s two companions . The s e two fellow s w e r e
kille d a s the steam from the boil e r s explode d and wr e cke d the
building. Fate so ordained it that the little . button c oming off,
whi ch. in it s e lf s e emed a mi sfortune , w a s the means of s aving
h i s lif e . Anothe r thing that made him popular was hi s strength.
H e wa s p owe rful and d e s cend ed from a pow e r ful family; he could
lift w e ights which two men could not lift. Along with thi s he had a
c ongenial pe r sonality and was the fir st Syrian that the pe ople had
eve r s e en, a s the r e w e r e very few Syrians the n in the United
State s .
Farhan gave u p a bette r po sition in R oanoke , Vir
ginia, and took up a le s s paying j ob just to be with us. W e w e r e
ve ry happy i n the boa rding hou s e . Farhan and I r oomed togethe r .
H i s fi r st thought afte r s e eing me w a s to shave m e i n s pite o f the
fac t that he was go ing against my fath e r ' s wi she s . Soon the r e afte r
I learned to shave my s e lf , always u sing hi s r azo r . Safety r a z o r s
had n ot been invente d a t that time . T h e w o r k wa s int e r e sting and
I loved it , but s o on I found that it wa s too str enuous for my del
i cate body. At ni ght 1 u s e d to be ve ry tired and wanted to go to
bed r i ght aft e r suppe r . Farhan would do hi s best to amu s e me .
H e eve n b ought playing c a r d s to kee p u s awake. One night 1 starte d
with s eve r e pain s in the mus c l e s of my arms. I had had a lot of
bearable pain befo re but thi s time it got beyond me . 1 went to
bed and c ould no t sle e p a s the pain was s o intens e . 5 0 1 told
Fa rhan and he kne lt a gainst the s ide of the be d and be gan to
�61
ma s s ag e my a rms . The pain mus t have be e n intense a s i t made
me c ry , and the thoughts of home and expectation s of a long
drawn s ickne s s adde d to my mi s e r y. Thank God , the next day all
the pain s had left me and I went to w o r k a s u sual. I c ould fee l
my mus cle s getting bigge r and str onge r , and i f I gai ned nothing
e l s e fro m thi s work I gai ned a w ell-developed body and a good
che s t.
We we r e anxious to know what we w e r e going to
r e c e ive a s wage s .
We found that the fir st week we would ge t
nothing a s it was cu stomary to r etain the fi r st week' s wag e s . The
s e c ond week our enve lope contained four d olla r s e ach. Well we
w e r e novi c e s and could not expe ct much. The lady of the boar din g
hou s e was good enough to tru st u s for our board and the fi r st
money we r e c eived we turned over to he r for one we ekI s boa r d ..
The r e was nothing fo r laundry, nor even for a five
c ent stamp fo r a lette r horne . We al s o found that many time s we
w e r e not able to put in a full week and we w e r e do cked for that.
Thi s state of affa i r s went on until each one of u.s owed the lady
18 or ZO dolla r s ove r a p e r i od of five or six nlOnths and the r e
se emed to b e n o hope of our wag e s be ing inc r e a s ed.
Farhan c onceived the i de a of r e nting a r oom and the
four of us living in it the r eby s aving on our boa r d . The r e we re
n o fu rni she d ro oms s o we found an unfurni shed r o om la r ge
enough to hold two double be ds , a table and four chai r s , and our
trunks for two dollar s a month, whi ch meant fifty cent s a month
fo r e ach. Farhan advanced the money to buy the furnitu r e and
we moved into our new quarte r s . We took our me als at the same
boardin g hou s e paying thr e e dollar s a we e k. The boa rding house
was consid e r e d the be st in the villag e . It was mo r e for refine �
folks , s ale smen, etc . than moulde r s . A s the r e was no h otel in
the town thi s was the stopping plac e most commonly r e c omme.;t{ ...
ed.
It wa s a hous e of simple d e s i gn. Y ou walked thr ough
a garden about 1 5 fe et long whi ch had a pi cket fence ar ound i t
to the porch, and ente r e d a large sized r o om with a stove in the.
middle . Thi s wa s c on side r e d the s itting r oom. The dog wa s by
the stov e . He wa s lar g e r than a she phe r d , without auy hai r what
soeve r. He s eeme d to have s kin like an old human p e r s on , only
bla ck, s oft arid smo oth. It w a s the fir st and last of i t s kind that 1
eve r saw. It was a l\1exi c an dog and not u s e d to the c old climate
so that you w ould find it most of the time in that r o om c lo se to
the stov e . You walked from that r o om to a lar ge dining r o om
with a lar g e , r ound table in the c ente r on whi ch stood a smalle r
r ound table , about a foot highe r than the main table , and con s truct
ed to revolve in eithe r di r e ction. All the food, bread , butte r , s alt,
and sugar was pla c ed on thi s small table and you hel ped your self
to what you wanted by r evolving the top and r e a ching what you
wanted without a sking s omeone to pas s it. I liked that method
ve ry much be cau s e I was ba shful, e s pe cially when all the peo ple
�62
ar oun� the table w e re strange r s and many time s I didn ' t know
the name of the di sh' to a sk for it by name . In thi s situation I
c ould revolve the table and re ach fo r what I wante d. The fo od
ta s ted ve ry good. pe rhap s becau s e hard work make s one hungry
and " hung e r make s a go od saucell • and I was anxious to see how
it varied from our fo od.
The r e was no bread on the table but hot bi s cuit took
its pla c e , exc e pt at noon when we had hot c o r n muffins . The r e
was oatmeal fo r breakia st with st.eak. potatoe s and prune s . For
dinne r the r e wa s r oa st . potatoe s . ve getabl e s and pie for de s e rt.
The evening me al con s i s ted of cold me ats and potatoe s . I found .
potatoe s a r e gular thr ee time s -a-day diet. I ate everything ex
cept pork and ham. I had a great pr ejudi ce to hog me at be c au s e
I s aw s o much o f i t i n it s habitat ar ound town, whi ch was any
thing but c onducive to appetite ; or be cau s e the Mohammedan
called the Chri stian a pi g and the name alone had a ter rible
affe ct o.n me .
I was in thi s country many yea r s befor e I learned to
to eat ham and roast pork but neve r , even now , do I e at it with
the same r e li sh a s othe r fo ods .
Sunday we had chicken and , by the way . I s aw from
my r o om window how they killed chickens down South. They take
the chicken by the he ad and give it a kind of twi st and off the body
c ome s , le aving the he ad in the hand.
The lady w a s elde rly and very s tout. He T husband
had a lar ge beard and w a s pa st middle a g e . He w a s lazy � took
car e of the fi re and the dog , smo ke d hi s pipe , and ente rtained the
boarde r s . I s o,OIl found out that he w a s a r e al S outhe rne r and
hated the No rthern people. He must have fought in the Civil War
and he remained bitte r . I di s c ove r e d that he wa s not the only one ,
but that all had that s pi r it against N orthe r ne r s . I found that the
c olore d did not mix with the whit e . not even on tr olley car s , and
on the trains they had s pe cial qua rte r s for thems elve s . I hated
that spirit at fi r st and tried to be differ ent towa r d the ne gr oe s .
by being polite and thanking them and s aying ple a s e to them and
s o fo r th , but s o on found I got the w o r st end of the bar gain.
Later on, I l o st that sympathy to a g r eate r d e g r e e and in time
became a s one of the Southe rne r s .
Our me als c o st u s thr e e dollar s a we e k with thi s
new a r rangeme nt. W e b e g;1n to catch up, but very slowly. Anothe r
o f F arhan ' s ide a s w a s to club togethe r and buy a barbe r ' s s ci s
s o r s and a thin comb and cut each othe r ' s hair . Ve r y s o on I
found that I ma de the be st barbe r and they all prefe r red me to cut
their hai r for them, while I got the w o r s t hair cuts from them.
That w a s another saving .
I n the meantime , we we r e expe cting we ekly a r aise
i n our w a ge s . N ow and then the supe rintendent would come ar ound
and have a chat with us and a s k u s how we we r e doing . We we r e
doing very well and he evidently was ple a s ed and that would r ai s e
our hope s fo r bette r wag e s , only to b e di sappointed on examining
•
..
�"
6l
our envelope s . Farhan had given up a good j ob of two dollar s
..
a day in R o anoke to c ome with u s at a dollar and a half. H e , t o o ,
w a s expe cting a rai se , as he was an excellent me chanic and was
doing a journeyman ' s work, whi ch should have given him thr e e
dolla r s a day. But be c au s e he w a s still an a ppre nti c e they would
not give it. Finally he w a s t i r e d of hi s j ob and left us to go back
to R oanoke . He advi s e d u s to s tay on and learn our tra de , not s o
much t o learn how t o make s tove parts , but how to mould and
make ca sting s . All hi s talk in the evenings was that we four
should do s omething for our c ountry , that ca sting i ron w a s a bi g
fi eld and we c ould have � factory in Be irut, which ha d n one . W e
all w e r e enthu s ia sti c and wo rked hard with thip thought in min�
almo st to a s olemn pr omi s e that we would stick togethe r and go
ba ck to Syria togethe r each one pe rfe cting a branch of the work.
One rea s on Farhan wante d to leave w a s to learn in a
la r g e r machine shop. Off he we nt and we thr e e mi s s ed him ve ry
much. We had been t ogethe r fully s ix months and we we r e able
now to take care of our s e lve s .
One day w e thr e e went t o the foreman and told him
that we wishe d to have mo r e mone y. He s aid that if we wanted
to make money we would have to do pie c e work. So we sta rte d
on pie ce w o rk and found that no matte r how hard we wo rked we
could ha rdly make five dolla r s a week. Ma r o on, our c ompanion.
w a s a hard wo rke r and got a s high as six dolla r s, but to do thi s
he u s e d t o get in ve ry early and have a few moulds sta r ted before
Naj e eb and I a r r ived. Naj e e b was not ambitiou s and would take a
notion t o r e st up and l o s e a day or half a day, but Ma r r oon wa s
a ste ady wo rke r and nev e r lost a day.
After we paid our debt in the boarding hous e , we de
cided that it would be be st to go to a cheaper pla ce for our meals .
now that Farhan was not with u s . Not fa r fr om thi s new boar ding
hou s e the r e was a family wh o had a gr own-u p daught e r , whom I
noti c e d on the po r ch of the i r hou s e ca sting eye s at me . Y e t I wa.s
not sure whether she was looking at me or not, for she had
c r o s sed eye s , and was ve ry homely , but would d r e s s up and fix
he r hair fit to kilL
The boarding pe o ple started tea sing me , s o it did
not take me long to c oax the r e s t to change , a s the fo od wa s not
w orth the money.
So we changed to a new and bette r pla c e . In
thi s new place we came a c r o s s a Syrian peddl e r who mad e
re gular t r i p s from hi s headquarte r s in Chattanooga on foot,
s elling he r e and the r e . Hi s name was Kaleel ( surname ) , a
stout . short fellow f r om E I B at r o on. After suppe r we invited him.
to our r oom and had a lot of fun with him. F r o m that time on he.
made our r oom hi s stopping plac e , c oming in about onc e every
two w e e ks , and slee ping with u s .
He w a s very e c onomical although he w a s making a
lot of mone y. He would s e ll a straight razor to the se simple
c ol o re d pe o ple for five dolla r s when it did not c o st him more
�64
than one , o r a gold chain fo r 1 0 when it did not c o s t him one
dolla r . He s pent ve l:�,"".''1 i ttle , slee ping in the o pen in summe r , or
ge tting a place f o r the ni ght i n exchange fo r s ome trinket not
worth 1 0 cent s . Ma r o on evidently made up hi s mind to do the
same . He did not take us into hi s confidence becau s e he knew that
we thought carrying the Ca sheh (b ox c ontaining the goods such a s
Kaleel carri ed) wa s a ve r y me an kind o f wo r k , and al s o becau s e
h e wanted t o br eak hi s p r omi s e t o stick with u s .
W e noti ced that h e gave up the boa r ding hou s e and
ate hi s meal s in the r oom - bread and che e s e and s a r dine s . When
he had $ 5 0 . 0 0 s aved up (and we had not saved any) he had s ome
c o r r e s pondence with s ome New Y or k me r chants who s e addr e s s e s
he got from Kale el. A s s o on a s the goods came he carr ied them
and hi s belongings and went. I am not sur e whethe r he said good
bye or not.
Y ear s lat e r I hea rd indire ctly that he had a lar ge
d e pa rtment sto re in a town in Ohio . Naje eb and I got tired of
taking c a r e of our r o om and c ould not s e e much e c onomy now that
w e w e r e alone , s o we moved to the third boarding hou s e because
we liked the pe ople and the food. I do not r e c all what we did with
the furniture , neithe r d o I r e c all having any money ove r and above
what we ea rned. We w e re paying now $ 3 . 5 0 per week board and
lodging and making about $ 5 . 50 . s o we be gan to fe el on easy
street. Our sho e s and clothing from home had not worn out yet .
s o we did not 5 pend much.
Najeeb wa s a ve ry good boy , not fooli sh, and very
fond o f reading, S o w e b oth s pent our time together as the r e wa s
no pla c e to g o - movie s w e r e not dr e amed of yet. One day we
were vi s ited by a boy fr OIn B e i rut, a fr iend of my cousin. who
knew Najeeb Rubayi s e . He Inu st have had our addr e s s and ca:me
to u s in the hope of finding s o:me work. Mr. R i chards was good
enough to give hi:m so me li ght work (not :moulding) and hi s pay
was $ 3 . 5 0 a we e k. We told hi:m that this wa s better than none .
Thi s b oy , Wadea Bahoot, w a s about 1 7 or 1 8 . r ath e r short. ve ry
fai r , with blue eye s but not att ractive featur e s , but he wa s very
j olly and witty and had a c onta gious laugh. Thi s wa s a new char
acter i n :my life hi sto ry. Eve ryone loved him an d j oked with hi:m.
and he wa s ve ry qui c k to pi ck up A:mer i can slang.
F o r a f e w :months we we r e happy together . Then
one day a noti ce was given that be cau se of bad ti:me s the wo rk
would be r e duced to thr e e day s a week until furthe r notice. We
w e r e given to unde r s tand that it would be only a :matte r of two or
thr ee weeks , s o Naj e e b and I thought a little r e st would not hurt
u s and we fully enjoyed it. It wa s winte r ti:me and the re was no
pla ce to g o s o we s pe nt :mo st of the ti:me at the side of the fi r e
pla c e watching the da rting blui sh color , candle -like , s oft coal
£la:me , hiding . now he r e , now the r e , o r by r e ading or playing
che cke r s . I learned the s a:me fro:m the board e r s and be came very
,.
..
�•
65
..
good a t it, s o much s o that the y all wanted t o play with me .
W ade a B ahoot was wo r king full time but we w e r e not ea rning our
board , s o little by little what money I had s aved was s pent on my
board.
A few more weeks went by and I found my s elf in debt
- to the b oar ding mi s tr e s s . Suddenly it dawned on me a s to our
state of affair s in that town.
N ow that I began to unde r stand what people said and
could c onve r s e a little I found that eve ry one hated thi s Mr .
R ichard s , the super intendent of the foundry. F ir st, he w a s a
no rthe rne r . S e cond , he came s outh in s e arch of chea p labor and.
found it . He started the factory and eve ryone welcomed him a s
it wa s the only ente r pr i s e in the pla ce with the exce ption o f the
i r on mine s , whi ch w e r e in the neighborhood and employed mo st
ly ne g roe s . He employed white men and I suppos e paid them fai r
wage s in the beginning , but s o on after that h e cut them down s o
low that they went o n strike . So he to ok advantage of that and , in
orde r to break the strike , employed c olored men. Of c our s e ; no
full-bl o oded s outherne r w ould wor k with them and a s a r e sult they
stayed out. When we came on the s c ene I notic e d how few white
men we re wo r king with us , and we must have been c alled " s c abs"
time and time again without ou r knowing even the me aning of it
or why I began to hate our friend who alway s s e eIHed to Lt::
friend u s and wa s nice to u s , and no wonde r fo r he w a s s a pping
our vitality and paying us so little for it.
Now it r e a ched a time when we w e r e not paying our
board. I said to Naj e e b one d ay . "l am not g oing to s tand it a ny
mo r e . I am g oing to leave for C hattanooga . " Poor fellow , he was
timid and did not want me to g o . I said, " Well. I will g o , and if I
do not find work I c an come back. I have Kale e l' s addre s s in
Chattanooga and sur e ly they wi ll let me s le e p one or two nights
in their hou s e . He s le pt with us many a night and he ha s invited
u s many a time to vi sit him. "
So I packed up a few thing s a s though I w a s going on
a vi sit and went away. I left South Pete r sbur g , T enne s s e e , about
a yea r and thr e e month s afte r e nte ring it, not the we ak, delicate
boy, innocent and timid and una cquainted with the s p oken lang
uage , but mor e mature in my idea s , stronge r in my body, mor e
c onfident in my s elf, mor e able to c onve r s e and unde r stand the
Ame ri c an s lang . and above all with a trad e . I c ould do s ome
thing in the moulding line . I ente red S outh Pete r sbur g without
money and left it owing about $ 1 5 . 0 0 or $ 1 6 . 0 0 . I could s e e my
s elf for the fi r st time traveling alone with har dly enough money.
to la st two day s . At such time s mostly the thoughts of home
se emed to c r owd my mind and, like the pr odigal s on , I longed to
eat of the c rumb s ..
.•
•
�C H A P T E R
8
CHAT TANOOGA , TENNESSEE
I can se e mys e lf thi s minute handing the poli c e in
Chattanooga a pa p e r with Kale el ' s addr e s s . He looked aLit, r e ad
it twi c e and said, " Whe r e In H . . . i s thi s pla c e ?
1\
Finally he said
he didn't know, and fo r m e ' to go in thi s dire ction and ask. ' I took
the pa pe r fr om him and r ead it ove r again. It did not say str e e t
but s aid Hugh e s R ow. I went o n and o n and n o one s e emed t o
know, but fo rtunat e ly I w a s going i n the ri ght di r e cti on. The
polic e man wa s sha r p ; he concluded that it mu st be in the outlying
distri c t s .
At last I came a c r o s s an offi c e r who knew whe r e it
wa s q.nd dir e cted me to it. Hughe s R ow w a s a block of wooden
hou s e s built on piling s , with the hou s e s wall to wall on both side s
of the str e et . In fact it wa s n ' t a street but two r ow s of hous e s ,
named after the ir owne r , fa cing "e ach othe r . The street was low
and muddy and the r e we r e ste ps leading to the hou s e . One would
say that the s e w e r e built a hundr ed yea r s ago and had not be en
painted sinc e . As I walked along looking for the numbe r I n oti ced
that eve r y hou s e was o c cupied by ne g r oe s . I felt that I should turn
ba ck. Sur ely my friend do e s not live in such a pla c e ; if ne doe s
I cannot b e s e e n in su ch a plac e .
The spi rit of the S outh had g r ipped me . But what
can a fellow do but swallow hi s pride ? Sur e enough . our fri end
live d he r e . He lived with a ma r ried c ousin and hi s wife and two
child r en , the only white pe o ple in that plac e . I found them to be
a v e ry de cent family; the w oman was ni c e lo oking and the hu s
band was v e r y kind and ho s pitable . They kne w all about u s and
w e l c omed me like the i r own. The y c o oked a lot of Syrian di she s
for whi ch I was hung r y and made me fe e l at home ; which I did a s
long a s I did not look out the window . I s l e pt o n a mattre s s on
the floor in the living r o om and went out the next morning s e ek
ing a j ob from one found r y aft e r anoth e r .
T ime s we r e bad and many pla c e s w e r e working part
time . As g o od luck would have it , I went to one found r y and spoke
to the for eman. I told him, as I had told the othe r s , what expe r
ienc e I had i n the trade , and whe r e I wa s and that I wa s willing to
work for any price and wi shed that he w ould give me a chan c e .
"All r i ght , " he said, " c ome tomo r r ow. " Y ou can imagine my
fe e ling s . I went back to the " R ow " a s though I was going to a
palace ; everything in my sight was beautiful. I s o on communi cat
e d the good new s to Naje e b and Wadea and felt that I had c ome
a c r o s s a fortune .
I can still s e e the spot a s signed to me . The fla sks
had to have two to lift them and the sand that had to be pr e pa r e d
eve ry mo rning wa s five or · six time s the amount o f what I had
been u s e d to. Still , now I wa s str ong and willing . He ga� e me
..
�•
'67
the patt e rn of br ake sho e s t o make. In fact, it wa s called the
B rake shoe Foundr y whe r e they made sho e s to fit the whe e ls on
all train s . Even noW I don ' t pa s s a tr ain that I don ' t look for the
brake s on the whe e l s and r e call tho s e day s .
The w o oden patt e rn could make
5 brake s in e a ch
fla s k and they r e qui r ed many pounds of i r on. The fi r st day I
made about four fla s ks , a s e v e r ything wa s new to me and I
w ould s poil two o r thr e e befo r e I got a good one . I c an r emember
how mo rtifie d I felt eve r y time I had to shake a fla s k and start
anew. Instead of the li ght mallets I was u s e d to, I had t o have an
i r on ramme r about four feet long. weighing about 5, pound s . and
had to get u p on the fla s k -to s olidify it with my fe e t , o r , I should
say, tramp it down. I had to wait for s ome one to hel p me lift the
top part of the flask be cau s e it was s o heavy.
The man next t o
me wa s t o hel p m e when I w a s ready and I w a s to h e l p him iIi, turn.
; -,
'� He 'and- "1 got -al ong'1:og-ethe r' nice ly. I -..can s e e him now
year s afte rwa rd. He wa s tal l with a long thin fa c e and w o r e his
hai r parted in the middl e . Through him I found a boa rding hou se
in a private fami ly, with a b r other of hi s . His name wa s Will
Chambe r s and he w orked in the same place with u s . When the
ca sting time carne they had me wait for the last a s the fi r s t i ron
w a s the be st and they u s e d that for the delicate work. I als o
found iha:i. they did nOl; us� th� hand ladle ::; , but the la r ge ladle s
with two handle s . It wa s a l a r g e i r on bucket lined with clay to
ke e p the hot i r on from melting it , held between two iron r od s
about thr e e fe et away , the e nd of e a ch forming a handle f o r two
hand s at each end. I found that the mould e r take s one e nd with
both hand s , fa cing the bri ght or white heat , and two c olo r e d
helpe r s e a ch one take s o n e s ide o f the handle at the other end
and turn their ba cks to the ladle and walk off like a team of
ho r s e s with the bucket su s pended in the ai r . They lead the way
and know whe r e the y a r e going and the moulde r , with his fac e
pu shed back t o avoid the intense heat , follows them blindly
ste pping carefully l e s t he sh ould fall. In falling one r un s the r i sk
of burning one s e lf a nd if the i r on should s pla s h it would bur n
anything within i t s r e a ch . - I watched them and studied the m ov e
ment s until m y turn came . I took hold o f the empty ladl e a s they
did, with a color ed man at the othe r end; I brought it to the
cu pola whe r e the i r on wa s c oming down like a str e am the size
of a br oom handle . When the othe r fellow ' s ladle wa s fi lle d and
r e sting on the flo or a s he and hi s men lifted it up I , with my
colored hel pe r s , sna p our ladl e and catch the stream and s et it
on the floor without s pilling until it is filled. Then the next fe l
low cau ght the molten metal str eam on its way down and gave
m e a chance with the help of two helpe r s t o lift the ladl e . They
went ahead with the i r backs to the heat and I follow e d with my
..
fac e thrown back to l e s s e n the amount of heat strikin g my fac e ,
and walked blindly following them. I pou r e d the molten i r on into
a hole in the fla s k by tilting the bucket gently and ke pt on s tead-
�68
ily until the hole was filled. Then I moved t o the next , then went
bac k a gain for mo re i r on. The pre sence of two s tout helpe r s on
one side and I on the othe r give s one an ide a of the weight of
the s e buc ket s . It i s e a s y to tell about it, but to g o through it fo r
the fir st time with the anxi ety of doing it ri ght i s an e xp e r ience
neve r to be for gotten.
For a few day s I suffe r e d from a backa che as a
r e sult of lifting the se heavy wei ght s , but that did not last l on g and
before many da ys the pain st o p ped. I was able to make the r e
qu:ir ed amount of work i n one day , which w a s nine fla sks. I was
sup po s ed to make five in the morning and four in the afternoon.
I was anxious t o know how mu ch my pay wa s to be instead of my
r e gula r five . I did not know that I was wo rking in a uni on shop
and the men cauti one d me not to make m.o re than five in the
morning and not to exc e ed nine for the day.
I knew I had done ve ry little w o r k and should not
expe ct ve ry much, s o when I o pene d my envelope and counted
nine d olla r s
I
c ould not believe my eye s .
I
thought they had by
rni stake put a five do llar bi ll instead of a one dolla r bill, and
came ve r y near going back to a sk the b o s s . My bette r judgm.e nt
pr evai led on me , howeve r . to s e e what the next week would be ;
I would go and tell them about this mi stake . T o my
I s aw anothe r nine dollar s in my envel ope the fol
week, Did I say nine dolla r s ? I should have s aid nine
if l e s s , then
gratification
lowing
hundr e d d olla r s , mea sured a c c ording to my feeling s and my j oy !
Wa s a king a�y r i che r o r a s happy ? I s it any wond e r
fla s ks .the,"next morning ?
I
had six
Is it any wonde r that e ve r y time I think
of thi s o c c a s i on in my life I fe e l a thrill. I a l s o fe e l a renewed
hat r e d of that man R i cha r d s , the hypo c r it e . pr e sident and Sunday
S chool super intendent who. for a year and thr e e month s , skinned
our wage s to the starvation point l
Y e s , I even de s pi s e d hi s
lovely daughte r .
The new s w a s fla shed t o F a r han and Naj e e b and
Wad�a. I t r i ed to get a j ob for Naj e eb . but the r e wa s none to be
had . Naj e e b , on the othe r hand . g ot tir e d of waiting for hi s shop
to run full time s o he answe r e d · an ad for se lling pictu r e s and
he w ent on the r oad a s a sale sman. I l o s t track of him for yea r s .
Onc e , late r , I wa s sitting with a friend o n the boa rdwa lk in
A sbur y Pa rk, New Je r s ey, and I saw a man and a w oman pa s s
by. I said t o my friend. " T hi s looks like Naj e e b Rubayz. " N ow
how di d she know what I meant ? W e had a nei ghbor in Che ste r
who lo oke d exactly like him and often the y would he a r me say.
" The r e g oe s Naj e e b R ubayz . " I s ai d t o he r , ltIt c ould not be he ,
for the last I he a r d about him wa s that he i s in N o rfolk, Vir ginia. 1I
" But you mu st make sur e , " she r e plied. " Le t us follow him. "
We followe d clo s e by for a while and I could hea r Arabic s poken.
Sur e e nough , it wa s Naj eeb. Our meeting wa s ve ry short and
thi s is the la st I s aw him o r heard about him.
�t'
69
I now look bac k with di s pl e a s u r e on my life in S outh
Pete r s bu r g , T e nne s s e e , and ble s s the day that I left it.
In Chattanooga, Will Chambe r s t r e ated me like a
br oth e r . He took a lot of inte r e st in me , and in orde r not to let me
fee l hOIne sick o r be alone in my r o om , he u s ed to a r r ange s omething
for the evening s . He would take me with him and hi s wife to vi sit
his friend s and the y w ould call me in when they had company. Poke r
was a new game in tho se day s , and he and hi s wife and anothe r
boar de r ( the only boa rde r b e side s mys e lf) and I would play, using
chi p s for money. I nev e r thought I wa s learning a gambling game ,
and I want to say thi s , that from the time I left Will ' s hou s e I neve r
played- it a gain, though I watched many a game . Thi s man Chambe r s
was nice t o me and very helpful. H e was a good me chanic and e x
plaine d and tau ght me many a trick in the moulding lin e . He he lped
t o instill in me Ame ri can ide a s and ideals . H e explained the ri ght s
of unions, and thei r u s efulne s s , what they had d one for the working
man and how the r efore c apital had be en sa pping the life of labo r . I
had. ju st had such clear eviden c e of it in S outh Pete r sbur g that I
irnm.ediately b e c am.e a s taunch and loyal u phold e r of unions. In a
union sho p a moulde r ' s wa g e s w e r e fixed by a c ommittee and they
aU had equal pay. One b e c ome s an a pprenti c e fo r four year s , when
he- shall have learned hi s t r ad e . Aft e r that he is taken into the
union. On c e he be c ome s a j ourneyman, the shop ha s to pay him
the r e gula r wage s .
It did not take m e long t o a cqui r e Am e r i can ways and
habits for I no longer talke d A rabi c . Bill, a s I u s ed to call him ,
not- only c o r r e cted me , but he u s e d to make fun of eve ry break I
made in talking . I u s ed to tran s late my thoughts fr oln Arabi c and
it always s ounded funny. Thi s fun making taught me more to c o r
rect Iny Illi s take s than anything e l s e . I r e call o n e e a r ly day in
�rch we had no work s o Bill and I went fishin g , takin g our lun ch
with u s . The c r e e k was v e r y familiar to B ill , having b e e n born in
that s e ction, and he loved the c ountry. I had never fi shed in my
life befor e s o he s howe d me how by watching him fi sh a long side of
me.
T he bank, as well as the wate r jl was muddy and I wa s not able
to r each far , s o I s pied a limb of a t r e e leaning ove r the wate r . I
thought I would be sma r t and get on it , which I did. But s omehow I
slipped- and down I went with a s pla sh into the muddy s tr e am up to
.. my wai st. H e c ame to my r e s cue and got me out shive ring. He s o on
made a fi r e and helped me with my c lothe s , d rying them for me , but
all the tiIne laughing and making fun.
It wa s a g o od thing the r e w e r e no g i r l s w ith us and the
pla c e was lonely. On my way home that ni ght I knew that Bill wa s
g oing to tell hi s wife and have a lot of fun at my expen s e , s o I m ad e
u p my mind to tell he r fi r st. S o I walked in and s aid , " What do you
think, .M r s . Chambe r s , we fell in the c r e e k I " I did not mean " w e "
but it i s the Arabi c w a y o f saying i t and I w a s translating i t . H e
wa s ri ght behind me and s a i d , " W e ?'
H ow do you make that out 1 "
�70
That evening h e ha d n othing but fun a t m y expense . S o you s e e ,
thr ough the s e p eople I be came more c a reful in my talk and tried
to think in E ngli sh and not to translate , but in s pite of it I fre
quently make ulls take s . For insta� c e , thr e e yea r s afte rwa r d s
when I fi r st Ine t the -O ' Neills and wa s showing them how to c ook
Syrian food , I s aid , " We put to o amch s alt in it. " In A rabic it
me ans plenty, but they laughed at me and I neve r fo r g ot it and
neve r made that nll s take again . although I hea r d othe r Syrians
make it.
Quite frequently the Chambe r s family took me vi sit
ing with them and on o c c a sion w e vi sited a denti st, a ,fr iend of
the i r s who live d on L ookout Mountai n. Thi s fe llow had a la rge
o r chard of che r ry tre e s , S O he told u s to g o in and help our s elve s .
I did n ot need a se cond invitation a s che r rie s in Syria w e r e con
side r e d the g r e ate s t treat. B i ll ke pt telling me that if I ate too
mu ch I w ould have the jim jam s , word s I did not und e r stand . I
thought that a s usual he wa s tryin g to fool me , and I c ould not
ima gine such d e liciou s fruit would hurt anyon e . I did not heed
hi s advi c e , howeve r , but ate my fill. T hi s was the fi r st and la st
time that I have eaten my fill of oxhe art che r rie s . That ni ght,
howeve r , I c omprehende d the me aning, of j irn jams . Thi s wa s in
the ea r ly s prin g , the same time the Chambe r s de cided to give up
the i r h ome in the city and go to live in the country within c om
n1.uting di stalJ. cc .
I t w a s th e advent o f the trolley or electric c a r and
Chattanooga was the fi r s t to have electric car s , long befo r e
Philadelphia or N e w York. Two yea r s afte r I left the r e and came
e a s t, Phi lade l::>hia had a cable car on Market Str eet and h o r s e
tram o n Che stnut Street . Als o , Che ste r had ho r s e trams on
E dgmont Av enue. Five c ents took u s within two squar e s from
whe r e we lived and worked.
They let the oth e r boarder go but took me along , and
I was glad to go and. g e t out of the heat of the city. I enj oyed thi s
change , and on Sunday we u s ed to go out fi shing and gunning . I
bought a rifle and used to have a lot of fun with it. Bill and I used
to go d own t o w ork to gethe r in the morning , but he alway s finished
s o one r in the e vening and went home ah ead of me .
The lll.o rning tr olley u se d to gather pa s s enge r s all
along the r-oute . Afte r a few ride s , I noti c e d a young gi r l whom I
admi r e d and the rrlor e I saw of he r the mo r e I admi r e d he r . S o I
began to watch for he r and take s ly glance s at her and felt in my
he a r t that she noti ced me . On ce in a while , for lack of othe r
s e at s , she w ould c orne and sit along side of me; boy , my heart
would beat fa st. Onc e I got on the car in the evening and she was
on the car . T.h e cars we re the open style . Y ou ste pped on a plank
o r ste p and get into any vacant seat from the side s of the c a r . I
felt mi s e r able a s I was di rty and my fa c e wa s almost black. I
tried to ke e p away fr om he r vi e w. F rom that date on I bought s oa p
and towe l s and after fini shing my work would fill a bucket of
�71
wat e r , pi ck up b y me an s o f tong s one of the hot i r o n b reaks which
w e i ghed about twe nty pound s , di p it in the wate r for an instant
and th e wate r would almost boil.
I then gave my s e lf a g o od wa sh
ing from the wai st up. Aft e r w o r king with an unde r shirt which
he c ome s soaking with pe r s piration and with blac k du st clinging
to you r s kin , a hot bath of thi s kind be c ome s v e r y refr e shing�
Thi s became a dai ly habit and s ometime s , I gue s s by a c c ident ,
..
:nly lady would b e on the ca r .
My admi ration fo r he r did not abate !. and like a silly
.
goo s e my ba shfulne s s was to such an e xtent that-T never s poke a
_
word to h e r . I neve r knew he r name and. neve r told Bill .about he r
and the only good that came out of the e pi s ode was that I lea r ne d
t o pay attention t o my pe r s onal a ppearanc e . I thought of he r fo r
many ye a r s and wond e r e d what s ort of a p e r s on she w a s .
Was it
.he r look s , o r would I have b e c ome infatuated with her had I
a s s ociate d with he r a few time s ?
Thi s c ondition of affai r s went on a few months�
BUI
.chambe r s had a fu s s with the fo r eman and quit. He was a g ood
zn.e chanic and c ould always find work, so he moved hi s family to
anothe r c ity. I hated to s e e him g o , but I und e r stood that he was
of a r oaming nature and could not stay long in any one pla c e . Of
�ou r se , I had to find anothe r b oa rding hou s e . B y thi s time I had
be c ome a ty pi c al s outhe rne r from the s tand point of the colo r e d
pe o ple . I found tha.t when I s ai d , : : Plea s e l l and ! : Thank you!! , e tc .
the y took advantage o f m e and ne gle cted m e whe n i t was the i r
duty t o obey. But when I s poke r oughly t o them and o r de r ed them
-about, I got what I wanted . I was always afraid of them. In th.e
sho p the r e was a heavy- set c o l o r e d young man , with the lar ge st
filu scle s I had eve r s e en on anyone . He was mo r e like a heavy
wei ght w r e s tle r . The r e wa s a l s o an a p prenti c e boy of a Jnedium
hei ght and thin- looking, but v e r y a ctive and ve r y glib and iree
with his tongue .
W e we r e all standing waiting our turn fo r the i r on
·to pour out when suddenly I heard thi s boy and the ne g r o cur sing
each othe r . I wor ried about the white boy, le st he should. ang e r
the ne gro to blow s . I knew one blow c ould maim him fo r life . The
.white boy ke pt calling hi s bluff until they came t o blow s . I was.
>sur e the boy was a " gone r l l , but to my amazement the white boy
;punche d him in the fa c e and bounced back to avoid the heavy _blow
.of the oth e r . One blow would have kille d him. I had never seen- a
fi st fight before , and boxing wa s not known in Syria. I be came
ve r y frightened fo r the s afety of the boy. He wa s pi cking at the
fellow li ke a fighting c o c k, blow after blow and jumping five , or
six feet ba ck. Pre s ently the blood flowed on the fac e o f the ne g r o
s o that h e became be wilde r ed , and s oon after that the men ste ppe d
in between and held the boy. I had expe cted a s s o on a s the fight
be gan that the onlooke r s would part them and talk them back to
friendshi p, whi ch is the Syrian cu stom, but I found that. it is not
done in thi s c ountry.
Thi s taught me a le s so n that every boy and
�71.
gi r l should b e able to take car e of thems e lve s when the n e c e s sity
ari s e s .
The fi r st chance I had a friend of mine b r'ought a pai r
of boxing glove s and showe d me how to box. As w e w e r e practi c
ing I gave him a blow which some how twi sted my thumb and made
it s o r e fo r over a w e e k. Thi s put an e nd to my ambiti on as I felt
I ne eded my finge r s for my livelihood.
I found a new boa rding house in a conve nient lo c ation.
Thi s was a r egula r boa r ding h ou ::; e and had a highe r touch of r e
fine ment than any I had be e n t o .
The rate wa s five dolla r s pe r
w e e k, and I had b e en paying four. I said to the lady that if she had
a small r o om on the thi rd flo o r for le s s Inoney I w ould like it,
but I did not want to s pe nd five do lla r s . She said she didn I t , but
if I wa s willing to room with a ni c e young man in a ni c e r oom on
the s e c ond flo o r , she would a c c e pt four dolla r s . I a g r e e d . and the
que sti on of s l e e ping with anothe r fellaw was not ha rd a s I had
done that with Farhan befo r e . So I thought I would try it.
It deve lo ped that my r o ommate wa s the son of an
owne r of one of the faundri e s in town. H e was about 30 y e a r s old
and evide ntly he and hi s father did not get along togethe r at home ,
a s the boy d rank and liv ed a wild lifej hi s fathe r mu st have had a
lot of trouble with him. IIi o rde r t o ke e p a hold on hi s s on and
give him s ome r e s ponsibility , he gave him cha r g e of the foundry,
and I suppo s e he was ca pable , but eve r y Saturday and Sumla y hE:
drank. I practi cally had the r o om to mys e lf for he wa s s eld ?ffi
in i t;, a s he alway s came in when I wa s a s le e p and wa s gone all
day Saturday and Sunday. Onc e in .a while I would find him unde r
the c ove r s i n hi s c lothe s and naw and then would hel p him off
the flo o r to the bed. Wheth e r s ober o r drunk. he wa s ext r e mely
good natu r ed and he like d me v e r y much .
. I said before that Naj e e b Rubayz le£t Bouth Pete r s
bur g but po o r Wadea Bahaot was still working fo r $ 3 . 50 a w e e k
and paying $ 3 . 50 b o a r d. . I had be en on the lookout for a j ob for
<him , but in tho s e days jobs we r e s ca r c e .
I a s ked my r o o mmate about a j ob fo r him and he
promi s e d .me one the fi r st opening. One day he told me to s end
fo r my friend an€! I did. H e took him in cha r g e and gave him a
j ob running a c rane . A c rane in a found ry i s a machine sus pend
ed from the c e i ling whi ch travels -the length and b r eadth of the
sho p faT the pu rpo s e of lifting heavy fla sks and c a s ting s . Hi s
work was to sit in a little r o om and by me ans of shifting c e r tain
leve r s he c ould trave l whe r e v e r he wa s ne eded and low e r he avy
chains and lift up heavy casting s to c a r r y them to anothe r e nd of
the shop. Thi s wa s not a ha rd j ob to ma ste r , and s o on Wadea
became the ma ste r of it. H e wa s v e ry witty and j olly and in a few
days eve r yone in the shop kne w him and liked him. To hi s g r e at
de light, and mi ne , he was paid nine dollar s a w e e k s o you c an
imagine hi s j oy . M r s . D oughe rty , our boa rding .;hou s e mi str e s s ,
gave him
a
r oom in the atti c and he wa s quite content to b e with
�73
me . Our evening s we r e s pent togeth e r in m y r o om a s my r o om
mate was s e ldom in befo r e midni ght. Late r my roommate made
up with hi s fathe r and move d away. S o Wadea moved down f rom
the thi rd flo or to my room. and we w e r e happy togethe r .
They had a fi r e pla c e fo r heat in almo st eve ry r o om,
a s the r e wa s no central heating . In o rde r to have heat in ou r
room we had�to pay fifty c ents a w e e k e xtr a , but it wa s worth it
fo r , aside fr om the c omfo rt of fir e , the r e wa s a charm in sitting
in a rocker and watching the little ambe r flam e s darting from
he r e and othe r s in blue ke e ping them c om pany. This is one of the
characte r i stics of soft c oal .
One day while at work s omeone ran and told me that
Wadea had had a bad fall and was ne arly d e ad . I left eve r ything
and r �n h ome . It s e ems the for eman (my r oommate ) and s ome
boys had carried him on boards and b r ought him to our r o om.
When I ente red I saw him flat on hi s ba c k laughing and j o king with
the do cto r who wa s bandaging hi s br oken wri st.
s aid, " Lo ok at my shape l l •
When I c ame in he
I neve r forgot the s e words . Hi s back
wa s br oken and hi s ankle was out of j oint; it wa s a wonde r that he
wa s not killed outright . The poor fool noti c e d a plac e in hi s
machine r y that ne eded oiling. B e ing sho rt, he w a s not able to
r e a ch it, so he brought a small ke g to stand on.
get on it, it twi ste d from unde r him and he fe �l
wl�-i.st�rI.Qt,-�tQucll_£,d-"a o_high £las_k
on-
In hi s attempt to
2 2 fe et. Had hi s
his- v'i"a}r: do\../n ;J.nd broke n the
...
fall the r e sult would have b e en fatal.
Ima gine hi s predicam.ent; the poor fellow away fr om
home and unable to move in be d , plus a br oken w r i s t and a
s pr ained ankle . I don I t know why he wa s not taken to a ho s pital .
Perhaps the re w e r e non e , o r pe rha p s to give me a c ou r s e in nu r s
ing . I never saw ' such a patient patie nt, and how che e'I'ful and witty
he wa s und e r the c i r cumstanc e s . It was a ple a s u r e to do thi ngs
for him. I was with him the fi r st few days and s l e pt on the side of
the bed at night .
The do ctor s e t hi s b roken w r i st and set it c r o ok
ed so that the poor fe llow had to put u p with its awkwa rd look the
r e st of hi s life , and he a l s o st r a p ped hi s h e e l . Hi s back imp r oved
rapidly and in a few days h e c ould turn on hi s side . Our Syr ian
friend s c ame to s e e him often and the way the wife would bring a
lot of Syr ian food and stay with him for hour s at a time wa s won
de r ful. It was fortunate that the c ompany paid hi s docto r I s bill s ,
boa rd and all expens e s . S ome advi s e d him t o sue . for damag e s ,
fi r st to sue the do cto r fo r the c r o oked s e tting , and also the com
pany , but hi s good natu r e w ould not li sten to it.
One night whi le Wadea wa s still unable t o walk ,just
a s I was getting r e ady to go to b e d , I o pened our bedroom do o r
and t o my su r p r i s e the hall o f the hou s e w a s bri ght a s with flame s .
I ran i n and sai d , " Wade a , the house i s o n fi r e ! I I Eve ryone was
a s l e e p and I told him to c ome on a s we had no time to los e . I
car ried him on my ba c k and on my way down the blaze se emed
str ong e r . I opened the f r ont doo r , c r o s s e d the s tr e e t to the othe r
�74
side whic h was an open lot , de posited him the r e and r an back to
kno ck on d o o r and call. " Fi r e l l 1 I next '8athe red s ome blanket s
and took the m down and made Wadea comfortabl e . F o r tunate ly.
it was not our hou s e on fi re but a bi g f r e i ght de pot adjoining our
pla ce and the brightne s s of the blaz � illuminated the horizon s o
tha t pe o ple s o on gathe r e d f r om far and ne a r . Our hou s e caught
fi re several time s but. a s M r s . D oughe rty ' s brothe r wa s the fi r e
chi ef, he dire cted the water o n the hou s e mo r e than o n the flame s
and saved it. In the me antime , I g a th e r e d my be longings .and
tho se of Wadea and c ar r ied them out in s pite of the warning s of
the fir emen .
I can s e e the excite drnent a s though i t wf! r e y e st e r day.
I can see the pe o ple gathe r e d ar ound Wade a and j Okfng with him
and he making them all laugh. He really was the life of any
c ompany and at mealtime they all would s peak to him to get him
started.
Poor W adea walked on c rutche s for a l ong time and a s
soon a s h e was able to w rite with hi s b r oken w r i st he co rnm.uni
cated with s ome Syri an s in Chi cago to work for them a s a c l e r k
o r s e c r etary. F inding that h e w a s no longe r able to do laboriou s
work h e a c c e pted the po sition that wa s offe r e d to him and s oon
Wadea le ft :me for Chicago.
H e wa s hardly gone when one afte rnoon a s I wa s a t
work, m y unde r shirt s oaking with pe r s pi r ati on and my f a c e and
arms bla ck. a finely dre s s e d young man s poke to me . He intro
duc e d hi:m s e lf as Kaleel Salee by. He wtis about 22 ye a r s old.
me dium hei ght, he avy build, pe culiar c olor e ye s . very g o od fea
tur e s , and with an olive skin and very bla ck luxurious hair . He
wa s v e r y w e ll d r e s s e d , making altogethe r a fine appearance .
He s e emed mor e like the s on of a millionai r e . He carne in just a s
I was pou ring my la s t flask and I wa s all hot and wet from my
wai st u p and my arms and fac e w e r e black. He said, " Y ou ar e
Wadea K a s s ab ? 1 1 <q Y e s " . I r e plie d . He s aid. " I know your Uncle
Saleem in B ei r ut and hi s fami ly . '.' That wa s suffi cient introdu c
ti on. H e s a i d that s ome one i n town who knew me from Sunday
S ch ool told him that I wa s working he r e . He had just c orne to town
and want e d to l ook me u p. I said I was glad to s e e him and that if
he could wait a while , we would go out togethe r . He had a fine
bla ck suit on and I wa s wo r ried that he would get it full of dust
and smoke and s tearn f r om the hot mould s . I told him to g o and
wait out side ; fi r st , as a prote ction to hi s suit. and, s e c ond,
because I did not want him to s e e me performing my toilet. He
insi ste d o n st.aying just whe r e he wa s - and what a c ontra st the r e
w a s be tw e e n hi s a ppe aranc e and mille - but I was not a shamed
fo r I felt that I wa s e arning my livelihood and was happy in my
work.
Whether he envied or piti ed me I cannot say. He
might have admi r e d the way I ran about doing thi s and that and
the wa shing in the ins tantaneous hot i r on wate r , whi ch took away
my tir e d fe e lin g . We wa lke d out and I took him to my r oom.
�15
Tha� evening I found out that h e had no
money and that h e went
on the road a s a s ale sman but c ould not s,e ll anything, no r even
make hi s expen s e s all the way fr om New Y ork. He wa s p r acti c a l
ly stranded, s o I insi sted that he sha r e my r o om with m e and I
told M r s . Doughe r ty that I would be r e s ponsible for hi s board.
Kal e el Sale e by wa s an unusual fellow; he was a good mixe r and
soon became acquainted with the be s t p e o ple in the town.
Now to
know mor e about him, I mu st give you s ome of hi s e a r ly life .
Kale e l Sale eby wa s the s on of the janitor in the
s chool whe r e Uncle Sale e m taught.
The j anitor was a v e r y faith
ful ' man who s pent all hi s life in thi s w o r k with the B r iti s h Mi s sion.
Being the only chi ld , Kalee l ' s par ents idolized him and gave him
hi s way. He was fond of mu s i c and a r t and jus t a s soon as he
fini shed hi s publi c s chool he made hi s pe o ple give him mone y to
go to Par i s and study a r t . His p e o ple w e r e frugal and had s ave d
s ome money and he knew it. S o to Fran c e he went and fr om the r e
t o E dinbu r gh , S c otland , whe r e h e pur sued hi s a r t work and natu r
ally mixe d with the highe st pe o pl e . He wa s proud to te ll about
me eting P rince G e or ge . wh o late r became King Ge o r g e V .
B eing o f a r oaming natur e , h e found hims e lf in thi s
c ountry pennile s s , i n s pite o f hi s con stant demands fo r fund s f r om
'
hi s £e opl e . Natura lly �ne_c o�!?- n �t a �s o ciatel � ith the hi gh cla s s
_
o f pe o ple and d r e s s a s h e did without money and plenty of i t . S o on
afte r that s ome one gave him a photograph to enla r g e to life s i z e
and he told m e h e wa s g oing t o cha r ge
$ 65 . 00 .
That was
a
g r e at
sur pri se to me . He a s ke d me if he c ould w o r k i n my r o om be
cau s e of the bri ghtne s s . W hen I w ould c ome home I w ould find him
eithe r was�ng hi s hai r . of whi ch he wa s p r oud for it was not
cur ly but thi ck and smooth and ve r y black and he let it g r ow s ome
what long , o r s itting playing the flut e . " Kale e l , " I would say, " Y ou
did not do much work today on the pi ctu r e for it i s just the s ame . "
uNo, I touched it he r e and the r e ," pointing out the chan ge . "but I
did n ' t fe e l li ke it and if I don ' t fe e l like it I c annot produc e the
likene s s . "
I suppo s e all arti sts a r e like that, but to me it i s
utte r lazi ne s s .
" Hurry u p and g e t i t done and pay s ome o f your
debts . " I would say.
Finally he had it fini shed and had it on e xhi
biti on in one of the sto r e w �nd ow s . The r e wa s n o d oubt that he wa s
s ki llful, yet he wanted me alway s to c r iti c ize hi s wo rk.
I was
good at pi cking likne s s betw e e n the photo and the la r g e pictu r e
and i f I w a s ple a s e d with i t h e wa s s ati sfi ed.
B efo r e v e r y long Kal e e l j oined the Ba pti st C hu r ch
and wa s baptized by imme r s ion, although a s a child he w a s bap
ti zed by s pr inkling . H e al s o playe d the flute i n the cho i r .
B efo r e
very long h e be came the be s t known young man i n Chattanoo ga.
Eve ry little while he would tell me whom he had met and whe r e
h e had be en invited. He wa s able by thi s time t o e a rn hi s ex pens e s
but would nev e r work ha rd to e a r n a little mo r e .
�76
We be came ve r y chummy, and ye a r s later when I
read I I David C o ppe rfi e ld " and of hi s love for F o r syth. I r e called
my attachment to Kaleel and my love fo r him. We would walk
out togeth e r of an evenin g and he would tell me about hi s gi r l s .
H e s e emed t o know e v e r y one o f them and what h e te ll s them and
wha t they tell him.
He u s e d to charm them a c c o rding to the lette r s
he would get fr om the m. Then he fell in love with one of them
and the poor fe llow c ould talk about nothing e l s e . I would r e ad
hi s lette r s and he r lette r s . Before very long I found my s elf in
love with a g i r l and our sympathi e s w e r e mutual .
A friend of mine , Wadea Rubayz, a b rothe r of
Naj e eb, was in Chattano oga and one s pr ing day we de cided to
take a tri p t o L ookout Mountai n. On the train the r e wa s a cla s s
of Sunday S c hool picnicke r s going in the s ame di re ction. We
b e c ame a c quainted with the chape r one , who invited u s to g o
along . He did s o b e cau s e of the s car city of boy s i n the g r oup. He
made us a c quainted by a gene r al introduction and we felt fr e e to
talk with them, o r I should say they felt fr e e to talk with u s .
Rubayz wa s le s s ba shful and he o pened the way for me .
We got off the train at a c e rtain hei ght and climbed
to the summit. S o on the cla s s s c atte r e d into small g r oups and
we , with four or five gi r l s , went off by our s e lve s . The saying,
"bi rds of a feather flock to gethe r " wa s true in our ca s e , for the
gi r l s who c ame with us w e r e of our ta ste and liking .
It was not long befo re a girl named D o r a attra cted
me . She w a s about
17
ye ar s of age, not be autiful. but 'attractive
and of ve r y cha rming way. Before long I wa s charmed with her
and the funny part of it was that whatev e r game w e played she
would e ithe r be ne ar me or be my partne r . At lunch I s e emed
to e njoy the food out of he r ba sket mo r e than any othe r basket.
Lat e r in the afte rnoon we started to pi c k wild flowe r s and s ome
how no one s e e me d to ca r e for the s pot whi ch we s e le cte d, nor
want t o hea r the sweet s ong of , " Oh, little bunch of vi olets , how
I long for you . . . . te ll me t.hat you love me and tell me your heart
is t r ue . . . " . I did not sing or hum thi s s ong
for yea r s and year s
afte rwa r d s without s e e ing the s pot with its magnifi cent view and
the winding T enne s s e e Rive r below , and that sweet fac e s i nging
so fr e ely , so si mply, so innocently. It wa s , I feel sur e , a new
expe rience to he r as it was to me . The day ended too s oon and I
pronounc ed: it the fine st time I eve r had u p until then.
My fri end , Rubayz , had a g ood time , but he was not
so fo oli sh a s to fall in love or to be captured by any of them. S o
mu ch the be tte r for me , a s h e wa s not too o c cupied with love
affai r s to li sten to my talks about D o r a . Poor fe llow, he had D o r a
day and night; if w e walked out o f a n evening i t was in the di r e c
ti on of D o r a : s home in hope s that fortune would give me a g limps e
of he r .
I had not the c ourage to call on he r and the only
plac e I ho pe d to s e e he r was at Sunday S chool ... but not the one I
�77
u s e d t o attend. She invited me t o an ente rtainment onc e and he r e
w e became fond e r of e ach othe r . But. ala s , the s e happy days in
my e a rly life w e r e not i ntended to la st and the ente rtainment that
ni ght wa s the la st I ever s aw of h e r . I did not w rite to he r becau s e
I di d not know how to write an E ngli sh lette r pr o pe rly or s pell
well. and even if I did $ I doubt if I would have written as I knew
nothing w ould c ome of it and I w a s too ba shful anyway.
T alk about be ing ba shful; a s a young man of
1 9 I was
if anyone e v e r wa s .
The boa r ding mi str e s s had a s i ste r who wa s r athe r
ni c e lo oking , but olde r than 1. I did not c a r e a s much fo r he r , pe r
ha p s , b e c au s e she did not make a s much of me a s she made of the
oth e r old e r boa6:-de r s . But we w e r e s till very friendly.
The moulde r s w e r e giving a picnic one day. It wa s
to be a steamboat ride on the T enn� s s e e Rive r . getting off at s ome
c ountry pla c e to s pend the day . I had the c ourage to invite thi s
young lady t o the pi cni c and she gladly a c c e pted . I neve r for got
what a g o o s e I was that day. I was a shamed to have the b oys who
knew me s e e he r with me for I knew they would tea s e me the next
day . B e s ide s , I had s uch a time finding s omething to talk about ,
and she he r s elf wa s n ot gushing. I w a s s o glad when late r s he met
s ome gi r l s and boys whom she knew. That R e lieved me of a gr eat
'
bu r den of ente r tainin g . Thi s sto r y took pla c e long before my
me eting '\v it�
D ora.
I had always the fea r o f making a mi stake i n talking
or a b r eak in p r onoun ciati on. Add to it the fa ct that a Syr ian boy
nev e r gets the chance to talk to a gi rl and take he r out alone and
it made me ba s hful and I did not know how to act. Out side of s ay
ing . "Thi s i s pr etty" , or s ome adj e c tive , I c ould find very little
to talk about. Of c ou r s e , I wa s glad when the picni c was ove r fo!'
I wa s di s gu sted with my s e lf. But when D o ra came into my little
exi stenc e , the r e wa s s omething about he r so wins ome and lively
and since r e that I felt like one who had the shackle s taken off hi s
fe e t and made able to run. I was no longe r ba shful; she had the
pow e r of making me act natur ally. S o , after the expe rience with
the tw o g i r l s , I came to the c onclusion that thi s thing called lov e
i s unexplainable .
Whethe r you a r e Ame r i c an o r Syrian. wheth e r you
can expre s s your thoughts or not , whethe r you a r e hand s ome o r
not, thi s thing called love c an gri p your he art- s tring s i n such a
way that you be gin to imagine that a highe r pow e r br ought you
togethe r .
One gi r l w ent with me to have a good time , and the
othe r bound me to he r with "hoops of ste e l " .
Thi s little love affa i r . i f you wi sh t o call i t that. w a s
a sweet mil e stone i n my life and s omething I looked back o n f o r
many ye a r s . Whene"v e r I hea r d the name D o r a . I enj oyed the
s ound. I loved the name . Thi s e pi sode c ame toward the end of my
stay in Chattanooga. but I me nti on it fi r st a s to ke e p in c om pany
with Kale e P s love affai r s . Kale e l" wa s a r e a l a r ti st and a bo rn
�78
mu sician. H e was not a bad fe How and , had he be en endowed with
ambiti on, he would have be come v e r y famou s . But he wa s lazy
and I s ometi me s think that geniu s e s a r e la cking in s ome thing s .
Kaleel and I had wonde rful time s togethe r . Late r he
occupi ed the r o om with me and he u s e d to watch for my home c om
ing a s a true love r . B y thi s time I had caught up in my wo rldly
affai r s and had paid my debts and owned a Sunday suit and a good
pai r of Sunday sho e s. I ope ned a saving s a c c ount and used to put
in four or five d olla r s a w e e k. Thing s w e r e getting on ni cely with
me .
F r e quently, Kaleel, Wadea Rubayz and I w ould walk on
a summe r ' s evening to the heart of town and buy an ice c r eam
s oda , s omething new in tho se day s , for five c e nt s . When Kale e l
was flush he tr eated; othe r wi s e . it w ould be my treat. W e w ould
have a lot of fun on tho s e walks; the r e we r e no amu s ements like
the movie s in tho s e days and a play wa s out of the que stion for us .
S ometime s 'we would go out to the pa r k and hi r e a boat. With hi s
lov·e affai r s and mine , I gue s s we we r e · both two lunati c s a s happ
a s larks
y
•
.
Wadea Baho ot, after he was able to throw away hi s
crutche s . s e cur ed hi s railroad ti cket and left us for Chi c ago to
a c c e pt a position with a Syrian fi rm. At that tim.e , the talk about
the g r e at W o r ld ' s Fair in Chi c ago wa s on e ve rybody ' s tongu e .
The Fi:Li .r Wi:L b tu be: iX! 1 8 9 3 flnd we we r e still in 1 e 9 2 . I was
r e c e iving lette r s from. home constantly te lling me that they r e ceiv
ed lette r s fr om a friend by the name of Abdala Jabo or who taught
me in s chool and had since come to thi s c ountry. He w r ote and
told them that the work I was enga ged in wa s the lowe st kind in
Ameri ca.
They said that it wa s di rty, ha r d work and that the c la s s
engaged in thi s work wa s the lowest type ; that wage s w e r e poo;r
and that the r e wa s no futu r e in it. The s e letter s us.e d to vex me.
The r e wa s s ome truth in what he told them. that I
knew , but he r e I want to say that the men on the whole w e r e a ve r y
good c la s s of pe o ple . Pe rhaps they w e r e not e ducated a s one w ould
expe ct, but what I had s e en of them they w e r e good-hearted simple
folk and like the ave r age wo rke � s in othe r tr ade s . Of c our s e , thei r
languag e w a sn ' t as good or a s refined a s teache r s or pr ofe s s o r s
but the y had the true r efinement and gentlene s s. A moulde r i s no
le s s a gentleman at heart e ven though he might eat with a knife
instead of a fo r k. When I fi r st mixed with them I was in the habit
of u s ing the for k to c a r r y the food to my mouth, but shortly afte r
war d s I noti ced some o f them, not all, using the knife . s o I took it
for g r ante d that they had the proper way. I started to use the
knife , thInki ng it wa s pr ope r , until I wa s c o r r e cted in such a de li
c at e w a y and told i t wa s wr ong t o u s e the kni fe .
The s e tri fling things do not le s se n the di gnity of man,
e s pe cially if we take into c onside ration that e a r lY "pe r iod when the
peo ple w e r � mo stly c ommon folks with little or
we r e just in the be ginning of an awakening .
110
education and
The pe o pl e be gan to
�•
79
fe e l the ne ed of highe r cultur e and e ducati on although the y had an
inhe r e nt r efineme nt and g e ntility a s well a s kindne s s and polite
ne s s " in s pite of me fact-that they did not know the meaning of
etiquette and the fal s e manne r s whi ch belong to the s o ciety of our
day. T ru e , he r e and the r e you he a r d cur s ing and swe a r in g , but to
them it wa s no mo r e than any othe r w o rd s . That, I a C,kno.w le d g e ,
wa s always di s ta s teful t o m e and I neve r c o pie d the foul wor d s a s
I had c o pied e ating with the knife . I u s e d s ome s lang phr a s e s but
I r e ally did not know they we r e vulgar until late r on.
,
I ke pt writing home that F a r han and I had c e rtain
ambiti ons , but that di d not le s s e n my fathe r ' s insi stence in hi s
lette r s . C onstantly he wanted me to get away f r om thi s kind of
wo r k and do like Mr p ' Ja bo o r who wa s now g oing ar ound s e lling
good s . My fathe r I s wi s h to me wa s as good as a c ommand , and
whi le I wanted to obey it at once , r c ould not find it s e n s i ble to
, break away fr om my pre s ent c omfo r table life fo r another un
c e r tain o ne .
Things be gan t o change , howeve r 9 and the beginni ng
of the e nd came .
Up to that time I had be e n doing the same kind of
work day aft e r day. I wa s not lea r ning a nything new , only ob s e rv
ing what othe r s w e r e doing . It dawned on me that I had a l r e ady
s pe nt a whole year doing the s ame thing, and with my fathe r
plan in mind and
$ 100.00
IS
i n the bank, I had the c ourage t o g o to
the bo s s one day and tell hi m that I was not impr oving my s e lf a nd
a s ked him to give me s ome thing e l s e to work on .
T he r e was a ve r y diffi cult patte rn that one of the
be s t men in the sho p was w o r ki ng on and w a s not making any head
way with it. Eve r y chanc e I had I watched him and I a l s o heard
the men talking about its c ompli c �tion s .
That same afte rnoon I s aw one of the c olo r e d h e l pe r s
car rying the fla s k s and thi n g s be longing to thi s patte r n and putting
the m on my flo or . I thought the y had made a mi stake , but sho r tly
afte r thi s the b o s s carne and said to me , " Le t us s e e what y ou can
do with thi s . " I to ok hold of it and the next mo rning I w o r ke d and
worked. My life and s oul w e r e in it, but all day long I did not make
one fla sk. I thought the bo s s would take it away from me . But no,
he would c ome and work a whi le with me but with little s u c c e s s .
..
The r e we r e c e r tain kna c ks whi ch one had to find by expe r ime nt
ing . I ke pt at it unti l I had one g o od one , then anothe r , and b e fo r e
many da y s the bo s s s a id, " I a m g oing t o put you o n pi e ce w o r k and
give you 25¢ fo r every g o od one you make . 'I At fi r st I wa s ba r e ly
able to make my nine dolla r s a w e e k.
But I did not c a r e , a s I w a s
now lea rning s omething wo rthwhi le , and I wa s e nj oyin g m y w o r k.
G radually I inc r e a s ed my daily output until I wa s making
day , whi c h meant
$ 1 3 . 50
$ 2.25
a
a we e k . The bo s s de cided afte r the fourth
wee k' s pay that I was making too much mone y. He did not c on side r
that I was working ha r d and steady to make it s o he d e c i d ed to cut
my pie c e pr i c e j I got mad and quit. I went to anothe r sho p, a much
�80
smalle r one , and inqui red for wo rk. I was suc c e s sful the r e and
the bo s s the r e gave me $ 2 . 25 a day whi c h wa s c onside r e d g ood
pay fo r an a ppr enti c e of tw o and a half yea r s expe r i en c e , a s the
full fle dged moulde r s we re paid only $ 2 . 7 5 a day. I worke d hard
the r e and I enj oye d the new work ve ry much.
In that sho p the r e wa s an a pprenti c e who b e c ame ve ry
jealou s of me ; he had be en the re many yea r s and s e emed to own
the place. He tormented me and played all sorts of devili sh tri cks
on me , and even w ent s o fa r as to s poil my wo rk. I c omplained to
the bo s s several time s and thi s only hel pe d matte r s temporarily.
If h,e hadn 't be e n stronge r than I , I c ould have fixe d
him;l but he
wa s bi gge r and old e r and my fathe r had neve r known about boxing
to pre pa r e me for an eme r gency of thi s kind.
What with lette r s c orning from horne asking me to give
up moulding . and Wadea Bahoot writing from Chicago how muc h
h e liked hi s new w or k; knowing that I had $ 1 0 0 . 0 0 t o my c r e dit ,
and the fa ct that my w o r k wa s be c oming unbearable , I quit the
thi rd p o s ition in my new c a r e e r and s o on after pulled up stake s in
Chattanoo ga .
F o r ye ar s and ye a r s I had a longing to s e e that city
whe r e I had nothing but good luck. I wanted to s e e the pe ople who
w e r e s o good to me , my r o om whi ch looked out on the fork of the
str e e t , and pi ck s ome vi ole ts on L ookout Mountain, but, ala s , I
neve :r had the o ppo rtunity o r g ood fortune .
Kal e e l Sale e by wa r br oken-he arted at my de partu r e
and I cannot tell, f o r I c ould not gauge thr ough my tea r s , who
c r i e d the mo st when we pa rted at the station.
Poor Kaleel - we
s pent a most lovable time togethe r and we ne ver met again until
yea r s afte rwar d s . It is inte r e sting to note that one of the s e
gi r l s who s e lette r s h e often gave me t o r ea d finally c a ptu r e d him
and late r they w e r e ma r ri e d . As soon as he had enough money,
whethe r be stbwed o r s e cu r e d from hi s parent s , he took hj. s wife
and went to Par i s to study and impr ove hi s a rt. Afte r that, they
went and lived in Syr ia.
Like most a rti s ts , he wa s e c c entr i c and p e o ple did
not unde r stand him and did not like him for hi s love of self and
hi s love of boa sting. Undoubtedly he wa s a real a rtist and ha s
,
done s ome beautiful w ork. So wdh hi s mu si cal talent, hi s love of
r efinement, and e s pe cially hi s Ame r i can wife , he tried to lord it
ove r hi s Syrian friend s . The r e sult wa s that he did not get along
very well and had mo r e enemi e s than friend s . He was not able to
even e a rn a living at time s , and hi s wife had to work. She , too,
had g o od talent s a s she wa s a g ood teache r and r e cite r . She was
employed in the Ame ri can c onsulate as
a
s e c r etary; on the othe r
hand, when Kaleel wa s not working on a picture he was gunning or
w o r king on hi s flowe r be d s o r playing with hi s d o g s .
The la st time I s a w him wa s in Syr i a i n 1 9 24 . I called
on him and went ove r a lot of the e a rly days and he showed me
hi s studio and S ome beautiful work. In 1 92 8 the poor fellow wa s
�81
shot to de ath, a s w a s hi s wife , while out driving togeth e r .
Thu s
endeth the history o f a bright but mi smanaged life .
•
�82
C H A P T ER
9
CHICAGO , ILLINOIS , & C LINTON , IOWA
In Chi cago I found that Wade a Bahoot had already
taken hold and had be c ome pra cti cally the bo s s of the Syrian
colony who gathe r ed to gethe r in that bi g city. Of c our s e , I went
dir e ctly t o hi s addr e s s and found a lodging in the same pla c e
whe r e he wa s living whi ch wa s , i n fact, a small hotel whe r e all ,
the nev'!s of the Syrian world wa s he a r d
.
I set out to hunt a job. Thi s time I wanted s omething
be side s mouldi ng , as I wanted to obey my fathe r . I s pent a lot of .
money on new s pap e r s mo rning and ni ght (fortunat e ly they c o st
only two cent s ) , s c anning all the adve rti s e me nt s and a s s o on a s I
found s omething w orthwhi le I would rush to the pla c e , only to find
I was too late .
should I ?
I did not want laboring work nor mean work. Why
One hundr e d d olla r s in one ' s pocke t make s him inde pen
dent. Chicago s e eme d to be the me c c a of all the unemployed
peo pll" ; !'l ot. only of thi s c ountry but of the world , and the r e w e r e
hund r e d s o f men for each j ob. I n the hotel the r e w e r e about 1 8 o r
1 9 Syrian men' who w e r e idl e . Evidently they had just c ome t o the
c ountry and not one of them s poke E ngli sh. They noticed me from
time to time s c anning the pape r s and ke pt be gging me to find them
w o r k.
One day I saw an ad: Men wanted to work in a s laughte r
hou s e . OIt wa s on the out ski rts o f Chicago and I had t o take the
e le va,t ed to get to it. I saw the bo s s and told him about the s e men;
he said to ge t them and he would give them. a j ob . E a rly the next
morning I was leading thi s gang of men and e v e r y one wanted me
to e xplain to him in Arabi c . I told them what they would have to ,
do . and out of de s pair they we r e willing to do anything a s they
we r e ne a rly starving . I found them r o oms to sle e p in as the y
de cide d t o live clo s e to the pla c e to avoid expense . I intr oduced
. them to the bo s s and to each one in tur n I had to inte r pr et hi s
duti e s . I s pe nt the morning with the m and saw that e a ch cne got
along with hi s work, and finally left them.
It was my fi r st vi ew of a slaughte r hou s e and in the
few hour s I was the r e , I saw mor e c o w s killed and d r e s s e d than
I ever d r e amed existed.
The cow wa s forced into a pen and a
young man s tanding high up whe r e the cow c ouldn ' t s e e him, gave
the poor thing a whack on the for ehead with a long -handled hamme r .
The c ow fell t o the fl oor s e n s e le s s . A trap door was o pene d and
the cow slid into the slaughte r r o om. Two men cut off its head .
anothe r two me n took hold of i t and by me ans of pulli e s they had
it hanging by its feet. It wa s pa s s e d along the line and e ach one
�83
did something to it -- - one cut off the feet, one skinned it, one
cut it open and took out the c ontent s . The boy with the hammer
killed thousand s of cows a day. He went from pen to pen, and s o
on along the line , each one doing s omething s o that by the time
the be ef reached the end of a long room it wa s d r e s sed and
cleaned and pushed into the storage r oom.
Ve ry likely now the y have ve ry much improved
methods, but that to me s eemed so great in c ompari son to what
I wa s used to, that I c ould not help but marvel at it and at the
amount that were slaughter ed even though thi s wa s not the only
one in Chicago.
All thi s work wa s d one by skilled workmen and the
duty of the Syrian fellow s was to clean afte r the se wor kmen .
The r e wa s running wate r on the floor to wash away the blood, and
all the men had on high boots . Our Syrian boys had none and I
. could see them from a di stance a s they wer e wading in wate r in
the ir bar e fe et car rying hooks in thei r hands to drag away the
skins , the head s , and othe r c ontents , laughing and joking with
each othe r .
Poor fe llow s , they wer e s o happy about it and I w a s
so happy t o s e e them. Thi s happine s s , however » refle cte d adve r
sely o n my own condition. Time s indeed were very bad; in fact .
a pani c had come ove r the c ountry, a s you will read in hi story
that 1 8 9 2 -9 3 were refe r red to as the pa�i c yea r s during the
early part of Cleveland s admini stration. What made matter s
wor se wa s the fact that young and old who were out of wo rk all
ove r the country rushed to Chi ca go hoping to get work in the
World ' s Fai r , only to be sadly disappointed , like I was .
My money wa s disappearing fa st. A young man, a
cousin of Najeeb Rubayz, had come to Chi cago and wa s fixed
about the same way I was . Both of us got caught so innocently
by a flowery adve rti s ement promi sing big money to anyone who
learned the art of c oloring pi cture s with the under standing that
afte r we lea rned to do the work neatly and sati sfactorily. they
would supply us with picture s to paint and we could then Inake
bi g money. We had .to buy from them brushe s , paint s , and equi p
ment costing about $ 1 0 or $ 1 5 . Kaleel and I got at it in our r o om
and painted and fo llowed di r e ctions until the work began to show
improveInent . but when we would submit theIn they would make a
lot of critici sIn. We s pent days at it until t.hey c ould find no
fault. But our great di sappointment we found that they really had
no work to give out but it wa s a trick to sell painting equipmentp
yet the adve rti seInent went on in the pape r ju st the saIne . This
adverti seme nt, as I learned by expe rience , was like many a one
used to cheat the public and we, like many othe r s . were the
vi ctims . Their object was to sell thei r outfit and what they sold
us for $ 1 0 . 0 0 was not worth two. By that time my excheque r was
depleted and that of Iny companions al s o was no better .
I
�84
started to hunt work in some foundry and s pent a
few days going about from one place to the othe r unsucce s sfully.
Now s omething had to be done qUickly. Kaleel Rubayez, my new
companion, said our only salvati on was to do like many of the
Sy r ians we r e d oing s o suc c e s sfully and that was to carry a box
like our friend in Chattanooga did and go out and sell trinkets
and dry good s . I said to him that if I were to starve to death I
would not carry a box called by the se Syrians a kasheh. He said.
" You
do not need to carry a kasheh; carry a satche 1. 1 !
"
Finally I agreed. Wadea Bahoot agreed to go our
s ecurity with hi s bo s s and they gave us the same line of goods
the other fellow s car ried, naturally making a big profit on us.
- W e started out with goods in our satchels and ve ry little money
in our pocketsi but we tu.rned our backs OTJ. Clli ca"g o.
I cannot forget my anxiety and worry to fe el that
afte r a spell of three ye ars I was pennile s s , and my fathe r was
constantly making br oad hints that so and s o of our acquaintance s
se:nt money to hi s par ents . Undoubtedly it was true , fo r the ea rly
Syrians were makIng rp.oney very ea sily whether going out selling
or peddling with the kasheh . Thi s I knew wa s a strong hint on my
fathe r ' s part and wa s painful to me , yet I was helple s s .
. Most of the early Syrian immi grants started thei r
car e e r s a s trade r s . The field wa s ripe for car rying o n thi s kind
of '.'! O !" k, s o the y mad. e money. and knowing the value of money;
befor e very long, the y were able to open stor e s and make a suc c e s s . So it was not surprising that they sent money to their
peo ple . A s a rule , a Syrian is a shr ewd trade r and can make
moneY9 but I must have been an exce ption for I wa s no trader but
was mechanically inclined. I loved to do work with my hand s and
eve ry me chanical devi ce used to sur prise me and cha rm me and
I always was anxious to know how a thing was made . I have : .
always admi red inventor s; I have gone so far as t o say that I
could wor ship such mind s that invented such things a s adding and
multiplying machine s and the thousands of other gadgets. For
instance , the me re pre s sing of a button you illuminate a room,
and how often I compare it with the coal oil lamps whe r e I had to
lift the chimney-like globe , light a match and touch it to the wick,
pla c e the globe on again, and by means of a s c rew lift the wick to
the pr ope r height. If thi s is done too soon the globe will crack,
.and many a one cracked with me . But that was not the wor st of
it - - when I wa s d one my finge r s had a lot 'of coal oil on them and
the thing I hated most was that eve ry time I had to wa sh my hands .
C ontrast thi s with the me r e pre s sing of a button.
Even the illuminating gas was not known. I heard of a
Syrian who the fi r st night of hi s arrival in a hotel , not being warn
ed beforehand of the difference between the ga s and coal oil, blew
the ga s out as he wa s ac cuiStomed to do the c oal oil lamp. Poor
fellow, he must have been so happy because h<; had reached the
Promi s ed Land , but, ala s , he wound up in Ete rnity ! You younger
I
_
·
·
_.
·
�85
peo ple would not know what I mean by the illuminating ga s . The
ele ctric light wa s in its infancy in my time and most eve ry home
was piped up fo r ga s in eve ry room, and when you wanted li ght
you turne d a valve on and the gas came through to whi ch you
touched a lighted match. It i s no wonder that many a time I say,
"God ble s s Edi son" .
The boy s who a r e born in thi s c ountry take eve ry
thing for granted as though all thi s took place in Adam ' s time .
Can anyone on the othe r side believe me if I told him that you can
heat your house to any tempe rature you de sire all winte r long
without even pushing a button ? Just set the marvelous little gadget
called the the rmostat to the tempe rature you want and fo rget all
about it. Not even do you have loads of ashe s to carry out. Of
cour se , they won 't be lieve me be cause their ITlode of heating is s o
different. They take a ITletal box on four legs . the box being lined
with clay. When we want to heat a r OOITl thi s stove i s filled with
cha rcoal and you pick a piece of live coal froITl the kitchen fire
and place it in the middle of th e stove , pile lots of char coal ove r
it and fan it. Y ou have large special fans for the purpose , and
you fan and fan, until all the c oals become red. If eve ry char coal
wa sn't aglow, my father would send me out with it to fan it ITlor e .
claiming that the fume s would give him a headache . Then you
take it in and it keeps you r living r o om comfortable all evening however , the r e st of the rooms are ice cold. So you can contrast
the two ways of heating. I could fill many pag e s telling of all the
comforts and c onveni enc es and kitchen gadgets whi ch make thi s
country the greate st country on the face of the earth, for my life
has been a life of c OITlpari s on and c ontrast, in w onder and adITli r
ation, something a native boy has ITlis sed.
Going by train a few ITlile s , we got off and walked in
the country, and every house we came to we would try to intere st
the lady of the house in buying. He took one side of the r oad , and
I took the othe r , ITle eting at intervals to cOITlpar e note s . He rnade
a few sal e s but nothing worthwhile. In the evening we r eached a
sITlall town and found a r OOITl for the ni ght. We bought a l oaf of
bread and SOITle che e se and had that for our supper and breakfa st.
The next day we re pe ated the saITle thing.
M y ITleITlory i s not ver y clear a s to how ITlany days
we went on, but I don't think it wa s ITlor e than three or four day s .
We w e re getting now furthe r and furthe r into the State of Illinoi s ,
and the further out w e went, the fewer the home s . One would walk
a ITlile before finding a hou s e , and when he did. the house wa s
about a quarter of a ITlile from the r oad. T o walk in and come out
di sappointed was a di sappointITlent plus a one -half mile walk.
Things be gan to be di scouraging. Kaleel wa s ITlaking
a few ITlore sale s than I and he wa s older and stronger and better
able to stand tho se ha rdshi p s . We caITle to a for k of a r oad one
day and he said , " Y ou take one road and I will take the othe r , and
�..
86
w e will try t o meet a t the next junction. " It wa s a long summe r
day, hot and lonely, with hardly a pas s e r -by and very few qwell
ing s . In 1 8 9 1 - 9 2 the country wa s spar s ely settled and each nouse
would be sur rounded by two or three mile s of land.
The re wa s a hous e which wa s quite a di stance fr om
the road, but I was not going to mi s s any of the home s . The lady
carne , to the door and I o pened my satchel and showed her what I
had. � remember selling he r a few stockings and handker chiefs
and he r bill amounted to about $ 1 . 75 or $ 1 . 8 5 . She gave me two
,
dollar s and I gave he r the change and went out j oyful and rejoic
ing , for that wa s the bigge st sale I had made. That gave me
renewed strength to c a r- ry my he avy load. All that day, to a late
. hour in the afte rnoon, I had not s old anything else and had had
nothing to eat, and I be gan to t hi nk that I had lost my companion
fo r I walked and walked and carne to no inte r se ction.
Finally I a rrive d at a junction and it was deli cious to
sit and re st, but it ·�.va s r eally no r e st as n'1y lower limbs be gan
tel pain me in a way I had neve r felt before. I waited till nea rly
sunset, when my companion carne along. tired and haggard and
dusty. He sat d own and told me that he had neve r had such a
poo r day. he did not s ell anything. I said that I did bette r for I
had sold about $ L 7 5 . He did not be lieve me . I said . " T o pr ove
it, I gave he r the change and she gave me a two dollar bill and
he r e it i s . " I put my hand in my pocket and took out �he note .
To my great surprise it wa s a five dollar note instead. I could
not believe my eye s , a s I did not have a five dollar note when I
started that mo rning, and I could not find any two dollar note s in
my pockets. A s ·J had made no othe r sale s and had not bought
anything, I de cided the poor woman had made a mi stake and that
I had che ated her.
I said to Kaleel , " Y ou wait for me here . " and started
bac k to he r house. He r an afte r me and cur s ed me and called me
a fool for ever thinking of such a thing. He over powe red me , as
he wa s stronge r , and told me that thi s money would c ompen sate
him fo r hi s hard day ' s work, that God had sent it to us, and so
on. I t w a s getting dark and the woman s house was very far �nd
my le g s were aching, so I decided to wait until the next day to
trace my way back. W e walke d a little way and the r e was nq
house in sight. I could walk no fa rthe r so I sat on the gr ound and
told Kale e l that I wa s going to stay ther e all night; he could go .
on and we would me et in the morning. I had reached a state
whe r e I pr efer r ed to slee p on the road rathe r than to walk to a
she lter . Kaleel sympathized with me and sat with me a while
and coaxe d me to walk along slowly and he would carry my grip.
Slowly we walked along until in the darkne s s we saw a light in
the di stanc e . That gave us new life and we thought that we
could sle e p in the barn if nothing els e .
The weathe r wa s then warm a s i t was the latte r
part of June . So, on reaching the house , I stayed outside while
I
�81
"
Kaleel: went to the door and talke d to the people. Whateve r he
told them I don 't know , but shortly he called to me to come . 1
went in and you may appr e ciate how I felt; words cannot de s c ribe
that haven of re st. The peo ple , though long pas thei r suppe r time ,
had us wa sh while they set the table and brought out a lot of good
things and made us sit down and eat. How do you suppo s e we ate
afte r a long summer day without food or wate r ? The two things I
remembe r about thi s house we re . fi r st the re was an old man who
told me , "Now, son, · when you go to bed stretch your feet out to
let the blood ci rculate. Don lt bend them and tomor row all the pain
. will di sappear.
I did thi s and the next day 1 was ready fo r another
day ' s work. The s e c ond thing 1 remembe r was the bed we s le pt
in; 1 neve r dreamed that ther e was such a thing, e s pec ially out in
the country. Our farme r s at home are s o poo r , and while they
are hos pitable and would give you their only bed and s lee p outside
themselve s , I had no idea that a farme r in thi s c ountry c ould be
so comfo rtable with all the advanta ge s of city house s . In the
South the farmer s we r e poor but hos pitable to an extr'eme . It was
a double bed with a feather mattr e s s which was s o high that I did
not know how to climb into it. Thinking all the time that it was a
r e gular cotton mattre s s and wonde ring if it was the style of that
country to have them s o hi gh, I undre s sed and c limbed up. The
:rnattre s s went down with me . When Kalee l got in ther e was a
mountain of feathe r s between u s . I cannot say to thi s day whether
the feathe r bed and that beautiful slee p cured my pain , or whethe r
it wa s the stretching out of my leg s as the old man told me , but I
do believe the forme r . I have once o r twic e s lept in £�athe r beds .
but neve r in one like thi s .
The s e pe ople mu st have given u s thei r gue s t r oom
whi ch proved to be the highe st form of ho s pitality. In the morn
ing after breakfast they r efused to take any money and we left
them s ome trinkets , thanke d them and started off. There are
some good-hearted pe ople in the, wor ld afte r all. And why should
we not do something for humanity once in a while , without the
ho pe of ever being r e c ompens ed ? The next morning Kale e l
wbuld not let m e go back t o squar e up with the woman abdyt the
five dolla r s . I made up my mind that the fir st chanc e I had 'I
would d o it, and I am sorry to thi s day that it was not done. 1
have neve r had anything to bothe r my c onsci e nc e a s thi s five
dollar s ha s done . It bother e d me for yea r s afte rwards.' even now
when 1 think about it. I have a guilty cons cien c e.
My fir s t expe rience a s a peddle r c ame to an end
s oon. I hated it and . having s old about one -half the goods we car
ried, I said to Kaleel that I wanted to quit. " Y ou take my goods
and pay my share , whateve r it i s . " He wa s a ver y good natured
fellow and saw how I felt. so he r eleased me , with probably a few
dollar s in my pocket. Thi s was s omewhere in Illinoi s .
1. 1
"
.
�•
88
r e call c r o s sing the Mi s si s si ppi on an i r on bridge
on foot about a mi le long . I had not had a chance to walk a long
bridg e on foot and admire and study the way it was c onstructed
before . At the end the r e was a small village called, I think,
Lyon s , Iowa . I tried to find work but the re was none to be had.
I found "a boarding hous e and the next morning wa s told that I
might find work in Clinton, Iowa , only five c ents ride away. So
to C linton I went, with praye r s in my heart, and I s cour e d the
town. It was hopeles s'. I went bac:: k to the boarding house for
anothe r night and, of cour s e . had to pay in advance as our good
boa rding mi str e s s told me that she had be en taken in s o' much
that money in advance became he r motto . Anothe r five c ent s ,
" and I went to Clinton the next morning not with the obj e ct of
looking for work, but to s end a telegram to my teache r Fa rhan to
a sk him to telegraph me some mone y. I thought I would be on the
s afe side and with what little money I had I would send the tele
gram and a sk him to send me $ 1 0 . 0 0 . (Lyons did not have a tele
graph offic e ) When I had paid :for the telegram I had just about
s even or eight cents left . But why should I worry ? In a few
hours I w ould have my ten dollar s .
The re was a pa rk nearby s o I s pent the time staying
a round. If you eve r want to know that the clock can stand still,
just get in a fix like thi s . I had no one to talk to , no book to read,
and ha. �fdly ai1yoi1'::: pu. 5 sing by. When I thought two h Oll r' s had
e la psed and came to the front of the offic e to look at the clock
from the outside , I found that it was hardly more than an hour .
" 1 de cided to walk a while . At last I returned to the offi c e and the
cle rk told me that the an swer had not c ome . So I went out again
and tried to kill time , but found to my sur pri se that time was
killing me inste ad . Half an hour late r I came ba ck and the c lerk
sho ok hi s head. Is it pos sible that Farhan would not answer me ?
And if I had not spent the money on hi s telegram I could have
wir ed to Wadea Bahoot in Chi cago. You can imagine my anxiety.
If s omething happened on the next walk a little diffe rent I would
take more hope and say to myself, " Thi s will bring me good
luck." Alas , the clerk got sick and tired of my bothering him
eve ry few minute s and the afte rnoon came and I was no better
- off. So much walking did not le s sen my di ge stive fluids and I
began to fe e l that the se flui ds, fo r want of better fo od to dige st,
wer e dige sting the stomach itself.
Well, I still had seven c ents so I went into a grocery
sto re ..ElIld looked at soda c racke rs which had layer s of raisins
in them. I bought a half pound for five cents. I never see the se
c racke r s to thi s day that I do not at onc e remembe r the time
when I ate them as the most delicious food that eve r was invent
ed. I like them now and I like the combination. The eating of
the se cracke r s consumed s o much time I wa s sur e the answer
was the re for me , and I hurried to the offic e to be disappointed
a gain.
I
�..
89
,
Y ou can i magine my feelings , running ba ck and
forth to that offic e the r e st of the afternoon, and at six o ' clock
I wa s told that the offic e would clo s e . I felt sur e that on the
'
mo rrow the answe r would be the r e . I cur s e d my fate and my
luck and bewailed my c onditi on, but wa s too game to c ry.
I star'ted to walk to Lyons and half way I found I
c ould not walk any further . So I boarded a trolley and sto od on
the platform; I told the c onductor that I only had two c ents and
that I would get off if he said s o . So the good fellow let me ride
on, so I reached my room and went to slee p in s pite of all
thoughts. Bright and early the next morning I walked bac k to
Clinton and was the re befor e the office was o pen.
To my great amazement ther e was no an sw e r . I
r ealized then that Fa rl1an c ould not have r e c e ived my telegram
and that I must do some thing at onc e . I wa s hungry, that was sur e .
The foundry, and by the way, the only one of its kind that wa s
the re , was very small and not running. The bo s s said that in
about two we eks they planned to start up. Ther e was a lumbe r
yar d and I a sked to s e e the owner . I asked him for a j ob and he
said he wa s sorry that they had no work. I said, " Plea se give me
something to do , and give me just ehough to eat. II He sai d that
he wa s sorry that he C Quid not use me . When I told him my sto ry
he put hi s hand in hi s pocket and gave me half a dollar . He said,
" You go eat your breakfast and go r ight out into the country. The
farme r s need help just now and I am sur e you will get work. "
I thanked him and walked out , had a good br eakfast,
paid five cents for the trolley; and went to the boarding house.
l owed fo r my room for one night, s o I explained to He r Maj e sty
my predi cament and she was good enough to let me ca r ry my
satche l and go. Eve r y farm house I carne to and eve ry farme r in
the fie ld I saw I aske d them if they needed help. I had a I I NolI at
eve ry sto pping pla c e . Long summe r days and mile s of walking
and bitter di sappointments at eve ry tur n a r e not thing s to be fo r
gotten.
I can see mys elf walking a long lane with tr e e s on
both side s, thinking of home and Bluedan and, like the pr odi gal
s on, longing for the c rumbs that are left over . The sun had set
and my chances for a lodging were so s lim, and ve ry likely a
dog would cha s e me away afte r walking s o fa r away from the
road.
Some one must have heard my praye r for , instead
of a dog , I met the owne r in the flower garden near the hous e . I
asked him if he ne eded help which, of c our s e , he said he did not.
I think that because I had on a nic e looking suit they all thought
I c ouldn it put in a day ' s work. I stood ther e a minute dumbfounded.
I said to him that I was out of wo rk and I would be glad to work for
him just for my board until I got some hel p from my friend s . I
said, ''It i s getting late , and I do not know whe r e to go. , S o, if you
would put me up fo r the night I will gladly work for you the next
�..
90
'<lay and you needn It pay me anything. " The good old s oul said,
-"You c an stay ove rni ght, but you need not work. II He took me in.
You can imagine the relief to my mind, as the re was
no othe r hou s e in si ght as tho s e farme r s in Iowa own so much land
that the r e i s quite a distance between hous e s . Y ou can a l s o imag
ine my a stoni shment when I went into a palacial house - lar g e .
beautifully furni shed , and up-to-date, a s pe r tho s e day s . i n eve ry
r e s pect. I had been to farm hou s e s in T e nne s s e e but they were
poo r in eve ry r e spect and w e r e mor e in kee ping with my ide a a s
to what a farm and a farme r ' s life is; in othe r wor d s . a life of
· struggle for exi stenc e . I expe cted them to b� shabbily dr e s sed.
poo r ly shod. mi se rably housed, and badly fed , Not so in Iowa !
Did I e ve r dream that a farme r ha s a piano in hi s house s a
s pe cial r oom a s a library full of books , and beautiful rug s and
tap e stry ?
. Above all, I found an intelli gent, well - re ad man who,
·.a s soon a s I told him whe r e 1 carne from, knew all about that
country, not like s o many town folks who did not know if Syria and
-Servia w e r e the same countrie s . I ate my supper alon.e a s they
a ll had their su ppe r at six o ' c lock and not at dusk, a s wa s cus
tomary with the farme r s I was used to. After suppe r he and I
conve r se d and then he took me up to the thi rd floor and showed
;.me a r o om to s le e p in . . On the same floor the r e was another farm
hand 'Nho wo rked for thi s man . At six o ' clo ck in the morning I
hea rd a c al l to the fa rmhand. I got u p and dr e s sed qui ckly, They
called me to breakfa st. S o on afte r 1 a sked the man if he would
not let me work fo r him for nothing until I wrote to my friend
and got s ome money.f:rom him, I had told him the story befor e .
He consented and i t w a s a s i f h e had given m e a for
tune . I took my c oat off and started to make my self us eful. In
the ba rn he had four fine lo oking hor s e s , s o I went in and be gan
to g r o om the s e hor s e s while the othe r farm.hand was milking the
>cow s . I groome d the hor s e s nice ly and wa s r eminded of my
-hor s e . I always loved ho r s e s anyhow and thi s was a plea sur e to
·handle them. T hen w e went out to harve st the wheat and my work
was to follow the r e a pe r and carry the bundle s and put the m in
hea p s . A cre s anaa c r e s of gr ound belonge d to thi s man and I
�otic e d that s everal men were he lping him. I found that they hel p
·ed each othe r . When they fini sh their harvesting they go to the
\nei ghb o r s and help them.
One day his . te ams and the nei ghbor s mowed the hay
-and they had me inside the big ba rn. With a fork I was to pitch
: the hay whi ch was hoi sted up high to us to the ve ry ends of the
barn. W o r king out in the o pen wa s not so bad . but to be inside
with hot hay up to your kne e s on a hot summe r day wa s unbea r
abl e . The sun beating on the r o of, the hot air from the outside
c omin g in, and the choking hay dust in your nostrils wa s an
expe ri e nc e never to be forgotten.
�91
What made matte r s wor se for me , I had on my be st
and only pai r of trous e r s . The s e trouse r s and coat I had bought
when I wa s in Chattanooga when I wa s pro s pe r ous. The style the n
was t o have the trouse r s o f one g oods and the coat and ve st of
anothe r . I can s e e those trou s e r s now , for I was fond of the m:
dark brown with white stri pe s . I wa sn ' t inside that barn two hour s
when I found my trou s e r s wet with pe r s pi r ation from the wai st
down to my kne e s . It wa s a pitiful sight not t o be forgotten. You
can imagine how I wor ked. because I r e alized that my bo ss had
used me a s a r e gular farmhand in exchange with the neighbo r s ,
and I did not want to di s appoint him.
I did not mind all of thi s , but the harde st work of
all was that early call in the morning. Well. I helped with the
milking. as he had about 3 5 cows . I hel ped to take out butte rmilk
to about l p O pig s and chas e hi s young hor s e s , of which he had
about 1 3 5 'of all size s . I c arne to the c onclusion that he was a
rich fa rme r . He had hi s s pring hou s e for hi s milk, and his churn
ing machine . He had hi s i c e house whe r e he stored away hi s
winte r i c e for hi s summe r u s e . He had hi s vegetable s , a s w e ll a s
hi s flowe r garden. H e had hi s fine Sunday ca r ri age whi ch was
cove red u p with cloth to ke e p it from the dust. He had wa gons
and dea rbourns aplenty.
I learned to drive to the post offi ce afte r su ppe r .
whi ch wa s a country general stor e . and i n a few days had a lette r
from Farhan with $ 1 0 . 0 0 enclos ed. I ha stened to te ll my bo s s in
order to prove to hi � that I was truthful. I e xplained that poor
Farhan had r e s ponded to my tele gram at onc e but he made the
mi stake of addr e s sing it to C linton. Ill. , instead of C linton,' Iowa.
It s o happened that the r e was a C linton, Ill. J and he did not dis
cove r the mi stake until he r e c eived my letter . T hat little mi stake
cau s ed me so much mi s e ry and suffe ring that I shall not for get
it.
After staying with the farme r two weeks he carne to
me one morning as I wa s grooming the hor s e s and said, "Wadi ,
I gue s s y ou are all ri ght now and I will not ne ed you any mo r e . ' 1
He placed in my hand a $ 20 . 0 0 note. I thanke d him ove r and ove r
again, and picked u p my s atchel . whi ch, of c ou r s e , had ve ry little
in it exce pt perhaps my shaving outfit. Back to town I walked.
Thi s e nded my farming care e r .
The fir st thing I did w a s to have a haircut. I had a
heavy c ro p of hair s o I did not need to tell the barber that I carne
from the country. Getting to him at a time when he wa s not bus y.
he did not be grudge the extra time he s pent on me . I squa red u p
with the boa rding hou s e lady and felt I was alive again afte r a
good hot bath, whi ch, by the way. wa s ve r y s c a r c e in tho s e days .
The barber shops had hot bathrooms and one could get a bath and
towel s fo r 2 5 c ent s .
T he following day I went to Clinton a gain and was
fortunate to get a job in the foundry. It s e ems my lot wa s to get
�92
the wo r st and heavi e s t kind of wo rk. I was given sash weights to
make , the kind that are used in window s , with ve ry heavy fla sks
and the la st heat with the s cum of the h an. In othe r word s , I
always had to wait to the last afte r all the othe r s got the be s t
molten i r on and I had t o take the left ove r f, o r my work. A s a
re sult, I was the last man to l eave the shop.
I felt that the bo s s liked me and I was r e s ponding to
.hi s demand s , doing as much as I could do and glad to do it. A s a
r e c ompense I wa s pa i d $ 9 . 0 0 a w e ek, which to me wa s a bi g pay,
I stayed in Lyons as I felt that the little villa ge wa s c oole r than
the town, and, beside s . I was not one for moving about if I came
a c r o s s anyone who treated me de c ently. I wa s very happy to get
something to do.
One Sunday morning in church I saw my benefactor ,
the one who gave me the half doll a r .
So after church I walked
to him and thanked him and gave him the money. He refu s ed to
take it and s aid fo r me to do good with it.
The r e wa s nothing of inte re st in the time I spent in
·C linton. Iowa. The work wa s very heavy for rrle and I develo ped
a backa che . I had to lo se time on a c c ount of it to r e st up. and
the bo s s was pr e s sing rrle for the work a s they had a great derrland
for it. He really treate d me very ni cely and I wanted to do a s much
- a s I c ould fo r him, T hi s con.dition went on for about two month s .
I got tired o f the work and its samene s s , my bac!< wa s ve ry bad. the
pla c e was ve ry lonely . and I did not meet anyone I car e d for .
I had perhaps 3 5 o r 4 0 dollars in my po cket and . of
cou r s e . that made me again inde pendent. But my problem w a s how
could I quit honorably ? The b o s s was ve ry nic e to me and helped
.nl. e when I needed hel p and now he needed me . So I c ould not. with
<out son'le good excuse . leave hi m., T hi s struggle in my mind went on
lor some time . Every night. tire d and aching , I would r e solve on
-staying in bed the next day sur e , I would give him a noti c e that
1 want to quit at the end of the w e e k. On the mor r ow the night l s
rest would change me .
One day I wr ote to Wadea B ahoot in Chi cago and told
him to te le g ra ph me that he wa,s sick and would ne ed me to corne
,and nur s e him. I wanted the telegram to r each me on Fr iday s o
-that I wou.ld work Saturday morning, . get my pay. and quit. T he tel
e gram came to me in care of the foundry. The bo s s hur ried with it
to my flo or and I o pened iL Wadea had made it so urgent that I
.be gan to fee l that pe rhaps afte r all he wa s i ll and I r eally felt
wor ried. I s howed the bo s s the me s sage and he said9 "I am
awfully s orry. What are you g oing to do about it ? " I said. "I
will fini s h my work and go tomo r r ow , I I "No , " h e r e plied. l I you
nlust go now . Never mind the wo rk. " He w ent to the offi c e and
got me my pay, I thanked him and told him that a s soon a s 1
could leave I would c orne back,
1 really felt mean and by the way he he lpe d to get me
off and te ll what train I could make for Chicago he heaped more
�93
coals of fir e o n my head. Of c ourse about saying that I would
corne back, I intended to if I did not find something e l s e to do.
Thi s was the la st time I have eve r been inside a foundry. And
now I was bac k in Chi cago for the s e c ond time . Thi s wa s ea rly
in the fall.
I found a job a s a stockr o om cle rk i n a d ry goods
sto r e , a mail o rder hou s e by the name of Wolf . The pay was ,to
be six dollar s a week, and I de cided to take i t until s omething
better turned u p - - at le ast I could make my expens e s . S o on
afte r that we had to work at night and that gave me about nine
dollar s a we ek. I had no mor e backache and the work wa s not
hard. But long hou r s had in time its effe ct and the only time to
get out in the o pen ai r was when we went out for lunch. So I wa s
open for any new thing that came along.
�94
C HA P T E R
1 0
SALE SMAN
One day I had a le tte r from M r . Zalka . a Syrian who
had r e c ently c ome to thi s c ountry and was in New York City. He
told me that my pa rents , who were neighbors of the i r s , had a sked
him to lo ok afte r me and fo r that r e a s on was w riting to tell .me to
�ome to New York whe r e he would start me as a sale sman with
some s ilk good s . I con sulted Wadea and we agreed that it wou1:d be
the be st thing for me g
I ar rived at 29 B r oadway to find Mr . Mousa Zalka e s
tab li shed i n one o f the rooms i n that bi g building . I recognized him
a s our neighbor and, although hi s Engli sh wa s poor, he was able to
.o pen thi s offi c e and carry on busine s s ve r y suc c e s sfully. He was
selling s i lk handm.ade embr oiderie s , such a s sc arve s and table
.cloth s , made in Turkey and Syria. He told m.e that many Syr ian boys
were s e lling and doing well , and he could not see why I, · with my g ood
English. could not do well also.
I bought a satche l made of cloth, neat looking and of t� e
tele s c opi!lg kind, and filled it with go ons vaJ u ed at a bout. $ 4 0 0 . 0 0 .
I went out w ith new hope s and new re solution s . Again I was a
strang e r in a new s e ction of the c ountry and in a strange wo rk.
On r e c ommendation of s ome of the new Syrian acquain
tance s , I went to Princeton. I wa s told that if I c ould be fo rtunate to
get in am.ong the profe s s o r s and thr ough them to Pre sident Cleve
land i s family ( he had be en nominated but had not as yet taken offi c e ) .
I would do well. S omehow I did not take a foothold, and with the ex
c e ption of a few sale s that hardly paid my expen s e s . I left Princeton
sadly di sap pointed .
My next stopping plac e wa s Lambe rtville , N o J. M y usual
way was by a card from a friend as int r oduction and not by going
around fr om door to doo r . For instanc e . one lady would give me the
name of o ne or two of he r friends to call on, and so o�. It was cus
tomary with me on ar riving in a town t o fir st of all locate mys elf in
a hotel . then go out and study the town and find out the be st home s
and stre e t s . The next day I would start on my wo rk.
I found the lar g e st house in Lambertville and de cided to
try my luck. I told the s e rvant at the door that I had s ome beautiful
Oriental silks whi ch I would like to show the lady, and that she didn !t
have t o buy if she didn't want to. Thi s was my way of introduction,
and in all the time I was doing thi s work I neve r a sked anyone to buy
anything.
The gi rl came back and. invited me in. It was the nic e st
home that I had be en in up to that time and a very ni ce elde r ly
woman g r e eted me . T he impr e s sion ha s been s o strongly imprinted
in my mind that I can s e e the hou s e . the inter i o r , and the lady her 1
�"
95
� e lf; and wheneve r I s e e the name Holcomb anywhe r e I think of
Lambe rtville . She bought s omething to the amount of $ 1 5 . 00 , and
thi s purcha s e and good treatment gave me encouragement in my
new enter pri s e .
M r s . Holcomb gave m e he r c a r d with the name s o f a
few friends whom I c ould c all on, and that afte rnoon I called on
anothe r party. Thi s time the lady came to the door and in my
humble way I told her that Mr s . Holcomb had told me to call on
he r and show her s ome pretty things . I wa s invited in and in the
par lor the lady and her aunt went into e c s tacie s ove r the pr etty
thing s , as I took them out pie c e by pie c e and thr e w the m on the
back of the chair . Meanwhile I noticed that both women s e emed
to take some inter e st in me pe r s onally. and a s a r e sult of their
que sti oning I s e emed to c reate in them a s ympathy for a boy away
from home.
Well. I was not as anxious fo r sympathy the n a s I
wa s anxious to make s ome sal e s . They ke pt me a long time and
finally pi cked out some things, but they said that they would
rathe r wait for the menfolks in the evening befo r e they c ould d e
cid e . Fortunate ly, it wa s just befor e Christma s time and the y
n ee ded some thing s f o r pre s ents. I packed u p my s atchel and told
them I would return afte r suppe r . The hour being late , too late to
make any other calls , I decided to leave my sat.c hel there rathe r
than carry it bac k and forth, a s it wa s s o heavy. It wa s a w r ong
thing to do a s it had no lock on it and it had in it u pward of $ 40 0 . 0 0
worth of goods which did not belong to me .
But I fe lt I c ould not have mi s taken the hone sty and
goodne s s of the s e pe o pl e with who.m I left my :satchel . Did I dream
a s I left thi s plac e that afte rnoon that I w ould be c oming to it time
afte r time and its peo ple w ould be come the c lo s e st friend s and
a s s o ciate s for yea r s to corne ? No, thi s thought never ente r ed my
mind. but I was d e e ply impre s sed at the g oodne s s and kindne s s of
the se peo ple and I be gan to think that in the thr e e ye ar s of my stay
in thi s country I had not r e ally known the Ame ri can pe ople and that
I had just c ome a c r o s s the type that I u s e d to d r eam about befo r e
c oming t o the c ountry.
I went back to the hotel dreaming of the wonde rful
day I had had. the wonderful people. the r i ch home s . and the ri ch
co�ntr y that s e emed so mu ch bette r than the poor South. The s e
meditations w e r e going on in my mind when 1 heard a tapping at my
doo r . A gentleman introduced himself as Mr . R ittenhous e and told
me that he came to take me home to have suppe r and to s tay with
them as they had plenty of room. Naturally 1 thanked him and told
him that 1 wouldn ' t like to give them so much t r ouble , but he pr e
vailed and 1 went with him. It wa s the fir s t pla c e i n my expe rience
when I saw a real horne life with a c e rtain touch of refinement, per
hap s a little above the ave rage . The we stern farme r ' s home wa s
complete a s a home . hl,lt lacked the fine r touche s of refinement
�96
which range a little above the ave rage . Their dining r oom, thei r
servic e , thei r attention one t o the other , wa s a s charming a s it
c ould be . I felt mo r e or le s s out of pla ce for fear I would make
s ome breaks in my actions and behaviour .
The r e w e r e five in the family, but a very unusual c om
bination. Mr . and Mr s . Rittenhou s e w e r e about middle aged. They
had with the m a Mi s s Mellen, an aunt of the wife . and a boy of
.
about 1 5 whom I to ok to be thei r s on , but found out late r that he
was the adopted son of one of the Rittenhouse r elative s , He wa s
a very ni c e boy and was wo r shipped and adored by the adopting
mothe r and her aunt. The r e was n othing thi s boy did not or could
not have . The s chools in Lambertvi lle were not good enough for
him; they s e nt him to T r enton daily. They pr ovided violin le s s ons
for him and dre s s ed him like a prince. However . a ll the love that
was lavi shed on him did not s poil him.
With thi s family the r e lived a Mr . G r eene whom I
took to be the grandfathe r of one of the othe r or a husband t o the
aunt. It was a l ong time befo r e I found out who he wa s . They all
seeme d to cate r to him lUOr e than they would to a fathe r . and
always tried to plea s e him. He took to me and tried to inte r e st
himself in my affair s .
I found out l ate r that M r . G r e ene wa s the big man of
LarJ.1.bz rtvillc . He '.va s the Pre sident of the only bal1k and the owne r
of a large rubber mill and a large pap e r mill. He wa s short and
stout, with a white beard and a kindly r ound face . Eve ryone in
town knew him and wanted to ple a s e him. He had made hi s home
with the R ittenhou se folks a s Mr. Rittenhouse was the super inten
dent of the rubb e r mill. and the two had much in c ommon. Mr.
G r e en e wa s als o the superintendent of the Pr e sbyte rian Sunday
School , and an active worke r in the chu r ch. The Rittenhou s e ' s
wer e E pi s c o palian s .
Aft e r suppe r that night I opened my satchel a gain and
showed the m the good s . They bought a goodly sum and by s o doing
added to my j oy of the day. The r e st of the evening was s pe nt in
answe ring que stions about the old home , about Syria . and about
the Turks who w e r e then the rule r s of Syr ia . The information on
the s e subje cts were s ca r c e to the pe o ple in tho s e early days and
one could find a willing li stene r , e spe c ially if hi s audience was in
any way inte r e sted in the Bibl e .
That night I wa s made c omfortable i n one o f the i r
gue st roOlUS and afte r breakfa st the next morning they had me
pr omi s e the m that I would c ome and s pend Chr i stma s with theIn.
I c ould not r efu s e them. a s I felt that they r e ally wanted me to
come and naturally I wa s glad to a c c e pt. Chri stma s being just a
few days off. I tried a few place s such a s Plainfie ld , East Orange ,
and T r enton , but with little suc ce s s . I went to New York to get
mo r e goods and on the eve of Chri stma s I returned to Lambe rt
vill e , whe r e I wa s g r e eted with words of welcome . and I felt as
though I had known the s e peo ple for year s .
�97
That evening Mr . G r e ene had me g o with him to help
de corate the church. The following Sunday · a s w e were in Sunday
School he asked me if I would s ay a few words to the children.
It wa s some thing I had neve r done in my life , and how str ange it
would sound with my br oken Engli sh ! But in order to be agr e e able
said s omething . I cannot i magine what I s aid. but I know it c ould
not have been much.
I had a delightfui Chri stma s with the m and wa s intro
duced to their friend s . With the holidays ove r , I left with a fee ling
that I was leaving s ome dear r e lative s . I had hoped that Mr . G r eene
would find me a position in one of hi s mills or the bank. as one day
he qui zzed me on what I knew and had me write s omething for him.
My writing, I knew. was ve ry poor and I suppo s e he thought that I
would make mor e money than he could afford to pay me . s o he said
nothing. I was di sappointed as I would have be en too glad t.o start
in s omething fr om the b ottom provided it had a future to it. But
God ' s hand molds our live s no matte r what our pla.ns may be.
I do not r e call whe r e I s pent the time betwe en Christ
ma s and the New Y ea r , but I think mostly in Philadelphia . fo r I
remembe r g oing on morth B r oad Street and trying to s el l but s o
soon afte r Ghri st.ma s nobody wanted anything. I stopped in the
Key stone Hote l on Ma rket Street. above 1 5th Str e et, facing the
station.
In tho s e days the station wa s on the g round flo or
before the, l I �ine s e Wall" was bui lt . Thi s wa s the name given to
the e levated r oad built to e liminate str eet c r o s sing s . In the hote l
I met a young man who told me he wa s a teacher of handwriting .
I a ske d him how much he would charge me to give me a l e s s on
and we ag re ed on $ 2. 0 0 . He s pent a long time with me giving me
the outline s of t.hi s art, the way to hold a pen . the arm moveme nts ,
and so on. I s p ent the thr e e days befo r e the New Year practicing
writing in the S pence rian s tyle . The weathe r wa s stormy , and a s
I had nothing to do I w a s glad t o improve my hand writing . The
next time I wrote to the Rittenhou s e I s they could not b e li eve it
was the s ame hand until I e xplained.
�98
.
'
CHAPTER
1 1
CHESTER g
PA D
It wa s my cu stom to get good advic e from tho se whom
I met a s to whe r e they thought would be a good place for me to go .
One party said Che ster . Media. Wilmington , and Washington . So
on the s e cond day in the morning I c r o s sed Mar ket Street to the
station and bought a ticket to Che ste r . About 9 : 3 0 on the s e c ond
day of January, 1 8 9 3 . I landed in Che ste r . little thinking or
dreaming at that time that I was arriving in my futur e horne .
A s a rule , going into a city and leaving a city meant
very little to me , so why should I then dr eam that this place wa s
to be my future home ; a place whe r e the r e wa s so much pr e pa.red
for me and. no doubt, planned for me by a good Providenc e .
It had been snowing so hard that I ste pped into snow
that se emed about a foot hi gh. The stati on wa s on the ground
floor, als o the tracks . The station wa s on the oppo site side from
whe r e it is now , and the r e wa s a tunnel to go unde r the tracks in
ihe middlt:! of tIle block�
The r e wa s a hotel dir e ctly ac r o s s on E dgmont Avenue
and I w ent in and a sked for. a r oom. " B rothe r , I am s o r ry. " the
man said, Itw e cannot give you a room as we are about to tea r
down thi s pr o pe rty and put up a large building. " I a sked, "Wher e
would you advi s e m e t o go ? I I He said, " G o t o the Penn Hotel
acro s s the t racks on the other side . " A drug stor e stands ther e
now " the fir st building afte r you go under the railroad bridg e .
I left my satchel in my ro om and walked out t o study
the town and study my situation. Thing s did not look too enc ourag
ing and my fund s w e r e getting low . I de cided that I would hunt a
Pre sbyte rian mini ste r and get him to give me a few addr e s s e s to
call on.
I carried my satchel and went to Fifth Str eet and
called on D r . Mowry (Mowry Str e et wa s named for him ) , whom I
was fo rtunate to find in that afte rnoon. He wa s very nic e to me
and called his wife to look at my thing s , and both admired them
ve ry mu ch. While I w a s the re two of hi s daughte r s carne in and
w e r e a stoni shed to s e e such beautiful things. One of the daughte r s
wa s r e c e ntly married and was the r e c i pient of many p r e s ents for
he r wedding , and it was he r turn now to give pre s ents to one of
her fr iends who was about to be mar ried. The idea occur r e d to
he r to s e le c t he r pre sent from me , but , like mo st of the newly
weds , she wanted he r hu sband to see them fir st. So it wa s a r rang
ed that I go to their horne on B road Str eet that evening :
H e r e again I met the mo st congenial pe o ple . They
invited many of their neighbor s and friend s . and that night I made
_
�99
many sal e s . I suppo se only tho s e who have tried thi s game can ·
understand what it fe els like afte r you a r e di s c ouraged and di s
gusted wi th the goods and your s e lf, to make a few sal e s and me et
nic e peo ple . The tabl e change s com pletely and you are a gain full
of hope and encouragement .
In thi s hous e , a s i n the Rittenhouse l s , i t wa s a ple a s
u r e to exhibit my goods. The men such a s Col. Jame s A. G.
Campbell , the host, and Colonel Frank Sweney and hi s br othe r ,
Mr . Hilia rd ' Sweney and their wiv e s who w e r e si ste r s , to ok a
lively inte r e st in the goods and marveled that it wa s d one by hand .
How many days and days it took to fini sh one pie c e , and then how
che aply it was sold ! I had to explain that they get a few penni e s a
day on the o the r side for their work. Afte r I packe d u p they want
ed me to stay and s pe nd the evening with them . Mr s. Campb e ll
took me u p to s e e her little baby, Margaret. who i s now the wife of
Judge Henry Sweney. Here again little did I dream that thi s
acquaintance was to la st a lifetime , and little did thi s C ol . Campbell
dream that the lad he wa s talking to that n i ght would s oon be come
hi s denti st for the r e st of hi s life .
On my g raduation he p r e se nted me with a vulcani zer
valued at $ 1 0 . 0 0 , whi ch wa s c on side r ed a mo st valuable gift . He
als o beca:me one of :my fir st pati ents . Do you suppose I c ould for
get such a man ? Or did C ol. Frank Sweney dream that as a real
e state man he w ould some day s ell me six acr e s of land in
Wallingford which would be co:me the plac e whe r e I would raise a
family of six children. Pe rhaps it i s bett e r not to know the futur e
but I a s su r e you it i s a deli ght to have a :me:mory that brings the
picture of the past fo r us to s e e , and in turn :make s us lift up our
hearts to God n ot only for memory but fo r the fe eling of gratitude
whi ch points out s o plainly that the r e i s a guiding hand di recting
our live s .
Who knows what will develop from a casual acquain
tance or a small deed of kindne s s ? Thi s C ol onel Campbe ll who ,
by the way, obtained hi s title during the Spanish War , sta rted
from the bottom a s a me s senge r boy at at the time of our me eting
was the vice p r e sident of the D elawar e County Title and T rust
C ompany , located at Ma rket Squa r e , and late r be came the p r e si
dent of thi s institution. He wa s the mo st popular man in Che ste r .
The r e wa s n othing o f a civi c nature i n town i n which h e was n o ":
one of the prime worke r s . Time will not allow me to de s cribe hi s
characte r i stic s , but I will just say that he was a hard wo rke r ,
punctual a s a clock, and a g re at one for obs e rving and r ememb e r
ing thing s .
I r e call a s I w a s leaving thei r hou s e that evening and
putting on my ove r coat he remarke d that I put on my ove rcoat
differently f r om the Ame ri can way. I had neve r noticed t.he diffe r
enc e mys elf. I thr ow my over c oat ove r my shoulder and get into
it, but he , and I suppo s e all the othe r s , get themse lve s into the
ove rcoat.
�1 00
The next mo rning I had a lette r of r e c ommendation,
written on the bank pape r , left in the hotel addre s sed to me . In it
was mentioned seve r al name s of prominent peopl e in "the town and
the i r addr e s s e s . I marveled at hi s promptne s s in car rying out hi s
promi s e of the night befor e . Thi s lette r was of great benefit to me
a s it int r oduced me t o many hou s e s of the bette r cla s s of people i n
town. In two or three days I had sold about $ 3 0 0 . 0 0 worth o f good s .
and m y o ptimi sm and joy wa s .up one hundred percent. Perhaps I
should say one thou sand pe rcent.
I was told that Media had quite a numbe r of r ich people
and learned that to go to Media one c ould go by coach or take the
train t o Philadelphia and fr om the r e by train to Media. a s the tr olley
car wa s not known he r e .
The headqua rte r s of the coach was at the stati on on
Sixth Stre et. The coach made a r ound tri p once a day and car ried
the mail. It wa s what to othe r s would s e em a mi sfortune but to rne
it turned out to be a good fo rtune , a s the e pi sode turned out a trip
whi ch I r e call with ple asure eve r y time I think o r s pe ak of it.
It had been snowing the night befo r e . covering the snow -which wa s
already on the ground . I went to the station car rying my bag and
a sked the fe llow if he wa s going to Media. He said that the c oach
was not g ing but if I wanted to ride in a sleigh to come along . I
was the only pas seng e r . The fare was 25 � . He b rought out a two
s eated 151eigh d rawn by thre e hor s e s and j ingling thei r bells.
I got a seat be s ide the driver and as the sleigh slid
along I had a wonderful thrill. A new expe rience ! My thr e e year s
in the s outh and w e st had nothing like thi s . B eautiful white c ountry,
with the sun turning the whole s c ene ry into a crystal paradi s e ,
whi ch wa s a sight never t o b e fo r gotten. I r e call how I yearned
that my mothe r c ould have seen the s i ght.
We r eached 24th Str e et, sliding along gently with the
jingling of the bell s n ot so pronounced. but a s we d e s cended the
hill, which then wa s very s te e p. it took all the s kill of the drive r
to hold hi s hor s e s ba ck and ke e p them from s liding. He c ould not
let them go a s at the bottom the r e was a small c ove red w ooden
bridge , whi ch ha s s.fn ce been r e pla ced by a highe r and wide r open
bridge . The pa s s e r -by may wond e r why the hou s e s on the side of
the bridge a r e low down and that only the window s of the s e c ond
flo o r show. They wer e on � level with the old bridg e . The drive r
had to go ve ry slowly not knOWing who would be corning from the
othe r sid e .
A s we went up S pr oul Hill w e h a d more thrills . The
drift s we r e so high in s ome place s that the hor s e s would go down
to thei r stomachs and I would fee l sure that w e w e r e stuck. So we
went up and down, gliding along as though on a toboggan, to the
mu sic of the jingling bell s .
A s I went up thi s road und e r the s e mo st plea sant
"
cir cumstance s neve r did I dream that I would be going up and
down thi s road dai ly driving in a hor s e car riage , and later in a
�101
hor sele s s carriage. Should anyone have made :me such a pr o phe sy
I naturally would have thought that he ha4 jingling bel l s in hi s
brain.
In Medi a I did not do so well , no r in Wil:mington.
Although I pas sed Wa shington I don i t r e c all s pending any ti:me
the r e . I went a little farthe r to Alexandria, Virginia, and the re
I :met a y oung :ministe r by the na:me of Ric e . He took an i nte r e st
in :me ; s o :much s o that he ca:me and took :me fr o:m the boarding
house ( a s I had found that boarding hou s e s w e r e :mor e in kee ping
with :my pocketbook) and to ok me to hi s ho:me . Hi s cha r:ming
si ster wa s hi s hou s ekee pe r and I s p ent one Sunday with the:m. Fro:m
the re I started furthe r s outh and the furthe r s outh I w ent , the w o r s e·
:my condition be ca:me . My c ourage and o pti:mi s:m droppe d low, ex
pe cting. howeve r , that at any :minute I :might strike so:mething to
bra c e :me up,
So I went to anothe r part of Vir ginia, but I neve r saw
s o :many colonial ho:me s and s o :many poor ri ch pe o ple . I c ould not
:make a sale . I had sent :my m.oney. as usual, to New Y o r k and
what little I had fo r expens e s wa s gone . Here again I was stranded ,
and, rathe r than s e ll :my goods at a give-away pri c e , I te leg ra phed
to Mr. Zalke to s e nd :me s om.e :money. He did and I pulled out of
that supposedly r i ch town at once .
New York was :my next de stination but som.ehow I had
a d e si re to go ba c k to Che ste r . D o you call thi s Providenti a l ?
We shall s e e . Now spring had ar rived and I had s o:me addre s se s
I had not s een. It wa s the only pla c e I had s o much good luc k. Why
not try again ? This time I r ented a r oo:m on R o s e Stre e t , a s:mall
str e et that runs between Madi s on and U pland betw e en 1 1 th and
1 2th. I s e ldo:m go up or down Madi s on that I don It l o ok towa rd that
str eet, neither do I pa s s the building on 6th Str e et facing the sta
tion, a s o rt of triangular pla c e , that I do not r e call :my fi r st expe r
ience in Che ste r , a s I :made that e ating pla ce :my headqua rte r s .
The r e I l earned to eat raw and stewed oyste r s , but :mo st of :my
m.eals we r e ste ak and fr ench frie d p otatoe s and fri e d e g g s and
pie s .
I was the r e a few days and :my hop e s had ju:mped fro:m
1 0 below z e r o to about 25 above . I found that Che ste r folks w e r e
:mo re ready t o part with the i r :money than any othe r plac e I had
gone. I was :making a l:mo st daily r e ports to New Y o rk and, with
the exception of the ti:me s that I was sending :my :money, all :my
c o r r e s pondence was on po stal card s .
�102
C HA P T E R
T HE
12
O 'NEILLS
One day I wa s in the old post offi c e at 5th and Edg
mont Avenue . It was not the beautiful post offi c e of 1 94 5 but a
small sto r e on t.he no rthwe st c o rne r of a nar row street, being
the oppo site corne r on 5th Str eet, whi ch ha s since been r e placed
by a la r ge furniture stor e . The post offi c e wa s then moved to a
nic e building at 5th and Welsh Str eets . After many yea r s of u s e
fulne s s i t became too small for growing Che ster s o the gove rn
ment built a much lar ge r office at 5th and E dgmont Avenue in
what u s ed to be the s ite of the old Y oM. G .A . building whi ch in
tur n wa s transfe r r ed to a new home at the corne r of 7th and
Edgmont Avenue . Thi s str e et w a s not attractive and had a fe w
p o o r looking dilapidated store s , s o s ome enter pri sing Che ste r
ite s widened i t from 6th t o 3rd Street. Thi s attracted many r.ne r
chants t o i t and made i t a busine s s plac e hou sing a theate r , a
hotel and a post offi c e a s welL Thi s little post offi ce had a door,
a window to the street and one writing de sk. A few feet back wa s
Wa S not known. I wa s w!'iting one of my usual cards and , of
cour se . wa s writing in A rabic having sele cted the best pen avail
able after trying all the othe r s . Poor Uncle Sam. He could not
kee p a good pen in hi s e stabli shments .
A lady came to the d e s k and began writing. My mind
wa s on my writing and I did not noti c e who was be side me . Pre
sently I heard her say, " Su1:h pens ! I I I looked towards he r and
sai d , I I He r e , you can have my pen. I I f l Oh. no, no , " she said. I Ino•
thank yoU. i i I said , " You can have it as I can write with any of
the qthe r s a s I am not writing Engli sh. I I She looked and she said.
"What i s thi s , sho rthand ? II I r e plie d , I INo . it is Arabi c . 1 I She wa s
ve ry much surpri sed a s in all he r expe rience she had neve r met
one who c ould write o r s peak thi s languag e . A long conve r sation
ensued in whi ch I mentione d Dama s cus of the Bible , Dama s cus
ste e l . the Arabian Ni ght s , and other thin gs . She invited me to
he r housE' a s she wanted her' father to meet me . Of c our se I was
only to o glad fo r such an invitation, as it meant busine s s to me .
She named the afternoon when I should cal1 and gave me the
add re s s of 1 8th and Providenc e Avenue s . I must re peat the ad
dre s s . 1 8 th and Pr ovide nce , fo r it is an addre s s that will stick
in my memory to my last day.
Did I i ma gine for a moment that thi s addre s s before
very long would be c ome my home , whe re I would s pend many a
happy day ? No , not even in a dream would I have thought such a
thing pos sible .
�103
Then on the addr e s s w a s written Mary C . O 'Neill.
I studied thi s name and was not able to dete rmine whethe r i t wa s
Mi s s o r M r s . From all a ppearanc e s , l said to mys elf, she should
be Mr s . a s she wa s a ppa rently pa st middle a g e .
A lot of gray hai r adorned h e r head and she wa s
rathe r st out and of below ave rage he ight. The whol e a s pe ct wa s
mothe rly. G ood whole some featu r e s gave one the impre s sion
tha t at one time she was pr etty. My next de s i r e wa s to know if
she we r e rich and would I be able to s e ll he r s ome go ods . 1.1 1' .
Campbe ll had not inc luded any O 'Neills on hi s li st s o that I began
to be doubtful.
The fir st thing I did wa s to wait until dar k and go
pa st the hou se to size it up. Not being numbe r e d . I found that on
one c o rne r of 1 8th Street was a chu r ch. on the othe r c orne r a
grocer y stor e , on the third c o rne r an o pen lot, l eaving on the
fourth c o rner a house of fai r size and a ppearance . I judged that
to be the pla c e and I c ould s e e whe r e my pro s pe cts we r e ve ry
slim.
H oweve r . when the time a r rived I was ringing the
bell and the sam.e lady took me into the parlor. The re wa s not
any e labo rate furniture , yet the pla c e looked very neat and was
arti sti cally de c o rated . I wa s introduced to he r fathe r , who was
of medium height. ve ry thin, and with a long white bea rd. He
was a man of about 75 o r 7 6 year s of age, but v e ry ke en and
intelli gent. He had a broad English a c c ent s o that it was rathe r
hard for me to under stand all that he said . Afte r I opene d my
goods and be gan to show them I felt that they we r e not buye r s ,
for while she admired the things yet a sale sman can g ene ra lly
tell the mind of hi s custome r s .
S o in thi s ca s e the lady was inte r e sted in me more
than my goods , al s o in my pe o pl e and my c ountry, and the r eligion
in Syria and its hi story. It was four o ' cl o ck when I went in and
when I wa s through pac king up it wa s s ix o ' clock. The y invited me
to suppe r , but I decided that because of an engagement I had at
7 : 3 0 I had bette r not stay. They said that that hou s e was not fa r
from them and that they would let me go out on time . In fac t , they
insi ste d , saying that they w e r e not g oing to make any fus s . that
the y w e r e going to eat in the kitchen, and that I should not g o all
the way down town and c ome u p again. I c onsented to stay but had
no idea that nly staying so long and the invitati on for suppe r and
all thi s c oaxing wa s angering a lady in the kitchen.
For the pa st hour or so ( a s I found out afterwa rds )
thi s lady, who turned out to be he r s i ste r , was motioning to " le t
him go l l , The lady in the kitchen was fus sing and fuming be c au s e
she wanted to have su p pe r early as she w a s going t o s e e a play
and had a vi sitor who wa s g oing with he r . Mi s s O 'Neill l eft me
from time to time to go to the kit chen to get he r si ste r to c ome
in and s e e me , but she did not want to s e e a peddle r and , be ing
in a hurry, would not c ome in.
�104
Finding that she c ould not s e t the table in the dining
room without being s e en , she and he r gue st de cided t o, eat in the
kitche n and accordingly set the table and had everything ready.
Although, had the lady in the kitchen thought that I was to be thei r
gue st they would have had their supper i n the dining r oom that
night, but when he r fathe r wanted me to stay and have suppe r
they knew that he wi shed it and , of c our se , they wanted to ple a s e
him, He wa s s o English that if he did not want you h e would make
.
it known.
So to the kitchen I wa s ushe re d and was introduc ed to
a lady of ave rage height , rathe r stout, of about middle age, dar k
gray e ye s , with white hai r mixed with dark brown. She wa s at. tractive and in her youth . mu st have be en good looking . " Thi s
is my s i s te r , Lizzie . I I I curtsied. I IAnd thi s i s Mi s s Houch, a
friend of our s . " I bowed. "And thi s i s Jo s e phine . " She wa s a
young lady, very p r etty, of about 1 8 yea r s of age . Of cour s e ,
Lizzie wa s boiling within a t the idea of being caught unp r e pared.
But I was the inno c ent party and a s we ate she cooled off and
became mor e inte re sted and befo r e suppe r was ove r she s e erned
to enjoy the novelty. During our conve r s ation the y a sked a lot of
que sti ons about Syrian fo ods and a sked me if I knew how to cook.
I de s c ribed some di she s for them, and on bidding them goodbye
Lizzie insi sted that I should c ome back the folloWing day and
cook a Syrian di sh for them,
During the c onve r s ation I told them how my father
kept writing to me to study denti stry. Lizzie said, I I Why, you
look li ke a denti st. " " Y e s , " I said, IIbut I hate the thought of in
flic ting pain when taking out teeth as I hate the sight of blood. "
When a boy I had a to otha che one night and in the morning e arly
had one of my molar s out by a barbe r . Ove r the r e barbe r s did
the extra cting and cu pping, pr oviding you with le eche s to suck
the blo od away, and cut open the veins in the a rm to let the blood
out for r e lief of he adach e s . B lood p r e s sure machine s w e r e not
known but the y did know that by l etting blo od out the y w e r e r e
lieving the p r e s sure o f the blood.
You may have noti ced the revolving sign in fr ont of
a barb e r shop. It repre sents the white for lathe r , the red fo r
blood, and the blue fo r l e e che s .
For thi s rea s on · I 11.ated the idea o f denti stry. In
Dama s cus the r e wa s but one denti st. in a... city of two hundred and
fifty thousand , who s e work wa s mostly extractions and making
fals e teeth.
" Oh , but you do not have to take teeth out if you do
not want to. My denti st doe s not extract te eth; he save s them.
See , l I she said, pointing to he r mouth, "he made me a bridge
whe r e I had lost a tooth and I don It have a plate in my mouth. "
Thi s was g r eat news to me . S o Mi s s Lizzie wanted me to go
me et her denti s t. In fact, right the r e and then , she ar ranged
that I should meet he r downtown the next day, get the thing s we
..
�105
·needed for the Syrian di sh, and g o to have a talk with her denti st.
Thi s woman planned my life work fo r me . She and he r friend
walked out with me to show me the hou s e whe r e I had planned to
.
call, hoping to make a s al e . I w a s told late r that they linge red
out side and looked thr ough the windows from a di stanc e to see
how I was making out. I did ve ry well in that hou s e and when I
was thr ough went downtown to the re staurant whi ch wa s my head
quarte r s .
About 1 0 : 3 0 . a s I was g oing to my r oom, I n oti ced
that it wa s raining very heavily and thought of tho s e two ladie s
without any umbrella s . So, having one , I thought I w ould walk
around to the theatre . By the way. the r e was only on.e in tho se
days . called the Che ster O p e ra H ouse . and it was on 7 th Str eet .
I stood ar ound a while and the pe ople be gan to fi le out. I noti ced
my two ladi e s trying to bundle up. s o I stepped up to them and
offe red them my umbrella. for which they we r e gratefuL I do not
know whethe r I took them home o r not, but I do know that the y
appreciated my thoughtfulne s s and s poke of it many time s later .
The next d ay I met Mi s s Lizzie i n one of the
grocery stor e s . Here we bought a head of c abbage . a pound o r
two o f me at. a pie ce o f suet. a pound o f r i ce . and s ome garli c .
From the re w e walke d over to B r oad Street, and I w a s introduced
to her denti st. D octor Lucki e .
The looks o f the man in his white c oat and h i s offi ce
and his talk ins pired rne and gave rne a different idea of denti stry
than I had had befo r e . Although I had been to a denti st i s offi ce in
Chattanoo ga to have a to oth filled, I had been the r e with a diffe r
ent object. My fea r s . and what go e s along with the filling o f a
tooth, wa s fa r from ins piring. In the p r e s ent case I had a more
mature mind. My father I S lette r s . a woman. i s advi c e . a s inc e r e
and pro s pe r ous looking denti st. and a refined and quie t atmo s
phe re in thi s man l s offi c e c re ated i n me the d e s i r e t o take u p
dent i stry a s my life work, e s pe c ially afte r a long talk with D octor
Luc ki e .
He later be came a s a father to me and was one to
whom I went time after time for advic e and c on sultati on. which
was granted mo st che e rfully and unr e stri ctedly. T o him I c an
truthfully say that l owe all the n oble idea s of a noble profe s sion.
all the hi gh ideals and aims were instilled in me through hi s
example and hi s c onve r s ati on. T o him l owe also the ambition to
be c ome a good denti st, for he wa s one . Yet he wa s not sati sfied
with his a c c ompli shments . but eve r was r eaching forth fo r the
bette r and newe r thoughts and idea s in denti stry. He w a s always
ready to put into practi c e and to try any new thing he r ead about
or heard de s c r ibed. It has been yea r s since my fir st me eting
with him and through all the yea r s he ha s been the same to me , the
good kind friend and companion. W e have travelled to s o ciety
rne etings togethe r . sle pt in Pullman car s together . w o r ke d togethe r .
went. to study cla s s e s together , and di s cus sed our profe s si on
�1 06
togethe r in most of our me etings
. He be came my denti st and I
I
hi s . And at thi s writing, thhty - s even year s plu s , when he i s
.
reaching the go od ripe a ge of ei ghty, my br othe r and I find hiIn
. the saIne young cOInpani on, ' the saIne fr iend, standing at the
highe st in hi s profe s s ion , an authority on Inany subj e c t s , clear in
hi s ob se rvation and keen in hi s judgm.ent, str ong physically thanks
to hi s Inode of living and di eting . At hi s time of life he i s able to
put in a full day ' s work and at the end of such a day attends a
study club to the late hour s of the night with the same inte re st
and love for knowledge that he al ways had. I c ould wr ite a book
about you , D octor Lucki e , but will have to sati sfy mys e lf in saying ,
" God ble s s you and make the r emaining yea r s of your
life as ha ppy· and j O}T£ul as }TOU ha,re znade it for othe r s . " ! thank
G od for throwing me in hi s path and for the love and affe ction·
that I have r e c e ived from him all the se year s .
Leaving D r . Lucki e ' s offi ce I fe lt that I had ente r ed
into a new world, a new country, on the thre shold of a new life
and caree r , for at last I settled my wonde ring thought s and am.
biti ons on my life wo rk. I had be en settled once befor e on my
life I s wo r k when I took u p the moulding trade , but thi s was upset
by orde r s fr om home , as well a s cir cumstance s . But now Iny new
selecti on of work was following, or I should say "obeying " ,
orde r s fr om horne , and what a ble s sing i t w a s that Iny eye s we re
o pe ned to denti stry. lAy de s i r e to take it as a profe s si on wa s
quite i n kee ping with orde r s froIn hOIne and thus the " c ountry
was saved" .
The walk to 1 8th and Pr ovidence Avenue s e emed too
sho rt, and the topic wa s denti stry. My new c ompanion, unfortun
ate fo r he r but fortunate for me , knew much about denti stry due
to the fac t that she had poor teeth and had s pent hour s in the
dental chai r and had gone through many ordeal s . Now she was
able to tell a lot of thing s about dentistry so that I told he r she
should have been a denti st he r self.
That same a fte rno on I was given the fr eedom of the
kitchen. A large a pron was placed a round my wai st and I be came
the big chef with two WOInen and a young lady as Iny a s si stants .
I was told long afterward s that the young lady wa s highly insulted
be caus e I a sked if a c e rtain pot that wa s hanging in the pantry
whi ch I wanted to use wa s clean.
Under my c o tnmand the cabba ge leave s were s e pa r
ated fr olU the cabbage o ne by one whole , then · parboiled unti l they
be came s oft and pliable . Meanwhile the meat was cho pped up to
the size of a pea . With the red meat some of the fat of the meat
was chopped up al so and added to it. Thi s wa s tnixed with rice
in equal parts and s e a s oned with salt and pe ppe r . While doing it.
I said, " Now we will put too much salt" , meaning plenty. When I
made my self unde r stood they laughed and I laughed at my Ini s
take which was simply i n translation. (Many tiIne s I have heard
Syrian s make that same mi stake ) .
..
�107
..
.•
In Arabic w e mean by saying to o much the word
plenty. S peaking of translating words to anothe r language . afte r
living in thi s country for ei ght yea r s and s peaking Arabi c ve ry
seldom, it became ve ry hard for me to s peak Arabi c fluently and
I found myself translating my thoughts from E nglish to A rabic .
When I vi sited my pe o pl e they were sur p r i s e d at how he s itant I
was in getting the words out. I shall neve r forget the time when
I was telling the folks about life insurance - something they neve r
knew about. I said, I am c a rrying three life insuran c e poli ci e s
for $ 1 , 0 0 0 each with thr e e c ompani e s . Uncle Sale e Ini s wife a sked
why in differ ent compani e s ? I said be c au s e I did not want to put
all Iny e g g s in one ba s ket. They all bur st out laughing . I couldn ' t
make out why they we r e laughing. I t soon dawned on In e and I
felt mortified. You s ee " e g g s i l in Arabi c have two me aning s , one .
of c ou r se . i s the chicken I s egg. If I had not used the word "InY"
and said instead " all the e g g s l ! no other Ineaning could have been
taken. Do you see how an incident like thi s c an never be forgot
ten ?
Now we took one leaf of c abbage at a tiIne and s pread
it on the table and put a table s poonfull of the r i c e and Ineat in the
leaf and w ra ppe d it up a s though it w e r e a large cigar . I had theIn
as s i st me in Inaking the ' cigar s ' until the r i c e and meat was used
up. The I cigars I were then pla c e d in a pot side by side and in
between, he r e and the re , a ::to oth of garli c : : , as w e call i t in
Arabi c , i s placed between eve r y few ' ci ga r s ! , If you exaInine a
garlic bulb you wi ll noti ce a c luster of little garlic s huddled to
gether . One of the se garlic s we r efe r to a s "tooth" . If each tooth
i s placed without removing the outer shell it doe s n ot give out the
full strength of the ga rli c a r oma but impa rts a very ta sty flavor
to the food - - afte r all, it is what you get used to. The pot was
placed ove r the fi re to c ook and just befo r e it was fully d one one
or two leInons wer e squeezed ove r it.
Of cour s e I had to stay to eat Iny c o oking, which. to
my great sur prise , was not only bette r than what I had expe cted
but enj oyed by tho se pe o ple much more than I had expected. I
could see from the way they ate and the way thei r father ate that
they meant it when they s aid it was deliciou s . They, e s pe cially
Lizzie , whom I soon di s cove red was the c ook and the manage r of
the household, wanted to know if I knew othe r di she s . They als o
wanted to know how i t was that I knew s o much about c ooking,
whe re a s mo st young Ame rican men knew s c a r cely anything about
it. I c ould not answer that any more than to say that I u s ed to
vi sit the kitchen at home quite a lot and simply learned by obse rv
ing .
So many que s tions were a sked that afte rnoon and
evening that by the time I left the s e pe o ple knew s o much about
me and my people , a s though they had known me for year s . In
time I too fe lt that I had known theIn for yea r s . The re .wa s s ome
thing about them that made you feel at thorne and enjoy thei r
�i08
s ociety. They b e c ame very much inte r e sted in me and wanted
to do anything for me .
The whole thing se emed gu shing and I c ould not unde r
stand it. I began to a sk my self, what i s the idea ? Are they in
e arne s t or have they any de sign s ? B oth we re too old to have any
design s on me , or wa s it for the young lady that they wished to
captur e me ? T he young lady, it i s true , was very pretty, but I
did not take to her and I felt that she did not care for me . When
I me t the Ri Uenho u::;e pe o ple I did not have that feeling. Their
kindne s s wa s plain , natural and unde r standable , but in thi s ca s e
I was at a lo s s to a c c e pt their kindne s s or to reject it .
For that rea son, perha p s , I did not show in r eturn
all the a ppre ciation and g ratitude that I would have . I was fa r
fr om being rud e and I showed enough a ppreciati on but I was
capable of much mor e . That same Sunday afterno on Mi s s Lizzie
said, f l There is a good s peake r at the Friend s ' Meeting Hous e on
Ma rket Str e et below Ma rket Squa re. H ow would you like to go
hear him ? I I I s aid, " I w ould love to go, but ' don l t forget we have
been e ating garli c and we had bette r not go. " So we changed our
minds . Then some one s aid , "Why not go and sit in the back ? " We
did . A ll the back pews were fi lled and we were ushe red t o the
fr ont platform on whi ch J. Francis G r e en wa s s peaking. We were
so clo s e that he could have touched u s . He was moralizing and
explaining the affe cts of sin . He said if you put a drop of ink in
a gla s s of wate r it c ontaminate q the whole gla s s , and s o it i s with
sin . " You k,p.ow , " he said, " Y ou l can ' t e at garli c and hide it. " We
nudged each other and when it wa. . s ove r we shook hand s with the
I
s peake r and told him ou r story and asked him if he had n oti ced
any ga r li c odor on us. He s aid he had not. From that time on we
be c ame c lo s e friends with him for mor e than 5 0 year s .
On the few visits whi ch w e r e made i n the evening I
found two or three young men who a'Cted very natural and very
fre e . Ma ry would play the piano ; 'the fathe r , the vio lin , and she
and he r si ster would sing. They all sang and cut up and played
cards and s pent the evening s in thi s way s o that a boy who was
brought up with the idea that playing cards wa s sin and singing
s on g s othe r than hymns wa s wrong naturally would feel that he
wa s amongst the w rong crowd . My c on s cience was v e ry acute
,
on thi s a s so ciati on and troubled me greatly. He r e the y were ,
two middle a ged women; one was playing the piano, the othe r
s inging, and the fathe r playing the violin, and the two young men
j oining in the singing and having fun. They sang mu sic that I had
nev e r hea rd befo r e , " Silver Threads Arnong the Gold" , " The
B ohemian Girl," " Fau stl l , " Kalipha of Bagdad" , "Darby My Own" ,
" R o cked in the C r adle o f the D e e p " , " Sweet Marie " , " Bi cycle
Built for Two " , "I Dr eamed I Dwelt in Ma rble Hall s " , " The
Heart B owed D own " , " B elieve Me if All Tho s e Endearing Y oun g
C harms " , and othe r s which we r e po pular in tho s e day s . They
were s tanding at the piano and I was sitting the r e s i zing up my
�109
..
situati on. Now and then one w ould turn a round and a s k rn e if I
liked it. Of cou r se I would say ye s , yet rny Inind was thinking
what if Mrs. C r awford. our old rni s si onary. w e r e to know that I
was in such cornpany, and C atholi c pe o ple at that ? She w ould
di s own rne I felt sur e ! T hen the que stion carne up in rny rnind,
arn I doing right by being in thi s company ? A r e the s e pe ople the
good type of pe o ple ? The s e thoughts disturbed rne a g reat deal.
Why had they taken so rnuch inter e s t in rne when they knew I was
:prote stant and they we r e C atholi c ? I tried to stay away frorn
thern, but s omehow . through w riting o r talking, they would draw
me to them the clo s e r .
I could not s e e , in s pite o f my utmost s c rutiny. that
the s e peo ple were not good pe ople , although I was a long time
di s c ove ring that their fre edom of a ction and talk with men,
although contra ry to my bringing up, was natural to thern and had
not the lea st hint of e vil thought.
In tho s e days w omen, a s well as gi rls . w e r e more
mode st. e s peci ally whe r e I c ame from. A gi rl was not supposed
to s peak to a boy 'O r even look at him. I r e call that grandrnothe r
s colded my siste r , who wa s about 1 4 year s o ld, fo r sitting on a
chair and cro s s ing one l e g ove r the othe r in company. She c on
side red such conduct unbe c oming to a young gi rL I late r di s cov
e red to my g reat sati sfa ction that I was living among very good
peo ple . very religiou s and a s kind and good-hea rted a pe o ple a s
eve r lived. Thi s was fortunate �for me and a s I often looked back
on the cir cumstances that b rought us togethe r , I was c onvincea
that God had an swered my rndthe r 9 s praye r s and placed rne in a
horne that mothered lTIe and l ooked afte r me , watched my inte r e s t s ,
guided rne , and helped rn e t o a highe r atmos pher e and a brighte r
outlook.
They studie d my ne e d s , a s si sted rne i n rny car e e r ,
cultivated my lTIind. improved rny language, gave rne a good
tas te for r efined literature and mus i c , and looke d afte r my health
and clothing . I wa s no longer homele s s o r a r oamer rneeting the
rebuffs of strange r s and be ing lo oked u pon as a foreigner in a
strange land, but a s a boy who had a plac e whi ch he could call
horne and some one he could look upon as hi s peo pl e . All thi s and
mu ch mo re the se pe o ple meant to me . But why should the s e
peo ple or anyone take i n a strange r unle s s they had a rnotive ? If
the se peo ple had a motive I have not been able t o di s c e rn it the s e
rnany yea r s . If I unde r stood the s e people right I c ould explain i t
thu s :
The O ' Neills we r e . I might s ay� diffe r ent fr orn the
ave rage. They dar ed to do thing s that othe r s would be afraid of
doing. They had that inde pendent s pi rit o � not caring what people
said about them. In thei r early lives they' w e r e very p retty and
attractive , musical and a rti sti c . too , and w e r e s ought after to
sing and act in local dramati c s and entertainrnent s . Fifty yea r s
ago a woman wa s not the fr e e and active woman of today, but
�1 1n
.. ... '"
the s e two women lived many yea r s ahead of the i r s i ste r s of that
day, and, a s a r e sult, pe ople gas ped at the thing s they might do.
The y had all the men friend s they would want and among them
even prie sts . They did not s e em to take to thei r feminine sex, but
the mal e sex enj oyed thei r com pany, for they we re among the
fortunate few in their cla s s to own a piano, and many a c onc e rt
wa s given in thei r horne with thei r father playing the vi olin.
What peo ple said about them in tho s e days I am unable
to tell, but I can say thi s that in s pite of all thi s freedom. they
lived t o the last a s pur e and true women a s ever lived. They had
many love r s and sweethearts a s I di s cove red late r , and I often
wonde r e d why it wa s that such charming women never married.
The only r e a s on I can see for that is the fact that along with othe r
thing s , they w e r e of an inde pendent nature " , and a s young girls
they learned to de pend on thems e lve s and to take care of the i r
mothe r and father . B oth left s cho ol a t the g ramma r s chool age .
if n ot earli e r , on a c c ount of poor circumstance s .
Ma ry, the olde r , took up milline ry with a Mr s .
Harm:n ond , then the le ading milliner of Che ste r . In tho s e days
the r e w e r e no r eady-made hats and all the women had to have
the i r hats :rnade or alter e d so that ther e we re many milline ry
sto r e s in Che ste r . She learned the a rt of trimming and making
hat s and opened a little sto r e a c r o s s the str eet fr om 8 0 2
Edgmont Avenue . A s s o on a s he r si ste r w a s old enough she
worke d with he r . Ma ry had the a rti sti c ta ste ne c e s sary for thi s
work but lacked the busine s s side . On the other hand, Elizabeth
had the busine s s side s o strong but she could not trim a hat .
What a c ombi:r:ation ! A combination that s pelled suc c e s s . Lizzie
had the Iri sh way of plea sing and wa s just the one to wait on cu s
tome r s , who pr e fe rred her t o wait on them t o he r si ste r who had
the E ngli sh out spoken way in he r and only s poke what she thought.
The y w e r e the off s pring s of a combinati on of Irish
and Engli sh par entage . Suc c e s s met their effort s , but Mary wa s
not sati sfied to be su cce s sful in busine s s . She felt her short
c o ming in the lack of an education and be gan reading and learning
till all hou r s of the night. She even studied while working and
oftentime s negl e cted he r work, to the vexation of her si ste r , who
had to me et di sa ppointed custome r s . A s a r e sult of he r studi ous
ne s s , she be came a g ood reade r , a good debater , and well inform
e d on all topi c s of the day, a s well a s all the cla s si cal lite rature ,
and late r won the high e ste em of her friend s , a s I shall nar r ate .
On the other hand, Lizzi e was c ontent with a c ommon
s en s e e ducation , if I may call it s o , whi ch i s developed by c orning
in c ontact with the publi c who need a hi ghe r than ave rage skill
to handle the m suc c e s sfully. Lizzie wa s born a busine s s woman
and had an instinct fo r handling money and ke e ping it. On the
othe r hand, Ma ry had no appre ciation of money exc e pt as a means
of obtaining for he r the refinement of culture and education of
mind . The i r small income made them extreme ly car eful of their
�III
money, s o that you could not say the y w e r e g e ne rous yet neithe r
c ould you say they we r e stingy. The y w e r e frugal and I b e li eve
that Lizzie c ould make a dolla r go farthe r than any g o od hou s e
ke e pe r . They ate well and lived well and a t the time I c r o s s ed
the i r path� they had r eti r e d from bus ine s s after ye a r s of struggle
and effo r t and w e r e living qui etly in the i r new h ome at 1 8 th and
Providen c e .
T h e hou s e wa s planned and d e si gned b y Mary and
wa s as mode rn and well-planned as the be st of t oday ' s planning in
a h ou s e of equal p ri c e . They took pride in the i r h ome and their
garden and flower s , as i t s e emed like a haven of r e st after thei r
long s truggl e . F o r ye ar s they had dreamed of g e tting away fr om
the hu stle and bu stle of busine s s life and c ome t o a life of quiet
ne s s and lei sur e . To do the i r work in the morning and take a na p
in the afterno on wa s something undream e d oip and to b e able to
cat e r to the i r fathe r ' s wi she s and de si r e s w a s thei r e xtr eme
ple a sure .
They r evive d s ome of thei r younge r days by practi c
ing thei r mu sic and r eviving the i r vocal c o r d s which, due t o age
a s well as lack of practi c e , had failed to s om e d e g re e . yet they
de r ived a g r e at deal of plea sure in s pending hou r s with the vio lin,
the piano , and i n s inging .
They w e r e what one w ould call a ha p py family. s e lf
satisfi e d , with nothing in the w o r ld t o wor ry them . Their income
fro m the rent of the sto r e wa s more than suffi cient fo r thei r ne e d s ,
and they w er e i n r eality e nj oying a d e s e rved r e st. They c ou ld not
be , howev e r , gene rous with the i r money but w e r e e xtr e me ly s o
;
with thei r de sire to help other s . In fact. I have s e en them time
and time again go out of thei r way to do s omething for s o me one .
Naturally. then, when they saw a young man all alone in a strange
land thei r fi r st impul s e w a s t o do what they c ould to help p r ot e ct
him and guide him. They had no money but they had love , s e rvic e
and pr ote cti on. which they fre ely wi shed t o g ive if I would a c ce pt.
A s I said befo r e , I did not under stand the s e pe o pl e ' s
motive s . In fact, I had neve r s e e n o r heard o f anyone like them. I
c ould not s e ttle in my m.ind if the y w e r e good o r bad p e o p l e . T o
one who w a s rai s e d i n that Puritan s pirit a s I w a s br ought u p and
came in c ontact all of a sudden with a family like thi s who l oved
o pe ra s , theatre s , card playing , s on g s instead of hymn s , a ll the
thing s which I w a s taught w e r e of the d evil , surely it was not the
home nor the p e o ple with whom I should mix. Y e t i n another s e n s e
I c ould not detect any w r ong d oing, n e ith e r with them n o r with the i r
frie nd s whom I me t from time to time .
On the othe r hap.d, what I s aw and heard wa s mos t
elevating . The di s cu s sions showe d g o o d princi ple s , g o od thought s .
a clear und e r standing of r i ght an.d w rong . The mus i c , while not
sac r e d , was refined an.d not of the c o mmon. What then c r eated thi s
di stru st ? Wa s it becau s e they lavi shed a lot of l ove o n me ? If s o ,
I must have be en rude not t o show a great deal of a p pr e ciati on for
..
�112
for it. W a s it be caus e they we r e R oman C atholi c s , and they want
ed to change me to their faith ? 1£ s o , I had not fear a s we had in
the be ginning many a r guments on r e li g i on and they s o on found,
thanks to my ea rly upbringin g , that I was a good match for them
and f r om that time on re ligion wa s nev e r me ntioned .
Perha p s one who ha s b e en struggling, plodding, and
being kno cked about from plac e to pla c e d r o p s into a c onditi on
whi ch r e s emble s a transformation, cannot und e r stand him s e lf,
and b e gins to think t.hat any new c.oncIiti on of affa i r s is eithe r t o o
g o o d t o be true and p r o p e r and natural , o r ha s a string to i t .
Thi s was my state o f mind f o r a good whi l e , and , in s pite of the
fac t that I c ou ld have s tayed i n the i r home indefinitely, I pulled
out of Che ste r a s soon as po s s ible .
It i s wo rthwhile noting that whe n I came t o Che s te r in
1 8 9 3 the r e wa s no e l e ctric car to Media. But late r the same
s pr ing it sta rted running and at thi s w r iting in 1 9 3 0 thi s tro lley
line ha s b e en d i s c ontinue d and r e pla ced by bu s s e s .
F o r the s ake of hi story - the t rolley car f r om C he ster
went to Che s te r Park and from the r e c r o s s ed ove r t o Palme r ' s
C orne r and turned left on the ea s t side of Pr ovidenc e R oad on its
way to M e di a , pa s sing within five fe et of our gate . One day lny
brothe r A elya s wa s driving and I wa s s itting along side of him.
As we pr o c e e de d out of the gate the trolley hit us on the drive r ' s
side . Why w e w e r e not killed 1 cannot tell , but thank God we
e sc a p e d with just minor injuri e s . Do you think I can forget thi s
incident ?
A s I s aid , I left Che ster a s s o on a s I exhausted my
canva s sing thel' e and the re w e r e n o mo r e pro s pe ct s . T he O INeills
ke pt in touch with me by inviting me to thei r home s ometime s for
meals and othe r ti me s for evenin g s . I s pent one ve ry delightful
evening the r e whi ch I re calL I met a young lady who to my mind
was hand some ; he r name was Mary F e eley. I wa s charmed with
he r and with a ve ry d e li ghtful young man who , in the after year s ,
be came a g r eat friend. Hi s name was E d Watt s . I a l s o met an
e ld e rly lady by the name of M r s . Ha mm ond, of whom I shall
s pe ak later .
N ow w e c orn e into the month o f June and my plan was
set to go to A sbury Park to s pend the summe r s e lling good s , with
the h o pe of making enough money to give me a start in denti stry.
D enti stry be gan to be my g oal and how ha p py one be c ome s whe n
h e make s a d e c i s i on for hi s life w o r k and tri e s to make every
thing fit t o hi s plans.
I c an s ym pathize with all the young men who , afte r
fini shing the i r hi gh s chool or colle g e , a r e at a l o s s to know what
line of w o rk to follow for their life w o r k. They try thi s and that
and can c orn e to no deci sion; meanwhil e , day and night they a r e
wor ried a n d unhap py with a touch of jealousy when the y s e e s ome
of the i r c ompanions settled in the i r life work. In my practi c e I
�113
..
..
have often a sked the s e young men (the young w omen I had other
que sti ons for them) , "What a r e your plans for the futur e ? " Quite
o:ft�n the answe r would be, "I donit knoW . 1 1 I was gre atly sur p ri s
e d one time when, just for the purpo s e of getting a boy of twe lve
yea r s of age to fee l at home in my offi ce and feel free to talk. I
said to him, "William, what a r e you going to b e when you grow
Up ? 1I At onc e he answ e re d, I I U nde rtake r . 1 I I was shocked be cau s e
h e said i t with definite dete rmination. The r e wa s no I I I think" o r
a n "if I I to it.
The sur pri s e to me was that I knew all of hi s family
and ther e wa s no one engaged in the undertaking busine s s . I did
not say anything to the boy but to mys e lf I said, I IH e will change
when he gets olde r } 1 Thi s boy fini shed hi s s chooling and went to
the wa r and I lost tra c k of him. One evening, a s I went to an
unde rtaking e stablish�ent to a viewing. I found him the r e . H e
now i s mar ried and very suc c e s sful.
My sinc e r e advi c e to all boys i s to take time and
follow only the thing you enj oy doing and do not take u p anything
just because it has mor e money o r be cau s e s omeone e l s e made a
suc ce s s in iL T o make a suc c e s s of anything you must n ot only
'
love it but take ac count of your capabiliti e s . Otherwi s e i t i s a
drudge ry and a life of unhappine s s . O r you may call it a failur e ,
W e have a saying in A rabi c : The hawk admi r e d the walk of the
partridge and tried to imitate it. H e tried and tried but he failed
to walk like he r and, what wa s wo r s e . he forgot hi s own walk.
Life now s eemed to have a meaning and my letter s
home began to refer to denti strty and my h o pe to make enough
money to enter colleg e . In A sbury Par k I s pe nt a deli ghtful sum
me r , one that I will always r emember. so that for yea r s I had a
s pe cial love for that s e a side r e s o rt. Mary O iN e ill wr ote to me
occasi onally and her lette r s w e r e mor e like a mothe r to her s on,
full of advi c e and good wishe s . and s eemed to j oin with me in my
anxiety to re ach my g oaL
Things did not go so well in A sbur y Park. I made my
expen s e s and di spo s e d of most all of my good s , managed to pay
my debts to Mr . Z alka, and s aved up about $ 1 0 0 . 0 0 .
During my going ar ound from one hotel porch t o
anothe r to e xhibit my good s . I be came acquainted with a n elde r ly
lady by the name of Mr s . C ornelia T rimbl e . She . in fa ct. be came
inte r e sted in me and bought s ome things from me . Through our
conve r sation she found o ut that I wanted to study denti stry. She
also found out that I did not have sufficient funds to r e a ch my
ambiti on.
One day she told me that the r e wa s a cou ple whom
s he met in the hot.el, an e lde rly c ouple fr om Philadelphia who had
,
r e c ently lo st their only s on , a young man. They w e r e very l one ly
and she s poke to them about me and the y said that the y w ould be
glad to give me their s on i s r o om, which w ould not cost· me any
thing . but fo r it I c ould take car e of the fi r e s and a she s and do
�1 14
s ome odd j o b s . Thi s would suit me perfectly. She intr odu c e d me
to them and we had a long talk. It was de c ided that I sh ould c all
on them on the i r r eturn to Phi lade lphi a , whi ch wa s to b e the fir st
w e e k i n S e ptembe r .
The i r hou s e wa s s omewhe r e i n the 6 0 0 blo ck o n N .
6th Str e e t.
The g o od O ' Nei ll s insi sted that I should make thei r
horne my headquarter s , becau s e i t was cl o s e t o Philadelphia and
from the r e make my a r r angements about ente ring c o ll e g e . Thi s ,
o f c our s e , w ould s ave me paying board out o f my small savings .
R eluctantly I a c c e pted the invitation. I r e c eived a wond e r ful wel
c onle w hi ch wa s an inwa rd r ebuke fo r my r e lu ctan c e to c om e
b a c k t o the s e p e o ple . O f cour s e , I w a s glad to have s o me one to
c oun s e l 'with at the time . I must have had que e r ide a s which did
not a p pe a l to my friend s , who had infinitely mo r e expe rienc e in
the ways of the world than I had . Nor did the i r ideas a p peal to
me for on thi s s c o r e we had many a rgument s .
The time carne whe n I should call o n the peopl e i n
Phi lad e lphia and I found the train expensive . The only cheap way
was by boat, 2 5 ¢ a r ound trip. Che ste r was a town of about 2 2 . 0 0 0
inhabitants , about 1 4 mi le s from Philadelphi a , s ituated o n the
banks of the D e lawa r e R ive r . It had two trunk line s , the Pennsyl
vania and the B altin-lO r e & Ohi o r ai lroads running through it. and
als o a t r olle y c a r system to Philadelphia and a fe r ry boat. Of
'
c ou r s e , I went up and down five o r six time s , walked my fe e t out.
but the s e pe o pl e neve r c ame h ome . I b e c ame di s gu sted and gave
the m u p; I found o ut late r that they w e r e di stracted and did not
know what the y w e r e doing. Thi s upset my plans and it looked
hopele s s . Of c our s e , the O iNeills did not cha r g e me for thei r
hos pitality and the $ 8 0 o r $ 9 0 wa s not r educ e d much. I t r i e d t o
w o r k out oth e r plan s but all failed .
T h e time wa s d rawin g near fo r the last entrance day.
:MI s s Mary w r ote to s ome philanthro pi st s in my behalf but the r e
was n o r e s p on s e . I needed about one hund r e d dolla r s to make my
entrance . I felt that if I c ould get that. along with what money I
had , I wa s s u r e I c ould get S OIne money from home to s e e me
thr ough. I w r ot e a letter to M r s . C ornelia T rimbl e , the lady whom
I met in A s bu ry Park. I explaine d the situati on to her and a sked
he r if she w ould lend me $ 1 0 0 . that if she c a r ed t.o do s o t o s e nd
nle a tele g r a m s aying ye s a s the r e was n o tim e , only one mor e
day, fo r matr i culati on.
Thi s was one of the time s when I had very little h o pe
and I almost gave up the idea of ente ring c olle g e , at least fo r that
ye a r . The next day, t oward the afte rno on, I saw a me s s eng e r b oy
with a tel e gram c oming u p the ste p s . T o my great sur pri s e it wa s
for me and o n o pe ning it I s aw the w o r d , " Ye s " . It meant a new
car e e r , a new life , and the fulfillment of a g r eat de s i r e whi c h
grew out of the fac t that my mind wa s s e ttled i n choosing my
ca r e e r .
�115
C HA P T E R
1 3
D E N T IS T R Y
..
'.
The next morning I hastened t o the Philadel phi a
D ental C olle g e , one of the o lde st of its kind i n the w o r ld whi ch
ha s since been absorbed by T e mple Univ e r s ity. and paid half the
tuition which was about $ 5 0 . 0 0 . The dean gave me a list of the ·
books needed and of the instruments and afte r a long talk explain
ing things to me , he c alled a c olored man the janit o r . and said.
" Ja ckson, take the D o ctor through the building and show him the
c ollege . " Ja ckson, who wa s a g r eat cha r a ct e r and s e e me d t o own
the buildings and the profe s s o r s , show e d me thr ough and explai n
ed thing s to rne . T he boys w e r e at the i r benche s working already
and the o lde r rnen w e r e at the chair o pe r ating. :t:...1ro Jac ks on had
to say "D o ct o r " mor e than once before I r ealized he wa s me ani ng
me .
The die wa s c a st . I c arne horne a l r eady a doctor and
with my brain filled with thoughts , plan s , ambiti ons , and d e s i r e s .
I wa s glad t o get back t o Che s te r . O n the way I couldn :t help but
wi sh that I was going t o rny mother to t e ll he r the e xp e ri enc e s of
the day. Howev e r , the O 'Ne ill s were a good substitute . A new
fee ling carne ove r rne by thi s time that I wa s no longe r alone but
had s orne one wharing my expe rienc e s with m e . whethe r of j oy o r
di sappointment. It b e c arne natural that the minute I s aw the s e
peo ple I should re por t t o them the o c cur re nc e s of the day . o r
whateve r time I w ould b e abs ent frorn them.
My c a r e e r in dent i stry e stabli s he d . it be c ame ne c e s
sary for me t o find a boarding hous e in a suitable neighb o rhood
near the colle g e . The O 'Neills wanted me to c o mmute fr om
Che ste rs but I did not quite like the idea . Fir s t , I did not want t o
impo s e . Sec ondly. I d i d not like t o b e und e r obli gation t o them .
It was g r eat enough. s o far . living with them ove r a month with out
paying board. Thi rdly. I wanted to b e alone i n o rd e r t o s tudy and
I thought that by living with them I naturally would l o s e a lot of
time also on the train s . Al s o , I wanted to concentrat e in ord e r not
to fai l .
I had one handi c a p with whi c h I w a s b othe r e d a s long
as I remembe r ed , and which was pr obably the c au s e o f my deli c at e
health i n my ea rly yea r s , and even u p to now w a s still with m e
even though rny w o r k i n the foundry bui lt me u p physically. I wa s
worried l e st it dull my mental fa cultie s and s l ow my pow e r of
cornpr ehension . A s a boy I w a s bothe r e d with a s o - c a lled ta pe
worm. A s a re sult, every two o r thr e e months I w ould have to
abstain frorn eating. take medicine that night and a d o s e of c a stor
�116
oil the next day by the afterno on would pa s s a w o r m of about 20
t o . 2 5 f e et . ho ping that a l l of it, inc luding the head, had been elim
inated , but a la s . a t no time was I suc c e s sful. Not only · would I s e e
signs o f i t i n the stool but whi le walking a pie c e o f i t an inch l ong
by an e ighth inch wide w ould sli p down. A very na sty sensation
e sp e ci ally when it ha ppens onc e or twi c e a day. During my tri p s
t o Philad e lphia I noti c e d on the c orne r o f 8th & A r ch Str eets a
window in which w a s exhibited la r g e gla s s urns o r va s e s in whi ch
w er e sus pended ya r d s and yards of tap e worm and a s i gn guaran
teeing the r i dding of one who i s so t r oubled. I thought thi s i s the
man for m e , since he wa s a do cto r and showed the p r o ofs . I did
not know the ethi c s of the medical p r ofe s s ion or think of the p o s
s ibility that he wa s a quack. I went upstai r s t o a n offi c e the fur
nitur e of whi ch sh ould have made m e turn ba ck i n di s gu s t but no
matter - what I had was mo r e di s gu sting. An old man with a beard
came out and a s su r ed me that I w ould have n o tr ouble and who
gua rantee d t o c ompletely e liminate the diffi culty. Hi s cha r g e wa s
$ 1 0 . 0 0 , expensive , I thought, but wo rth it to me . I a gr e e d to corne
the next morning and s p end the day with him. I told the O ' Neill s
nothing and made s ome excuse about going to Philadelphia that
day. The d o cto r g ave me s ome medi c in e and made me li e d own
on an old divan , the s prings of whi ch pr e s s e d my side s . As I lay
the r e with a si c k feeling churning my s toma ch I be gan to size u p
the �ituG.ti cn - thi s man ha d n o nur s e o r helpe r , all the time !
was the r e no one carne i n not even the mail man. The str e e t was
c r owded with p e o ple and ther e we w e r e still with no word s poken
exc e pt eve r y little while he would come to the r oom and a sk me
how I fe lt. The thought c ame to me , as I wa s w eake r , that I wa s
ve ry fooli s h in not te lling the Q iNeill s whe r e I wa s going. What
if anything happened - and the fe e ling in my stomach made me
sur e that s omething wa s going to ha ppen. In the afte rnoon I be
c ame too weak to reach the c o mm ode so every time we w e r e di s
a ppointed in that what w e were lo oking for wa s not e liminated .
T oward e vening w e had to give u p and I went b a c k t o Che ste r weak,
hungry, sadly d i s a p pointed minus ten p r e-dou s dolla r s . I had to
fabricate a s to r y t o the O ' Neills who w e r e wond e ring what had
hap pened to me . But every cl oud ha s its s ilve r lining - fr om
that day t o thi s I neve r s aw a tra c e of thi s pe st. Do you think thai
I can f o r g et the e pi sode ?
S o I insi sted on living in Philadel phia. The c olle g e
w a s a t 1 8 th and Cher ry Str e ets ( now cut away b y the Pa r kway) .
I found a boa rding hou s e on Che r ry Str e e t between
1 3th and B road - - numb e r 3 7 Che r ry, very ni c e p e o pl e , by the
name of C a r pente r , c ommon folk, and the board was $ 4 . 0 0 p e r
w e e k. I t w a s a small ba ck r o o m ove r the kitchen but I wa s well
sati sfi e d with i t.
�117
..
Scho ol began and I obtained the books r e comm,ended
on anatomy, phys i ol o gy , and c he mi stry, but nothing about de nti stry
for the fi r st ye a r . Thi s wa s all " Gr eek" to me with the big L atin
word s . I c ame to the conclu s i on that I had not only to l e a rn the
words by heart and how to pronoun c e them but to learn the mean
ing s of them. S o I got to work and little by little I found mys e lf
able to ke e p up with the othe r boys.
The dental pa rt of the s chool work for that yea r was
attending lectur e s and doing laboratory and di s s e cting . T he w o r k
in the laboratory s e emed e a sy fo r me . M y foundry exper ience
came in handy. Fla sks, mould s , iITlp r e s s i ons and c a sting s a ll
we r e familiar to me and I found my me chani cal w o r k e a s y, but
when I carne t o the l e ctu r e s they s e emed at fir st ve r y ha rd. I was
not a c cu stoITled to the high language of the p rofe s so r s :n o r t o the
big Latin w o rds whi ch they w e r e pronouncing such a s w e s e e in
anatomy and physi ology, let alone the ITle aning of theITl . S o I had
to r e s ort to the di ctiona ry, a s well a s the ITledical bo oks , and
pour ove r theITl.
It wa s not long befo r e I got o n t o the whole thing and
befor e the midyea r was ove r I wa s able to kee p up with the c l a s s .
B efore the year w a s over the lectu r e s , a s w e l l a s the studie s ,
w e r e a s e a s y fo r lue t o unde r s tand a s if I w e r e b o r n h e r e . I ITlust
say at thi s tiITle that I loved ITly work and for thr e e yea r s thought
of nothing e l s e but denti str y and my po cket s w e r e full of ext r a c t
e d te e th. S OITle with p r e pa r e d c aviti e s , S OITle whi ch I h a d filled for
pra cti c e .
Now when the midyea r c aITle along I had t o pay the
balance of ITly tuition. I wa s expe cting ITloney fr oITl hOITle and
fortunate ly it did c ome . It w a s about $ 5 0 . 0 0 and with it a le tter
that my mothe r had s o ld h e r j ewelry ( she did not have much) to
s end me thi s money. I knew it w a s a big s a c rifi ce on her pa rt.
but I promi s ed mys elf to r e pay h e r hands oITlely s o me day . It i s a
coincidence that, a s I wr ite thi s , thi s 1 6th day of February, thi rty
eight yea r s afte rwar d , that I ITlu st pay the midyea r ins tal lment
today on Jo s e ph ' s tuition in hi s medical s ch o ol , his mother having
pai d the fir s t in stallment.
I c ould not be gin to write ITly ex.pe r i enc e s in the c ol
lege - i t w ou ld fill a book. S o I w ill pas s i t by. I had j u st enough
to pay my board and small expen s e s and f ortunately our vac ati on
came ear ly. about the fi r st of lViay. During the yea r I u s e d t o
r e c e ive lette r s now and the n from the O iNeills . I w a s invited
down on eve ry holiday and u s e d to e nj oy the change from the
boa rding hous e life . Often I w ould ITle e t one o r the other in
Philadelphia and have a long chat, ITlo s tly a bout what and how I
wa s doing .
The time came for finding work fo r the s umme r .
It shoul d be remembe r e d that 1 8 9 3 wa s a panic year and the r e
w a s not a j o b t o b e had. I heard that i n L ong I s l and I c O'u ld g e t a
j ob in moulding whi ch I c ould d o bette r than anything e l s e . T h e
�1 18
ladie s did not want me t o g o but I ins i sted. I wa s fo rtunate i n
g etting work and i n finding a pla c e t o board.
I can never for get the hou s e or the boarding mi s tr e s s .
She wa s v e r y short, hump-backed. but exce e dingly kind and g ood.
Her name was Mi s s C oyle. The pl a c e was dirty and the furnituX'e
old and I did not like it at all. I did like the $ 3 . 0 0 p e r w e ek. how
eve r . and my pity for the poor woman made me d e cide to stay. I
had a small room - a very small r o om - with one window. I w a s
sati sfi ed with that but I shall nev e r fo r get the fi r st night about an
hour afte r I went to s le e p.
Armie s of b edbug s attacked me . I w oke u p and lit the
gas (n o e l e ctri city ) and found them both large and sma.H. I b e gan
to pick and hunt. but. oh , what a ni ght ! It i s no wonde r that ye a.r s
afte rward I can s e e mys elf in that r oom that night and shudde r .
The next mo rning I want ed t o leave but the poor woman b e g g e d me
not to goP a s she had only one othe r boarde r , pr omi sing to c lean
it up and telling me that if she got a c e rt.ain powder fr om the d rug
sto r e the be dbu g s w o uld di s a p pe a r . Thi s w a s new s to me , but I
decided to s tay; sure enough" the next ni ght I w a s abl e to s l e e p
but I had powd e r a ll ove r the bed a s well a s the r oom and all ove r
me - but it w a s w o rth it.
After I was the re a w e e k or two . the sh o p w e nt on thr e e
days a w e elf. , I still c ould pay Iny expen s e s a s I w a s making nine
dolla r s a w e ek, Du i; that. did nu t �a i.i �f.y rne , o.. � I W o.. � al:lx:i ous to
earn mor e for my c olleg e expens e s . One day I had a l ette r from
Mi s s Mary s ay mg that through the influence of a fr iend of thei r s ,
a M r . Mahoney, who was a g ove:r.·nment ins pe cto r i n C ramp s Shi p
Y a r d in Phi ladelphia 9 I c ould get w o rk the re fo r nine dolla r s a
w e e k and I had bette r c o rne ba ck.
So naturally I c arne back, .fir st to Che ster to r e c eive
my instructi ons , and the next mo rning I w ent up to F rankford in
Phi ladelphia to whe re the shi p ya r d wa s and looked a r ound fo r a
boar ding h ou s e .
The only thing I reme mb e r about thi s place w a s that
the lady w a s quite fat , evidently Eng li sh, a s she butte r e d the
bread befor e slicing it. 1 w a s not the r e long enough to r e memb e r
anything e l s e a s I left the pla c e the next day.
I re po rte d to Mr. Mahoney and he took m.e to the
b os s , who t o ok me a 1' ound to whe r e one 0':: t.he bi g battle shi p s was
unde r c O:'].st.ruction and up on a s caffolding about 2 5 feet hi gh . I
w a s to l� axtd s ome h ot rivet s to the rivete r , with s pa rks flyi ng.
noi s e s de afening , and pi e c e s of debri s d r o p ping h e r e and the r e .
Aft e r a few hou r s I sized u p the situati on and found
that I w a s w orking in a dange r ous pla c e . What if anything should
d r o p on me o r I should make a mi s ste p and fal1 ? A boy in a
str ange land ! I thought of my mothe r and the grief of th e whole
family 1 I walke d out. at noon, went back to the boarding hou s e
and s e tt.led for my board � carried my bag, and went back t o my
job on L ong I s l an.d , which was in the upper part of B r ooklyn
�1 19
a c r o s s the E a st R ive r by fe r r y fr om 4 0 th Stre et . I went bac k to
my r o om a s though nothing had happened b e c au s e I had told no one
of my plans .
I w rote a lette r t o the O 'Neills thanking the m and
explaining that the r e a s on for r eturning qui ckly wa s b e caus e the y
did not know i n the shop about my se eking anoth er w o r k.
S o I went to work ju st a s u sual. I wa s ha rdly back a
few days when I had a lett e r from Mi s s Mar y stating that he r
si ste r wa s g oing d own the stre et and had stop pe d to s e e D r . G odon,
a dentist on E dgmont Avenu e , and had a sked him if he would need
a young man to he l p him in the labor ato ry. H e s aid in hi s quiet
way, "Maybe I can u s e himD but I cannot pay him much . " S o she
urged me to c ome back and said that I c ould work for him and
live with them, that they would be glad to have m e » etc . Again I
pac ked u p and r eturned to Che s te r . Thi s w a s the beginning of my
s ettling i n Che ster as after that I did not r oam.
D r . G odon took me up to his labor atory o n the
s e c ond flo o r in hi s hou s e , with one window l ooking to the back
yar d . It w a s originally a bathro o mp and it still had an old bath tub
whi ch we u s e d in the pla c e of a s ink. It had a foot lath e , a s in
tho s e days we had no e l e ctr i c moto r s ; a few she lve s . and a small
table . He said. " H e r e it i s . H e l p your s e lf . 1 I I put on an a p r on and
went to w ork. I found he had a lot of work on hand and wond e r e d
how h e w a s able to take car e o f i t. He told m.e he d i d a 1 1 his
laborator y work at ni ght be c au s e the r e was n o dental lab oratory
in Che ste r .
D r . G odon and I g ot along be autifully togeth e r and
little by little he d e pended on me to d o all hi s me chanic a l w o rk
and at the same time I learned a lot of s ho rt- cuts f r om him.
It ha ppens in one Y s life whe r e the i ntenti on to d o
s omething very well turns out bad. One morning D r. G od on carne
up to say that he had a pati ent in the offi c e in n e e d of a lowe r s e t
o f te eth but she must have it no late r than s even that evening. H e
a sked i f I thought I could d o it ? I felt sure I c ould - s ho r tly aft e r
w a r d he c ame u p with the impre s sion, teeth. bite , etc. and s aid ,
" The r e it i s " . I went to w ork, s e t the te eth, took them down for
hi s criti c i sm and c o r r e ction, carne ba ck, s e t them in pla ste r and
whi le vul canizing went for lunch and by 3 : 3 0 had the s et r eady to
polish. Although I had it g o od enough, due to s omething in me not
to be sati sfi e d with j u st " g o od enou gh " , I wanted to show how nic e
I could m.ake i t . S o I started t o put o n high poli s h b y r unning the
foot lathe at high s pe e d with a s oft brush. Thi s i s done by standing
on one fo ot and pumping with the other . I w a s w o r king away a s
hap py a s c ould be and thinking o f how quic kly I had fini shed i t and
how plea s e d my empl oye r would be - s inging and whi s tling - wh en
all of a sudden the fa st r evolving brush sna p pe d the te e th fr om my
hands , th rew them u p in the ai r . hit the c e i ling, fel l to the g r ound
and br oke in two pie c e s . I was stunned . My fir st impu l s e wa s to
run out and nev e r to r eturn. I took my apron off, put my hat on
�120
but did n o t walk. I stood ther e fo r a few minute s wond e ring what
I should d o . I h o oked my hat and with the t e e th in my hand walke d
down s tai r s to hea r my dismi s sal orde r , with extra be"a ts at the
pump in my che st. The poor kind man took the pi e c e s in hi s hand
and afte r a most tantalizing pau s e he said, t l W ell your bad luck
c arne at the w r on g time . I I C ould I for g e t the s e words and the m.an
who said them ? T he teeth we r e r e pai r e d a s good a s new only the
patie nt had to take the n ext train.
Aft e r one w e e k he paid ITle $ 6 " 0 0 . Of c ou r s e , it was
not ITluch, but in L ong I s land I wa s n ot getting mo re than half
pay, namely $ 4 . 5 0 , a nd he r e I wa s g e tting a g r e at d e a l of ex.p e r
i e n c e in m y line o f work. T h e O ' Ne i ll s i n s i sted that I should live
with them.
I was very happy i n my work and ve ry hap py in my
horne , for horne it be came to me in a short whi l e . But unlike the
libe rti e s that one takes in his horne in being c a r e le s s about hi s
belongin g s and c a r e le s s in many othe r way s , t o the c ontra ry I
was neat i n my r o om and gave ve ry little tr oubl e about ITly thi:n g s .
Not only that, but i n a pp r e c iation for what w a s be in g done fo r me
I tried to do a ll I c ould for them.
The g ra s s and walks be c ame the pr etti e st in Che ster ;
thi s i s the truth and I a m not boa sting. I n fact, cutting g r a s s with
a g ra s s cutte r wa s a new thing to me , b e c au s e over at horne we
had no g r a s s o n a c c ount of the thr e e dry months in summe r . I
als o e nj oyed s qui rting wate r with the h o s e , fr e shening eve rything
on a hot SUInITl e r ni ght. I often wishe d my fathe r c ould see the
for c e of the wate r corning through the h o s e a s c OITlpa r e d with a
w e ll, o r a jug o r a tri ckle of wate r no thi c ke r than a pencil. Y ou
can iITlagine the thrill of being able to throw the wate r a di stance
of 40 or 5 0 fe et.
I did all the cho r e s in and about the hou s e and helped
a g re a t deal i n the kitch en. As a r e sult they we r e a s glad to have
ITle a s I w a s glad to have them.
Of c ou r s e . I had ITly books and had to kee p up ITly
studie s at the s aIne tiITle . I wa s improving ITly languag e and wa s
being c o r r e cted fo r my mi stake s . ITly bad pr onunciation. and for
using slang phr a s e s whi ch I had a cqui r ed in mixing with a diffe r
e nt cla s s o f peo pl e .
M r . O 'Neill took a liking t o m e a nd wanted to teach
me to read Shake s pea r e , of all bo oks , and w ould have ITle r e ad
for him. Due to ITly poor pr onunciation and n ot und e r standing
what I wa s r eading , it ITlu st have s ounded like gibbe r i sh to him.
He w ould c o r r e ct me for a while , the n he w ould lo s e hi s patience
and take the bo ok from me and show ITle how it s hould be r e ad .
H e mu s t have known the bo ok by hea rt for h e would g o on and
a c c entuate every word and sto p.
Ala s , it wa s lost on me I What with hi s s eve r e E ngli s h
a c c ent a n d n o t e eth i n hi s mouth, I c ould unde r stand hardly a.
wo r d a nd c ould not ke e p ITly eye s o pen. Hi s daughte r s would noti c e
�12 1
my pr edi cament and ins ist that the i r fathe r had r e ad enough . On
the othe r hand, Mi s s Mary took a g r e at d e al of ple a su r e in i mp r ov
ing my gramma r and introdu c ed me to the beauty of othe r g o od
lite rature . F or tunate ly, I c ould unde r stand what she w a s saying
and she like d to r e ad to me , a s much a s her s i ster enj oyed c ooking
good thing s fo r my stomach.
Y ou can see how life had changed for me , and e xc e pt
for the que s tion of money for my s e c on d year I w ould not have had
the least w o r r y on my mind. My pay I handed ove r to Mi s s Lizzie
who had a love for handling money and who kne w how to keep it
when she got it. I insisted that I must pay my boar d and to plea s e
m e s h e w ould take only $ 2 . 5 0 and then s he hid the r e s t unde r an
old wa shstand. It was sur pri sing how thi s inc r ea s ed.
I found that s ome weeks she did not take any out a nd
eve ry little whi le w e w ould c o unt thi s money togeth e r and it had
r e a che d $ 40 . 0 0 or $ 5 0 . 0 0. i n what s e emed a sho rt tim e . I u s ed to
think that she added to it a s we w e r e still in the early pa rt of the
summer .
The s e ladi e s had the powe r of showing the i r a p pr e
ciati on fo r eve r y littl e thing I did but unio rtunate ly thi s p r ai s e and
flattery had one di sadvantag e . It c re ated a s pi r � t of j e alousy on
the part of a gi r l of 1 8 whom they had r a i s e d from gir lho od. He r
name wa s Jo s e phine . She w a s p r e tty and v e r y obs ervantD almo st
to the extent of reading o ne I S mind. She w a s not, howeve r , b right
in b o oks .
My c ornin g into the s e p eo ple ' s life had r obbe d her of
a lot of a ttentio n whi ch he r etofo r e was lavi shed on he r . W ell, I
felt it and I did my be st to hel p matte r s by being kind to he r and
flatte ring he r now and then . S he , too . was good to me and ve r y
hel pful. I can s ay that w e n eve r had a n u gly w o r d togethe r . S till.
the r e s e e me d to be a wall. betw e e n us whil e eve r yone a r o und thought
we w ould make a good match.
If the O 'Neill s w e r e di s a p pointed I have not been able
to tell. Some day they may und e r s tand the inc o mpatability in our
ta ste s and o utl o ok on life . With it all, we five s eemed ve r y hap py
together .
One d.ay I c am e in the hous e f o r lunch and Mi s s
Lizzie said, " Jo s e phine wa s just saying , ' H e r e c ome s the bow
le g ge d boy t ; she saw you from the window . " She s aid it a s a j o ke .
In the nei ghborhood ther e w a s a man who s e l e g s w e r e s o b e nt that
a dog could pa s s through. I u s e d to pity him. I said, " What d o e s
' bow-le g g ed ! mean ? " They explained it and I c ould s e e that p o o r
man. I said. o f cour s e I wa s n ot bow-le g ged. W e h a d a n a r gument
;;tnd to p r ove it I sto o d e r e ct but t o my g r e at sur p r i s e and di s
a p pointment my kne e s did not come togeth e r by the w idth of an
inch. Thi s tool/(' down all my p ride and what a fal l . for I thought I
was pe rfe ct.
I pa s se d it all a s a j oke , yet inw a r dly I felt badly.
�1 22
I tried to improve my walk for cing the kne e s t o me et
togeth e r . I tied my legs at night and di d eve r ything I c ould to
ove r c ome thi s deformity, but failed. N o wond e r I neve r f o rgot
thi s e pi sode , and no w onde r when I had my own chil d r e n I u se d t.o
draw thei r kne e s tightly togethe r wheneve r I had a chan c e and
ma s sa g e the i r little limb s . F r om that time on I ob s e rved l e g s
and admi red strai ght le g s whethe r o n men o r women.
I al s o noticed late r that mo st Syr ians of my a ge had
a curve in thei r lowe r l i mb s chIE" to the fact that at home w e all
c r o s s e d our l e g s whe n w e s at d own t o e at our meal s o r on the
divan s . W e cro s se d our leg s when studying. I believe thi s i s the
cau s e of my defo r rrlity.
Anothe r defo rmity so C Offirrl on in the E a st i s the for
mati on of the head . M o s tly all have flat he ad s due to the way the y
pla ce the little baby in the c radle flat on its back, pla c e the a rm s
to the s id e s and bandage the baby i n such a way that i t i s impos
sible f o r the baby to move o r sti r . o r lift the a rm s out. Midway
the c radle a hole in the mattre s s and fl o or of the c radle i s impro
vi s e d to r e c e ive a littl e c an the shape of a de r by. T he little na r r ow
can may be s e en s u s pended to the bottom of the c radle . The pur p o s e
of that little round can i s clearly a ppar ent. T h e baby i s l e ft in the
c r adle fo r h our s at a time without having to c hange di a pe r s . The
mothe r fe e d s the baby by ti lting the cradle to her b r e a st while
kr-.le c li:ug
0 1-
sittiu.g
on
tl1.e flo or .
I had my sha r e in r o c king my s i s te r s and b rothe r s ,
e s pe ci ally o n Satu rdays when I c ould b e out playing. The c r adle
was still in vogue when our turn came . When I s aw how our
babie s u s e d to want t o s le e p fa c e down I u s e d to wonde r how much
I mi s se d in my baby life of the ple a sur e of s l e e ping on my s tomach.
When I stop to think of the diffe rence in the way of car ing for
babi e s now and at the time w e had the m I fe e l it i s w orthwhile
going ove r our live s again. I never can fo rget the c oli c and the
crying and walking the flo o r at one and two in the morning, giving the thin g s par e go r i c and even gin - just anything t o pacify
them. Thanks to mod ern medi cine the whole pi ctu r e ha s changed.
I w a s w or ld.ng fo r a young pati ent one day and she said, "I put my
baby to s le e p at s even and she neve r wakens till six the next
morning. I w a s sure she w a s lying but I gue s s it w a s s o .
In tho s e days w omen w o r e long d re s s e s and one could
not te ll a bout thei r le g s . It did not take me long to di s c ov e r that
Jo s e phine he r s e lf wa s bow- legged, too, whethe r she knew it o r
not. O f c ou r s e , I never mentioned i t but how often mi s e r y love s
c ompany. Y ou can bet o n it that the woman I ma r ri e d wa s not
b ow-le gged.
Now s omething ha ppened to mar our ha ppine s s . Mr.
Samuel O 'Ne ill , thei r fathe r , wa s in hi s 7 9th year and as the heat
of July came on hi s heart be came weak to such an extent that it
mad e him ga s p for ai r . He took s i ck and b e c ame c o nfined to hi s
bed . It w a s natural, of c our s e , that I should help in the nur s ing.
�123
Hour afte r hour w e had to fan him. E l e ctri c fan s w e r e not in
c ommon u s e no r did they have e l e ct r i c c u r r e nt in the hou s e . H e
could not l i e d own long a t a time; w e had' t o lift him up and c hange
hi s po siti on and s ometime s get him int o a chair . A s f o r all the
heavy w o rk and lifting it wa s always " Wait until Wade a c ome s " .
Wadea wa s s t rong and careful and went t o the ta s k with such will
ingne s s . As you know, a few w o r d s of prai s e given a y oung man
such a s , " how g ood of you" and " how s tr ong you a r e " and "don I t
lift thi s , it i s too heavy" and, " what w ould w e all have d one without
you " , a c c ompli sh wonde r s .
Well i t had a w onde rful effe ct i n g etting mo r e put of
him. Such r emarks w e r e not lacking. though I fe lt at h e a rt that they,
w e r e meant and what wa s d one fo r the m wa s much appre ciated .
Neve rthe le s s . a little taffy goe s a l ong way, and I r eally like d it.
Week afte r week of h ot w eathe r w ent by and the linge r ing illne s s
c ontinued . W e took turns in nur sing o I did the o ut side w o rk. carne
home at dinne r time and helped s ome , and then hel ped the r e st of
the evening . I think it wa s about the latte r part of August when on e
early mo rning he be c ame w o r s e . They called me d own fr om my
r oom on the thi rd flo or and I took hold of him. E,at him u p in bed,
and I sat beside him, h olding him. H i s breathing be came le s s and
le s s and a few minute s lat e r he pa s s e d away in my arms .
It w a s a new expe r i ence t o me a nd t o my g r eat sur
pl'i s e I f<E;lt that I had lo st Ii.l¥ own. . I tuok i t t o heal' t s o Il lll(:h that
I had to have the d o ct o r give me s ome s edati on in o r d e r to s tand
the ordeal of the fune raL I had nev e r had a fune r al exper i en c e
before exc e pt when m y p o o r br:oth e r T oufeik die d at the a g e o f 3 .
I wa s only 1 1 . I r em�mb e r teach e r Abdo Kahil taking m e out o f
the chur ch and standin g o pp o s ite the d o o r a n d watching the m c o rn
ing out. I do not r emember who wa s c a r rying the b ody a s in tho s e
day s they had. no hear s e . Only m e n go to the c emete ry .
In thi s c a s e I wa s c onsulted about many things and I
had to look wi s e and u s e my c ommon s ens,e .
Of c our s e the y had thei r r e lative s and friend s and
the hous e be c ame full of pe o pl e . S ome came from Phi lad e lphia
and fr om Frankford whe r e the O ' Ne ills w e r e b o rn.
Eve r ybody wanted to know who thi s dark-lo oking
young man wa s . I wa s told lat e r that s ome had whi s pe r ed , " My
goodne s s , a r e n 1 t the O 'Neills afraid to s le e p i n the same hous e
with thi s A r ab ? H e will kill the m some ni ght . " S o my pr e sence
among thi s g r oup of p e o ple wa s r eally an unusual thing . f o r I was
not a boa rde r , nor a r el ative , nor of the i r race o r c r e e d . Y et I
was attra cting eve ryb ody and went a bout doing thi s and taking c a r e
o f the vi sito r s a s though .I w a s i n my own home . I w a s a l s o c on sul
ted on all t.he a rr angement s of the fune ral , and. what i s mor e . I
w a s one of the mourne r s . In fact, I w a s in the fi r st c a r with the
family and with Mi s s Mary on my arm I led the pro c e s si on to the
chu r ch. While my h e ad wa s down . I felt that eve r y one w a s on me
mo re than anyone e l s e . With that state of affa i r s and the real
�1 24
sympathy I had fo r the s e two p o o r women, I a c c e pted the s ituation
a s my own and my s o rrow was genuine . It wa s s o much s o that I
had not o nly a d e p re s s ed fe e ling in my heart, but a s o rt of fullne s s
fro m whi ch I have never fully r e c ov e r e d .
I t w a s a g r e at r elief t o g o back t o work and to the
daily r outine of life without s i ckne s s , docto r s , and wo r ry .
Se ptember c arne and I be gan t o make my plans f o r
the s e c ond y e a r o f colle g e . I w a s planning t o g o back t o m y board
ing hou s e in Phila de l phi a but the s e ladi e s said that they w ould not
like to live in a bi g hou s e a lone s in c e the i r fathe r was no l onge r
with them. If I wa s to le ave them they would break up hou s e ke e p
ing and g o to boarding, but if I staye d and commuted daily they
would be glad to r emain as we we r e . I had ju s t enough money
saved to pay one half of my tuition and to buy s ome of my r e qui r e -..
ment s , but I wa s far fr o m having all my n e e d s .
Mr s . T rimble b y thi s time had known m e bette r a s
s h e wa s s pe nding he r winte r s i n Phi lad e l phia . One time she had
an a c cident to h e r teeth and I re pai r e d the m for he r and late r ,
whi le s till in my juni o r yea r , I m.ade he r a full s e t of te e th. I
a l s o e x plain ed to he r VJhy I didn it C Ol-lie b a ck to live in Philadel phia
and how ni c e the O iNeill gi r l s we r e to me . The ladi e s invit e d h e r
down t o s pend a n afte rno on with them . She had a ni ce time that
day and she like the m but , a s she told me lat e r , she w a s w o r ri e d
about m e however l e s t they conve rt me t o Catholoci sm.
He r e I would li ke to s ay that afte r the fir st a rgument
a bout r e l i gi o n thi s subj e ct wa s never b rought up a gain and not
onc e did the y try in the le a s t to change me , or I to chang e them.
They went to the i r church and I went to mine , c omplete ly unde r
standing e ach othe r .
B y Se ptembe r w e found that what money was s aved
was not enough by a l ong way to s e e me through the s e c ond yea r
and pe rha p s I would hav'e t o r e main a t w o r k anothe r yea r . Thi s
I might have had to do w e r e it not fo r the fac t that anothe r o ld
lady, s o kind and gene r ou s , ente r e d my life . She w a s Mr s .
Hammond , a n Engli sh lady. who was the leading mi lline r in
Che ste r .
H e r store w a s a t the c orne r o f 7th and Edgmont
Avenue in an old frame bui lding whi ch wa s torn down a.nd on its
site the Che ste r Y . M . C . A. bui lding e r e cted. It wa s he r e that
Ma ry O 'Neill le arned he r milline ry trade .
Mr s . Hammond had the b e s t c la s s of pe o ple i n
Che ste r f o r customer s and mu st have b e e n v e ry a r ti sti c and of a
c r e ative mind. In tho s e day s milline r s , like othe r trade s pe ople ,
w e r e j ealous of e a ch othe r and did not allow other s to ente r
thei r w o r ksho p s and steal the i r idea s o r d e s i gns. I a l s o l e a rned
that even denti sts hid fr om e a ch othe r the way they did the work
and did not want c ompetito r s in thei r labo rato ri e s le s t they steal
s ome new id e a o r a new way of d oing the w o rk.
�125
F o r thi s r ea s on I marvelled a t D r. Luckie whe n
Mi s s Lizzie introduc ed m e t o him and said to him. "Doctor, i f
you donlt wi sh to tell us anything i t will be a l l r i ght because late r
thi s youn g man mi ght o pen an offi c e in Cheste r . " Hi s an swe r
was that he would welc ome it if I o pened next d o o r to him .
H e had o pened a n e w e ra in d e nti stry, inste ad of
kee ping any idea or method to himself he gave i t to othe r s , e ithe r
by having it publi shed in a dental j ourna l o r by giving it t o a
s o c i ety.
M r s . Hamm ond be longed to the o ld s chool and ke pt
all he r idea s of de si gn to h er self. While the O i Neills wer e in bus
ine s s Mr s . H ammond and they had little t o d o with e ach othe r .
Late r . when they r e ti r ed from bu sine s s , they be c ame very
friendly e s p e ci ally when they had so much in c o rnm on to talk
about. Natu rally, being one of the family, she s e emed to like me,
too .
O f c ou r s e , the O iNeills left n o s tone unturnerl to help
me . They must have acquaint e d he r with my a mbition and my
condition be cau se she offe r e d to loan me $ 1 0 0 . 0 0 . Thi s was a
G od s end , a s my s e c o nd ye a r b e c ame a s sured , Of c ou r s e p I wa s
grateful t o h e r and did my be s t to pr ove my a ppre ciation. F ortun
ately for me she , too had to have a s et of teeth and I made them to
he r sati s fa c ti on which, of c our s e , rai s e d me g r eatly in he r
e steem.
The ladi e s ins i sted that I stay with them and c om
mute to Philade l phia daily. In vie w of the fac t that my funds
w ould not c a r ry me thr ough in a boarding hous e I w a s only t o o
glad t o a c c e pt the i r offe r . I felt that it wa s n o t a har d shi p o n them
to have me , that s in c e they had l o s t the i r fath e r they w e r e l one ly
and welcomed the idea of having s omeone to be inte r e sted in, and
by thi s time k..'1.ew me and by c or r e s pondence the y be c ame a c quain
ted with my peo ple .
So thi s new a r r angement brought n e w life a nd new
inte r e sts t o the m and I. too . fe lt that they w e r e like my o wn . It
was so ni c e to have them to talk with and tell them of my expe r
ienc e s i n s chooL I must have been a g r e at talke r and whenever I
carne in told them whe r e I had b e e n and whom I had s e en . Sur
pri singly . I had good li stene r s fo r little by little they kne w e a ch
profe s s o r and hi s char a cte ri s ti c s , many o f the s tudent s by nam e .
and all the funny e pi s ode s . They knew al s o a bout my w o r k . what
I had d on e . and what kind of a patient I had worke d on that day .
and what instrument I ne eded.
N ow and the n Mi s s Mary w ould give me a few dol
lar s fo r my want s . an ins trument . or a b ook. or a rail road ti c ket.
and te ll m e it was from a friend who did n ot w i s h to b e known, I
used to think it wa s f r o m them but found out late r that it came
from M r s . Ha mmond .
The se c ond yea r of c olle g e w a s intensive , Two days
in a w e e k it began at 7 : 3 0 i n the m orning and la sted until 9 o i cJ. o ck
�at night. Mi s s Ma ry made me a black bag , s omething like what
the lawye r s u s e d to carry, for c a r ryi:r:.g my books, lunch and
suppe r . The bo oks w e r e to study on the train o r while waiting in
the station. for the train wa s s eldom on time exc e pt when I
my s e lf wa s a minute or two late ! Thi s exce pti on w a s ve r y di s
tre s s ing be c au s e it o bliged m e many time s to run t o be on time ,
jus t to find it w a s 1 5 or 2 0 minut e s late . It wa s one of the thr ough
exp r e s s trai n s and in tho s e days rai l r oading wa s n 1 t what it i s
today.
Mi s s L izzie u s ed to make what the E ngli s h called
" pot.te d head " . It is made o f shin meat and a lot of bone s well
boiled and s e a s oned . The meat and gri stle is taken off the b on e s
and put. i n a large bowl t. o j elL When c o oled the bowl i s inve rted
and the whole thing d r o p s into a di sh li ke a mold and i s r eady to
s lic e . She also made he r own bread as the r e w e r e no bake r ie s .
T o the flour she added ma shed boiled potato e s and milk whi ch
made a d elicious bread. Thi s b r e ad when butte r e d and a slice of
potted head pla ce on it made a most nouri shing and d e lic ious
sandwi ch. She also bake d what i s c a ll e d currn b r ead, mad e of
flou r with e g g s , butte r , cur rant s , raisins and nutme g . Thi s , too,
I love d .
S o with bananas o r apple s o r o rang e s I always c ould
find in my black bag cake s and fruit s . In tho s e days Mi s s Lizzie
did the s h o p ping, and fortunate ly food was ve ry che a p. Ii; was noi
mo r e than 2 5� for a pound of steak and 2 2 � fo r a pound of butte r ,
with e g g s 1 9 ¢ o r 2 0 ¢ . Many Saturdays I went d own with he r to
c a r r y the loade d ba sket which included a dozen carnations at a
cost of 25 ¢ .
My work and my s tudie s w e r e ve r y inte r e sting; in
fact, I loved my work and dent.istry wa s eve r ything to me . I did
ver y well except in chemi s try, whi ch w a s like G r e e k to me . All
the boys had chemi stry in high s chool and the pr ofe s s o r took it
for g r ante d that we knew the r udi ment s of it so he went on le ctur
ing t o us the advanced c hemi stry. Als o , th e chemic al labo ratory
wa s above my head. The r e sult wa s that in the e xaminati on I did
not d o well and eithe r the pr ofe s s o r gave me bette r marks or my
oth e r ma rks lifted up my ave r age to pa s sing .
Surnm.er carne a gain and I went to w o r k fo r D r . Gadol'l.
I felt p roud to be a s e nio r and be gan to look forward to graduation
time . Denti s try in tho s e days was a thr e e -ye a r te rm. Thi s w a s
one rea son why w e had t o d o 5 0 much night w o r k.
The thi rd year pa s se d a s the pr evious one with the
hel p of M r s . Ha mm ond and the good ladi e s . Of c ou r s e . the r e w a s
a lot of h a r d work a l l through i t and the time s e emed to d ra g ,
but finally the day carne ; the ha ppy day .
G raduati on e xe r c i s e s we r e planned to take pla c e in
the A cademy of Musi c , the lar g e s t auditorium in Philad e l phia .
W e had 1 1 7 in our c la s s , including one woman.
�1 27
E a ch graduate w a s allow e d four ti c kets . The two
ladi e s had on the i r be s t cloth e s and had Jo s e phine dre s se d. ni c e ly
and lo oking lovely. M r s . Hammond mus t have had the pretti e st
bonnet she ever made a s well a s a beautiful d r e s s . They felt that
thi s was a g reat o c c a sion in the i r live s a s well a s in my life . and
all of us w e r e ext r e mely ha p py. I had on the one and only suit
but that did not matte r . Didn 1 t I pay $ 3 . 5 0 for a c a p and gown and
wouldn it I look equ a lly a s w ell d r e s s e d ?
I had often wonde r e d what wa s the idea of the c a p
and gown. Pe rha p s , I thought, i t was intende d to give one a
s cholarly look or dignity. I don�t know what i t did to o the r s , but
to me it c overed my shabby suit and old sho e s ,
Howeve r . I w a s not thinking of cloth e s o r dignity,
My mind was far away at home ·w i th that g r eat yearning that if
only my father and mothe r c ould have been s itting in thi s theatre
and see me in my cap and g own and see the beauty of the o p e ra
hou s e and the c olo rful a s sembly, It would have b e e n s omething
the y had neve r s e en; or to clap hands when my name would be
called . T h e s e thoughts mingled with the fact that the hig day at
la s t had a r r ived ove rwhelmed me to tear s .
When the s peake r had fini she d w e , a s a c la s s ,
called for Dodor Fla gg ( J. F o s t e r ) , our beloved p rofe s s o r .
We
called and c la pped hand s . P o o r fellow, h e never expe cted to be
called on to s pe ak and seemed pe r plexed but we pe rsi sted and
finally he got up and said " When pe o ple l e ave they say U goodbye i .
When friends part they shake hands and s ay g oodbye . When love r s
par t they ki s s and ki s s again and say goodbye , S o now w e ki s s
and say g ood bye for you a r e m y B e njamin - the child of my oId
age . I I He meant that h e w a s r e ti ring and w e w e r e his las t c la s s .
�..
1 28
C HA P T E R
A
14
DENTIST
So it was l:vla y 5 , 1 8 9 6 , when I r e c eived my she e pskino
No one know s how I s truggled and worked to ove r come my many
han di c a p s . W hen 1 he ld that pre ciou s d i ploma in my hand a fee l
ing of thankfuln e s s t o G od A lmighty fo r giving m e the pow e r of
e nduranc e and finally thi s g r e at plea sure of attaining my g o aL
I al s o had a fe e ling o f de e p gratitude to the O I Neill s and Mr s .
HarnrnoD.d and M r s .. T rirnble � ,]vithout "\vho s e h e l p an.d encourage ....
ment I c ould not have s e en thi s day. I r e s o lved in my mind that I
w ould d o e ve rything in my pow e r to r e pay them a hundred-fold .
A s I look back now I am ha ppy to say that I fulfi lled my r e so lve
toward the m alL
The hou s e w e live d in was about twe lve blocks from
the c ente r o f the town , a lmo st on the outs kirts of Che s te r , hardly
a s uitable place fo r a dental ofii c e . It did not need much debating ·
to know that renting an o ffi ce downtown wa s out of the que stion.
So we d e c ided to o pen an offic E: in the hou s e . Thei r fathe r ' s r o om
on the s e c ond floor w a s vac ant and why not make that an offic e
until such time a s I c ould s ave some money and then move the
o ffi ce to a mor e suitable location ?
Next, I ne e ded a dental cha i r . I tried to buy one on
the installment plan but the dealer w ould not tru st me . S o I w e nt
to w o r k and took an a rm chai r and built a head r e st on it. F o r a
c abinet I u s e d an old bureau to put my instrument s in. For light
I bought two large coal o il lamps to s et on brackets whi ch I fa st
e ne d t o the s ide s of the 'Nindow facing the chai r . Last. I put a
conventional cu s pidor on a stool.
The r o om was l a r ge enough that by me ans of s c reens
and anothe r window we made a waiting r oom. With thi s I wa s all
set to go to work, but not until I naile d my shingle to the outside
sill of the fr ont window o In gold lette r s o n a bla ck backgr ound9
it r ead, I I D r . W. K a s sab, D enti st " . I don't think I w a s more
proud of it than the g ood ladie s , who , ever since I c r o s s e d thei r
path. had be en talking and l iving denti stry with m e .
O pe ning a n offi c e i s one thing and g etting patients i s
anothe r . The fi r st week or tw o no one da rkened my door and I
sat the r e patiently waiting for pati erd s . I w ould h ave had to wait
mu ch long e r had it not b e en for Mi s s Lizzi e , who w a s a born
sale swoman. L ong befo r e she met me she w a s tooth c on s ci ous
and advi s e d eve ryone who a ppea r e d to have negle cted thei r teeth
about the importance of taking c a r e of them. S o now the oppor
tunity c arne to tell them about the denti st in he r hous e .
�129
I had a s low start but s oon b egan to have patients
and they in turn adverti s e d me . It i s c onsid e r ed unethical to put
an adv e rti s e ment in the new s pa pe r s . S o I had to d e pend on my
patients to do the adve rti s in g for me , whi ch they did . From that
time on I neve r c omplained foor lack of w o rk; r athe r I had to o
much. S o , a s time went by, I w a s able to improv e my office
equipment but s till wa s obliged to u s e the foot engine be caus e
the r e was no electri city in the hou s e .
The foot engin e w a s the only method the dentis t s
had t o wo rk with. T h e denti st had t o stand o n one foot and run
the whe el with the other .
D enti stry i s not an e a s y p r ofe s s ion. Not only doe s
it mean a lot of book work and s cientifi c learning which i s c rarn
med into a s pa c e of thre e year s ( since then it ha s been made fou r )
but you mus t have a me chani ca l mind and be able to e a s ily mani p
ulate the finge r s . Add to it a g e ntle touch. a lot of patience , a
keen pe r c e ption of the patient, a way of g oing a bout the work whi c h
ins pi r e s confidence and allay fea r s .
But the beginne r ha s a very har d r oad ahead. T o
begin with, h e ha s not enough confidence i n hi s abiliti e s and ha s to
hide thi s fact fr om the pati ent . He h a s to tnake believe that it i s
an e a sy c a s e or an ext r e me ly difficult c a s e . Som e be ginne r s
could bluff and eet away with it: I never c ould. I had t o stick to
the truth, so rny only ITle thod w a s to go s lowly and gently. inflict
ing as little pain as p o s s ible , trying to have a lot of patience to
ove rcome the patient i s whims . but above all t rying to be thor ou gh
with eve rything .
Thi s s e emed to g o ove r big with mo s t of them,
e s pe cially when they we r e r e c e iving the v e r y lat e s t ideas in den
ti stry. But poor me ! For a long time I was und e r a mental di s
tre s s whi ch I c ouldn' t divulge , not even t o the O iNeill s . I did not
know if the pati ent s like d my work o r if it c o mp a r e d with work
the y had done e ls ewhe r e . o r if they would eve r c orne b a c k.
Furth e rmor e , I wa s n ot s u r e i f the filling I had jus t done would
stay in or corne out. or if the dentu r e I made w a s g oing to b e
s ati s facto ry . Every time the doorbell r ang a quick thought w a s
telling me , " Thi s mu st b e a fi lling you put i n which ha s c orne
out . " Then, to my r elief of mind, it w ould be a new pati e nt.
L ittle by little I gained confidence in my abilitie s
and no long e r d reamed a bout nly work. What w a s a gr eat ple a su r e
t o m e w a s the fact that m y s c out ladi e s alway s c arne horne with
good r e po rts from patient s they met.
M oney b egan to c ome in and i t did not take long to
a c c umulate , a s in tho s e days the r e w e r e no taxe s ; you w e r e not
oblig e d to ke e p books , and whateve r one mad e wa s hi s . I be gan
paying my debt s , not only in money. but al s o in many oth e r way s
of appre c iati on , be s id e s I w a s s ending a monthly allowanc e horne ,
Things w e r e g oing along smoothly for u s " and w e
four w e r e quite ha ppy. I w r ote horne ever y two weeks and my
�1 30
fath e r w r ote once a w e e k. He never mi s se d and all hi s l ette r s
w e r e numbered in c a s e any should g e t lost. Then he had the g o od
habit o f s ending me all the lette r s whi ch h e r e c e ive d f r om the
family . He w ould send them to me to r ead in order to r e main
info rmed about the do ing s of a ll the family. Oftentime s h e w ould
cli p all the blank edg e s to re main within the lette r w e i ght a c c o rd
ing to hi s s c ale .
The s e lette r s ke pt me in touch with my peo pl e mor e
than anything e l s e . I kne w about my uncle s and t.he i r familie s
a s much a s he did . R eading about them weekly ke pt them n e a r e r
to m e . I often w onde r how s ome pe o ple c a n f o r g e t thei r peo pl e
on the other sid e . T he y may r e member them with a g r ee ting c ard
at Chri stma s . I ho pe and pray that my family will nev e r r e a ch
that stage but will alway s be (1 do not like the word c lanni sh
unle s s it c ould be int e r p r eted as meaning a s s ociating togeth e r .
hel ping . vi siting and cor r e s ponding with e a ch oth e r ) clo s e .
Study each othe r s we lfa r e and d o not b e s o di stant w ith e a ch one
thinking o nly of hims elL I h e a rd whe re two b rothe r s and thei r
famili e s met on a boat o n thei r r eturn from Eur o pe whe r e they
w e r e touring the c ountry. They w e r e s o surpri s e d to me et a s
neithe r one k..Tle w that hi s b rothe r wa s on a tour abr oad. Lette r s
took 2 5 days to c ome by steame r c ompared with five day s n ow
by ai r .
Thi s stata of bli s s did TI.Gt l�st lcngo Onc of the lct=
ter s from home brought bad news. My mothe r w a s suffe ring
fr o m gall stone s . Thi s new s upset our live s -- I say ' ou r live s '
b e c au s e the ladi e s were just a s much c once rned and wor ried.
My fi r st impul s e was to catch the fi r st boat home but how
could I ? I had not even the far e and I c ould not go empty-handed.
I w ent ove r to our family physician to a s k him what he thought
the p r o gn o si s of mothe r ' s c onditi on would likely b e . He said
that she c ou ld live a long time , that even now he had s everal . : .
patients w h o we re ke pt alive for s everal year s . I w a s somewhat
relieved. I made up my mind that as s o on a s I c ould make
e nough money I would go to s e e my mothe r .
Thr e e months late r , just about two days b efo r e
Chri stma s , a s I was o n my way t o the train, I met the mailman
who sto pped me and handed me a lette r from hQme . I d e c ided
t o r ead it o n the train. On a c c ount of the holidays the r e wa s not
a s eat exc e pt the seat as you e nt e r the long train, facing the
pa s s enge r s . I made mys elf c o mfortable and o pened my lette r .
T o my ho r r o r and s o r row i t told m e that m y mothe r
w a s no mor e . I c ouldn 1t ke e p the tea r s from flowing even
though I was fa c in g the r e s t of the pa s s enge r s . So I got. up and
sto od in the ve stibule and manage d to c ontr ol my emoti ons . I
have 110 w o r d s to de s cribe my feeling s , e s pe cially when I le arned
that my name wa s the la s t word ' on her li p s . I felt. that my heart
w ou ld sto p. The world b e c ame ve r y dark in my eye s , although
the Chri stma s dec orati ons and the bri ght lights we r e dazzling
�l3 1
and the peo ple che e rful and happy , wi shing e a ch othe r a M e r ry
Chr i stma s .
H e r e I w a s in d e e p a g ony and g o ing ove r my pa st
life trying to rememb e r he r fac e . he r w o rd s . and he r sweet life .
The sale s man handed me the packa g e and wi she d me a "Me r ry
Chri stma s " . I thanked him with a fals e s mi l e , thinking inwa rdly
" - - if he only knew . "
I cam e back t o the station but did n ot take the next
train back, but stayed in the waiting r oom. I sat the re planning
what to d o . I did not want to s poil the ladi e s ! Chr i s tma s . I knew
that they we r e making extra p r e parati ons for a g r and affair . F o r
afte r a l l thi s was my own. t r ouble and why u ps et the i r plan s ? S o
I de cided t o do m y be st, i f po s sible , t o hid e m y g ri ef and not l e t
o n anything. O f c ou r s e I c ould g o to my r o om whe r e I c ould give
vent to my feeli ng s , and what a r e li e f to be able to e xpre s s my
s o r row unde r the cover s of my bed.
On a r riving home I found ther e a friend fro m New
Y o r k by the name of Wadea K oury. H e had b e e n t o vi sit me b e
for e a nd the ladi e s w e r e v e ry fri endly with him.. On hi s a rrival he
told them of hi s sad e r rand. It s eems that he w a s r e que sted by
my family to come ove r and b r eak the n e w s g e ntly to me . He and
the ladie s coun selled t.ogeth e r and d e cided to p o stpone the s ad
new s until afte r Chr i s tmas .
Pi ctu r e t o you r s elf my e ffort t o b e mys e lf, t o act
natural, to put on thi s Chri stma s che e r e s p e cially for the sake
of our vi s ito r ; and they in turn trying t o c on c e al thei r s o r r ow
and put on a smile . S OITlehow I felt that they knew s omething and
the y felt that I c ould r e ad the i r thoughts o It i s s ai d that bad new s
trave l s fa st. How true it w a s in my c a s e .
Had I just mi s se d the mailman and had the lett e r
b e e n d e liver ed to the hou s e a s u sual the y would have hidden i t
fr om m e . a s i t had a bla c k b o r de r . The lette r s had c ome o n. the
same boato My fri e nd in New Y o r k r e c eived it the day befo r e and
came ove r the next day. It i s only right to s a y that the ladie s '
gri ef w a s genuine and the i r s ympathy and love and thei r d e s i r e t o
sha r e with m e thi s · s o r r ow , a s I had s haX'ed with them the i r s o r
row at their fathe r ' s d eath, even though the y n ev e r knew my
mothe r , helped me in my hour of s o r r ow and e a s ed my a g ony, if
such a thing wa s p o s s i bl e .
My fir s t impu l s e w a s t o ru sh t o m y fathe r and try
to c omfor t hi s aching heart. Y e t how c ould I e nt e r the old home
and not find he r the r e , she who watched my c a r e e r . who c ou ld
hardly wait to s e e me , h e r boy, a d o cto r . H o w p roud she w a s
that I fini shed m y stu di e s and how s h e anti ci pated m y r eturn to
pra cti c e the r e . Many l e tte r s f r om her came to the ladie s te lling
them how she a ppr e c iat.ed what they had d one fo r me . And now.
poor s oul . G od so willed that she should n ot s e e he r s on again
nor I to s ee he r beloved fac e a gain. So 1. can truly thank God for
memo ry.
�..
132
C HA PT E R
1 5
RE T UR NE D HOME
The following s pr i n g , afte r a l ot of c o r r e s pond e n c e
w i t h m y t e a c he r Furhan , who w a s hono r abl
y
di s cha r g e d f r o m
t h e N a v y , w e de cided to g o b a c k t o S y r i a t o g e th e r ,
as an engine e r on a d e s t r oye r ,
H e h a d s e rved
In the rne anti me the ladi e s had
tw o life i n s u r a n c e polici e s m.atu r in g E O they de c i de d t o take thi s
money and s pend i t on a t r i p a b r oad ,
Furhan came ove r f r o m
N o r f o l k . Vi r gi ni a , aft e r hi s hono r ab l e di s cha r g e , t o vi sit u s and
we fou r fonned a pa r ty and emba r k.e d o n a small Dutch s t e ame r
c a l l e d the V i andan L
It w a s the b e st we c oul d g e t be c au s e the
l a r g e s t e am e r s w e r e ful l y b o o ke d and c r owded on a c c ount of
Q ue en Vi cto r i a ' s Jub i l e e of 1 8 9 7 ,
W e c r o s s e d ove r t o F r an c e and f r o m lv1a r se i ll e s w e
went o n a F r ench steamer whi c h t o o k u s over the M edite r ranean
t o B e i rut , Syr i a ,
The entrance to B e i rut i s c on s id e r e d one of
the mo s t be autl1ul of a l l the lv1e di te r r a n e a n ,
T he r e a r e no w o r d s
to d e s c ri b e the emoti ons that w e r e s ti r r i n g i n m y b r e a s t , the
hap py me e ting of my loved one s and the g r e a t s o r r ow in not
me eting the one I lov e d m.o s t ,
Mixed t e a r s of joy a nd s o r r ow
s po ke volum e s a s we emb r a c e d ,
The ladi e s m e t my unc l e S a l e e m and h i s family,
The y had h e a rd a lot a b out the m long befo r e ,
They w e r e s o s u r
p r i s ed to s e e the i r be autiful horne - - - la r g e , r o omy , h i g h c e il
ing s , l a r ge b l o c k s o f white Italian marble with bla c k b o r de r s .
l a r g e F r en c h w indow s , a nd S y r i a n and E u r o p e an furnitur e ,
They
w e r e s u r p r i s e d to s e e the i r way of living with all the a p p oint
ment s of the dining a nd be d r o om s ,
In s pite o f what I had d e s
c ri b e d t o them the y s till ha d a li.n g e r i n g ide a that w e w e r e s t i l l
ve r y p 1" i mitive ,
Of c ou r se , I do not want to i m ply that e v e r y o n e s
horne w a s l i ke tha t, but it s o h a p p e n s that home s ove r the r e w e r e
i n p r o po r ti o n to the i r m e an s and s ta ti o n o f l i fe , and a r e c om pa r
ativ e ly s p e a king m o r e c h e e rful a nd c omfo rtable than pe o pl e of
like m e a n s h e r e .
Thi s i s due to c h e a p lab o r , I t.hink,
What s u r pri s e d them mo r e wa s that eve r y one s po ke
exc e l l e nt E ng l i s h , thanks to the A me r i c an and E ng l i s h s ch o o l s
and univ e r si ti e s whi c h c arne to the c ount r y ove r
a c entur y a g o .
Thi s family l s c i r c l e o f f r i e n d s move d i n the E n gli s h - s pe a king
atmo s ph e r e and natur a ll y o u r ladi e s fe lt a t h orne when e v e r any
fr i e nd s c a l l e d ,
Howeve r , the r e a r e F r e n ch- s p e a ki n g p e o pl e even
mo r e pr e dominantly on a c c ount. of the F r e nch- mi s s i on a r i e s and
t.he F r e n c h g ov e r nment.
�133
The s e mi s sionarie s t o ok hold o f the boys and girl s
at a ve r y young a g e and taught them all the i r learning in Fr ench
and did not allow them to s peak thei r A rabi c in s chool exc e pt
whe n they w e r e in the A rabic cla s s . The r e s ult wa s that the s e
children le ave the ir s chool s s peakin g F r e nch like native s , but
they w e r e so weak in their Arabi c ! Their knowledge of F r e nch
tended to make Franc e and he r c omme r c e ve ry popular and it
was a big he lp to the Fr ench government in " Fr enching" the
c ountry.
Syrian s . on the whole , a r e g o o d lingui sts . Many
peo ple s peak good Engli sh but oftentime s with an a c c ent due to
the fact that they did not follow the s am e line of e ducation vJhen
they w e r e young a s was done in the Fr ench s ch o ol s . T hi s uncle
Sal e em whe r e we were visiting knew hi s E ng li s h as a native .
He and hi s s on c om pi le d the only A r abi c -English dicti onary. "
Bei rut i s c onsi de r e d the s e at of learning for the Middle E a s t.
a s well a s the c o rrnne r c ial gateway o r port to the A rab world.
In the Ame r i can unive r sity you me et young p e o pl e , men and
w omen, G re e ks , E gyptian s , A rmenians , Turks , Arabs , Syrians .
and Lebane e s e . S o you c an imagine the b enefit the s e pe o ple
r e c eived and the influenc e the unive r sity had on the s e pe o ple I S
minds and char a ct e r , a s w e l l a s the g o od the y have done all the s e
A young Ivloha rnrn e dan boy, f o r in stance , br ought u p
i n hi s old -fa shi oned horne full of old way s , idea s . supe r s titi on s ,
prejudice s , and inwar d hat r e d to the C hri stian s , c ome s into the
unive r sity and i s sur pri s e d to find that he i s tr eated e qually with
hi s fellow student s . H i s health i s loo ke d afte r , and the envi r on
ment and atm o s phe r e of the s ch ool i s s o diffe r ent from what he
i s u s e d to ! Hi s r e li g i on is r e s pe cted and he i s f r e e to w o r s hi p a s
he wishe s . H e find s hims elf ente ring into healthy s port s , hi s
mind i s b r oadened, he rpixe s with gi r l s who d o not cov e r the i r
fac e s , not even tho s e 01 hi s own faith. S ome a r e studying nur sing,
s ome c omme r c e , and s o me to b e c ome docto r s .
When thi s lad g o e s horne he begin s t o noti c e the
diffe renc e and by the time he graduate s and s ettl e s d own he i s no
longe r the boy who ente r e d the s chool yea r s back, but i s a man
of cultur e and r efinement , with a s e n s e of e quality, fair play , and
justice . He cannot he l p it when he be gins to find fault with thi s and
that custom or habit. He finds him s e lf di s sati sfi e d with c onditi ons
a round him and he naturally make s all the change s he can.
The graduate s , whethe r in m e di cine or any oth e r
branch o f learning , a r e s catte r e d ove r a ll the E a st and a r e b ound
in time to have a g r e at influence ove r thi s s e cti on of the wo rld
whi ch has be en for age s c a rrying on the s am e customs and habits . .
Some of it i s in ke e ping with s u pe r s tition and i gnoranc e and s ome
of it i s handed down f r om the i r bible , the K or an .
T he s e e ducated p e r sons have a hard time c onvincin g
�1 34
the i r p e o pl e that many o f the i r su p e r s tition s and habi t s a r e fal s e
and should b e d one away with. but the y a r e u p against i t i f th e
thin g they w ould li ke to change i s s o mething whi c h the K o ran for
bid s .
T h e y n o l o ng e r b e liev e i t and a t the same time cannot anta g
oni z e the law o f the K o r an le s t the y out r a g e thei r p a r e nt s a:!I.d
the i r p ri e s t s .
T a k e , fo r i n s tanc e , the P r e sident of T ur k e y who anta g
oni z e d a l l hi s c le r gy b y fo r bidding the women t o cove r the i r fa c e s
in publ i c .
Often I w onde r why he w a s not a s s a s s h1at e d .
It i s
wri tt e n i n the K o r an that a w o ma n ' s f a c e and hai r s hould no: be
s e e n e xc e pt by he r pe o p l e , and a man s i n s i f he l o ok s u p o n the
fa c e of a s t r /'tnge w oman .
In tho s e d a y s thi s rule w a s strictly
adhe r e d to s o th.at tr.!.e C hr i stian \rv orrle'n 9 in o r d e r not to offe:nd th.e
'
Moha m.m. edan s on the s t r e e t s or in the baza a r s o r not to h e a r
insulti ng w o r d s o r cu r s e s , w e r e obl i g e d to c ov e r t.hei r hai r and
fa c e s with a ve r y thin v e i l , so thin that b e ing c lo s e to the: fR e e
one c an s e e out but n o o ne c a n s e e i n .
B e s l de s thi s the y a r e c om
pletely c o v e r e d wi th a la r g e she e t , e i the r white or c ol o r e d , do'wn
to the i r f e et .
If the y want t o s e e the c o l o r of a pie c e of g o o d s
the y a r e buying the y lift t.he v e i l with o n e hand j u s t e n ough to s e e
the a r ti c l e .
Pi c tur e m y g r e at s u r pri s e one day o n the str e et w�h en
a whi t e r ob e d w oman , fa c e c ov e r ed � bent down ar.�d s po ke t o me .
I knew lny Hlo.th e r i s voi c e and would not have known he r
any
mo r e than a ny o the r w oman .
An unc l e of mine told me that one day he w ent to call
on a fri end who lived in the M oha:rnme dan quarte r s .
divi d e d into s e c tions .
a nd i s s t r i ctly fo r Mohamme dans "
and s o do the Jew s .
Da.:rna s cu s i s
T he M o ha:rnmedan qua rte r s i s the l a r g e s t
T he Chri stian s have the i r own
On r e a ching the hou s e h e found the d o o r aj a r .
H e s t e p p e d i n t o r ea c h the kno c ke r aTl.d kno c k e d , t.he n h e ste p pe d
out and waited.
A w o ma n c arne t o o pe n the d o o r o
U sually they
c om e t o the d o o r and c a ll out, I I W ho i s the r e ? " befor e the y o pen.
It so h a p p e n e d that the d o o r w a s open and she , s ho c ke d a t s e e in g
a s t r a n g e r , g a v e a s c r eam a:nd r e a ch e d down to the e n d s o f he r
s ki rt a nd lifted it u p ove r h e r fa c e and hai r .
you d o ?
II
He s a i d ,
"I
ran li ke H - - - .
II
I s a i d , " W ha t did
C ont.r a st thi s w ith s ome thing that ha p pe n e d
late r .
50
year s
A fri e nd of mine , a d e nti st, d r ov e me out to s e e s o me
patie nt s of hi s .
H e neve r tola me a thin g about the p e o pl e w e
w e r e vi s i ti n g e xc e pt that the y w e r e w e a lthy M oh a mmedan s and
lived on the out s ki rts of Dama s cu s in the r i c h g r ove s .
I pi c tu r ed
in my mind t.hat w e w e r e calling on some men fr i e r:.d s of hi s .
We
found the d o o r o p e n and my friend w a lk e d i n and I f o l l ow e d him.
T w o midd l e - a g e d women sitting in a la r g e c ourt that had a p ond.
a fountain and s ev e r a l l e mon t r e e s .
c ove r the i r hai r .
The r e was n o attem pt t o
The w e athe r b e ing w a r m they w e r e d r e s s e d
thinly like m y mothe r o r si ste r might b e d r e s s e d .
Sho rtly a youn g
�l35
'"
woman , the daughte r of one of the ladi e s . came out d r e s s e d like
any gi rl in A me ri c a w ould o n a hot summe r day. I couldn ' t
believe that the y w e r e not Chri stian. T he gir l c onve r s ed with my
friend in Fr ench, whi ch I did not know, but whe n she s poke A rabic
she s e eme d as fr e e and as charming as c ould be . Late r , anoth e r
daught e r , with h e r hus band and thre e childr e n , a l l d r e s se d e xa ctly
like any Europea,n fami,ly. ente r e d . A l s o i n came a young woman,
a cousin of thei r s , who ; w a s ve ry attra c tive and mor e inte r e sting
than the r e s t of them, about 24, unma r r i e d still, whi ch is out of
the ordinary fo r any Syrian family, rathe r pretty, he r hai r done
up in the lat e st mode . She had on a low-necked short dre s s , hi gh
hee l s . and wa s altogeth� r far from what I eve r d reamed of s eeing
in a MoharrL.'TIe dan home in far -off Syri a .
T hi s young w oman , o f a r i ch family. had b e en to the
Univer sity of B e irut, from whi ch she g raduate d and then went t o
England, wher e s h e h a d a glimps e of Engli s h life and way s . He r
Engli sh w a s excell ent and I judge he r Fran ch w a s a s good. We
c onve r s e d on diffe rent t opi c s and it wa s amazing how we ll info rm
ed thi s gi rl wa s . We c onve r s e d on diffe r e nt t o pi c s and it wa s
amazing how well-- info rme d thi s gir l wa s . I wa s t o l d that she w a s
gathering the c hildren of the w e ll-to-do M ohammedan familie s
and wa s b ring thelu u p :in the m o s t u p-to -date w ay. I a l s o saw
about 7 5 boys and g i r l s , on a hike dr e s s ed like our S c outs he r e ,
'\vhi ch ,\ve r e in he r char,g e .
I tell all thi s to s how what the mi s si onary i s doing
in a quiet, pe r s i stent , and pati ent way, molding the mind s of the
youth. No A rmy o r Navy o r atomi c bomb ha s done or eve r will do
a s much to bring p e a c e and fre e dom and life to a p e ople as much
as thi s gr eat Ame r i c an ' ins tituti on of lea rning. I c ould g o on but
I shall only say that I hope that the maj o rity of our pe ople he r e
will su stain thi s g r e at w o rk and that the men a t the he ad of it will
s e e to it that. the teache r s have n o athei sti c or c ommuni stic ten
denci e s . I r e ce ntly met' s ome of the s e s tudent s who made fun of
religion a s a whole . c alling our age the Atomi c A g e .
�..
' ') £
�JU
G HA P T E R
MEE TING MY
1 6
PE O PLE
Aft e r a fe w day s s pe nt in B e i rut we took the train to
D ama s cu s , whe r e w e me t my fath e r , g r andmothe r 9 and b rothe r s
a.nd s i s te r s . a l o n g with a ho st of fri e nd s .
ind e e d .
It 'Na s a s a d me eting
Poor d a d , he t r i e d to subdue hi s e moti o n s but did n o t
l a s t l ong fo r he and I gave vent to our fe eling s and the te a r s ran
F o rtunat e l y for me the family m ove d f r o m t.he old hou s e
fr e e ly .
to one out s i d e the wa n s o f the city s o I d i d not h ave the r errti n d e r
of whe r e mothe r u s e d t o s i t , o r h e r r o om .
Even th e plan of the
hou s e w a s diffe r ent to the e nd that I wa s n i t s u r e if I w e r e r e ally
hom e .
Of c ou r s e , the g r i e f and s o rr o w wa s p r e s ent in OUT
h e a r t s , but a g o od d e a l of it w a s gou g e d out by the for c e of m3.ny
c i r cumstanc e s .
One wa s the p r e s enc e of two Ame r i c an l a di e s .
H ow t o make the m fe e l a t horne and enj oy them s e lv e s w a s u p pe r
mo st i n o u r mind s .
T h e y f e lt that they o w e d the s e g o od ladi e s a d e bt of
g r a titu d e and the r e w a sn ' t anything the y c ou l d not do t o m a ke
the m h a p py and c omfortabl e .
My fathe r c ould s peak a little
E ng l i s h and oniy my s i s te r , A de l e , c ould s pe a k s ome E ngli sh.
So, unli ke B ei rut, I had to d o a lot of trans lating .
What with
vi s i to r s a nd i nt e r p r e ting , s u pe rvi sing the i r f o o d , and l o o king
afte r the i r c omfo r t , the whol e family. a s w e ll a s 10 had not time
to sit down and be moan our fat e .
T i m e and a gain I thought h o w ha p py my p o o r mothe r
w ould have b e e n to s e e m e .
Somehow I have a s tr ong f e e ling ,
c a l l it i ma gination if you will, that s h e did s e e me and d o e s; s e e
me a s
I
have th e strong b e l i e f that she i s not d e a d , hut livi:c"g .
I
a l s o felt how glad she w ou l d have b e e n to s e e the s e ladi e s and
w e l c on� e the m to h e r horne and o pe n he r h e a r t t o them,
I mu st
say my fath e r did nobly and so did a ll �he family.
Aft e r s e e in g the s i ghts of D am a s cu s , v i s i ting the
p la c e s of i nt e r e s t , includih g th e bazaa r s whi ch a r e unique and
d i ff e r e nt f r o m any othe r city . we w e nt to the mountai n s t o c f' c a pe
the s u mme r he at.
S o , off to the villa g e o n the s i d e of one of the
Anti - L e banon mounta i n s c al l e d B lue d an ,
5500
f e e t above s e a
l e v e l , w h e r e w e had a su mm e r horne and whe r e I s pent m y
summe r s a s a boy .
I
love d it for it s fr e sh a i r and i c e c o ld wate r ; fo r the
r o c ks and r i l l s and mounta in s ; fo r the vi e w of the be autiful
val le y b e l o w ; fo r i t s fruits and ve g e table s .
I l ov e d. the vi ll a g e r s. 9
�•
137
mo st o f whom I knew by name . T hough po o r , they we r e s o l oving
and kind, ho s I?i table and gene r ou s , and humble .
Many a time I have s e e n a w oman take d own a heavy
ba sket from he r head with both hands and beg you, a strang e r , to
help your s e lf to the a pple s or a p r i c o t s or whateve r she had. If one
r efused he r sh e would fe el hurt.
To me i t i s not the d r e s s , no r look s , nor be autiful
hou s e s ; n o r beautiful bathtu b s and daily showe r s , nor refrige r a
tor s , n o r all the touche s of r e finement a s w e know it. make the
true r efinement s of natu r e whic h one find s in most of the se simpl e ,
illite rate , good -hea rted peasant s .
I think that by thi s time the ladi e s had more r e s p e ct.
for m e and m y family and that I wa s n o l onge r the Arab who might
kill them s o me night. They saw our family. our friend s , and ou r
standing in the c ommunity. A s I wa s taking them. thr ou gh the vill
age , s peaking t o thi s one and that by name , how the men and women
s aluted m e and how s ome of the women lifted n"y hand to ki s s i t ,
a n a c t I w ould 1:w t pe rmit, showe r ing all. s o r t s o f ble s s ing s o n m e
and a s king G od t o have me r cy on m y mothe r ' s s oul . They loved
her and r e called how she w a s an ang e l of me rcy to them, how s he
went about t e a c hing them and hel ping them.
'\Then w e fi r st a r rived in Dama s cu s w e were b othe r e d
with :!"U e s dIld. i1.W SQU.i.tOe 5 a.i�1cl all of u'" h.ad to sle e p U[I c1el' lL!OSqU.lt o
net s . Before sitting t.o eat in the dining r o om two of us w ould take
lar ge tow e l s and shoo the fli e s out and c l o s e the windows and door s
s o that we c ould e at i n c omforto
Sho r tly after a r r iving I a s ke d my fath e r to corne with
me downtown wher e they sold hardwar e . I a s ke d for wi r e from
whi ch s ieve s are made . Had I a sked the s al e sman for fly wi r e he
would not have known what I meant , neith e r did I tell my father
what I wanted i t for. The fe llow had j u s t what I wa.nted. I said t o
d a d , " Pl e a s e buy me a r oll l ! . O f c ou r s e I wa s paying for it but I
wanted fathe r to d o the bar gaining . P o o r dad , he c ouldn1t make
out what I wante d with s o many s qu a r e feet of it. for it w ould make
hund r e d s of sieve s . T he pri c e wa s s omewher e a round $ 1 0 . 0 0 . but
to my fathe r it wa s like a fortune .
Dad mu s t have thought me c razy. Next I a sked fo r a
car pent e r and d e s c ri be d to him what I w anted. In no time s c r e en s
wer e made on eve ry window in the hou s e . W e lL he change d hi s
mind about my bein g c razy for n.ow he c ould s l e e p in c omfor t with
out the u s e of a net. He wa s the hap pi e s t man ove r the idea and
i rrun ediat e l y went to work and made s c r e en s for the B luedan hous e .
O f c ou r s e , s c reening home s even i n thi s c ountry i s
not old, e ven he r e in the early par t of the c entury ve r y few home s
had full s cr e ened-in cove rage . One c ould buy small s cr e en s about
two fe et high that had a limited s pr e ading capacity t o fit diff e r e nt
sized window s . The head of the B riti s h ho s pital , a D r . M c Kinon, a
friend of our s , carne in t o vi sit u s and wa s a stoni shed a s he s a t
�,
.., ,'
J. � O
the r e with not a fly .
He liked the i d e a v e r y much.
I explained
whe r e the w i r e wa s b ought and how it w a s Inade and the next
thing eve ry window in that b i g ho s pi tal w a s s c r e e ne d .
S o on afte r
that the F r e n c h ho s pi ta l b e came equi p p e d with s c r e en s .
I r e ally take the c r e dit f o r int r oducing D ama s cu s t o
the window s c r e e n .
T hin g s have g r e atly chan g e d .
W heneve r we
went t o the village we w e r e a pt t o pi c k up fle a s on a c c ount of
so many d o g s and goats , whi ch u s ed t o annoy u s , e s pe ci ally the
ladie s .
But when I w a s the r e in 1 9 5 0 , j u st a s w e a r r i v e d in
B luedan, the B o a r d of H e alth s ent six. men fr oIn the villa g e e qu i p
ped with p r e s su r e s p ray s and c arn e and a sk e d i f w e w ould p e r mit
the m t o s pr a y the hou s e and the sur r oundings with D . D . T . a t no
c o s t to u s .
Six pum p s w e nt to w o r k on eve r y door and window in
s i d e and out .
On the w a l l s ins ide and out at eve r y c o r n e r. the r e
would b e a b r e e ding p la c e .
The r e s ult w a s that i n the thr e e
month s s pent the r e I d i d not fe e l one bite eith e r a t horne o r i n
the villa g e .
T ow a r d s the end of the s ea s on I s aw a f e w fli e s , but
what a chang e .
The pe o pl e a r e waking u p t o a l l the s e i m p r ovement s .
I t i s g oing s o fa r that the p e o ple a r e anxiou s t o b e c o me E u r o pe anizeuo
TIlt:
v;i 0 i-J.� \s ll
vvu. nt l i p c ti c kj hi gh h � � l � v a. n d the fa shi onable
d r e s se s and h a t s f r om P a r i s , as we ll a s a ll the ways and means
of l ife whi c h we enj oy in thi s c ount r y .
You can har dly blame the
d e a r ladi e s f o r s u ch d e s i r e s , no r the d e a r Inen who i m p o rt them
to make m o n e y ,
The r e sult i s that the s e s ame p e o ple have b e c om e
di s s ati sfi e d with anything n ot Eur o p e an and what h a p p e n s ?
The
Inoney g o e s out of the c ountry neve r t o r e tu r n s imply b e c a u s e
the y have ve r y little to e xp o r t , a s the re i s n o o i l , c o a l , lumb e r ,
i r o n o r othe r meta l s .
The r e u s ed t o b e a l a r g e s i l k indu s t r y whi ch w a s
ki lle d b y the a r tifi c i a l s ilk.
I f it w e r en I t f o r the A rabs and the
Bed ouin s , who a s yet have not known any o f the s e r efineInent s ,
a l l the d o me sti c indu str i e s w ould b e ki lle d .
The r e i s a b i g de mand b y the A r a b s f o r horne s pun
g o o d s and eve r y homemade a rti c le s im p ly b e c a u s e it c an b e had
che ap e r .
H o w e v e r , the s e A r a b s a r e waking u p , t o o , and b e f o r e
long th e r e i s n o t e lling what will hap pe n t o the home industr i e s .
One i s a s ke d , " How d o the pe o pl e live ?
II
W e ll , many
of th em made a g r e a t d e a l of money du ring W or l d W a r
1L
The
Engli s h built r o a d s and bri dge s and the E ngli sh s oldi e r s s pe nt a
lot of money du r ing the o c c u pati on. Al s o . la r g e sums go f r o m
thi s c ountry annually t o r e lative s ov e r the r e .
Al s o , the L e b anon
mountains a r e a summe r r e s o r t , mo stly for the E gyptian pe o pl e ,
a nd that i s c on s i de r e d a la r ge s ou r c e o f incoIne .
A s i n oihe r
c ountr i e s , the building b O OIn i s on and that g ive s the pe o pl e w o r k.
�139
The s c r eens i n B luedan mad e u s all ve ry c omfort
abl e . Because we were in mourning w e did not make any elabo r
ate ente rtaining for the ladie s . W e had a r e stful , qui e t life . My
fath e r alway s had to have hi s four o ' clock tea. So every afte rnoon
we had a little pa rty with s ome o f our friend s . It wa s delightfully
cool and the the rmomete r s e ldom went ove r 7 5 . One nee ded tw o
blanket s at ni ght. W e took hike s u p the mountains and made t ri ps
to s pring s wher e the wate r c orning out. of the r o c ks w a s s pa r kling
and as c old as i c e . I a sked Mi s s Lizzie to put he r hand in i t to
s e e how l ong she c ould ke e p i t in. She held out just 1 8 s e c onds ;
then he r hand be came blui sh.
Thi s i s the way we s pent our summe r . From the r e
w e vi sited the pla c e s o f int er e st i n the H o ly L and" vi s ited my
uncle in Jaffa , and all the B ibli cal pla c e s such a s Je ru s a lem and
B ethlehem . At the e nd I saw the ladi e s o ff on a b oat on their w ay
horne by way of England and Ire land and I went back home , whe re
I did s ome dental work f o r s om e of my fathe r ' s friend s who w e r e
ve r y anxi ous t o have s ome Ame r i can d enti stry d one .
Feeling pr oud of me , he wanted me to w o rk for the s e
peo ple who w e r e i nfluential c i ti zen s . Poor dad, h e w a s s o anxi ous
for me t o open an offi c e and live a t home . Thi s wa s hi s d r e am
for ye a r s , a s I would be th.e only Ame r i c an d enti s t in a c om.mun
ity of 25 0 , 0 0 0 p e o pl e . I c ould have b e en the dent i st to the hi gh
offi cials from the gov e r no r d own and that w ould have given our
family a great dea� of pre s tige and that w a s the one thing my
father l oved . I told him that a s yet I c ouldn ' t make up my mind.
·
I wanted to vi sit my uncle s in Pal e s tine and then r would decide .
r vi sited Uncle G e o r g e in Haifa , Uncle Alexand e r
i n T oul-e l-karm i n Pale stine , and Uncle Micha e l in .Nabl ous ( the
old Shake em mentioned in the Bible ) . B e c au s e I w a s Micha e l
Kas sab ' s ne phew and h e w a s a ve r y g o o d friend o f the high p ri e st
of all the Sama r itans , he invited me to take t e a with him. I w a s
struck with the looks of the man. H e wa s a l a r g e man with pe r
fec t fe atu r-e s , bla c k large eye s , a dark beard mixed with white
hai r , and pa st middle age . One c ould ima gine lo oking at Mo s e s ,
the patriarch o f old. I c ouldn i t ke e p my e ye s off him. He told
me a little history of the Sama r itan p e o pl e who lived aloof and
did not mix with the Chri s tian s and w ould not mix with the Jew s
be c au s e they w e r e bitter enemi e s .
I r e c alled the sto ry of our Saviour who t old about
the Sama ritan who saw a w ounded Jew and instead of c r o s sing to
the other side of the road a s the Jewi s h pri e st had done , the
Samaritan picked up the man and put him on hi s d onke y and took
him to the inn and paid all expens e s until the man got w e 11 .
The good Samaritan and hi s peo ple lived in one
s e c tion in Nabl ou s and the pri e st told me that they w e r e dying
out. Numbe r ing only about 5 0 0 pe o pl e , he s aid that the r e w a s a
s c a rcity of girls amo n g them. He pointe d to hi s s on o f ·a b out 25
�..
140
w h o w a s enga g e d t o a gi rl o f 1 2 a n d whom he w ou l d wait f o r until
she b e c ame a w oman .
I
w a s sur pri s e d at how f e w the y we r e b e c o ming and
felt s o r ry t o think that s ome day the y w ould b e c ome exti n c L
I
thought of the Samaritan w oman at the w e ll t o whom
our S a viour s a i d , ! lAnd i f y ou a s k of me I will gi ve you the w a t e r
o f life . "
The s e t w o s to r i e s a r e inde libly p rinted on m y h e a r t f o r
the y play a b i g pa r t i n our tru e Chri sti anityo
Unc l e rnu s t have d one s om.e fav o r fo r thi s high p r i e st
and even though un c l e w a s a b s e nt . the p ri e st told me a lot of
inte r e sting thing s about hi s pe o pl e o
Aft e r we had had te a he t o o k
m e i n t o t h e s yn a g o gu e and , with c a r e a n d a p r a y e r befo r e handl
ing the s c r oll whi c h w a s pla c e d i n a � e c r et c l o s e t und e r lock and
key , t o o k it out to show me the ol de s t s c r oll i n the w o rld on whi ch
the fi r st five b o o k s o f M o s e s w e r e w r itten in H e b r e w o
s a c r e d and a g r e a t privi l e g e t o e v e n touch. i t o
It s e e me d
He s aid they s eldom
take it out a s the y have one whi ch i s a c o p�r of it that they take
out to show vi sito r s o
I
That , to o , i s ke pt unde r l o c k and ke y o
a l s o had the p r iv i l e ge t o vi s i t Ja. c ob ' s W e n , the
s ame w e l l that unc l e w a s able t o a c qui r e f r orn a M ohammedan
fa n ne r and d e e d t o the G r e ek C a tho li c C hu r c h ,
It gave o n e a
fe e ling of awe to meditate on the fa c t that our S avi our s a t on the
s i d e o f the w e l l and that I wa s tr odding whe r e he h.ad t r od o
I
could pi c tur e rny s e lf s e e ing Him a s king the S arna ritan w o man t o
give H i m a d r ink
Nablous i s a s ma l l D a ma s c u s and the M ohamme dan s ,
who a r e the l a r g e s t maj o r i ty , a r e mo r e st r i c tly r e li g i ou s and
old -fa s hi oned than the D ama s c ene s .
My unc l e a s ke d me one day i f I w ould d o s omething
for the wife o f a v e r y influe nti a l Turki s h offi c i a l , a friend o f hi s .
Of c ou r s e , f o r hi s s ake , I w ould d o anything
0
When s h e c arne t o
the hous e . a c c ompani e d b y he r hu s band . I had impr ovi s e d a cha i r
with a pillow fo r a h e a d r e s t and h e r hu s b and pi cked u p a chai r
and s a t o ppo s i t e h e r .
T he lady did n o t take off he r haba r a
w i t h w hi c h s h e wa s c ove r e d
)
( the
l a r ge s h e e t
but carne and sat in the c hai r and
g r a dua l ly lift e d the v e i l off h e r fa c e hi gh e n ough to e x po s e h e r
n e c k a nd he r m outh s o thai the e d g e o f ihe v e i l t.ouche d the t i p
o f h e r no s e o
A s I b e g a n t o w o r k it dawned on m e that., f r o m the
l o o k s of h e r pr etty mouth a nd chin and the smo oth waxy white
n e c k , thi s w oman mu s t b e pr etty,
As I w o rked a lo ng I n oti c e d that he r hu sband n ev e r
t o o k hi s e y e s off me fo r that r e a s on o
I b e c am e m o r e anxi ou s t o
s e e the r e st o f the fa c e , but c ouldn i t invent an excu s e t. o hav e h e r
lift he r v e i l highe r o
S o , b e l i e v e it o r n o t . afte r an hou r I s w o r k
s h e w e nt away , gr eatly t o my di s a ppointment. without my e v e r
s e e ing what. s he l o oke d l ike o
I
pi ctu r e d my s e lf doing rno s t of my d e nti s t r y und e r
s u c h c onditi on s .
�14 1
While I wa s in Nablou s I w a s anxious to me et Sheik
abo -Has s an , but found out that unfortunate ly he had died.
When I wa s a young boy uncle w r ote my fath e r a
letter tel ling him that Sheik abo -Ha s san wa s going to Damas cu s
to have a ca s e tried in the Supreme C ourt and w ould my fath e r
b e good e nou gh t o a c c ommodate the Sheik fo r a few days a s the r e
w e r e n o h ote l s that he c ould g o t o , and it would be a b i g favo r t o
my uncle . O f c ou r s e , d a d w ould d o anything f o r uncle. T he She ik,
as expected, a r rived and we w e r e p r e pa r e d for him. We gave u p
our be st room o r par lo r i n whic h w e plac e d a bed.
B eing a Mohammedan w e had to r e s pe ct hi s r e li g
ious de s i r e s s o that we had t o be ve ry c a r e ful that none of the
women folks we r e anywhe r e to be s e en . W hen the She ik c ame t o
the d o o r , h e knocked on the fr ont d o o r w ith a knocke r . If a w oman
went to the d o o r and a sked who it w a s , he said , " Khod o darb " ,
meaning, "make way ! l . T he d o o r w a s unlatched and she hur ried
out of sight. He waited a minute and the n w ent to hi s r oom. If my
father o r I w ent to the d o o r we invited him in. At meals my
fath e r and he had to e at alone and I a cted a s the waite r , running
between the kit chen and the dining r o om. Dinn e r ove r . I had to s e e
t o it that no won'len w e r e i n the c ourtya r d . al s o when h e w ent out
to the bathr oorn. Then I had to c a r r y in the Nar ge eley, or hubble
bubble , fo r hi s smokj n g pI p, a 51J "l" P, R 11 0. thp,TI go out fo r t.hp, dp.rni -
ta s se coffe e lor him and dad, who sat with him t o ke e p hiln
company. Then I left him in my fathe r ' s c ar e .
Although all our home life w a s di s rupted w e gladly
put up with it for unc le ' s s ake . T hi s ke pt up one week, and anothe r ,
and eve ry time h e came home h e said that the c a s e w a s n ot ove r ,
but he thought i n a few days i t would b e ove r .
M y fath e r got tir e d o f staying with him eve ry night
and the o nly re s pite he had wa s whe n the old man wanted to pray
shortly after he fini she d hi s c offe e . H e turned hi s fac e t o the E a st
and put hi s two hands t o hi s hea d . the n he got down on hi s kne e s
and bent down and ki s se d the rug . T hen h e straightene d u p o n hi s
kne e s . said m or e praye r s . and b ent down again and ki s se d the
rug . Then he s to od u p and went thr ough the s am e thin g fo r about
1 0 to 1 5 minute s .
If w e had s ome friend s w e had t o take the m to the
living r o o m and my fathe r would excus e himself and o rde r me to
leave my studying and stay with him le s t he sho uld ne e d anything,
e ith.e r renew hi s s moke o r guid e him t o the bathroom.
To s mo ke the Nar g e e ley r e qui r e s a s pe cial kind of
tobacc o powd e r e d s emi-fine . A s mall quantity i s held in the palm
of the hand and moi stened thor oughly with wate r . Lat e r the exc e s s
moi stur e i s squ e e ze d out a nd the toba c c o i s mounted o r molded on
a c lay top simi la r to the s moking pi pe without the stem. Thi s t o p
i s then plac e d ove r a pi pe which r e a che s a gla s s j u g half full of
wate r . T o thi s pipe a ho s e of about six feet i s attache d� the oth e r
�142
end o f which hold s the mouth pi e c e . When everything i s r eady a
live cha r coal i s plac e d on the moi st toba c c o . The s moke r draws
at the end of the ho s e , the smoke i s drawn thr ough the water ,
bubble s o n i t s way u p , and goe s thr ough the l ong tube t o the mouth.
The claim i s that the smoke i s wa shed in the wate r and a gain
filte r e d in the l ong ho s e . S inc e I do not smoke I c a n i t b e a judge .
I d o be lieve that the r e may b e l e s s har m t o s mo ke whi c h i s hubble
bubble d in wate r .
One ni ght h e s a id t o me , l i T he Jew s a r e smart p e o pl e
but w e a r e s ma rte r . L e t m e t e l l you thi s story. I n the city of
Allapo the r e wa s a Mohammedan who had a s t o r e adj o ining
anothe r s to r e o c cu pi e d by a Jew. The s e two men b e came ve ry
friendly t o such an extent that when one went away the other went
in and waited on cu stome r s f o r him. IVlore often the M ohamme dan
left hi s s to r e o pen and went to the mo s'qu e to p r ay thr e e or four
time s a day. B oth men w e r e p r o s perous and very c o miortable .
The Jew was ma r r i e d and had six childr en. The Mohammedan for
s ome r e a s on had never mar ri ed . which is unusu aL H e had a very
nic e large hou s e and a s uc c e s sful bu sine s s and was well-to- d o .
One d a y he d e cided t o go to Iv1e c ca . I t i s the d r e am of
eve ry :tv1.ohamme dan, man o r woman, to vi sit Me c c a , whi ch i s
c on si d e r e d a holy city. It i s s o holy that it i s guarded that n o
infi d e l , mo s tly refer ring to Chri stians o r Jew s , c an e nte r i t .
Havilig v i sited tvft cca v i-Ji t l- c Cc ive s a. di stincti vll u � h.cnor o.nd i s
title d a Hajj , or if a woman , Hajjeh.
The M oha rnrn,edan c lo s e d hi s sho p and a r r ange d all
hi s affai r s so that he c ould b e away for two ,or thr e e month s . He
put all hi s valu :tbl e s in a la r ge urn, mO E tly hi s g old c o in and
jewelry unti l it r e a ched clo s e to the t o p . He then fi lled the urn.
whi ch hold s about a gallon, with honey, c ove r e d it with a cloth
and tie d i t up. H e had a porter carry it to the hous e of hi s Jewi s h
friend. When he b i d h i s fri end go odbye he said t o him . "I s e nt
an urn of honey to your hou s e . I wi sh you would ke e p it for me
until I c o me ba c k. Y ou s e e , thi s urn of honey my fathe r left me
and I prize i t s o muc h and hate to u s e it and am afraid if I leave
it in the hou s e it w ould b e stolen. i Gladly ' , the Jewi sh friend
said. II will take c a r e o f it and you go enj oy you r s e lf and don't
worry a.bout anything . i And he r eally meant i t for they w e r e
sinc e r e with e a ch othe r . H e added. II hope you will have a s afe
j ourney. i
B e c au s e of the dange r s of travel and maraud e r s on
the way, all tho s e ma king the tri p a r e clubbed to g e the r and nl.ake
a s ort of a c aravan with government ho r semen, or K o s saks.
traveling in fr ont of them for prote cti on. They g o through many
inc onveni e n c e s and s pend near ly a month e a ch way . suffe ring
all s o r t s of ha rdshi p s . b e caus e the y have to go on d onkeys and
hor s e s , s le e ping in the o pen with the heat and dus t of the d e s e rt.
All thi s t o fulfi ll thei r d ream and their he art 1 s d e s i r e to vi sit
�14 3
the bir thplac e of t.he i r p r o phet, M ohammed , and hi s tomb whi ch i s
s o s a c r e d to them. They put u s t o shame for our lack of devoti on
and our l u,kewa rm Chri s ti anity. They pray five time s a day and
vi sit the i r mo s que s r e gular ly. I r ememb e r on my way to Bl uedan
not l ong a g o at five o ' cl o c k a man s p r e ad hi s over co at on the flo o r
of th e b u s and went thr ough hi s d evoti onal exe r ci s e s by kne e ling
and ri sing. then kn e e ling and ki s sing the floo r and praying ,
oblivious to all the pa s s eng e r s .
One night the Jew i s h family had a friend d r o p in on.
them unexpe ctedly and. a s it s ometime s happens with the b e s t
regulated famil ie s , they had nothing t o feed the man exce pt some
br e ad and che e s e . They felt a shamed at how little they c oul d put
before himo The man said to hi s wife , ! I will g o d own to the ce llar
and b r ing s ome honey £rorn our neighbo r ' s ju g and tom.o r r ow I will
buy some honey arl.d fill it u p and our neighbo r will n.ever find out . i
In di ggin g with a s pbon he felt s omething har d and he fi shed it out
and found it wa s a gold c oino T he next mo rning he and hi s wife
emptied the urn of its c ontents and fill e d it with g o od quality
hone y and c ove r e d it up exactly a s befo r e .
The lVioha:rnrnedan r eturned home and a l l the friends
carne to vi sit hiITl and c on gratUlate him on hi s g r eat a chi evemento
Four o r five days of fe stiviti e s r e i gned and then the man o pened
the s to r e and went ba ck to work as u s u al o
Shortly afterward he s ent a porte r and g ot. hi s urn
backo To hi s great s o r r ow and di s a ppointment he di s c ove r e d what
had taken pla c e ,. but he did not l e t on that anything wa s w rongo
The Jewi sh family ex.pe cted him to a s k about the c onte nt s of the
jar and when s everal weeks had l a p s e d they c ame to the conclu s
i on that the nei ghbor did not know the r e was anything valuable
exc e pt the old honey whi ch hi s fath e r had left himo They fel t
e a s i e r in the i r :mind s , e s pe cially when the nei ghb o r w a s nic e r t o
them than e v e r befo r e .
The Mohamm edan b ought a young d o g whic h h e d e
cided to r ai s e and traino H e did not let i t out o f the h ou s e . T hr e e
time s a day h e would b e at the d o g s o that the minute h e ente red
the hous e the d o g would run away fr om him and c ry, e xpe cting to
be beaten o Then he w ould l e ave the r oo m and d r e s s in Jewish
garb and take food t o the d o g and pet himo
T o unde r stand the i d e a ; the Mohammedan d re s s e s
with long garb and wide belt and a l a r g e turban. The Jew d r e s s e s
with pantal o on s and a fe z. Eve ry time h e carne in o n the dog with
a fe z and pantaloons the d o g w ould rush to him and lic k him and
make such a fu s s , but. when he ente r e d with a turban a nd a l ong
gown he w ould run away from him to a c o rne r s g rowling and c ry
ing a s he expe cted a beating. Thi s wa s c a r r i e d on for s eve ral
weeks until the dog wa s well t.rained o
One Saturday morning he a sked hi s Jew i s h frie nd t o
do him a favor ; to s end hi s s on with s ome meat to the hous e s o
�1 44
that the h ou s e ke e pe r c ou ld g e t it r ea dy fo r dinne r while h e w e nt
to s e e a man in th e u ppe r pa rt of the town , j u s t the o p po s ite
di r e ction from hi s h o me .
Hi s fr iend s aid to him, ' One thou s and e r rand s a s thi s
one . '
It w a s an old s a ying a s muc h a s to s a y , ' G ladly,
him. '
I
w i l l s e nd
O u r friend s ta r ted out and i n s t e a d o f g oing s t r a i ght u p h e
w e nt u p a littl e way and tur ned a r ound the b l o c k a n d r u s h e d b a c k
to hi s h ou s e and w a i t e d .
W h e n the b o y a r r ived h e t o ok him i n ,
put him in a r o om , and l o cked the do o r , r e tu r nin g t h e s arn. e w a y
he went.
T h r e e o r four hou r s pa s s e d .
T h e fath e r c arne t o h i s
f r i e nd a n d s aid t o him, ' What do you thin k ?
T he b o y ha s not
r e tu r n e d . 'I gue S 5 h e is still playing with the b oy s ,
i
a n s w e r e d and b oth went out and hunt e d fo r the boy.
hi s f r i e nd
T h e y hir e d a
town c ri e r who w e nt f r o m one s i d e of the tDw n to the o the r , e v e n
f r o m the r oofs of hou s e s , w ith a loud v oi c e c a lling o n all g o od
p e o ple , ' H e a r y e , he a r y e , you who a r e the s on s of g o o d .
Y ou who
r e turn the mi s s ing t o the i r owne r s , if you l-tave s e e n a boy e i ght
ye a r s of a g e , r e s t. o r e hi m to hi s p e o ple and G od will r ew a r d you
and hi s p a r e nt s will give you one hundr e d pi a st e r s . '
T w o days pa s s e d , thr e e day s , and no s i g n of the b o y .
Hi s pe o p l e b e c ame f r anti c a n d the i r f r i e n d ' s h o w e d the m a lot
o f s Y1TIpathy .
Natu r a lly, the i r fri end s c am e t o s ympathi z e w ith
the m but no one c ould im.a g ine it p o s s i b l e that the boy c ould di s
appear .
S ome o f them in s i s ted that they c om plain t o the judge
a bout the whole story.
He h e s itat e d fo r a whil e but hi s wife
in s i st e d .
T he judge s a i d , l it i s n o t po s s ib l e that y o u r n e i ghbo r
c ou ld b e s u s pe c t e d o f foul play.
H e i s a Hajj and a mo s t r e s pe ct
a b l e p e r s on, howeve r , I w i l l s end fo r him. '
When he a r r iv e d the c o u rt r o om w a s fil l e d with
pe o ple .
T h e y all stood u p , even the jud g e - - - ' Y a , Hajj i - - - s o
and s o - - -
' What i s the s to r y ?
i
The Hajj s a i d , I Y ou r hon o r , I
am ve r y much di s t r e s s e d about th i s incident and I c l o s e ly que s
ti o n e d my hou s e ke e pe r and s h e told me tha t s omething ha p p en e d
when t h e b o y gave he r the m e a t .
She s a i d a l l of a s udden the boy
d r o p p e d to the fl o o r and di s a p p e a r e d . All
I
dog .
kne w such a thing i s impo s sibl e .
I
I
c ould s e e was a little
c ouldn ' t b e l i e v e he r a s
s he i s s im p l e minded but s h e in s i st s th a t the boy b e c ame a d o g
and
I
a m taking c a r e of it.
jud ge s a i d ,
II
I
The c ourtr o om b e c a me hu s he d .
want to s e e the d o g .
The
I
S o the Hajj e s c o r t e d him with s ev e r a l othe r M oham
me dan s to the h ou s e , a l o ng with the Je w .
When the y ente r e d ,
the own e r o p e ne d the d o o r t o wh e r e the d o g wa s .
T he minute h e
s aw the m a l l with tur ban s h e r a n away f r o m the m f r i ghte n e d .
But when he saw t h e Je w h e ran t o h i m a n d t r i e d to j u m p on him.
They a ll exclaime d , I G od i s g r e a t !
' Th e r e i s no G o d but G o d !
kne w h i s fathe r !
i s y o u r s on.
1
I
G od i s g r e a t !
G od be p r a i s e d !
I
and , ' Th i s i s a mir a c le , s e e how he
The judge turned to the Jew and s aid, ' T he r e
Y o u take him home ; s ome day h e mi ght r etur n a boy. '
�145
\
I
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A few days pa s sed. The dog w a s treated a s. one of
the family a lthough the dog did not know his mother or any of
them. Howe.ver . they treated him as thei r boy. As things calm.ed
down the Mohammedan went to hi s neighbo r one day whi s per ed
in hi s ear , I A s my gold turned into honey, your boy turned to be
a dog. Give me ba ck the gold and I will give you your s on back. ' I I
Said our gue st, Sheik Abo-Has an, with glee . " This is one time a
Mohammedan outsmarted a Jew. "
W e ek after week went by and our gue st had the same
thing to talk about. The c a s e dragged on so much that year s later
when I read Charle s Dickens ! Jarndyce & Jarndyce it reminded me
of our gue st ' s c a s e . After thr e e months he l o st his case and went
away. but not until our patience wa s exhausted. Once more InY
family w a s free to go about the house a s u sual and home becazne
home sweet home again. I would have liked t o meet this old .man
and remi nd him of this story which I neve r forgot.
In due time I returned horne and stayed with the
family a while and practiced s ome dentistry. In s pite o Lm.y
fathe r ' s d e s ire s I c ouldn Bt make u p my mind about locating at
horne. I tried it for a while . I found the peo ple were e a sy-goihg,
that if I a sked the patients. e s pe cially women, to c orne at two·
o ' clock they might a rrive at thr e e or- for get about it; time did
not mean anything to them. I found that they w e r e not willing t o
put up with anything and that the y needed pampe ring. 1 als.o
found that in those days very few pe o ple used the toothbrush.
Instead. and thi s is a national habit which is very
commendable . eve ryone wa she s the hand s befo r e and afte r each
meal. Afte r the meal one gather s a large quantity of lather o r
suds and pla c e s it o n the palm o f the hand and carries it to the
mouth. Then, with the index finge r he rubs the gums and teeth
with the lather and gurgitat e s it between the teeth for about half
a minute. The peo ple ther e have most wonderful teeth as a whole.
Thi s is due to the kind of food they eat and perha p s
als o the water . However . this c ombination forms a l o t .of tartar
and no de c ay . 1 remember one time the profe s s or wanted sam.eone
to demonstrate on for the cla s s. I volunteered and sat in the
chair. He looked in my mouth, fir st up then down. then said.
"qlose'" then \l o pen". He then looked again and turning. to the
clas s s aid. " This gentleman has the most perfect teeth and adic
ulation 1 have s e en in many yea r s : Thi s was news to me. Natur
ally it plea s ed me but'r got the worst of the bargain for.. no matter
whe r e 1 w a s the boys , three hundred of them, would sto.p.. .tne and
say. II Damas cu s\ (the name 1 was known by) let us see. ;your
teeth. " Dirty.Jlands or plaster smeared hands made no. diffe ren c e .
1 had to o pen wide - and let thezn look in, hands all over zny face .
..... · � ...=c-c�-sd
.i.z.e up -the - situation-a·nd· £-oun�that,most of--m:y tiIne would,be .
spent on pro phylaxis . which a denti st dislikes .
�Als o . the expe rience which I had in Nablous about
;f c ov e r ing the fa c e did not a p pe al t o xne . Of c our s e . all the s e fac
tor s would not have dete r r e d xn e £roxn coxnplying with xny fathe r ' s
w i s he s . U p until then I had liv e d longe r in the U . S. than in Syria
fro xn the standpoint of a matu r e
m
i nd . I had ta s te d the fr e edom
of xny newly ado pted country. The rights of the individual a r e
r e s pe cted and the fa c t that one individual can r e ceive justice i n
the c ourts . H e c ould wo r ship a s h e ple a s e d . c ould travel without
dange r of xnole station or fea r . had the opportunity fo r advan c e
xnent e sp ec i ally fo r tho s e who have the axnbition to pu sh ahead.
- and the fe e ling of equality and so forth.
It w a s ha rd for xne to s e e inju sti c e done . the lack of
opportuniti e s fo r advanc exnent and s e curity and oppr e s sion of the
poo r c la s s e s . but it w a s next to natural fo r xny fathe r not to s e e
it. H e had not ta ste d of the thing s I had lea rned t o love.
T o hixn it wa s quite right to bow down to a Turki sh
offi c e r , neither did it annoy hixn to s e e a s oldie r on ho r seba c k go
into a farxne r ' s hous e and d exnand a l odgin g for hixn s e lf and hi s
hor s e . I have s een a poor farxner . on the arrival of a cavali:y
xnan. take the hor s e and walk it back and forth on the str e et to
r e st it up. It i s be li e ve d that eve ry hor s e after a long j ourney
should not stand still in hi s sweat. So the farxne r is oblig e d to
kee p walking hixn until h e drie s up. I axn told that one tixne when
a fa rxner caxne back with the hor s e the s oldi e r took off his high
boots and said to the far xne r to take them out and walk thexn for
half an hour in ord e r to huxniliate hixn. I tell thi s , though it xnay
not be tru e , to show the c ru elty of the s e debt c ollector s . A s a boy
I u s ed to fe e l so bad eve ry tixne I saw a cavalry man and hi s
hor s e sto pped at a fa rxne r ' s hou s e for a while .
They stay on the farxne r ' s hands until a bill. debt o r
tax e s a r e c olle cted. I have s e e n thexn hor s ewhip the farxner if
he gave thexn of the s axn e food he ate . They dexnanded meat»
chi cken and t ob a c c o . barley for the hor s e , etco
Thi s c ontinu e d until the poor farxner b o r r owed at
high rate of int e r e st.
20 %
to
25% .
a
befo r e he c ould get rid of hi s
unwelc ome gue st.
T o xny fath e r it was a xnatter of e v e r y day o c cu rrenc e o
It d i d not rais e his ang e r if h e s a w a lot of M ohapunedan b oy s
playing all s or t s of c a p e r s o n a Jewish or Christian peddle r,
stealing or s natching his w a r e s , pulling hi s donkey' s tail and
tantali zing him. If thi s happened in CL _Chri s tian qua rte r he w ould
have c ourag e enough to cha s e thexn away and let the peddler g o
hi s wa y. It xneant nothing t o hixn t o live in a city whe r e the xnajor
ity are M ohamme dan s who fee l that they c ould do what they ple a s e
A s a b o y I wa s always afraid t o walk i n the
w ith the minority.
Mohaxnxnedan quarter after dark and xnany tixne s I had to run
when the boys g ot after !TIe and walk by the side o! a Christian
. for prote ction.
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At home we had a rguments p r o and c on. I c ouldn.!t
s e e the wi sdom of locating the r e . I a g r e e d that I c ould make �mo:r.:e
money by staying and having all the honor and pre s ti g e of high
offi cia l s , but I couldn it picture mys e lf settling d own a nd raising
a family and have the m g o thr ough what I went thr ough . a s com.
pared with a family rai s e d in the United State s . Thi s w a s not a14
but the r e wa s one thing back of my mind whic h I did not b ring
into the a r gument, but which played a large part in my d e cision.
I had a home ove r the r� and friend s , t o o , s o I did not s e e eye-to
eye with my father . I c onfe s s that I w a s s elfish and many time s
had a dee p r emor s e for having left the family to the c a r e of my
fath er . grandmoth e r » and o ne si ste r to take c a r e of five y oung
ste r s .
After my mothe r ' s death my fath er r e laxed ve ry
much in di s c i plining and wa s no l ong e r the strict and s ev e re
fathe r I r emember ed . H e did not punis h the chi ld r en o r r e primand
the m, but I don't forget how strict he w a s with m e.
·
One time I went to s ch o ol without drinking my regula r s po on of c od liver oil ( the c rude s t kind) and t o my g r e at
sur pri s e I s aw my fathe r in the s ch o ol r o o m with a b ottle in one
hand and a s poon in the oth e r . I step pe d forward and he e mptied
the s p o on in my mouth befo r e all the cla s s and w al ke d out. U sual
ly I to ok the s tuff with a little lemon o r an a p pl e . but this time I
had the hateful tas te in my mouth until lunch time . N o r d o I for
get g etting licked be c au s e o n my way horne fro m s chool I stopped
to watch an o rgan g rinde r with a monkey d oing many funny s tunts .
B oy-li ke I stood a round to watch it. In other thing s , to o , I found
him greatly cha ng e d .
B efore I left horne I r e call that he b r o ke all the
hubble bubble s (Nargeel ey ) which were u s e d to offer s mo king t o
the vis ito r s . He left only one Nar g e e l e y f o r the u s e o f g randmother
who u s e d t o s moke . N o r did h e want to s e rve liqu o r in hi s h ome .
always pr e a ching that s moking and drinking w e r e s inful. When I
returned horne I found him s rnoking the Nar g e e l ey and d r inking
his gla s s of Arak before dinne r . A rak i s a national d rink d istil
led fr o m ferme nted g rape s with { yans o on} anis e added for flavor.
It i s a lmo st a s intoxi cating a s whi s key. Of cour s e 8 taken in large
quantitie s it ha s the s ame e ffe ct. Poor fellow, it mus t have been
his s o rrow that d r ove him t o thi s .
�lAO
.L "Z U
C HA P T E R 1 7
BA�K T O MY ADOPTED HOME
I s pent mo st all of the money that I earned in Syria
and what I took with me. I wrote to the O 'Neills and a sked them
to s end me enough to pay my fa r e back and, in the meantime ,
I studied the timetable s and the movement of the ve s se l s . At the
Cook' s offi c e I found that by taking a ship to Southampton,
E ng land. I would be able to catch the 5. 5. St.: Paul on the same
day of a r r ival. The St. Paul and St. L ouis w e r e the only Ameri can
pas seng e r shi p s plying between Ame rican and E ngland in tho s e
days . I set a side the c o st o f travel, leaving barely $ 1 2 . 0 0 for
expense s .
Fir st I to ok a steame r from B eirut to Port Said and
the r e I t r ansfe r red to a G e r man shi p, Empe r o r Jo s e ph, plying
between E ng land and India. It wa s a wonde rfully equipped ship.
Up t o that time it wa s the nic e st ship I wa s eve r on. Even our
c abin fo1," two, s e c ond c la s s , had an ele ctri c fan, silk drape ri e s
and many othe r a ppointments . Fortunately fo r me . the o cean was
ver y c alm and the food most deli cious and the pastry unusually
g o od and plentiful. I enj oyed e ve ry minute of the trip until we
c r o s se d the Bay of B i s c ay. The s e few hour s upset all the past
, plea su r e . The shi p s to p ped at Naple s . Italy, and with a g roup
of p e o pIe we went to the old ruins of Pompei i . It was a beautiful
c a rriage ride along the Medite r r anean with Mt. Ve suvius on the
left puffing the smoke skyward. W e walked through the narr ow
str e e t s o f the ancient city with the nar r ow s idewalks and house s
standing clo s e togeth e r with walls but n o r o ofs .
H e r e you s e e the trac e s of some beautiful tile , her e
what once wa s a beautiful bath, and the r e the tra c e s of a kitchen
or an ampitheatr e . Outstanding still in my memory, a s we d rove
along with our carriages making a lot of dust, were the small
g r o c e r y store s whi ch we pas s ed and whic h had loave s of bread
out side about four feet l ong, standing s ide by side. I saw, of
c ou r s e . dust and fli e s and c ouldn 't under s tand how the s e peo ple
would allow such a thing .
The ship a l s o s to p ped at G enoa and mo st of the pas s
enger s went a shor e . I w ould have g one had I any money to s pare.
but d e c ided to stay on de ck. One of the pas s enge r s who had seen
the c emeter y in G enoa befo r e said t o me , "By all means you
ought to s e e Campo Santo. It i s the most beautiful c emetery in
the world. Y ou will never regret seeing it. " I gambled on the
fact that I would n ot need a ll the money I had and if I s pent five
dollar s on the trip I would still have enough for tips until I
reached New Y ork, knowing that I would tran sfer from ship to
ship the same day in England . S o I j oined the passenge r s . who
engaged a guide to take us.
�149
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Campo Santo i s a large cemetery filled with the
fine st Italian art statuary. mostly in marble . over the grave s .
The poor pe ople were buried i n the wal l s the s ame a s draw er s
in a bur e au, sta cked on t o p o f each othe r twe lve to fift e en fe et
high. But mo st of the othe r s w e r e buried in the ground and all
w e r e de corated with statuary large and small. Two of the s e w e r e
o f the mo st natural a r t I e v e r saw. One was the statue of a monk
with hi s l ong robe and r ound b elt shaped like a heavy r o p e . H e
was r eading a b ook. I stepped clo s e to i t and l ooked fir st at the
fac e and then at the book. and again at the face , which wa s life
like even to the little hai r s of his beard showing a s though he had
not shaved for thre e days . I wa s ' frightened b e cau'se I thought h e
was living. Anothe r w a s the h ead and bust of a beautiful woman.
One c ould s e e the perfect feature s of the face c overed with a
veil, all in one pie ce of marble . How it was made i s s till a
myste ry to me. The r e w e r e thousands of marble figur e s . T he
Italians take a great deal of pride in caring for thei r d ead.
On arriving in S outhampton. to my g reat dismay
and di sappointment, I found that the two American shi p s had be en
requi sitioned by the U . S . gove rnment o n a c c ount of the S panish
Ameri can War of 1 8 9 8 -9 9 . The s e c ond c las s rates on the Amer
ican shi p s wa s $ 1 0 . 0 0 le s s than the E nglish o r German s hi p s ,
and i n order t o g e t o n any of tho s e I needed five dollar s more
than I had. Had I not taken the side trip 1 c ould have made both
end s meet. I must s ay, 1 never r egre tted taking the tri p to C am po
Santo in s pite of the fact that it c aused me a lot of tr ouble .
The fir st thought carne t o me to s e ll my watch. S o
1 l o oked for a watchmaker and a sked him what h e would give me
for the watch, a 1 7 jewel Waltham. He s aid, "None of your
blo omin I Ame rican watche s for me. I I He looked it over and
after s ome c oftxing said, "Two shilling s " . I am still carrying the
same watch which ke e ps g o od time and it i s in its fiftie th year .
Give me the blo omini American watch anytime .
W�ll. the blooming watchmaker did not s o lve my
troubl e . 1 w ent back to the steamshi p agency and told him that I
could not sell my watch. "Well. " he said. "for what money you
hav e 1 c an s end you by way of Liverpool and B oston to New York. "
I said to him that I did not want to go ste e rage. He told me that
it was a one - c l as s ship and the nice part about it I could leave in
an hour by train and tomor row get aboard. T hat suited me as I
didn't have to pay for any lodging.
The fare took all my money exc e pt about 1 5 o r 20
cents. Five cents went for a letter to the Q 'N e ills telling them of
my plans and the way I was travelling. I bought fro m a pastry
shop a half loaf of cur rn bread, my familia r food. I was hungry
since I had not eaten since I left the boat in the morning and when
I got on the tr�in 1 ate the currn bread with reli sh, although it
was no where near the wonderfully flavor of the bread the' Q 'Neills
�1 50
'�.made . F o r s ome foolish rea son I wrapped up what was left and ,
instead of putting it in my bag put it under the seat on the floor.
In the g reat exciteme nt of entering the great c ity of L ondon
whe r e I had to cha�ge train s , ma ke sur e I had all my luggage
and find t h e Liv e r po o l t r ain in t h e hug e stati o n , I f o r g o t t h e pa c kag e .
T o think that I was in London but didn it see the
Que en. not even the pussy c at !
A s the t rain pulled out I r emembered my suppe r
unde r the s cat of the other train ! When you c an i t slee p on the
train b e c au s e on l ong stretche s it become s quite c old. nature
calls for food and the re wa s no food to be had. On the way. at
eve ry stop. the door of the c ompartment o pened and a porter
pulled out a large iron from the flo o r about four feet l ong by a
foot wide , and r e plac ed it with a heated one . This was their
way of heati ng the trains in tho s e days .
I arrived a t Liver pool a t six in the morning , tir ed,
dirty, c old, and with a throbbing headache . I wanted a cup of
coffee so badly. I walked the streets in search of a c offe e shop.
but I di s c ove red that they didn It o pen until nine a ' clock. The s e
peo ple to ok Hfe easy i t s eemed. I was the first custome r i n one
sho p . They had no c offe e , so I tried another and wa s lucky to
find what I was l ooking for . This took my last penny. The steam
ship a gency car ried my luggage to the shi p and I walked to the
E,i e r .
The walk gave me a g ood g limpse of this progr e s s. ive c ity. What impr e s sed me so much was that everything wa s
constructed s olidly and ma s sively. N othing wa s built flimsily.
Mo s t of the str eets were pave d with wood blocks like bricks .
s et on end� and fil led between with pitch and gravel. The pur
pos e o f i t w a s t o r educe s ound . The wheels made le s s noise and
the heavy draft hor s e s , the largest I had s e en . s eemed to walk
with a thud. The wood blocks were familiar to me , We had them.
on Marke t Str e et in Philadel phia. The whole plac e s eemed like
it would wear forever .
It w a s s even p . m. when I sat down t o eat on the
steamer C atalonia . All I c an s ay i s that it must have been built
for c attle - small, old, dirty, eve rything on it creaked, the mat
tre s s was hard and the food poor. It must have looked much
wor s e t o me be c au se I had been on an entirely diffe rent kind of
a boat . F ortunately we had nic e weathe r and in eight days arriv
ed in B oston.
A s I w a s clearing my luggage from the customs I
heard s omeone paging me . The fellow said that there w a s a
letter for me in the offi c e . I w ent there and found a letter from
1:be O 'Neills containing money. So, instead of g oing by rail to
Fall R iver and sle e ping on the boat to New York I bought a
ticket o n a Washington train which s topped in Che ste r . It was a
Saturday night and the sto r e s wer e still o pen a s I walked by.
The bright lights made me fee l s o happy to be back.
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�151
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I walked in at h ome and found the ladie s wonde ring
if I had r ec eived the lett e r . T hey w e r e so hap py to s e e me and I
'"
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wa s no le s s happy to s ee the m . Of cou r s e , we s pent the next day
talking about my trip and the y told me thei r expe r i enc e s in
'
E ngland and I r eland.
Natu rally, one who wa s b roke and had s pent 24 h ours
without food, even though it w a s hi s s e c ond exp e rienc e . w ould n ot
w ant t o r oam any longer . S o I o p ened u p the offi c e and it didn't
take l ong before I wa s again busy.
Shortly after getting e stabli shed the store o n whic h
the O ' Neills de pended f o r thei r living b e came vacant and, rathe r
than l o s e the customer s and the r ent on whi ch they d e pended . they
gave u p the i r c omfortable h om e and went downtown to live back of
the stor e as they did befo r e , a nd ke pt the busine s s going. I went
d own with them and o pened my offic e ove r the store in a fro nt r oom.
I got a long v e r y suc c e ssfully and g radually had more work than I
c ould take c a r e of. Duri ng the few yea r s i mme diately following
tw o of my brother s c ame o ve r ; one took u p dentistry and the othe r
c omme r c e.
About the year 1 8 9 9 One of my brother s . the fir s t to
follow me . who s e name we change d to A elya s f r om E lias , the
Arabic name E li a s or E lijah. the p r o phet. sta rted in d ental s chool.
W e didn' t want the name E lijah or E li a s b ec au s e the word E lia s
i s often u s ed for a s suming diffe r ent name s by bad characte r s . He
lived with u s . H e went o ne year t o Che ste r High S chool. studied
dur ing the summe r and the following year enter e d the Unive r s ity
of Pennsylvania to study d enti stry.
H e looked on me a s hi s fathe r and I t reated him a s
a s on and a brothe r . This a s s ociatio n during the 5 0 yea r s w e have
b e e n togethe r was the m o st har monious a s s o ciation any two
brothe r s c ould have togeth e r . I c an s afely say that at no time i n
the 50 yea r s ha s the r e b e e n a n ugly w ord. d i s a g re e me nt o r dis
c o r d b etw e en u s .
A s I l o o k back ove r the s e year s ther e wa sn't any
thing I wanted done o r he wanted d one that was not acc e ptable t o
the other . W e have argued and di sag r e ed many time s i n things
pertaining to denti stry and have a r gued on an improvement o r
change i n our offi c e . but not once w a s the r e sult disappointing to
eitner .
S omehow our i de a s , ideals . and prin c i ple s of right and
wrong we r e ver y similar , a s well a s our tastes , so that it wasn't
har d to get along. I have often wondered why b r other s and
siste r s d on ' t get along.
Be that as it may, he turned out to be a b rothe r of
whom 1 am proud, a man of high principle s , ,very well-known
and r e s pe cted, and, with his abilitie s in dentistry, ver y muc h
a ppreciated. H e raised a very fine family. A splendid wife,
5umaya, and a good mother . One of the boys i s burdened with a
name like mine , Wadea, which he could change i f he would. He
�L52
full-fledged dentist practicing in the same offi ce wher e his
namesake spent 50 year s of hi s life. At this writing he is mar
ried to the one who did the typing of thi s book for me - a nic e r
girl neve r lived. I f h e r thre e daughte�rs turn out as wells D . as
we call him, i s a lucky man . He deserves it for he is a good boy�
Anothe r boy. E ddie, i s now studying law , My pr e di ction is that he'
will make a good lawye r . He has a nice pe rsonality. Salma. the
younge st� i s helping her dad a s a dental hygienist. She , too, ha s a
charming per sonality.
During this period I was receiving lette rs insisting
that I c orne home and get married. They wanted me to meet a
certain girl whom they knew . At fir st I paid no attention. More
lette r s came prai sing the girl . he r family. beauty. etc . Even a
.
letter came frc>rn Uncle Saleem saying that he knew the girl froIn
the s chool and she was the bri ght e st girl of her cla s s . But not
until another of my brother s came over and told me mor e about
her and gave me a g ood des cription of her did I have the least
desire to go .
The Q 'Ne ills also encouraged me as they wanted to
see me Ir"..ar.r ied, having reached the age of 3 2 0 I was so situated
that I could leave my office in charge of my b:rofue r who could
take care of the patients as well as get a good start in denti stry.
Having de cided to make the tri p. Mi s s Mary expr e s se d
the de sire to g o with me . I didn 't like the idea so much and her
s�ster tried to dis suade her , but she insisted that she would not
inte rfe re and would go to a hotel. At fir st I was to leave her in
Rome with an E nglish lady by the name of Backhouse. where
they would s pend part of the time . and then she was to follow.
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C HA PT E R 1 8
GET TING MARRIE D
We left Che ster on the 1 8 th of February 1 90 5 with
th.e snow piled up four feet high on the pavement. The tracti on
c ompany had large swe e pe r s and used them to keep the tracks
clear. The snow a ccumulated on the pavements and peo ple had t o
clear the snow in front of their store s.
On the way over we spent a few days in R ome vi s it
ing the old historical place s. One can s pend months in R ome mar
velling at the cleverne s s and skill and talent o f the old Masters.
the arti sts and the artisans. The patience of thos e men who pro
duced H i elike picture s in small pie c e s of mosaic on the walls
climbing ladder s . I c ould imagine how. when they had placed a few
pie ces, they ste pped down to view it and if it did not s atisfy them
they ripped it off and started all over. It. no doubt. took one pe r
son a lifetime to finish one or two picture s . We often look at a
pictur e and say, "How beautiful ! " , but we don 't give it a thought
as to how it was done or how much time it took, or how. since
they had no cement in thos e days . thos e small mosaic piece s a re
staying put the s e many years . The s e thing s captur e my imagin
ation. I am awed with magnifi cent marble statuary. H ow cleve r
the artist must have been to bring out with his hamme r and chise l
the pe rfe ct hu:m.an Ekene s s . let alone the hours and hours of
smoothing and polishing such a s only Italians can do. Those peo pl e
could not haye done it just for pay. Thei r main ambition was to
serve their God. I marvel at thos e men who took pleasure doing
so much for their cathedrals and churche s . They mus t have been
, ins pired and. not only loved their work. but lived the p e r s onalities
of thos e they were c reating.
St. Pete r ' s C athedral has charms of its own. N o
C?ther cathed ral i n the world can compare with it. The day I was
the re in that huge edifi c e ther e were few visito r s . yet the doors
were wide o pen to everybody. I went from one mosai c to another,
from one statue to another , full of e cstasy, admiration and awe.
I noticed a narrow staircase on the side. At first I he sitated but,
not seeing anyone around, summed up enough courage and climbed
up. I climbed higher and higher until fina�ly I r eached the dome .
-which .was a large round room . 1 climbed a ladder to reach the windows and have a good glimpse of the beautiful panorama of the
_ cit.y�.of Rom.e.f�om the�four .side s . I am told that the d ome was the
highest in the world until the Eiffel T ower was built in Paris,
which is now the highest in the world. This was a red letter day in
my life. I felt that I wa s tr eading where angels dared not go, but
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�1 514
leave it to IIInnocents Abroad" .
I ar rived home alone and received a big welcome.
T he fir st Sunday afte r my arrival my sister. Adele . who was
managing all this lbve affai r , posted me where to stand outside
of the church to get a glimpse of her . meaning the girl whom they
had in mind. It i s the custom to divide the church pews in half
so that the men sit on one side and the women on the othe r.
The gi rl wa s very prettily dre s sed in a brown coat
cand had he r hair braided and running over her back almost the
length of her short coat. She came to Damas cus a s a teache r out
on her fir st year afte r finishing school. Her father was a doctor
in the S ouk-El-Gharb in Lebanon. He was one of the earliest
medical graduates fr om the Ame rican Univer sity. had gone to
Scotland for his post graduate work, and had returned to practice
among his people. He was loved by all the pe ople around. Unfor
tunately his car e e r was cut short due to his sudden death, leaving
this young lady. he r mother , an older sister and a younger brother.
aged 8, 6 , and 4 years. Their name s were Adele, Sara and Moosa.
The fathe r ' s name was Jos e ph Hajjar from S ouk-EI-Gharb. and
the mothe r ' s name was Zareefy Araman from B eirut.
She and her sister we re brought up in an English
boarding s chool near he r horne . She came to Dama scus to teach
in a mi ssion school for the Jewish people . and the school wa s
located in a large house in the Jewi sh quarter s . large enough for
schoolrooms, with a private dwelling for the Engli sh lady in
charge , teache r s , and s e rvants.
My sister ac cidentally learned that one of the older
teache r s , whom she knew, and Miss Hajjar were going to s pend
the Easte r h oliday in Bluedan. Si ste r rushed to tell me that this
was my b e st chanc e a s w e could spe nd considerable time together
in that quiet village. We made our pte parations hurriedly. My
fathe r bought our supplie s . including swe etmeats, candie s , etc.
He helped us to get the earliest train and was just as excited as
we were. Although he hated that we would not be able to spend
Easter with him. he :Was quite anxious and happy. It is cornmon
knOWledge that peo ple talk a good deal, which is natural in a small
church c o mmunity. and know who meets together and know much
abcut each othe r and it would not be fai r to the girl to be s e en with
me a few time s and then for me to drop her.
HoYV..,the p e o ple talk ! But up in the village , wher e
seldom a Dama scene wa s found at E a ster time , we would be fre e
t o meet. You s e e , the men i n Syria depend o n thei r people t o help
.
them. One couldn't step up to a young lady and ask li'e� if he
could call on he r o r if she would care to g o out to dinner . Neither
are you allowed to be with her alone . I always had, a s o-called
shyne s s and never had the courage in the States t �; take anyone :
out, and even in the village I doubted my abiliti e s . I think when
one is young he can flirt and mix with the girls much free r , but,
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with me, if I called on� a girl I felt it was tantamount to a propos al
and I would not have the courage to back out. Also, one who had
worked s o hard all hi s life and neve r " ste pped outll , a s they say.
i s not apt to fall in love at fir s t sight. I grant you that fir st sight
has a great deal to do with knowing if you c ould love 'a pe r son. '
I have fallen in love many times with S Ol:n.eone even
though not a word was s poken. One look s ometimes s peaks volumes,
but at the same time I have known people who fe1l head over heels
in l ove , saying they c ould not live a day without each othe r, etc .
They run away and get married and in six months they are divorc
ed.
A s a rule. the Syrian consults with his people who .
do all the investigation of the family as to their health and suit
ability, and it s eems a lot of inve stigation wa s done for me before
I came . A1l the re wa s to do was to love the girl and make the girl
love me.
In Bluedan� where there was only one country sto r e .
my si ster met the teacher friend while shopping and pretended
she wa s quite surprised to see her. Naturally. she invited her to
c ome and have four 0 ' clock tea with us and to be sure to bring
Mis s Hajjar with he r . As could be expe cted, we worked hard to
make ready for their coming . all the while talking of nothing else.
By four o ' clock we started to look down the street.
When I saw them c oming I rushed indoors until ! saw them c om
ing through the drive . My heart began beating fast and I shook
inwardly a s I shook hand s with them when I was introduced by my
sister . Mi s s Hajjar sho ok hand s with a firmne s s that pleased me,
but he r o pen face pleased me more, as she was very pretty. I
don't know if he r hea rt beat faste r , but she s eemed natural and
free . talking without he sitation whether in English or in Arabi c .
Perha ps she never dreamed o f my intentions .
The afternoon was s pent s ipping tea and eating s ome
swe ets and talking . N ow and then I observed her . I noticed that
she had big brown eye s , soft fair skin, big chest and a nice form.
Y ou can be sur e I did not ove rlook the lower extremitie s whi ch
were s o different from mine. She had very pretty hands and nice
tapering finge r s and whole s ome nice looking teeth.
Sister and I accompanied them to their headquarte r s
and gladly a cce pted a n invitation t o thei r apartment the next day.
We played card s . but I must say that she was a poor player and I
found later that she never cared for game s . She prefe rred to read
and knit or cr.ochet. She liked author s such a s Charle s Dickens
and Shake speare.
We made preparations for a picnic . I saw to it that
we had three donkeys . but I preferred to walk. We climbed the
mountains and the road was nar r ow and winding . The donkeys had
to file one in back of the' other , while the boys in char ge and I
walked alongSide. She mus t have been riding the weakest animal
I
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�; be cause I found myself walking be s ide he r bringing up the rear.
Even the boys c aught on but they w e r e not getting the full benefit
of it b e caus e we were s peaking E nglish !
The trip Was not only delightful and the s c ene ry magnifi-
"cent, but to me it was a tri p neve r to be forgotten. I was not madly
in love neither do I think she was g reatly in love with me . Already
she had turned down many suitor s on the plea that she wa s too
young; she wa s in her 20 s . It was r eally a wonderful o pportunity
to s e e e a ch other, e s pecially when her c ornpanion caught on and
seeme d to e nc ourag e the idea.
The mor e I c ontemplated the situation, the mor e I felt
a true love i� rny heart for the girl and a de sire to have he r for my
wife .
When the holidays were ove r we went back to Dama s cus.
The rnis s ionarie s we r e ver y careful who called on the
teacher s und e r thei r car e , and when the teache r s vis ited they had
to r eturn to s chool at a c ertain time . F o r this reason I had no
chance to s e e Mis s Hajjar unl e s s in church. Just about this time
Mis s Mary a r r ived and a few days w e r e c onsumed in welcoming
fe s tiviti e s . Mis s G o r don, the head of the s chool , be cause she was
friendly with my father and s i ste r , paid u s a vi s it to welcorne me
and later to have s ome denti stry done . You can bet I was ver y
nic e t o he r and I felt that she w a s impr e s s e d with me. When vi s it o r s
d�y carne a round in the s chool my father , siste r . Mi s s Mary and I
r eturned the call.
We vis ited the room wher e Sit Sara, as eve ryone c alled
her , was playing the small organ for the little tots. At four
o ' clock she j oine d the vi sito r s and, with her open c ountenanc e and
che e rful-looking face and smile , everyone gave her a distingui shed
rece ption. After she s i p ped he r tea she conver se d nicely with the
vis itor s while she busied her se lf with crocheting. On the way horne
everyone prais e d Sit Sara , e sp e cially Mis s Mary. Mis s G ordon
invited Mis s Mary and me a few time s , including all the teacher s .
She rnust have notic e d that I w a s inter ested in Sit Sara; i t did not
take much to gue s s that thi s was a young man c oming from the
State s to find a wife .
I don't think she ever heard of our clande stine meeting
in B lu edan. Also, naturally too. S it Sara and her c ompanion, Sit
HaHa . talked about me and c ould und e r stand rny pur po s e . They
mus t have dis c us s ed my eligibility, that I was a rather nic e -look
ing pr osper ou s dentis t and of good fa!Dlly. They talked of the
a dvantag e s of living in Ame rica. All the se things were in my favor .
One day Mis s Mary a sked Mis s Gordon i f she w ould
allow Mis s Hajjar to g o with u s s ome Saturday for a carriage drive
in the c ountry. To my g reat d elight Sit Sara said she would like to
go and Mis s Gordon had no objections. Fortunately for me , Mis s
G ordon needed a lot o f dental work and on thes e painful occa sions
to her she had an opportunity to know me better . Knowing that it
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would b e pro pe r since 1\1i s s O 'Neill was our chaperone , I saw t o
it that a very nice and clean carriage w a s hired , and when the tizne
came we c alled on her . The s chool was situated in the Jewi sh
·
quarte r s and was sustained by th� home mi s sions for the Jews .
The street w a s so narrow that no car riage could go through but
had to park on the street mentioned in the Bible a s the Straight
Street. The carriage was of the kind that three can sit in the back
with a small s eat facing them. I chose to sit facing them. Of
cours e , 1 did not want to crowd them. I told the coachman not t o
drive fast a s we wanted t o enj oy the scenery.
Anyone who has seen the entrance to Damas cu s will
agre e with me that it i s one of the most beautiful drives anywhere
to be s een. There are mountains on both sides of the drive and
s even small rive r s g o rushing by. A s you drive along you s e e one ,
and s ometime s two of the se rive r s . no larger than a creek. The
R omans designed the m so that each creek could supply one s ection
of the city with water. Here and the re as you drive you s e e the
water trickling d own from one to the othe r . creating s eve ral
miles of green verdure and coolne s s so refre shing on a warm
summer day. What we call rive r s do not compare with our
Delaware or Huds on. They are very small and in many place s are
not more than 15 feet Wide . The sun i s shaded by the mountain in
the afternoon, making the drive de lightful.
When about half-way we reached a s pot called Rabweh
on the road that I knew a s a boy. I a sked Mis s Mary to stay in the
carriage while we tock a walk up the mountain. Mis s Hajjar wa s a
mountain girl and the idea of a hike a ppealed to her . S o we cro s se d
three bridge s and started a climb. It was a pleasure t o help he r u p
the ste e p ste p):; and we kept on until we were standing o n a high rock
whe re the vie w was most beautiful. We stood silently for a few
minute s , she enjoying the s c enery, but I s aw no s cene ry. My mind
wa:s formulating what to say. I couldn 't get the words I wanted.
Finally I o pened my heart to her and asked her if she
would be my wife. Whether she was expecting it or not, she expre·s s
ed no surpris e but said ye s . Thi s made me most happy when I felt
that she was mine. I had my mothe r ' s ring . which I prized dearly,
and slipped it on her pretty finger.
A perfect understanding between u s arose afte r the
first kis s . W e tar ried a while and returned with faces beaming.
We de cided that nothing would be told until she went home during
summ er vacation which was not far off.
When she told her uncle s of her intentions they all
o pposed it becaus e she was marrying outs ide of her family and'
locality. Some wanted he r for a nephew or a cousin or a brother .
O n the othe r hand. her only sister liked the idea and,
since her own marriage wasn't s o happy, she wanted her sister,
if pos s ible ; to be more happy.
�1:158
Unc le Saleem' s family rented a house in the mountains
of Lebanon, called Ain-el-Rummaneh, clos e to where her si ster
lived. I d on ' t think it was a coincidenc e , but it was done on their
" part to give me a chance to be close to her b ecau s e they knew she
went to her siste r ' s house frequently. They invited me to s pend
the surrune r with them while Mis s Mary went to Bluedan with the
family. I called on Mrs. Adele Baroody, her siste r , and her
hu s band. who was a minister as we 11 as an author. They both were
�'nic e to me but I later found out that she like me and liked the idea
but the R ev. Baroody didn't like the idea be cause he wanted Sara
for his br other .
The more I met with opposition the more determined
she and I became to stic k it out. The r e st of the family wer e very
nic e to me. Of c our s e they c ouldn't bear the idea of having the
cream of the c o p g o s o far away from them.
Finally 1 a sked he r olde st uncle , under whose care she
was , for her hand and he gave us his ble s sing . My father and
si ster and Mis s O 'Neill came to the wedding. 1 recall vividly how
hap py they were. Pre parations for the wedding and the wedding
itself are not to be fo rgotten. and e s pecially the honeymoon. 1
hired a two -hor se carriage and a coachman for one week and
travelled the mountains of Lebanon, with whi ch I wasn't familiar.
We made our headquarte r s at Ain Z ehalta. The week pas s ed too
fast, as c an be imagined. We weni to B luedan and Damas cus and
s pe nt a week in Beirut bidding the folks good bye .
W e three returned to the State s by way of Paris and
London. Mi s s Mary a s a chaperone was wonderful but it i s said.
u Tw o ' s c om pany but three s a c r owd. II Mi s s Mary wanted to
mothe r the girl and do things for he r. 1 have never been able to
und erstand w omen, e specially where jealousy creeps in. At
first everything was lovely. Mis s Mary would tell me how sweet
and t; lovable Sara was and my wife would say how nice Mis s
Mary was . I had told Sara o n our honeymoon all my life history
and what our relationshi p was . They wanted to guide her a s to
how to d re s s , how to fix he r hai r . how to do this and that a s they
were anxious to make he r look like the American girls of her age
and not t o look like a foreigner. They expected her to be docile
and daughter-like doing the thing s they wanted her to do. Little
did they know that the young lady had a strong will. She wanted
to be inde pendent and to dres s as she liked.
Women are wonde rful until they live together and
that was the mistake I made by not g oing dire ctly by ours e lves
to a s e parate home. Oftentime s I found my wife crying in our
room because they pegan to find fault with this and that. or had
made some remark that hurt her feelings . I was in hot wate r all
the time. I w ould try to smooth thing s ove r by telling her that we
would s oo n have our own home and all this was temporary. Then
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�159
I would go to the ladie s and take thezn to task for s aying this or .
that thing and beg thezn to realize that she wa s young and sensi
tive and had· an inde pendent s pirit; that she was not ac custozned
to the ways and ideas of thi s country , and that it would take time
and patienc e . Als o , I would explain to my wife that they wanted
to l ove he r , which was true .
I was too blind to notice that j ealousy on both side s
was back of it all and, instead of our early znarried life c ontinu
ing a s it started, we were unhappy. We never quarreled or had
har sh words with the zn, but under the surface things were not
what I wanted thezn to be.
This condition of affair s did not la st ove r thre e
znonths when I was fortunately able to buy the building next door.
and, gradually with having our own hozne , things began to change .
Both side s learned to under stand each other and this j ealousy
turned into l ove so znuch that we becazne like one faznily, e s pe c ial
ly with the advent of the children. There cazne a tizne when my
wife was closer to them than a siste r c ould be . My wife loved
the zn and took care of thezn to the end. In fact, they both died in
he r a rms .
Thus ends the chapter on the life of thes e two good
woznen. There is much znore I could write about thezn but I will
just say - they have znoulded zny life and, with thei r keen busine s s
ability, they guided zne in the right dire ction. On the othe r hand,
with zny ente ring their live s they found a s on who proved faithful
to the end . At least he was one who did not get up in the Iniddle
of the night and znurder thezn !
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C HA P T E R
19
MARRIED LIFE
The re was nothing unusual in bringing up a family
of thre e girls and thr ee boy s .
After the fir st three, Mary, Jo s e ph and John, w e
decided that an apartment wa s n o place to bring u p children. S o
I went out t o Wailingford, about 1 5 minute s drive from the office.
and bought a six a cre piece of gr ound on which I built a bungalolN
type house , a barn for a cow and hor s e , and a chicken coop. I
bought a hor s e , a cow and chickens and engaged a man to take
care of them. The regular wage was $ 9 . 0 0 a week. The cow was
a beautiful Guernsey and when fre sh gave Z 1 qua rts of milk a
day. We were able to sell thel milk for five cent s a quart and
this paid for the fe ed for both the c ow and the hors e . I planted
six hundred peach and a pple tree s and it was exerci s e . a s well a s
a great plea sure t o me . t o g o out i n the evening and work and
watch the plant s grow and the chickens and eggs and pigeons .
and I was always thankful and grateful to God for all the se things.
As I drove home at evening I felt that I did not need to envy a - .
human s oul, s o satisfied wa s I with my wife, children and a1l
the worldly thing s around me.
Natura lly we had sickne s s . worry, walking the floo r s
a t night. a s could b e expe cted. and it used t o be a sigh o f relief
when all of them were tucked away in bed so that Sara and I
could sit down for a while and, as we used to say. take our breath.
Fortunately for u s , Sara had a middle-aged aunt (Fareedeh:.
Hajjar) who came to live with us . She was like a mothe r to all
of u s . I do not know how we could have done without her - s o
kind and de pendable and a hard worker. It i s customary for a
Syrian t o expr e s s his gratitude by s aying Allah Y erhamha
(God
.
have mercy on her soul ) .
. I was neve r a s strict in bringing up my children a s
my fathe r was with us. My sister had c ome over from the other
side and I heard her s ay that if my father saw how easy I was
with thes e chi ldren he w ould turn in his grave.
S omehow I did not forget that I was once a boy and
was denied the pleasure s of youth; for this reason I didn' t have
the heart to punish them for every little thing. Also , my punish
ment to them was not by using the stick unl e s s it was entirely
called for , even though my father used to say that the stick was
created in Paradise.
If , for instance , I found one of the boys c rying and
by que stioning him I found that he had no pain but that something
�16 1
had di s pleased him I would ask him to stop c rying, a s happened on
one oc casi on. When he kept up his c rying I said. "Do you want to
kee p c rying ? " He said, '!Yes" . I took him to the bedroom. closed
the door , took a book and sat down to read. I said. "Now you kee p
crying; you must not stop. I I I went on reading and he kept c r yin g
until he got tired and slackened. "No, you canlt stop. Ke e p it u p , "
said I. This went o n for a while and then slackened. " You must not
stop. You like to cry." Again he started in e arnest until he bec ame
exhausted. Finally I asked him if he wanted to c ry any mor e . "No" .
he said.
This was the best le s s on he had for after that, unles s
he was in pain. his crying was brief, and the rest o;f them took a
cue from thi s treatment.
It was my custom to start at 8 o ' cl ock to c oullt from
one to ten, giving about a minute or two in between. By the time I
.
counted ten every one of the children should be up or on the stair s .
John, about 7 . was usually the last t o g o u p and sometime s l oitered
on the way. I s aid to him one night. "Don ' t you like to go to bed ? II
He said, "No. II I r e plied, "Do you want to stay up until Marna and I
go to b ed ? " " Y e s , " he agreed. " Very well . " I s aid. " he r e i s a b ook.
You can r ead or do what you like . " We sat reading for a while and
the poor fellow ' s eye s began to close . I said to him. "No , you must
not go to sle e p. II He opened his eye s wide for a while but the sand
man was too much for him and he began to nod. IINo. you can't do
that, , , I said. He started to c ry. l i Ve ry well, " I said. Ilyou may go. "
Y ou should have seen him run ! From that time on by the time I
said " two" he would be the fir st one on the stai r s . So you s e e . my
dear sister, the stick was not created in Paradis e l
Once only a mild punishment turned out dis a st r ously .
I read of a chicken farm out we st that had the most wonderful large
size chickens . It always wa s my nature to experiment and to try t o
get something no one else has . I ordered a setting of eggs from
this chicken farm 1 2 0 egg s . T hey were expensive but that didn ' t
matter. I had a gas pipe adjusted t o the incubato r in the cellar in
orde r t o contro l the degree of heat to the de sired temperature, which
was 1 0 30 F. My experience with coal oil was that it was very hard
to maintain the heat at an even temperature and, rathe r than run
any ri sks , I had the plumber c onnect a gas pipe so that I would be
on the safe side .
The eggs came to Che ste r and, rathe r than carry them
home in the carriage which William used to corne down to take me
horne in, I c arne horne on the trolley car because it did not shake
so much. I put them in the incubator and every morning and evening
would -cool them for a few minute s , the same a s when a s etting hen
gets off to e at, which also c ools the e gg s . It seemed that the hen
. turned the e gg s - with her feet so that they got uniform heat from her
body. This I did ever y evening t he first thing on arriving home .
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Just when they had only two more days to begin hatching I went
down t o the cellar a s usual and looked at the the rmometer . which
up to date was exactly on. the 1 03 0 mar k. 1 looked again and the
red line was all the way up. I looked at the gas flame and it wa s ·
high. I went up and told my wife. She said that she had puni shed
john and locked him up in the cella r . Eve ry one of the chicks .
was well formed but dead. This was one of the few time s when
the sti ck could have been used to a better advantage.
Speaking of incubato r s , I had sent one to my father
to have him experiment with raising chickens . When I went home
I came across the incubator still in its box . . I de cided to ope rate
it. When hatching time came it was the greate st curiosity they ·
had ever seen. Grandmothe r sat on a little stool and watched
through the glas s the little :.pipping of the chick and how it was
extricating itself. I c ould hear he r say. "Subhan Allah ! ", " Prai s
ed be G od , prai sed be G od" . The new s ap� e ad like wildfire. People
came from all over . The teachers brought their pupils. even the
nuns a sked pe rmi s sion to bring their cla s s e s to see this miracle .
and all exclaimed, "Subhan Allah" - II Pr�ise be to Godl l •
I w a s enjoying a big practice and had a valuable build
ing in Chester bringing a good revenue . a home in the country.
and a nic e income .
When our youngest baby was four months old my wife
fell ill . Our family doctor, rathe r than take a chance. brought a
consultant and both decided that she wa s having trouble with her
heart and needed a c omplete r e st. She had been reading about a
sanatorium in Michigan. The Battle Creek Sanatorium. and decided
no other place would 'do. As soon as she could be moved I took
her ther e wher e she spent a month and came home he r self again.
which made us happy and thankful to God. She came back with new
id�a s about food and wanted to carry on their dietary system '
no p:leat, c offee Or tea . no highly seasoned foods, no rhubarb.
no fat s , sweets o r pa stries - nothing but milk. Postum. yogurt
(laban) . fruits , nuts . rai sins and seve ral concoctions made with
nuts and other mixture s made to taste like meat. Needle s s to
say this method of eating did not last long. It served as a subje ct
to talk about and to be made fun of. The real benefit to mothe r
was the c ompiete rest, the hot baths and the daily massage. a s
well a s cheerful surroundings .
My wife and I went to Oc ean City t o look around for a
cottage but instead bought a large building at the corner of E ighth
and Asbury Avenue, on the site of which tOday stands an eight
sto ry bank and office building. We hardly had it six months when
we s old it for a profit of $ 5 , 5 0 0 . 0 0
. This c razy profit was my downfall. I would have been
better off had I sustained a los s instead. As a r esult of having
tasted profit, I plunged� It was during the 1 9Z.il boom in Florida.
Even the banks were glad to lend me money. In fact. the treasure r
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o f one o f the banks wanted me t o o pen a n account with them, and
in o rde r to do it he ac c e pted my note for $ 5 , 0 0 0 with whi ch I
openp.d the checking account.
I did a.nother crazy thing . I bought a pie ce of g round
next to th e B oa rdwalk in O c e an C ity with riparian rights. which
meant that all the land oceanward was mine. So I started to build
6ix store s on it , with six apartments above . It was while in the
midst of the c onstruction that I received the saddest new s of my
life .
My wife had gone to visit her peo ple in Syria, afte r
a lapse of 2 0 year s . taking with he r the three youngest children,
Elizabeth. 1 1 ; Adele, 9; and George, 7. A cable carne from her
telling of the death of my daughter , Adele. due to typhoid. The shock
was so unexp,e cted and seve re that the pres sure on my hea rt in
creased and life lost its meaning . I wanted to get to the side of
my wife a s s oon a s humanly pos sible. I c ould not unde r stand why
they had not written to tell me what was ailing he r. I w ould have
gone and perhaps gotten there before she died, but. poor mother »
had high hop e s of recove ry and wanted to s pare me a lot of anxiety
Y.nowing that I would not have been able to do mor e than she and
my cousins were doing .
My two brother s Aelyas and Najeeb were very sym
pathetic. also my cousin, George Raye s , who i s a carpenter and
was in charge of the construction. They took charge o f the build
ing while I rushed to Wa shington for my pas s port. The officials in
, the State De partment we r e very sympathetic and rushed my pas s
port through in a few hour s . I caught the fir st shi p out. I t happened
to be the Leviathan. which was taken from the G ermans during
World War 1. It had carried thousands of our troops to Euro pe and
was conside red the fa ste st shi p afloat. Afte r the war it was fitted
into a mpst luxurious pas senger boat under the American flag.
How I would have enjoyed this fir st-cla s s pas sage unde r differ ent
cir cumstance s. But now nothing in the w orld could inter e st me .
Yet I c ould not help but compare the hugenes s . luxury, food, clean
line s s , etc. with the ship I came ove r on the fir s t time .
I found, on a rriving in Pari s . that all the ships from
France to B eirut were booked solid for two weeks. I also learne d
that going by rail and water through Italy I could b e ther e in eight
days . Imme diately 1 took the train fir st to Venice. prefer ring t o
spend some o f the time waiting for the steame r , whe r e I stayed
one night. The next day I took a train and arrived in T rie ste about
midnight.
In the station I was surrounded by five men wearing
caps with the names of hotels. They fought over my bags and e ach
one wanted to carry them and me to his hotel. The y all s poke
1talian or�broken English. I kept saying that I wanted to go to -a .
clean hote l and that 1 wanted a r o om with bath. but no one under
stood me . Picture me standing in the middle of five sharks alone,
as all the passenge r s had gone . 1 stood ther e like a dummy unwill'
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�fng to trust any one of them. Suddenly I heard one say, "Ra yeh
ala Beirut.1 " - HAre you going to Beirut ? II I said, "Naam. 1 1
Instantly they d r op pe d my belongings and disappeared. leaving
me wi th the man who s poke . I can 't $!xpre s s the relief to my
mind fe eling that I was rio longer in the hands of sharks. He said.
"Why do you want to go to a hotel; wouldn ' t you prefe r to go
directly to your room on the ship, since you have your ticket ? "
I was glad to do that. The next day he came to the ship and took
me around T rie ste and to his home to meet his Italian wife and
child r en. Thi s , of cour s e , is ano the r incident in my life whi ch
I cannot forget.
I had a similar experience as we got off the steamer
in Cuba i n 1 9Z6. A friend of mine and I waited in line to take a�
taxi. T he police do not a llow you to pick a taxi at random but one
must take ones turn. Not having made re servations befor e hand
I was asking the d rive r about a good hotel . F r om his accent I
dis covered that he wa s Syrian born and i mmediately felt at ease.
We engaged him to stay with us until Monday morning. He showed
us all around- Havana and made our trip enjoyable . Being a natur
alized citizen I found that at the steamship office ! could not buy
a ticket without a pa s sport. that I would be obliged to go to the
Ameri can C onsulate and get one. My Syrian driver rushed me
the re to learn that the door s would not open before 9 A.M and
the steamer sailed at 1 0 ! The lady at the desk said I must have
� photograph. S o the driver rushed me to a place he knew, then
rushed me back to the C onsulate where I had to make an affidavit
and pay $ 2. 50 . 'Without the help of my Syrian driver I could not
have made the boat. As it was they were pulling up the plank
When I a rrived. Thi s i s anothe r incident which i s ve ry vivid in
my memory.
After thr e e and a half days the steamer which left
T rie ste arrived at Port Said. The same day I was on the train
which c ro s s ed the Suez Canal. de stination Haifa . I saw Uncle
Alexande r and his family for a few hours the next morning and
then took an auto t o B eirut. The meeting was ve ry s ad indeed.
My wife was broken hearted. She had suffered agonies wat ching
that poor child for 3 0 days suffering and tossing with a high
feve r , delirious and par ched with no remedy. She had very little
sleep suffering he rself from anguish and remo r s e with the
thought that had she not c orn e Adele would have remained alive
today. Vaccination for typhoid was still new. Still, pe rhaps , we
should have used it and thus saved the child ' s life ! This is what
they call "Kismet" . I prefe r calling it God ' s Will.
From that day to this rny wife has neve r been the
sarne. She lost every enjoyrnent in life and would not be comfort
ed. As for rne; I did not s e e the child suffer, nor die, nor even
s e e her buried. So I could only cherish he r rnernory, her sweet
fac e . her bright rnent a lity and nic e sayings, and naturally it was
e asier for rne to re sign to the Will of God. We s pe nt the SUIIlIIle r
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in Bluedan and took life quietly.
W e r eturned home by way of Smyrna, Constantinople
through the Dardanelle s to the Black Sea, to C onstanza in R oumania
where we stopped for three day s; b a c k t o Athens in Greece, Na ple s
and home . Whi le in C onstanza., Queen Marie of R oumania expre s s
ed a desire to visit our shi p, which wa s named Sinia afte r one of
her castl e s. It so happened that the ship was on its maiden voyage
and very clean. The pas senge r s decided to give her a nic e recep
tion. T he y had our E lizabeth dre s sed like a Bedouin and gave her
something to pr e sent to the Queen. We lined up in the reception
room and as she ente red all stood up and one by one took he r hand
to their lip s . I sneaked away. Too much American in me, 1 gue s s .
Thi s i s another incident neve r to b e for gotten.
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C HA P T E R
OCEAN
CIT Y ,
20
N. J.
Shortly after arriving horne I decided to leave my
practi c e in my brothe r ' s care and. live in Ocean City. whe re I
"built a fine home and plunged more and more into real e state
along with a partner , a Mr. Goetz. R eal e state wa s booming
and no s o one r did one buy a property than someone came along
and offered him a profit. My partne r and I bought a boardwalk
pro perty for $ 44 . 0 0 0 and s old it for $ 66 . 0 0 0 . Another time we
bought a property for $ 74 , 0 00 and sold it for $ 1 60 , 0 0 0 . The
down payrnent of $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , which we received, was paid to the
agent who made the sale .
Becau se of the size of the sale we decided to make
the settlement in C amden, N. J. • at the offic e of a big lawyer
who was a friend of our s . We gave him all the data . The agree
rnent, which was t o take place on the last day of the yea r , call
ed for $ l ? , O OO on signing of the agreement which they had
already paid, and $ 1 5 , 00 0 at s ettlement subject to $ 25 . 0 0 0 fir st
rno rt gage fo r five year s . als o a s econd mortgage of $ 42 , 00 0 for
a period of five yea r s , and to give my partne r and me $ 62 . 5 0 0
third rnortgage for a period of five yea r s .
Our lawyer told u s that since the pr e sent two mort
gage s which they were to a s sume had been i s sued six months
before . we had to have docurnents from the owne r s of the s e
mortga ge s agreeing in writing to extend the life o f the s e two
mortgage s six months longe r . W e rnade the rni stake of writing
five year s when we should have written four and a half year s in
the agreement of s ale . However , both owner s were quite willing
to extend the tirne six months .
One of the rnortgage s was owned by a large insur
anc e c orn pany in Philadel phia, and they also authorized their
T rust Office r to write a letter extending the tirne six months.
In order to under stand the full rneaning of thi s
thing. one should realize that from the time the prope rty was
sold to the tirne of settlement, real e state flopped and pri c e s
rnelted away and we felt that if the buye r s c ould find a flaw in
the t.ransaction they would upset tlie - sale in a minute . . So our
lawyer was satisfied that eve rything was well prepared.
I shall never forget the last day of the year 1 926 !
My partner and I got to Carnden early. Naturally a dentist knows
nothing of this high finance but rny partner knew a little more
In s pite of the c onfidence we had in our lawyer there was a feel
ing that perhaps the settlernent would not go through. We were
very worried.
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At ten o1 clock on the 3 1 st of Decembe r the three
buyer s and their lawyer came in. Their lawyer took the paper s .
H e fir st studied the dee.d and the bond and the new thir d mortgage
which they were to sign. Then he came to the lette r s of e xtention
of time . While he wa s looking ove r them ther e w asn't a word
s poken. I wa s standing and looking on and it was the most tense
moment of my life . Actually I was shivering inwardly.
One was OK as it had the s eal of the com pany
affixed, the second one he said was not satisfactory a s it did not
bear the seal of the company and they could not accept it .
Re said, IIWe came to make settlement but you did
not live u p to your agreement. " As evidence of our good faith
he took his wallet out and counted 1 5 -t.hOu.sand dollar note s on
the table . then picked them up and put them back in hi s pocket
and s aid, "Good dayll , and went out with the othe r s following .
We were dumb founded and for a minute or two
not a word was s aid. To the lawyer it meant nothing but to Mr.
G oetz and to me it meant a gr eat deal. We would have to return
to the buyer s the firs t $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 they paid on signing the agree
ment and los e the $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 paid the agent. becau s e . under the
law , he w a s not obliged to return the money since he had accom
plished his part of the transaction. Instead of making a profit
of ove r $ 8 5 , 000 we stood to lose $ 15 , 0 0 0 plus the lawye r ' s big
fee !
I said to the lawyer" " Please explain to me what
the hitch wa s_ II He said that e ve r ything was s atisfactory exc e pt
the letter from the insurance company extending the time of the
mortgage from. four and a half yea r s to five yea r s . u This lette r , "
he said. " doe s not have the seal of the company and they would
not ac c e pt the signature of an office r_ " "But why didn't you tell
us it needed the seal of the company ? I could have gotten it. "
He s ai d that a s a rule it would be acceptable but w e w ould have
to g o to law about it. I said , " Pe rhaps I can get that s eal now . "
" Oh. 1I he s aid, III am afraid it i s too late . Y ou canlt, a s it i s the
last day of the year and most likely the pre sident w on It b e
the re. Be side s , it must b e done today, otherwis e i t i s no good. "
My partner said, " You can't do anything. C ome
let u s go home and to � with it. II I said, tlNo, I am going to
try. "
I rushed from the office to the ferry, a s ther e was
no bridge in those days. (As I w rite thi s the bridge i s ther e and
the fer ry has been di s continued. ) I went acros s the Delawar e
and directly to the insurance company ' s office.
The man I wanted to s ee was out to lunch. When
he came he said, "W:hat can I do for you ? II I knoew his name
but he did not know mine , a s I had had s ome transactions with
hiIni s ome time before, but he did not remember me . I s aid,
tlMr. T . , s ome time ago two othe r s and I came to ask. to ask you
about a mortgage and you nearly kicked u s out. I I The poor fellow
�1 68
was s o kind and gentle that he neve r pictured himself kicking anyone
out and this put him on hi s mettle and he wanted to make amends if
he c ould. I told him the story of hoW' the se buye r s would not honor
his signatur e mainly because they wanted to upset the sale.
He said, "Come with me . I I He took me up the elevator
and introduced me to the vice - pre sident who happened to be in.
fortunately for me . I told him my story and he , too, was anxious to
hel p me . He called his stenographer and dictated the nec e ss ary
docum.ent to the effect that the company was willing to extend the
life of the mortgage to five yea r s . He took the seal of the company
and affixed it ther eon and wrote his own name a s vice president.
1 could hardly believe that so much had be en a ccomplish
ed in so short a tim.e , e s pe cially when I s aw that red seal. In all my
expe rience I have noticed that the higher the official the kinder and
more humble he i s . Thi s is one of the nice qualitie s I have noticed
in this country, unlike other places whe re the high official s feel
their bignes s and want you to know of their importance. I thanked
him most sinc erely and thanked the trust officer for the great
help he had given me .
One can r ealize the situation I wa s in - I had been dis
couraged by my lawyer and partner , the fea r that i t was the last
day of the year and the pos s ibility that the one s who had the author
ity to handle the s eal -c:ould be awy, and the danger that the buyer s
. .could g o out of reach. I really felt that Providence wa s paving the
way.
At the fir st phone booth I r eached I called the lawyer
and shouted , "I got it ! " "Got what ? " li The seal of the company ! "
I c ould hear him jum.p to hi s feet sc reaming, "I will burn their
feet ? " ( Could I eve r for get a sentence like that ? )
He tel e phoned them and told them to come and settle.
When they s c rutini ze d the s eal of the c ompany they s ettled accord
ing to the terms of the agre ement. We went back singing and a cting
like two little kid s .
Speaking o f high financing. seven of us, including the
lawyer mentioned above , formed a c ompany and bought a stretch of
land from three men for $ 22 5 , 0 0 0 and sold it to another party for
$ 4 5 0 . 0 0 0 . W e t the gre en horns. depended on this lawyer to prepare
the agre ement of pur chase and also the agreement of sal e . as we
sold it before we had taken pos s e s sion. We were anxious to get the
dee d for the property in time so that we in turn c ould turn it over
to the buyer on time becaus e all agreements have a clause in them
saying. "time i s the e s sence of this agreement. II One day pa st the
stated time breaks the agreement and the deposit money must be
returned. When the three who owned it discovered that we were
making s o Inuch profit they took advantage of the poorly prepared
agreement. Instead of having the seller s a�d their wives sign the
agreement. the Inen only signed. The result was that the wives
refused to sign unles s we paid them $ 1 00 , 00 0 . Without their sig, nature s it was iInpos sible to get a clear title to the prope rty.
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�169
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All the arguing was of no avail. W e must deliver the
property to the man to whom we s old it on the day specified . other
wise w e would los e the s ale and have to return t o them the deposit
monay. So the que stion was , should we pay thi s money and be s at
i sfi e d with a smaller profit ? We de cided to pay thi s blackmail and
we still c ould show a profit. We made s ettlement and got pos s e s s
ion of the property in time to deed it to the new buye r .
Here i s whe re our lawye r ' s carele s sne s s and blundering carne in.
On the day of s ettlement, which was held in the bank
at Ocean City and wa s attended by our lawyer who was part of our
company, the buye r and the trust officer. This time neither my
partne r nor I were ne rvous about the outc ome . When they carne
out of the bank we asked the lawyer how he made out. He said
"that it did not go through because the buye r was shy about $ 1 2.0 00
which he would bring on Monday. Had we said to him. "Neve r mind,
make the s ettlement now and give us your note for the balance. n
we would have beten seve ral thousand dollar s richer. Instead, the
man neve r carne back and my share of the lo ss was bi g.
B e side s the purchas e price of s eve ral thousand
dolla r s we had to fill the swamp land by dredging from the Bay,
put in str e et s and pavements from 42d to 46th Street and from
the Ocean to the Bay - at a cost of many thousands of dollar s . W e
wer e able to sell a few lots at auction but the r e st were eaten u p
by taxes and interest. Thi s venture s pelled a c omplete failure.
This shows how in any line of busines s one should
be wide awake, know hi s busines s quite well, and anticipate all
hazards . We had many a transaction where our profit was in the
form of a s e cond mortgage pr ofit, s o that when thing s quieted
down and the boorn in real e state carne to an end and value s began
to tumble , with it went our profits , which were r epre s ented by
third mortgage s and were not worth the pape r they were written
on. Yet the notes in all the banks did not depreciate and had to be
met.
In s pite of all that I was still solvent a s my prope rty
on the boardwalk was bringing me a hands ome income . In fact,
dur-ing the boom, I wa s offered $ 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 for it. My wife and I
decided not to s ell it a s the beach was increasing and it had a big
future . Beside s we would have to pay a large sum for incOTne tax
and the r e st w ould be in the form of a third mortgage and the
pro perty might be thro�Il back on our hands.
One day I was showing a friend the big expans e of
beach in front of the building and s aid, "Look; all this s and in
front, about 8 0 0 feet, i s mine . II He retorted by s aying, "Aren't you
afraid that- s ome day you will wake up and s ay, ' God gave and God
taketh away ? ' " 1 said, "Hush, man, don ' t say that. 1t But sure
enough. his saying carne true . G od sent out Father Neptune with a
ter rible storm which carried away not only the sand in front but
also from unde r the building . leaving it standing on piling s and
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exposed to the hammering of the wave s . My friend was right.
God gave and God did take away !
Thi s little dynasty of min� was short-lived. Imagine the
the change that carne about s o unexpectedly. I lost" my horne , the
beautiful bUilding on the boardwalk, and my proper ty in Che ste r .
I carne out o f Ocean C ity not even with my shirt. C ontrast this
with the year before when 1 gave the bank a statement showing
my net worth at $ 62 5 , 0 0 0 andnow I had a debt of $ 28 , 0 00 1
My lawyer c alled me a darned fool for not going into
bankruptcy, but I c ouldn 't for the life of me accept that stigma
of having failed in the eyes of my family a s well a s the world.
So I de cided to carry on. My partne r c ouldn't stand .
the severe set back. He took a short sickne s s and died. Even
though s omeone c ould have warned me that thi s sort of prosperity
could not last long and to get out while the getting out was good,
I doubt if 1 would have heeded the advice, because I wa s drunk
with succ e s s , and it car ried me away life and soul. Even my wife
said to me at lunch one day, liDo you know what you are eating ?
Y ou talk nothing but hundreds and thousands . ! ! Had SOfil.eone
pulled me out at the peak I would be well off now.
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C HA P T E R
21
THE RE TURN T O WOR K
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In 1 9 2 9 we moved to a s mall apartment in Che ste r,
paying $ 40 a month r ent in the same building that I once owned,
and I went back to my oId practice. Many of my patients welcom
ed me back and I began to win my daily bread a s though nothing
had ha ppened in the five year s since I left. They were mixed
wit.h death and sor row, excitement, feeling rich. acting rich, and
at the end finding mys elf little by little getting stripped down to
my shirt, as one pos s e s sion after the othe r down to my horne
was painfully e:l!..-tracted from me .
It reminded me of the poor parrot of which Ba rnum
and Baile y were fond. One day it got out of its cage which was
close to the entrance of the main tent. Mr. Barnum got on one
of the hor s e s and went out hunting for her. In the woods he heard
he r say. " One at a time , gentlemen, donit rush. One at a time.
gentle men, don It ru sh. " As he got closer he found s ome crows
plucking her feathers and she wa s begging them not to rush.
Believe me , I had something in cornman with that poor parrot.
How much bette r had I stayed inside my dental cage.
Somehow it must have been an urge in me to accom
pli sh s omething , not so much for the money part of it, but for a
secret pride that I wanted to be a big shot.
Year s ago, a s I mentioned in the e arly part of this
sto ry, I s poke of the nice friends I had in Lambertville. The s e
friend s , along with other friends of their s , bought a gold mine
in the state of Arizona. They had been the re and they told me
and showed m.e some of the are they brought from the re, and I
knew they would not lie to me. The shares were selling at 25
cents, s o I bought a block of s hare s and in n o time wa s a s much
enthused a s they wer e . The reports corning from the r e showed
no progr e s s . The money from the sale of the stock was s pent on
wages but no production.
The s e friends of mine were going to vi sit the mine,
s o I offered to go with them to s e e if I could run the mine . I took
with me a kit of chemicals by which I could examine the ore and
satisfy myself.
Fir st we stop ped at EI Pa so, Texa s , ove r the week
end. We cro sse d the Mexican borde r to s ee a bull fight. I had no
idea what a bull fight .was like . My conscience rebuked me for
going to such a thing on Sunday but, a s often is the case , thi s
poor organ was smothered with poor excus e s of plausible charac
ter . such as it was all right to see what other s did, how they spent
t.heir Sundays
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�The show itself wa s the mo st di sgusting thing I ever
i saw: it was s o unfair it was c owardly.
The toreador tea s ed the bull fir st with a long pointed
spear he wa s carrying by giving him a jab in the neck and shaking
his red toga before his eye s. The poor bull was patient for a while .
then h e cha rged. It s eems that all around the arena there are
hiding pla c e s and as the ·bull charged the toreador slipped into one
of them and the bull couldn It find him. The bull looked around for
a cWchile and then the man came out and repeated the same thing.
What amazed me was the a pplause of the women. Then
they b r ou ght out a horse blind-folded. The toreador rode the hors e
and started teasing the bull. The bull charged the hor s e ripped hi s
belly o pen and the lar ge stomach fell to the ground. The rider
kept tea sing the bull while the hor se was dragging his stomach on
the g round - a mo st disgusting sight. Finally the ride r stuck the
bull with the long knife and killed him. The a pplaus e was deafen
ing , e s pe cially from the women' s side. The women sat on one
sid e of the arena and the men on the other .
How c ould human beings s e e such a , sight a s a man
riding a hor s e whi ch is blind-folded, unable to s ee to protect it
s elf, dragging its stomach on the ground, is beyond me. I got
sick and went out. My c ompanions saw two more such fight s .
The next day we went t o Bi sbe e . Arizona, a city on the
side of a mountain. The man who had charge of the mine met us
and took us in an old two-hor se wagon about six mile s from Bi sbe e
on the roughe st road into a dry desert or wilderne s s . We found
on reaching the place a nar row tunnel about 25 feet deep where
one could see here and there a strata of g old-bearing rock and I
had no doubt in my mind that there was gold in the rock, but how
much ? Hard to say.
But how one like me could exist in such a dry place
whe r e one had to carry the wate r six mile s , where the shack had
to be s c r eened perfectly on account of the poisonous black widow
s pider s , scorpi ons and rattler s , and wher e the peo ple around are
as dangerou s as the snake s ? Then there was the que stion, will
it pay ?
You canlt have a mill without water and the way it
was being done was to mine the ore, load it on donkeys and s end
it to the mill. It s e emed that what r eturned from the mill was not
enough to pay its expen s e s. All the s e things dis c ouraged me. I
got out fa ste r than I would .have because I noticed that the manager
didn't like the idea of having me around and I did not like his
looks�
I told my friends that while there was no doubt that
ther e was gold in the mine. it would take a great deal of capital
and that it was beyond our capability. So I left them and went
furth e r w e st to L o s Angele s and Santa Barbara. where Uncle Nick
was living. I s pent Chri stmas with him.
,.
�17 3
.,.
Chri stmas day a friend of hi s took us out in a wagon
to an orange grove , who se owner wa s also a friend and who invit
ed us to help our selve s . -Uncle knew the kind of orang e s to pick.
He went after the old looking orange s that were covered with dust
and cobwebs , which were left over from the c ro p of the year be
fore. I had no idea an orange could taste s o good and swe et.
Neithe r did I know I had such a capacity. Of cours e I found it out
on the return tri p when the drive r too had to make so many stop s .
It was a clear moonlight night and I remember vividly stopping
under a fig tre e . They let me pluck two figs and eat them. It was
just chilly enough to put our overcoats on. Can I ever forget a
drive like that ?
Uncle wanted me to buy a ranch on the outskirts of
Santa Barbara - a house . chicken house , 1 0 0 a c r e s of cultivated
land with 20 acres of w oodland on the side of the mountain abut
ting the S outhern Pacific Railroad, and about 1 0 00 feet on the
other side of the tracks was the Pacific Ocean. The price a sked
was $ 8 , 5 00 . It sounded chea p but I had just bought a building in
Che ste r and had no cash to swing it. We walked around and
crossed the trafks and I asked uncle what they were doing with
the de rricks out in the wate r . He showed me the little wooden
gutter s and a stream of black oil trickling down. The surface of
the beach wa s c overed with oil. I told uncle to offe r them $ 7 , 5 0 0
which wa s turned down.
Had I enough intelli gence I would have known that if
the re was oil in the water 1 0 0 0 feet away it was a good gamble
tha t the property would have oil too. In writing to me later and
telling me that the Inan who had bought it struck oil, he s aid.
"I had a headache for three days.
P�or uncle , he - wa s anxious for Ine to COIne to Los
Angele s, buy a building on the main street and practi ce dentistry.
Los Angele s was only 7 5 , 0 0 0 inhabitants then. N o doubt he was
right for who dreaIned that it would grow to 2. 0 0 0 , 0 00 inhabitants ?
In every lette r he would coax me t o c ome and live
in Santa B arbara for its beauty, climate , fruits and chance s of .
advancement. Afte r the earthquake that they had - the one that
was so bad and de structive it knotted the trolley tracks due to its
severity - he kept writing to Ine to pull stake s and COIne. Finally
I wrote to hiIn that I did not want to live ove r a volcano. After
this cO ffiIrlent he never Inentioned the subje ct a gain.
I went to Pasadena. which was the Inost faInous city
then, and well known for its rich home s . beautiful gardens and
its Parade of R ose s on New Years Day. R athe r than lose time I
decided t o take a taxi and have a man take Ine around to show me
the sights . As I was talking to a fellow someon e tappe d my
shoulde r and asked if I was Dr. Kas sab. 1 looked and it was a
classInate whom I had not s een for 1 5 years since graduation day_
I remembered his name a s MacMillan because w e w e r e very
II
..
�''!:iriendly togethe r. He to ok me and showed me hi s office and told
me how s uc c e s sful he was . After all the world i s s mall.
1 left Santa B arbara on Monday after Chri stmas . 1 had
arrang ed my return trip ticket with stop-ove r privilege s , a s I
wanted to s e e the country. I did not stay long in San Franc i s c o
a s i t w a s r e c ov e ri ng f ro:rn a disa str ou s earthquake .
A s we c r oss ed the de s ert I saw s o many groups of
c ow s huddled together with heads down and snow on their backs.
Snow s o far S outh ! Is it possible ? It s e ems that the c ountry in
the E a s t had a ve r y bad blizza rd and when I reached horne 1 was
told that it w a s s o bad Christmas Eve shoppe r s were stranded
in Phi1ad�lphia and that about 5 , 0 0 0 slept in the B r oad Street
Station, while we were enjoying beautiful weathe r and e ating
orange s !
I had a very intere sting trip back. I stopped in Ogden.
Salt Lake City. Denve r. Chicago and Niagara Falls , mostly slee p
ing on the train, shaving and breakfa sting then getting off and
s pending the time roaming around s eeing the sights; in the eve
ning boarding the night train and r epeating the same plan. Of
c our s e , every c irl ,\T/as \.vhite '\vith sno"\�J but \-"hen I reached
Niagara Fall;.; I thought I was in a world made of crystal and white
marbl e. I w ondered if Aljenneh ( Paradi se ) looks like that.
,
There are no words to describe thi s glorious sight.
After the heavy snow the s pray from the Fall s glazed it into a
b�autiful glos sy white , which glistened in the sun and made a
sight never to be forgotten. I felt like hugging it with that feeling one w ould have when hugging his own child. There were huge
icicle s hanging down like inverted candle s . Well. no use writing
any m or e . N either I nor anyone else can de s cribe it fully because
it was the handiwo rk of the Creator which is inimitable . One has
O . Subhan
to s e e it at such a time , then he w ill exclaim with,
Allah" ( Prai s e be to God ) . I found under every tree in the neigh
borhood a heap of broken pie c e s of twigs and light limb s covered
with ice, the weight of which broke them away from their mother s .
The s pray from the Falls i ced on them. I felt s orry for the poor
mothe r s who had worked ' all the summe r before to produce them
and her e they were lying prostrate at thei r mother s ' feet.
In order to g ra s p the full beauty of this - one of the
Seven W ond e r s of the W orld - one must s ee it a s I have in winter
a s w ell as in summer . That alone was well worth the trip.
My enjoyment, however. was incomplete becau s e all
that time I had what we call Ghus sa. There i s no one word i n
English that c a n match it. It means a distre s sing feeling; a
choking feeling; a mouthful of food caught half way to the stomach
and needs wate r to force it down. That i s exactly what happened
to me. I needed my l oved ones- to be with me and see it with me.
Thi s incident took place during the days of my pros pe rity. E ven
then 1 was not c ontent with my lot in life but dreamed of what I
If
,-
�175
:..
could do in a gold mine. Y e s , I c ould do a failure as I did in
Ocean City later .
B efo re leaving Ocean City I compromised with the
two banks and also with the Che ste r banks. All were sympathetic
and patient. It took me about 1 5 years to pay what I promised to
pay, month after month, renewing notes and making che cks for
reductions and intere st. This was c onstantly on my mind and
when the last payment was done I felt that I was relea sed from
bondage , emancipated . and again a free man. All the while noth
ing had sustained me like my faith in God, which enabled me to
repeat' with resignation what my friend had reminded me of, that
I might awake some day and say, "God gave and God taketh away, "
Ble ssed be His Holy Name .
One other thing was a big help in thos e trying days .
It was that I never had a great love for money. One would think
that I, of all pe o pl e , who had tasted privation, want and, ye s , even
hunger in my past days, should appreciate the value of money
more than othe r s .
I a m glad t o s ay that I used a great deal of effort
and co rnm an sense not to let thi s great catastr ophy affe ct my
mind or body. Since God had given me the health and ability to
work. I did just that. I am als o happy to s ay that my good wife
never blamed me , but, on the c ontrary. she . too, was resigned
to the change in he r life and put her shoulde r to the wheel and
hel p�d .
Of cour se, we worried, and I never forget one night
neithe r she nor I sle pt. We were facing a situation which meant
the los s of our horne 1 did not stir in my bed in order to make
he r think I was a-s lee p and she did the same , but our minds wer e
stirring and ha shing the pos sibilitie s facing u s the next day.
As I look back on the past 1 5 or 25 years I am con
vinced and it is my honest belief that G od ' s Hand works in mys
terious ways . Pro s pe rity and luxury. comfort s , and plenty of
the world i s goods oftentime s become a cur s e rather than a bles
sing.
My children were at an age when they were enjoying
the ir horne c omforts and uppermost in thei r minds wa s to have a
lot of plea sure and fun with their friends; and although studying,
the de sire to push ahead was s e c ondary in the i r lives and they
were just content to bring horne pas sing marks .
Just a s s oon a s they di s covered their father ' s plight
they seemed to change over night. All of them started to work
and we all c ombined our efforts .
Mary and John. when they heard that the tenant of
one of the store s was trying to rent it for half of the r ent of the
yea r befo r e said. "Dad, don 't give it to him. We will\ run it. "
They did, paid the full rent and made a profit for themselve s.
Also , Jos e ph and Elizabeth r an a toy shop which
had bec ome vacant. paid the full rent and made enough to help
. .
�116
' them enter college.
My wife rented rooms and it was surpri s ing how
everyone in the family c ombined together and helped each other.
It was a c omplete chang e from a life of ease and comfort to hard
work, long hour s , and privation. With it all the outside w orld,
nor even our clos e kin, never knew to what extent it had reached.
Poor a s we becam.e , the oldest daughter, Mary, went
to Urs inus Colle ge and became a teacher. The next, Jos e ph, be
came a doctor; the third, John, a ; busines s man; the fourth,
Elizabeth, a denti st, and the fifth, George , was graduated from
. the Pennsylvania Military College.,
But all this did not hap pen without s everal years of
struggling and s aving and e conomizing. It c reated a binding love
one for the other , a great de sire to �el p e ach other and to make
good.
I hone stly believe that had we not had the s e reve r s e s
our children would perhaps have fallen into a life of ease and
pe rhap s temptations , and would neve r had the ambition for a
nobler life of hone st work and s ervice
True, God took away, but look what He gave back good. mep. and w omen of the corrununity and good Ame rican cit
izens.
i •
�177
C HA P T E R
22
THE WAR
In 1 94 1 the family c ombined together and bought a
lar ge house with four acres of ground. Their m.ain desire was
to get their father and mother away from a sma1l. dark a part
ment whe re we did not even have a phone. The closets were
packed full, boxe s unde r the bed s , with hardly r oom to move
around . When the children brought their clothes , a s they were
wont to do at va cation time , there was hardly room to maneuver
through the apartment. Fortunately we found thi s house in
Wa1lingford which we were able to buy cheap. It was quite room.y
and suited our pur pose and the hope that all of u s would live to
gether . Settlement was made for the hous e on Saturday, the 6th
of November 1 9 4 1 , and on Sunday, the 7th of Decembe r , Pearl
Harbor was attacked. Two of the boys were already in the s er
vic e and the thi rd was studying for surgery. The y oungest boy.
on finishing at P.M. C. ente red the service and became one of
the early air pilot s who was s ent to the Pacific on a big bomber
and wa s stationed in North Au stralia.
The bombe r s in those days had no fighter protec
tion fr om the swift Japanes e Zeros which were playing havoc
with "them. When they went out on a mi s sion they neve r knew if
they would get back, so swift were the Z e r o s .
One day the mailman brought m e a long envelo pe
with ,the name of General Kenny, Headquarte r s Air Force ,
Australia, written on the corner of the envelope . I had often
noticed in the papers where the name of a casualty i s not given
out until lithe next of kin were notified" . Lettie , my brother
Sam 1 s wife who wa s helping me at the time , handed me the let
ter . She must have suspe cted s omething and looked worried.
When I saw the name on the corner of the envelope I began to
shake. My hands were shaking I didn It have the strength to o pen
it so I gave it to her to o pen. I was sure s omething had happened
to George. When I started to read it my grief quickly turned to
great j oy. It r e ad:
HEADQUAR TERS
FIFTH AIR FORCE
APO 9 2 5
September 3 0 . 1 943
Dear Mr. Kas s ab:
R ecently your s on, Lieutenant George Kas s ab, was
dec orated with the Di stinguished Flying Cross. It was an award
�17 8
made in r e c ogniti on of c ourageous service to hi s combat organ
ization, his fellow Ame rican airmen, his c ountry, hi s horne and to
you.
He was cited for extraordinary achievement while par
ticipating i n an ae rial flight over Maca s sar, C elebes .
He wa s c o- pilot of a B-24 type ai rcraft engaged on a
photographic re connais s ance mis sion over the town of Macas sar.
A run was made over the airdrome and photographs taken. . Enemy
air craft were observed taking off and, a s the second run was being
made, five enemy Ze ros attacked the plane . One of the enemy
fi ghter s was de stroyed and the photographic run was c ompleted with
exc ellent re sults and the bomber c ommenced the run horne. It wa s
again inter c e pted by the rew..aining Zeros and in the ensuing enga
gement one enemy ai rcraft burst into flame s and another was seen
to s piral downwards in flame s and out �f c ontrol.
Almos t every hour of every day your son, and the sons
of other American father s . are doing just such things as that here
in the S outhwe s t Pacifi c .
Theirs is a very real and very tangible c ontribution t o
victory and t o peace.
I w ould like to tell you how genuinely proud ! am to
have men such a s your s on in my co mmand , and how gratified I
am to know that young Ame ricans with such c ourage and re source
fulne s s are fighting o �r c ountry ' s battle a gainst the aggr e s s or
nations.
Y ou, Mr. Ka s sab, have eve ry rea son to share that
pride and gratification.
Very sincerely.
GEORGE C . KENNE Y
Lieutenant General.
C ommanding.
Dr. W .. Kas sab,
804 Edgmont Avenue.
Chester� Pennsylvania
What a shock and what a r e lief. and what a joyl I
rushed to the phone and called u p my wife and started to read the
letter but, on account of my tears , I c ouldn 't finish it so I asked
the nurse to read it to her. I wrote to George and a sked him why
he did not tell me of this honor. He answered that they were giving these crosses at a dime a dozen. He went through many har
rowing experienc e s. Later the boy finished his mission and returned
with only 55 percent .of his gJ'oup. The rest were not so lucky.
He wa s hospitalized for a while for physical ailments
c ontracted in the Jungles . His nervous system was shattered and
he was a long time getting over it. After putting in five and a half
years . the best years of his life, he was discharged as a captain.
�;
�;
' ''f .
�179
I
.�
, .
John, the second s on, cros sed to Europe on D-Day
afte r training here and in England. He thought they would neve r
reach land the way other small boats w e r e hit and the boys were
struggling in · the wate r . He luckily reached shore and pushed away
all thr O'ugh the war until they reache d C ze choslovakia , when the
war ended.
He r elate s that the night the war ended all his men
got drunk, but, for some reaso:n .he didn It fe el like drinking, and a
s pell of awe came over him . . H e· went out and walked and walked.
H e heard music at a distance and followe d it until he came t o a
church. He found it full s o he stood on the side engro s se d in hi s
.
thoughts . A s the people filed out and saw him they all wan.ted t o
kis s him and hi s hands a s a sign o f gratitude t o his' uniform. After
they went out he s at in one of the pews to meditate and all of a
sudden the o rganist struck up the Star S pangled Banner. He never
was so touched and the tune never had such an effe ct on his mind.
W e s at with him to eat suppe r shortly after he arriv
ed home and naturally he told us s o many expe rience s and narrow
e s cape s that befo r e w e knew it it was half - past eleven. N o one ·
stirred; the food was still on the table; and the stories he told had he not been my s on I would not have believed him.
He w a s the top sergeant in the mechanized reconnais
sance group, and one day w a s ordered t o reconnoiter a c ertaIn
part. He took with him three tanks and went on the road. His tank
struck a mine, hi s drive r was killed, and the man back of the
driver had his leg s cut off. John wasnft hurt, nor the boy standing
in back of him. The second tank, s e eing what had happened, went
in the fie ld to the right and a mine blew them up, the third tank went
to the left "and was blown up. 1 0 of the 1 2 men were killed or injured .
John di s patched the only boy not harmed for the .medic s
and went around t o do what he c ould for the r e st. Most of them were
his friend s . One c an imagine how John felt. The fellow with the cut
off leg s begged John to shoot him. and in between would j oke about
no more athlete ' s fee t.
Another time John stepped on a mine and was blinded
for four weeks. H e made u p his mind to do away with himself
rather than b e led the re st of his life. He had pneumonia twice and
was placed in an oxygen tent. Another time when he came back
from a mis sion dead tired he saw tne c ook and c alled him by name
saying . IIG o in and make me a cup of coffe e . " " John)" he s aid.
" believe me , I haven ' t a cup of c offee but if you like I will fry you
a c ouple of e ggs. " No s ooner had he fini shed the s entence when a
stray bullet killed him.
Spac e will not allow for recounting s everal other
nar row e scape s but I want to s ay that night 1 could hardly sleep as
the thoughts crept in.
Why was thi s boy s pared, and why did he have all
the se nar r ow e scape s when so many of his friends were killed?
�180
�
Wa sn' t God m.e rciful to him. and to us for s paring us the foreknowledge of all the thing s that happened to him. ? Hi s letter s were
frequent and chee rful but .c ontained not- a word of his true condition.
Had he told us the truth, hi s m.other and I would have gone out of
our m.ind s . I tell you, that night I went on m.y kne e s with a heart .
full of thanks to my G od.
No wonde r the boy didn't want to meet people. He
wanted to be alone and s pent m.ost of hi s ti me in the garden work
ing and nur sing him.s elf to normalcy. It took him over a year to
be him.self again. He went in as a buck private and without g oing
to s chool was m.ade a se cond lieutenant on the battlefield, and
later a fir st lieutenant.
His office r s m.ust have appreciated his work when
they orde r ed him., against his will, to leave hi s m.en who were
fighting and to go to Paris to re st. When he s aw the lights. the
gaiety, the beautiful uniform.s of the office r s , and the m.usic and
dancing, he cried. thinking of hi s m.en and the m.ud and filth which
they were experiencing. l i T o think, " he said, "that w e are fighting
a war 1 n He received his di s charge afte r s erving four years and
a half.
When he was in Flander s he s ent m.e letters of
R e c om.m.endations , copie s of which I am. em.bodying in John ' s
a c c ount. It give s a bette r picture of the boy' s qualitie s than I ever
thought was in him.. Naturally. I am. proud to insert them..
2 0 1 -Kas sab. John ) Enl)
3 rd Ind.
G s s /avg
HEADQUAR TERS 1 02ND CAVALRY (ME C Z ) APO 645, U.S. Arm.y
7 April 1 943
To: C om.m.anding Gene ral , V Corps , APO 3 0 5 , U.S. Arm.y.
1 . Approved.
2. Basis for r e c om.m.endation:
(a) Date of appointment pre s ent rank: January 6 , 1 943
(b) Statem.ent of s e rvice: Ind into the AUS for duration
plus six(6) m.onth s, A pril 1 7 , 1 94 1 . Fort Dix, N. J. ; asgnd to
1 02nd Cav (H-Me c z) , May 2 6 . 1 94 1 ; aptd Cpt Sept 1 0 . 1 94 1 ;
T r D redesignated T r C , 1 0 2nd Cav (Mecz) April 6 , 1 942;
a ptd S gt Aug 1 0 . 1 942; trfd to HQ T r , 1 02nd Cav (Me c z)
Dec 2 1 , 1 942 ; a ptd S /Sgt Dec 2 1 . 1 942; a ptd T /Sgt Jan 6 ,
1 94 3 .
(c) Pre sent duti e s and m.anner of performance . of sam.e;
R egim.ental Sergeant Major - Manner of perform.ance:
Supe rio r
(d) Age: 32yrs 24 days
(e) He ha s never been sentenced to confinement in a
penitentiary. or c onvicted in any civil or m.i1itary c ourt for
an offense as a felony.
(f) Hi s character is: Exce llent
(g) He i s a c itizen of the United State s
�18 1
(h) His mental s core on clas sification te st a s shown
on Form 20 i s : 1 3 1 ·
(i) Statement of education and experience other than
military: High School G'raduate - Commercial C ou r s e - 1 yr
College .
(j ) Any other pe rtinent information: Thi s s oldie r ha s
owned and managed his own expo rt busine s s in civilian life. He
has been doing major portion of the Pe r s onnel Office r ' s tasks in
addition to the Regimental Sergeant Major ' s duties for almost five
months, due to the la ck of a pe r s onnel officer in this c ommand.
He wa s s ele cted above all other NCO ' s of this r egiment to become
the Regimental Se rgeant �lajor last November because of hi s out
standing acc omplishments a s a s ection and platoori s e rgeant. H e
ha s clearly demonstrated he i s fully capable of performing the
dutie s of a 2nd Lieutenant of Cavalry in the AUS.
(k) A vacancy exi sts as 2nd Lieutenant C avalry A US
(Platoon Leader ) in this R egiment.
D. W. McGOWAN
Colonel, 1 0 2nd Cavalry (Mecz)
C ommanding
HEADQUAR TERS
1 0 2nd Cavalry (Mecz)
A. O:O. 645 U. S.Army
DWMcG / eh
7 April 1 943
SUB JE CT :
Recommendation
TO:
WHOM IT
MAY
C ON CERN
1. T echnical Sergeant John Kas sab, Headquarter s
T roop, this regiment, i s highly r ecommended for c ommi s sion a s
a Second Lieutenant, Cavalry.
2. Thi s s oldie r pos se s se s qualitie s of leaderl:\hip
which make him outstanding among a group of excellent non- com
mis sioned officers. He i� effi cient and aggres sive and hi s c om
mand of men is di stinguished by quietnes s of manner cou pled
with a ggre s sive determination. He dominate s through natural
qualitie s of leade r ship �nd personal chara cter.
3 . S e r geant Kassab was an outstanding Platoon
Sergeant when sel ected for duty in R egi:m.ental Headquarter s , and
he ha s proven to be a s e fficient in regimental administration a s
he was while a non-commi s sioned office r in the line.
_
D. W . McGOWAN,
C olonel, l 02nd Cavalry (M�cz)
Commanding
.,
----�--- -----
�HEADQUAR TERS TROOP
1 02nd CAVALR Y(ME GZ}
APoi64� , _ U.S. Army
GSS/avg
7 A pril 1 943
Subject: C o InIni s sion
To:
C onunanding Offi cer , 1 02nd C avalry (Me c z)
( Thru Channels)
1. I hereby reque st that I be con sidered for Commis sion,
as S e c ond Lieu.tenant, C avalry. AUS�
'';OHN �SSAB. ASN 32086653
T/Sgt
1 st Ind.
HEADQUARTERS TROOP, l 02ND CAVALRY (ME C Z ) APO 645 ,
u . s. Army
7 April 1 943
TO: C ommanding Oiii c e r , 1 02nd Cavalry (Mecz) APO 645
U.S. Army.
1 . Approved .
_ '-'
ROLAND M BE5.T HAM , Jr.
1 st Lt. l 0 2nd Cavalry (Mecz)
Comd Headquarters T roop
(Acting)
2nd Ind.
HEADQUAR TER S PROVISIONAL SQUADR ON, l 02ND CAVALRY
(ME C Z ) APO 645 .
U. S. A rmy, 7 April 1 94 3 .
TO: C ommanding Oiiice r , 1 0 2nd Cavalry (Mecz) APO 645,
U.S. A rmy.
1 . Appr oved.
FRANCIS J. SKIDMORE
Maj o r , 1 02nd Cavalry (Mecz)
Commanding Provisional Squadron
�183
PROVISIONAL SQUADRON
1j>�nd C avalry (Mecz )
APO #645 ,
U . S. Army
F JS /avg
7 April 1 943
Subje ct: R e commendation
To:
T r� Whom It May Concern.
1 . I heartily reco mmend that T /Sgt ,Ka s sab ' s
application for commission in the AUS b e approved. I feel that
he will suc c e s sfully meet the requirements of an officer and be
a further credit to the servic e when he is commis sioned.
Z. I have � very high regard for T /S gt Kas sab' s
abilitie s . H e is very industrious and pos s e s s e s a great deal of
initiative . A ta sk given to him will always be succ e s s fully com- '
pleted.
3 . T /Sgt Kas sab ' s character and conduct have
always been exemplary during the time he has been in my c om
mand.
FRANCIS J. SKIDMORE
Major, 1 02nd C avalry (Mecz)
C omdg Provisional Squadron
HEADQUARTERS
l 0 2nd Cavalry (Mecz )
APO 645 , U . S. Army
GSS/ tfl
7 A pril 1 943
Subje ct: R e commendation
To:
...
Whom It May Concern
1 . In my o pinion, T /Sgt John Kas sab has demon
strated more than just the ability to be a commissioned officer.
He has demonstrated that he will be outstanding amongst other
commis s ioned officersr
2. When the former R egtl Sgt Major was transfer- ,
red to Hq E'T0USA last NoVember � leaving the problem of select
ing a new pne from the NCO personnel of this regt, this s oldier
was chos en in prefe r ence to all other s , s ome of whom have since ,
bec ome c ommi s si oned office r s in this co mmand and are perform
ing sati sfactorily a s such. U p to thi s time he had been rated as '
an excellent line NCO by two troop c ommande r s , but he had no
particular experience in Army administration. However . due to
�184
,.
hi s civilian background and much hard work, he soon became
amazingly effic ient in the r outine duti e s of his po sition and
showed unusual initiative in reorganizing and systematizing hi s
�epartment.
3. Due to the shortage of offi c e r s in this command
at that time . I had no personne l office r . T/Sgt Kas sab. in addi
· tion to his othe r dutie s . relieved me of a maj or portion of the se
-dutie s of thi s positi on during that period and performed those
',' dutie s most satisfactorily.
4. The S- 1 department of thi s command functions
better now than during any other period of my contact with it,
largely as a r e sult of hi s management ability and untiring effort.
5. It has be en a privilege to work with a soldier of
this high calibe r . .
GEORGE S. SAUNDERS
Captain. 1 02nd Cavalry (Mecz)
Adjutant
HEADQU-A-R TERS
1 02nd Cavalry (Mecz)
APO 64 5. U. S. Army
DWMcG/te c
7 May 1 94 3
Subje ct: Application for Direct Commi ssion in AUS
,�,
'To:
C o�anding G eneral. V Corps, APO 3 0 5 . U.S. :A rmy
1 . It i s de sired to recommend Tech Sgt John Kassab•
.32086653. for appointment as a commi s sioned officer by the
Theater C ommander under the provisions of par 2 . Circular 3 9 .
c s . Hq E T OUSA . i n view of the special circumstance s in his case.
l. Sergeant Kassab had been recommended for
.direct commi ssion as 2nd Lt, Cavalry. as the outstanding N. C. O.
,officer candidate . prio r to the publication of Circular 3 9 . C St
.Hq, E TOUSA, and he was recommended for c ommission by a
board of officer s appointed bY' Hq. V Corps.
3. This s oldier was not earlie r r e commended for
·.direct commission because of the reorganizatio::l of the entire
R egimental Headquarte r s made neces sary by the detachment of
.the reinfo r c ed 2nd Squadron for s ervice in Africa. and at the
.reluctance of the r egimental commander to increase the atten
.:dant difficulties at that time.
4. Sergeant Kassab pos se s se s qualitie s of leader
. ship which make him outstanding among a group of excellent
non-conuni s si oned offic e r s . He is efficient and aggre ssive and
his command of men i s distinguished by quietnes s of manner
coupled with aggre s s ive determination. He dominate s through
, natural qualitie s of leadership and personal character.
..
l'
�� l8 5
5 . He was an outstanding Platoon Sergeant when
selected for duty in Regimental Headquarter s . and he has proven
to be as e#icient in r egimental administration as he was while a
non- commis sioned officer in the line.
6. It i s de sir ed to point out that favorable action
would make available an officer who is highly trained in mechan
ized c avalry reconnais s anc e , and di stinctly of greater immediate
value to the regiment and to the servic e than office r r e placeme nts
received. re gardle s s of their source. The experience of this
regiment with officers similarly c ommi s sioned has be en uniform
ly exc ellent.
D. W. McGOWAN
C olonel. 1 02nd Cavalry (Mecz)
7 Inc1s :
Commanding
/# 1 - A pplication Letter W /5 Ind
/# 2 -. R ecommendation (Capt Saunder s ) (dup)
/# 3 - R ecommendation (Maj Skidmore) (dup)
/#4 - R e commendation (It C ol Burke) (dup)
/# 5 - SO /# 1 05 . Hq V Corps. 1 7 Apr 1 943 (dup)
/# 6 - WD ACG Form No. 63 (dup)
/# 7 - WD AGC Form No. - 8 5 0 - 0 8 5 0A (dup)
HEADQUAR TERS
l 02nd Cavalry (Me cz)
APO /# 645 . U.S. Army
8 May 1 94 3
Subje ct: Re commendation
To:
..
Whom It May C oncern
1. In my o pinion T/Sgt John Kas sab, 3 2 0 8 66 5 3 ,
has clearly demonstrated his ability t o pe rform, suc c e s sfully,
the duties of a 2nd Lieutenant in the Mechanized Cavalry.
2. Hi s work, as a platoon sergeant on the line and
as the Regimental Sergeant Major, has been most exce ptional.
He has shown an unusual quality of leader ship and outstanding
exe cutive ability. He is capable of increased r e s ponsibility and
would be of considerable immediate value to his regiment a s a
commissioned officer.
Lt
PAUL L. B URKE
Col, l 02nd Cavalry (Mecz)
Executive Officer
�186
Jos e ph. who wa s taking up surgery. went with a med
;ical outfit, de stination unknown. For nearly two yea r s we neve r
:heard wher e he wa s stationed, although hi s lette r s were regular.
Jo s e ph W <=lS stati oned on the g r ou p of i s land s of Tunga
Taboo. It so happened that one of the prominent men who was in
the cabinet of the Queen wa s very sick and Jo seph helped him to
health. The Queen wanted to me et the doctor who cured him so
she invited him to a dinne r and was very. ve ry gracious and
democratic. He vi sited the re several time s and met her s on, who ,
like hi s mother , s poke Engli sh fluently. Thi s i s the Queen who i s
.six feet thr e e inche s tall. H e told us most inte re sting stories
.about that part of the world and the Fiji Islands.
When he came home after :(our year s in the service
he told us of being in the landing party with Gene ral MacArthur
on the beache s in the Philippine s . Many time s he had to duck unde r
the operating table when the Japane s e flie r s came ove r . He , too,
had a hard time of it and returned with a dose of malaria and was
a. long time getting over it�
Ye s ; dear friend, God took away the worldly pos s e s s
jon s . but l � ok what he gave me in their place.
Fir st, he gave me a helpmeet without whom I c ould not
have made the grade. Se cond, he gave me the health and strength
to �ri.able me to carry on and to work and pay my obligations .
Thi rd, h e gave us both the faith. trust, and courage t o go through
five and a half yea r s of worry about the boys , wondering where
£an thi s or that one be.
The war new s was so bad and that made it wor s e for
USj our minds c ould think of nothing bu.t the news. What did the
radio s ay the last thing at night and the fir st thing in the morning ?
How bad we felt when so many Briti sh ships were sunk, e s pecially
the battle shi p Hood by the Bi sm.arck. We were feeling so gloomy
when I woke my wife up to tell he r that the Bismarck was sent to
the bottom, which gave u s more hope and courage.
One thing , the boys were faithful to their letter writing .
.They w e r e always cheerful and heartening. which cheered u s up.
2-:+ as it turned out late r , they were not telling us the truth in order
not to worry u s . No matte r how worried we wer e , fatigue forced
its r estful slee p upon us. Thus five and a half years of our live s
wer e s pe nt. D o e s anyone think that the s e trying time s could be
forgotten ?
I also had a lot of plea sure writing to the boys. At
fir s t I develope d pain in the palm from holding the pen. Then I
.used the typewrite r. picking out the letter s with both index finger s ,
:and I w ould make four c o pi e s sending n o les s than three pag e s
closely typed t o each one, and als o one to Syria. di s cus sing each
letter which c ame from them and telling them our news . That way
each one knew his brothers ' news to date. I s pent hours doing it
but it gave me a lot of c omfort talking to them.
..
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�187
Another thing w e did that used to give us a lot of
plea sure wa s that of an evening their mother and I would make
candie s and cookie s and a s each pie ce was packed we could
imagine how the boys wouid love to receive them. hoping all the
time that they w i ll still be living .
The army mail wa s s o careful that not one letter or
package wa s lost. One package followed one of the boys to six
camps .
Another thing that hel ped us s o much wa s the fact
that we had loving relative s and friends who looked in on us fre
quently and took us t o their home s and c overed u s with kindnes s
and sympathy. We we re satisfied to put up with any privation and
neve r c omplained about rationing. Our bedrooms were without
heat and the living quarters were just up to 63 0 F . We felt that we
were doing it for the boys. Another big fa ctor that hel ped us in
those trying days was hard work and plenty of it.
Howeve r, the joy of having the boys s afely back c om
pensated us for all the wor ry, privation and arudety. The re a re no
words that c an de scribe our heartfelt j oy and thanks t o G od
Almighty a s their mother and I embraced with tea r s of joy each
one of the boys . Thi s happine s s c ontinued over a period of time
a s the thr e e did not c ome at one time . So that the anti cipati on and
rejoicing c ontinued afre sh on the ar rival of each one .
I shall never forget one night the wind was howling
and the snow falling like a blizzard. We had just finished su ppe r
and we re huddled clo se to the fire place trying to kee p warm with
doors closed and the rest of the house below 5 5 0 when the phone
rang. Elizabeth, who was the only daughter living with us at that
time , answe red it. Her mothe r and I were li stening. W e heard
Immediately the thought c ame
her say, I IMeet you at Allentown ? II
to us that some of he r friends were joking with her . We als o
thought, who would be fooli sh enough to go out this kind of a night ?
She did not r e c ognize the voice and was he sitating a s the voice
a sked about her mother and father . She a sked, " Who is c alling ? "
and the voi c e answered, I I Thi s i s George, your brothe r " . The
instant she said I IGeorge t " with a loud voic e we rushed to the
phone. As I write this now my eye s are filled with tea r s . Only
tho se who had sim.ilar expe rience c an appreciate this phone call.
e speci ally s ince we were not expecting him back from the Pacific;
for SOIne tim.e. And ther e he was calling from a r oom in a
Chi cago hotel, as he P':lt }t 'freezing to death' .
How sweet the voice s ounded . He said the plane s
. were grounded . for Philadelphia and New . Y ork butj! we. -w ou l<t
m.eet him in Allentown he would fly there. We prevailed on him to
use the train:;; It was- beneath his dignity a s a Captain in the Air
For ce to use the train because they were too slow for him.
I believe that it was those days 'of rejoicing that -.
restored and renewed our strength as the eagles and g ave u s a new
courage to live on.
�:\.88
E
C H A P T E R. +2- 3
RE TROS PE C T
My dear one s , looking back on my life , I can safely .
$ay that I was born in the mos t startling, exciting and ter rifying
period in the history of this world of our s . I wasn 't eight years
.old when I heard my father tell .someone that the E nglish were
buying hor s e s and mule s secretely for use in the war against th� .
.Turks and were bombarding the Port of Alexandria, which fell to
them along with all of E gypt and the Sudan.
Then carne war after war. Greec e and. Turkey,
Bulgaria and Gree c e . Bulgaria and Tu r key, France and Germany
during B i smarck' s time , Turkey and Rus sia when the English
helped the Turks ( which brought out the immortal story of the
Six Hundred, IIGuns t o the right of them.; Guns to the left of them.. I I )
After that carne the B oe r War with England, followed by the Rus so
Japane se War with the defeat of the Rus sian Armada in the Pacific.
Later France over - powered the people of Morocco and took a
large ter r itory, then the Kai s e r of Germany be came jealous of
F :r.ance , s ent his flee t to the Mediterranean and, in spite of
Britain ' s prote sts , took a big slice of Morocco.
Then carne the Spanish-American War for the s inking
of the Battle ship Maine . The outcome of thi s War wa s the freeing
of Cuba and the Phili ppine s . This was followed by World War I,
in which the ' air plane wa s used for the fir st time a s a war weapon.
Hardly had this quieted down and peace re stored when the big
nations of the world formed the League of Nations to outlaw war
foreve r , under the leade rship of our late Pre sident Woodrow
Wils on. The people gave a sigh of r elief and prayed and hoped for
a lasting peace . We called it the "War to End All War s u , but�
ala s , shortly thereafte r Italy, whose King wa s under the domina
tion of Mus solini� bolted the League of Nations. attacked the poor
peo ple of Ethio pia, with all the might of Italian army and air
power , throwing ince ndiary bombs on them, burning their tents
alld de strOying their crops, while the great people of the world
stood by and watched the slaughtering go on.
It i s my beli ef that had the --great ,nations . including
the United State s , stopped Italy in her tracks they would have
avoided the taking of millions of live s. Because they did not
:realize that they are their brother s I kee pe r but walked on the
other side of the r oad a s did the rabbi in �he story of the Sp.maritan..
They, I m.ean the' big nations, becam.e envolved in war after war
with it s scepter s t alking the \vhole world leaving fear and distress
in the hearts of all the people. Had the League ,of Nations stopped
Italy . Ja pan would not have bolted. the League and taken Forlllo sa
..
�189
by force and started a long war with China. The s e acts of aggre s
sion encouraged Hitle r who b egan to arm. first s e crete1y then
openly, and later by forming the neve r-to-be-forgotten Axi s ,
which ended" in World War II with its horrors and de struction of
life a nd p r o pe rty. This war was so a p pa lling and sickening but
ended with the devastating powe r of the atomic bomb. and the
peo ple ' s de sire for peace was s o strong that they formed the
United Nations with sublime intentions and plans for pea ce and
the better ment of th.e whole world.
The U.N. did rightly when they use d forc e to stop
the aggre s sion in Korea . As a re sult. we have on our hands this
late st of war s � perhaps I should not call it war but" an incident.
which up until now ha s claime d mor e lives than all the Turki sh
and Balkan war s put together. And the end i s not yet in sight.
" So long a s thi s s ce pte r of war i s facing u s it i s my
hope that the U.N. will s e e the danger and unite actively and
sincer ely and that each ..:nation will do eve rything it can to help
and not s ay, "Let Jack do it.', leaving the burden on the shoulder s
of the few membe r s who a r e shedding their blood for you a s well
a s for themselves .
All this I have written from memory a s I a m riding
a train on my way to s ee my s on, John and his family. in South
Carolina. I have no d oubt I mi s sed othe r war s. I do not r ecall a
period when we felt at peace or when the front pages of our papers
did not have a headline without s ome reference to war or aggre s
sion.
Even the Korean Incident is kee ping us on e dge today.
The re has not been a similar eighty-one years in all our history�
In this period ele ctri city was brought out of its hid
ing , thanks to Edi son. The steam engine was in its infancy making
railroading and o cean plowing po s sible , thanks to Fulton; followed
by the telephone, thanks to B ell who als o brought a great ble s s ing
to the world . Then the gas engine and the electric motor with their
millions of u s e s; then the movie followed by radio, the miracle of
miracle s , with her daughte r, televi sion - the wonder of w onder s !
Then the art of turning heat into ice and c ooking on two wire s and
cleaning a house without dust, and millions of other inventions
de signed to bring comfort and hap pine s s to the human race.
When the atomic bomb i s put to peaceful u s e it will
revolutionize all our way of life . I often have -said, "What w ould
my father say were he to s e e this or that thing ? " T o you it has
no meaning and you take it a s a matter of c ours e, but to me , even
afte r many years of use, I have never quite gotten over the miracle
of the telephone. I seldom put it ,to �y ear that I am not carried
away in my soul on hearing the human voi ce , s ometimes hundreds
of miles away. You never give it a thought because you did not
ha.ve t o g o distances on foot, a s I had to do, carrying a mes s age
whi ch could have been transmitted in a few minute s sitting d own;
�190
or t() u s e a bellows to start u p a charcoal fire t o make a cup of
£offee . Y ou cannot make a compari son between that method and
the pushing of a button o r " the turning on of a gas jet. I cannot go
into details about the convenience s in our life of today "for you
know it but to me it i s ever new and startling .
God ble s s this country and the brains that have revo
lutionized the world c ontributing to its peo ple easier life . le s s
drudge ry i n the horne and in the field ! Aren't you awed when you
see a picture of a machine with ten or twenty plows plowing a
"
field ? When I see it I also see a poor pair of c ows :yoked together
dragging a w ooden plow with a farmer walking behi�d it. Or , a re
you not c arried away with awe when you see a printing pre s s turn
out a new s paper fa ste r than you can count it ? I see a piece of
par chment, requiring days to pre pare and dry, and an old man
with a white beard sitting down carefully and meticulously dotting
with a quill each I I ' and cros sing e ach I T ' as he write s . Did I
ever imagine that something heavier than air could balance itself
high up and travel at a great s peed ? To you, pe rhaps. it is a s it
should be . Perhaps you do not give it a thought. As for me , I shall
neve r get a c customed to the idea and the thrill of being up in the
air . No one can de s c ribe the feeling I experienced when, two yea r s
ago, I went by air on a visit t o Syria, cove ring &0 0 0 mile s i n 3 5
hour s. C ontrast that with 3 5 days cove ring the same distance !
If�ther e ever was a ma,gic car pet this was it.
I shall not be on hand to witne s s the new and startling
thing s which a r e bound to take place in the next 8 1 years if
science and invention continue at the same pac e . What I have just
:celated. will bec ome obsolete . Then it will be your turn to s ay.
"What would Dad say ? " However . I have seen a great deal in my
time arid my life ha s been full, be cause I am greatly interested
in ideas and inventions . I neve r cease wonde ring at the go-ahead
edne s s of the Ame rican peo ple .
Sixty years ago I saw them building the beautiful City
Hall in Philadelphia. They had statuary, not of pla ster but of
stone , placed at every nook and corner on the inside a s well a s
o n the outside. They had Illo St beautiful red marble columns
hidden in the north wing . I never pa ssed there that I did not stop
and admire its hugene s s and beauty and wonder what brought it
" all the way from Vermont. what machine rounded it and poli shed
"
it, thought of the machine s that quar ried it and the brain which
had c re ated the machine. William' Penn, the founder of our be .loved Philadelphia. had not gone up to his permanent abode 'the
third highe st tour in the world. He was placed in the c ourtyard
lor hi s children to r emember him as he stood there ble s sing the
pe ople. �e had on a large enough hat for three per sons to stand
on. His nos e was a foot long. perhaps I should say lZ inche s
long. When the towe r was finished he was taken a pa rt and r e
a s sembl ed o n his pede stal for the coming genera�ions t o see.
.
,"
�19 1
..
Un1e � s . perhaps, the cQming gene ration de cide s that the City Hall
ha s served its pur pose and be come obsolete. It i s said that the
City Planner s want to tear down this beautiful structure and make
a park in its 'place , beautifying it with tre e s and shrubs and seats
for pe ople to r e st. When I fi rst heard of it I thought it a c razy
idea. but, perhaps it is not after all. An o pen square. of which
the re are several in Philadelphia , for children to play in and the
elderly to saunter around and feel safe from being run over by
the heavy traffi c , would be really like a haven. The se public
square s a re the lungs of the c ity.
When City Hall was completed the public wa s invited
t.o visit a nd ins pect the new structure and take the elevator to the
very top , to see the grand panorama. I was greatly impr e s sed with
the straight streets. stretching out a s far a s the eye can s e e . Our
Straight Street of the Bible is hardly a mile long whereas the se
are mile s in length. Maje stic as they wer e they did not e s cape the
critici sm of Charl e s Dickens who claimed that they are monotonous
and that he preferred the narrow stre ets of England.
One clear day I took two of my brother s Aelyas and
Najeeb , the latter had just arrived from Syria. to show them the
inte re sting sights of Philadelphia.;, . such a s the Libe rty B ell,
Wanamake r s Store and C ity Hall. We found that they, w e r e not taking
vi sitors up to the very top a s before. but just a s far a s the c lock
with her four face s smiling at you. We enjoyed seeing the city
from that height and on our way down we saunte red a round admir
ing the pie c e s o f a r t and the nicely furnished office s when w e heard
a voice saying. "corne in. " , It was the voice of a patient of mine ,
a Mr. Wm. B . Mills who later became the Superintendent of Police.
Mr . Mills was then the private secretary to the Mayor .
He to ok us in to see the inne r chambers with all t.heir
grand appointments a s become s the head of a million and a half
peo ple . On leaving he aske d if we had been to the tower. I s aid.
"Ye s . as far as the clock. II He picked up the phone and a sked for
thr ee tickets. When a policeman brought them he gave them to
me and said, "Give the se to the elevator boy and he will take you
to the top . " Of course we thanked him for thi s unexpected honor
and went out. The elevator boy took us up to the very top and s aid
in a very polite way, "Now stay as long as you want and when you
are r eady push this button. " I do not think the beautiful sight o r
seeing the hor s e c arriage s c rawling like ants surpri sed them a s
much as to see their b!,other a I I big shotll and s o well known. They
could not realize that it w a s purely a coincidence . However it
dernonstrated to them how kind-the- peo ple are and how: q�lpful to
the foreigner .
A s I marvel at the things -r have m.entioned before I
have neve r c e ased to marvel at the vision of the s e Arnericans.
It seems a s though money i s of no value where progr e s s , comfort,
and convenience are at stake. In Chester , for instance , a s the
�192
train pas se s a c r o s s the streets the gates come down and all
traffic stops. S o the railroad bui lt a high embankment with
bridge s over the streets and elevated j;he tracks and now there is
no more blocking of traffi c . Sixty years ago in Philadelphia the
railroad elevated the tracks over ten stre ets , going to a lot of
expense to build a wall a block wide and about a mile and a half
long. 1 watched with great admir ation the stone and brick work
which a r ched every street and the millions of tons of dirt hauled
from distance s to fill in and make what was called the II Ghine�e
Wall". I could not help but think what would my father say were
he to see it and see the beautiful station which i s the la st word
in c onstruction and design. with a very large map of the United .
State s c overing a very wide wall and on the other side in statuary
an a rtist' s c onception of American progre s s repre senting people
and animals . But what would my father say were he to come back
sixty yea r s late r and find no trace of the station or the " Chine se
Wall" .
Here again i s whe re Ame rican ingenuity and vision
and whe r e my admiration for the se peo ple is intensified. for they
do not count c o sts where comfort and beauty are at stake , even
though they have to go underground and s pend millions on to p of
millions to a c c omplish it. Neithe r can I c ease marvelling at the
engineering of the se projects. I am told that when they dug the
tunnel under the Hudson Rive r. they started digging from both
ends and when the middle of the river was . reached the line s did
not vary a fraction of an inch. Don't you conside r the digging of
a tunnel a great feat ? I do . Onc e when I reached the middle of
the tunnel I pictured myself unde r a big volume of water with
large shi ps pas sing over me and the re wa s I safe - thanks to a
Inan who had vi sion ! I c ould g o on and on admiring the skill and
ingenuity and the de sire of mo st everyone to push ahead. to make
work lighter and to cut time and make space shorte r; to improve
one ' s condition of life . to make use of his unlimited opportunitie s
and use his skill and cleverne s s . The marvelous thing t o me is
that you are free to do it and that the sky i s the limit a s long as
you do it within the law. Thi s i s Demo c racy !
L ove it. my dear children, cherish and appre ciate it.
work for it and. if ne ed be. die fo r it ! Think of the millions who
died and are still dying so that you can enjoy thi s libe rty and.
finally, thank your God for having been born in it. I entreat you
not to go about with your eye s closed.- Open them and see the
.
glo ry and maje sty of nature pouring a ble s sing after ble s sing on .
the se peo ple . T ravel and see the magnitude and enormity of this
land; drive mile s upon mile s from end to end and you will see
people like yourselves s peaking the same language and breathing
the air of freedom. T he y all wcirit to live and let live. All hope to
. live in peace and, above all» like you the se hundred and fifty-five
million people are free.
�193
C HA PT E R
24
P OTPOURRI
The Easterne r s invoke the name of God so freely in
their daily live s that it loses its sublime and holy meaning. It is
so commonly used that it be come s just another word - although it
fall s harshly on the ears of the religious. They c all u pon Him to
ble s s and to cur s e . They invoke Hi s name at the s�alle st or big
ge st o ccasion. If the cook is g oing to mix the bread. she says,
"Bism Allahll just a s he r finger s touch the flour (in the name of
God ) . Pe rhaps thi s origina�ed when the prophet Elijah said to the
woman the "barrel of meal shall not wa ste , neither shall the cruse
of oil fail" . Or, if the milkman c rouche s to milk hi s goat he begins
with I I Bism Allah" . He i s c onfident that the goat will g ive him
more milk. Or if one sits down to eat he begins with " B i sm Allah" ,
feeling that hi s meal will be more enjoyable . I have s een my
brothe r Aelyas write 'Bism Allah' on the top of the fir s t page of
the ledge r at the be ginning of the year. I am sure it i s grand if
prayerfully used. But when it is used promis cuously it lo s e s its
meaning. One often hea r s such saying s a s , "Allah lengthen your
life ", "Allah give you " , "Allah rewa rd you" , "Allah have mercy
on your dead " , "Allah pr e s e rve your children" , "Allah return your
absent one s " , "Allah ble s s youll• "Allah lengthen your children ' s
live s , "Allah pre serve your hand s" - thi s i s often said when the
favor i s manual.
After fini shing s ome dental work a patient often s aid
in a ppreciation, "Allah pre s erve your hands a thousand year s " .
Who wants his hands pre se rved a thousand yea r s ? There are thou
sands of such saying s . Then there i s another way wher e the Holy
Name is invoked. By calling on Him to damn and to the s e cur s e s
the re i s no limit . "Allah d- - - you " . Thi s the A me ricans copied
lite rally. I am glad they did not copy the other s such a s "Allah
d - - - your fathe r ( or your mother or your children or your hareemak
(your women) ; "Allah break your life ". "Allah destroy your horne" ,
"Allah make you blind " . and s o on. But one of the wor st cur ses is '
when you implore your Allah to burn hi s reli gion. Thi s hurts to
the core. It shows how the peo ple are loyal to their faith. Many a
one ha s been killed due to that curs e . A s for the foul s entence s
used by the common, they a r e unprintable .
The ,country i s infe sted with beggar s . mostly lazy
girls who won 't wo�k but carry begging as thei r means of liveli
hood. Here I have t o dig re s s in orde r t o make the story better
understood.
With the exc e ption of the main streets tnany houses
are abutting on narrow s treets more like the alleys in this c ountry.
�They a r e not wide enough for a hor s e and car riage to pas s , but
. will allow a huckster with a load of vegetable s or a pe r s on on
hor s eback. Many of the s e are blind streets and are not used a s
tho roughfar e s . They are ve ry quiet and peaceful. Going through
one of the s e one c an s e e nothing but high walls with door s shut
and her e and there windows on the second floor s . He has no idea
. what i s on the othe r side of the se door s . It could be a large
hous e with a large c ourt and many rooms opening to it, with five
or six citrus tree s , a pond of marble in the centre, marble floor
with stai r s to the second floor bright and cheerful. Or it could
be a small house adjoining but, no matter how small. it must
Pave an o pen court. The law of r e stricted areas i s not known
neithe r does the rich Ir'..an care who his neighbor i s . They take
no pride in outward a ppearance s . The rich man may paint his
front d o o r and windows whi ch open onto the street more often
than hi s neighbor. but he conc entrate s his pride on the inter ior.
Painted walls and ceilings. Oriental rugs . tape stri e s . beautiful
divans and mir ror s , even to a small marble pond with running
water inside the parlor. The flowers in the court bloom luxur
iantly making a beautiful setting to the eye as one ente r s a long
gloomy ha,ll. 1 must say that in c ontrast their kitchens are the
lea st cared for and I often wished that they c ould s e e our modern
kitchens. Of cour s e , since the lady of the house spends little time
there the s ervants have to put up with all the inconvenience s . But
servants a r e plentiful and cheap.
Front doors must be kept locked on a c cbuht of s o
many thieve s di sguised as beggar s . One might a sk why must one
always knock. The keys to the fr ont door s are heavy, about six
inc�es long. weighing about a half pound, so that no one care s to
be encumbered with one .
I used to know my father ' s style of kno ck which was a
signal to adjust my umbaz and put on my best behavior. One be
c omes familiar with each knock and can gue s s fairly well who i s
knocking. N o w the begga r s l knock sounds differently. It i s s oft
and gentle. It has a technique of its own. If it i s too loud it might
ange r the lady and ruin her chance s , s o she give s a low kno ck
and listens for the word llrnain " . On hearing thi s word she begins
with the gamut of ble s sings that I refer red to previously. This i s
done in such a pathetic tone o f voice a s if she is famishing and
faint.
Poor g randmother ! Her sympathie s were stirred and
her hea rt melted when she heard the yoice c rying. "Allah protect
your children", "Allah bring back your absent one s l l • Having s o
many of her children away the voice a t the door was sure t o get a
good meal o r s ome cash. The beggar s tell each other where to
find an easy touch. Thi s used to vex my father who' .would go out t o
them !1nd"Scoldthem f o r being lazy and not working. They naturally
left mumbling cur s e s e
------ -----_._---
------ ------
·or
�195
The Mohammedan invoke s the name o f Allah and
adds to it, " Bejah Mohammed"( for the sake of Mohammed) . The
Prote stant add s , "Bejah. Alma seeh" (for the sake of Chri st) . The
Greek and Catholic s add "Bejah" (the virgin or the c r o s s ).
We w e re brought up to use the name of Ghri st. Thus
..
before you do s omething you, "Bism Alma se eh" . or if for some
reason you don 't say gra c e you say, "Bism Almas e ehll ; o r if one
doubts you you say, " Bi sm Almaseehtl or by the Christian truth.
Thi s give s you an idea how much trust the Oriental ha s in his
God. He wants Him to ble s s , to damn. to kill. t o burn. to heal,
to help - in fact anything imaginable he r eve rt s to God.
Now I shall write some potpourri p�as e s as the y
corne t o mind.
The mous e fell o££ the wall. The c at s aid to her
"Allah" a s if to say, "Too bad, are you hurt ? " The mouse answe r
ed, "Leave m e alone and I will b e i n Allah ' s good grace s . 1t Thi s
applie s to an insincere sympathy .
If anyone should fall or slip instantly one says
"Allah".
If one gets married on c ongratulating the m you say
"Allah grant you a boy" .
If a young man does you a favor you say, "Allah
grant you a good wife I I
If you buy a house you say , "Allah make it bles se d " .
If you buy a n e w suit you say, "Ble s se d may you
wear it in good health " .
In other words, one can apply Allah t o all ones
desire s and dreams - a c omplete dependence on Him.
•
..
•
Some odd saying s:
Nothing s cratche s your back like your fingernails .
I often like t o s ay that when no one doe s s omething the way I want
it done .
1£ your friend i s made of honey don't lick him alto
gether - meaning don 't take advantage or abu s e your privile g e s .
The palm of his hand i s always open s o that if he
wants to close it his fing e r s would not obey hirn, xneaning he i s
very gene rous.
Give the bake r the bread t o bake even shoUld he
steal half of it - when one tri e s to d o s omething he knows nothing
about and fails.
The dog that you have to drag to go hunting you will
not get any good from hixn. My father used to apply this to me
because I had to be c oaxed to study.
Anyt�ing cheap i s dear in the long run.
Y ou will regret buying cheap xneat when you drink
the broth .
Nothing rattles in the pot except the bone s . This
refers to one who boasts.
�1 love my bracelet but not a s much a s my wrist � selt: pr e s e rvation.
The lowland drinks its rain water and the rain water
'
of the ground above it. Thi s a pplie s to one who i s lowly.
They neve r say one ha s die d. Instead they s ay, ItHe
has given you hi s life .
They do not say sho e s , or dog. or toilet, etc . without
fir st s aying IfAjalak" meaning your position i s r e s pe cted. o r ,
as the Irish say " s aving your pre sence " .
After a gue st finishe s a drink of water the servant in
waiting c omes forward with a tray. As he is placing it on the
tray the s ervant touches the gue st ' s hand and puts hi s hand to his
.
head. The host says. "hanian" a s much a s if to say. "hope you
drank it with c omfort" . Then the guest should answer . "Allah
youhane e k".
5hufnaki fouk and shufnaki' taht. Thi s i s. one of my
favorite s aying s. It s eems that once a beggar knocked at the
door for alms. The lady said. "I am sorry the food i s upstairs .
If ! w e r e up. ! w ould give you alms." Shortly ther eafter he caIne
around and she answe red from upstairs . She said, " The food i s
downstair s and I c an I t come down. " H e went away saying.
"5hufnaki foulk and shufnaki taht. II So when someone makes
promi s e s and does not fulfill them I like to say. "We have s een
y�u up and w e have s een you down. "
The Arabic language i s full of pr overbs, adage s ,
old sayings and, of cour s e , cur s e s , slang and foul expres sions.
It i s also rich in its poetry and the beauty of its language . A s
for its music - i t i s enti rely dHferent from the We ste rn style.
It i s mos tly in the minor tone and has not the vivacity of our
music . I must confes s I am not musically inclined and therefore
cannot. be a judge for either type .
�197
C HA PT E R
MY
2 5.
FAI T H
In Chapter 2 3 I refer red to the marvelou s develop
ments that have taken place in the world and the fact that
millions of people a r e all enjoying peace and prosperity. ha ppi
ne s s and fre edom. Did you ever stop to think what thi s freedom
is due to ? Othe r s have their ideas of it but I have my conviction
bas ed on c ompari s on between the nations that have embraced
Chri stianity and thos e nations that did not. At a glance you can
see how much better off the Chri stian Nations are. What IXlade
this nation great i s the fact that it was founded on the teachings .
of Christ who taught the s e founding father s to, " L ove thy neigh
·bo�r as thyself " . As long as we follow this rule and the founda
tion of Christ' s teaching we shall be free. Here again I emplor e
you dear loved one s to keep this thought uppe rmost i n your
minds . I know that rnany peo ple criticize and find fault with
religion but thei r tar get �hould be directed at the so-called
Christians who are in reality a hindrance and a disgrac e to true
Chri stianity. Surely the re must be something superhuman about
this faith. Something that promi sed the early follower s nothing
but mi sery. suffering tea r s , dark dungeons and death. They
faced the lions with songs on their lips. What did that ? C an you
imagine the great Roman Empire that conque red continents not
being able to nip that new faith in the bud or snuff it l ike snuffing
a candle ? They did their utmost best to c onquer it but. believe
it or not, it ove r powe red the powerful R omans not with the sword
but with that spark of life . that little light which like the yea s t
cake pe rmeated through the people . Is thi s alone not a miracle ?
Please tell me . O r perhaps let the great Napoleon Bonaparte
give us hi s idea.
From 1 7 69 to 1 8 1 1 lived one of the most r eIXlark
able and his tory shaping man of our modern times . Napoleon
Bonaparte . the diminutive Cor sican who became Emperor of the
French and was one of the foremost mi lita r y geniuses of all timt�.
It i s hardly- to such a man that one should or would turn for
s pi ritual enlightenment but it is intere sting indeed to note what
he had to say about Je s u s of Nazareth and the Christian religion.
III see in Ly.curgus. Numa and_ Mo'b.�tnm�!i on1y legislator s who
having the first rank in the state. have sought the best solution
of the social problem. but I see nothing there which reveals di-
vinity. Nothing announces them divine . On the c ontrary there
' -are numerous resemblance s between them and myself, foibles
and errors which ally them to me and to humanity. It i s not so
with Chri st, f I he continued, in this conver sation with G eneral
_
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�198
•
, Burtrand, one of his companions during the twilight days of his
meteo ric caree r. : "Eve rything in Him a stoni shed me and His
will confounds me . B etween Him and+whos oever else in the
world the r e i s no po s sible ter m of compari son, He i s truly a
being by Himself. Hi s ideals and Hi s s entiments, the truths
which he announce s, His manner of convincing, are not explained
either by human o rganization or by the nature of things . His
birth and the history of His life.• the profundity of His doctrine
which grapples the mightie st difficultie s , and which is of tho se difficultie s , the most admirable s olution, His gospel, His appar
ition, His empi re , Hi s mar ch ac r o s s the ages and the realms , i s
for me a prodigy. a mystery insolvable . which plunge s me into a
r everence which I cannot e scape. a mystery which i s there befor e
my eye s , a mystery which I can neither deny nor explain. Here .
I s e e nothing human. Hi s religion i s a revelation from an intel
ligenc e which c ertainly is not that of a man. There is a profound
originality which has c reated a s e ri e s of words and maxims be
for e unknown. Je sus borrowed nothing from. our s ciences. One
can abs olutely find nowhe re. but in Him alone , the imitation or
the example of His life. " In anothe r place Napoleon wrote, "I .
know men and I tell you that Je sus i s not a man. Superficial
minds s e e a re semblance between Chri st and the founder s of
empires and the g ods of other r e ligions . That r e semblance doe s
not exist. The r e i s betwe'en Chri stianity and whatever other re
ligions the distance of infinity. I s earch in vain in history to
find the equal of Je sus Christ beyond the march of events and
above the human mind. The Bible contains a complete s erie s of
facts and of historical men to explain time and eternity, such a s
n o othe r r eligion has to offer . If thi s i s not the true religion.
one is ve ry excusable in being dec eived for everything in it i s
g rand and worthy of G od. I I ,
Referring to Christ ' s empire and His chur ch in con
trast to his own fame and glory, Napoleon, who has been de s crib
ed as the world ' s greate st traveling man of slaughter) said,
" You s pe ak of Cae sar , of Alexander , of their c onque sts and of
the enthu siasm. they enkindled in the hearts of the, s oldiers , but
can you c onceive of a dead man making conque sts with an army
faithful and entirely devoted to His memory ? My a rmy have for
gotten me even while living as the Cartheganian a rmy forgot
Hannibal. Such i s our Powe r. Such_ie; the history of the invasion
. and conque st of the world by Christianity. Such is the power of
�the God of the Christians , and such i s the perpetual miracle of
the progre s s of the faith and of the government of His church.
Nations pas s away. thr ones c rumble' but the church remains.
What is, then. the power which has protected the church from so
many storms which have threatened to enguU it ? Alexander,
Cae sar, Charlemagne . and I founded empires . But on what did
we rest the c reations of our genius ? Upon force. Jesus Chri st
�"
..
199
alone founde d His em pire upon love and at this hour millions of
men would die for Him. " Then, and rather pathetically, the
great Napoleon rema rked to his companion, " We are mere lead
now , General B ertrand, and s oon I shall be in my grave. Such i s
the fate of g reat men. So it was with Caesar and Ale'xander. And
1. too, am forgotten and the name of a c onque rer and an emperor
i s but a c ollege theme. Behold the de stiny near at hand of him
who has been called the great Napoleon. What an abys s between
my dee p mis e ry and the ete rnal reign of Christ which i s pro
claimed, loved, adored and which is extending over all the earth.
Is this to die ? Is it not rather to live ? The death of Christ . . . It i s
the death of God. "
Thus spoke the great Napoleon. I have not been
able to a s ce rtain the authenticity of thi s lette r. Howeve r the c om
parison i s true .
This bring s me to another subject so dear to my
heart. The r eader must have noticed by now how often I mention
in the s e memoi r s such sentence s a s , "I remembe r " , " I cannot
forget" . "I neve r can forget" . I truthfully meant what I said , and
the things which I wrote are indelibly imprinted on my brain .
So true are they that many a sentence I can re peat word for word
even though I heard it yea r s ago. This i s not a phenomenon with
me a s I have a mediocre memory. I am sure any one can go back
in his memory and re peat a story minutely even though she or
he heard it yea r s ago. Plea se bear in mind that when I wrote such
statements a s , "I can not forget, etc . I I I had not the remote st ide a.
that I might write such a chapter a s thi s . I am glad, howeve r , to
find them s c attered throughout the se memoirs becaus e they inad
vertantly help me greatly in my a rguments .
In 1 89 2 I was i n New Y ork City visiting s ome friend s .
I ran a c r o s s a teache r o f mine from Syria. I shall not mention
his name . The c onve rsation drifted to r e ligion. I was always
. under the impre s sion that he was a good Chri stian because he
taught me in Sunday School. attended s e rvic e s regularly and had
composed a hYmn. All in all he was conside red quite religious .
A s the pre s ent c ompany went on talking about Je sus Chri st I was
shocked, a s well as a stonished, at the change that came about in
my teache r ' s idea concerning Christ ' s divinity. I was yet in my
teens and had s o much r e spect for my teache r ' s judgement and
reas oning. He ridiculed the idea that Christ was the S on of God.
He was c onvinced, he ·said, that Christ was a human being like
one of us. Highly intelligent, a good man rnore like a prophet,
far ahead of Hi s age , a g reat teacher , r e s ourceful, mind reade r ,
and a magician. He said the big mistake . the Christian church
make s is to pray to Hirn. because He was human, but the churches
should follow His tea-chings , a s He s po�e: a no. .one s poke and the
Serrnon on the Mount showed the characte r and good s pirit of the
man. He s po ke rnost r e s pe ctfully of Him and the iiUluenc e H e had
on the world.
�You can imagine their line of di s cus sion. It had such
an effect on me that after li stening to thei r proof and di sproof I
c ompletely l o st my faith and went furtlier by arguing to myself
that if Christ is hum.an he knows no mor e about God than I do. If
so, I must conclude that the re is no God as we be lieve Him to be .
No one can prove the existence of God to me. I used to say that
the only c lue about God to me wa s what Christ had s poken of Him
as God the l oving fathe r with whom He, Christ. was before the
world was . Other proof s about God neve r satisfied me . So I came
to the c onclusion that since there was no Christ a s a deity there
i s no G od a s a Loving Father. the refor e we are no better than
the animals. Since the re i s no God, no deity Christ, ther e i s no '
devil, we live till we die . Period.
For a while I felt free . No religious dutie s . no wast
ing time on prayer or the reading of the Holy Book, no worry
about sin, about the devil. about the past. the pr e sent or the here- .
after but. a s the s aying goe s , Ueat, drink and be merry for to
morrow we die . "
Somehow my mind wa s not at ease. The story of the
Bible , I a r gued to myself, c ould not have been written by one man
. even though he be a genius like Shake s pea re who created so many
character s which to us are household name s . If one man wr ote
the four g o s pe l s a s a figment of hi s imagination, he surely must
have been a wizard, a most unusual mind to invent such a story,
basing hi s a c counts on hi storical facts. For we find Him here
and there proving his fictitious story on historical biblical facts
by saying. "As it i s written" or, "As it was writtenll . etc. How
eve r no book of fiction can revolutionize the world because it i s
bas ed not on truth but on one I s imagination . A s a boy I had known
eve ry incident in Christ ' s life and c ould relate them one by one .
Thanks to my early training. s omehow I felt that I lost the s e
character s in the Bible who we re t o me a s living friends.
I picke d u p the Book to study it not as when I was a
boy but a s one who i s seeking information, trying to find mis
takes o r faults i n the New T e stament in order to prove or dis
prove my teache r ' s c ontentions. The more I pondered over it
the more I was struck with the way Chri st s poke with such author
ity and lorded it over the people. Al so the many claims and
boa s tings telling them. " I and the Fathe r are one " , and, "Before
' . , the world was I am" , also, "He that s een Me hath seen the .
Fathe r " . The s e are the words of an insane man and how can my
teacher say of Him that he i s a good teacher ? The s e statements
were s o startling and s o hard to believe that it shocked thos e
who heard them that they c ouldn't forget them even though they
wrote the m down many years afterward.
One of the a rguments that was put forth was this . If "
Christ wa s a r eality. one who opened the eye s of the blind. raised
the dead . healed the . s i ck and the lepe r . why didn' t the historians
write about Him ? Why do we need historians to tell u s ' hear say"
..
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l
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20 I
.
acc ounts when we have eye witne s s accounts . Those who were
taught by Him, lived with Him day and night and were Hi s compan
ions for more than three year s . Suppose you . my teacher , were
o n e o f Hi s c ompani ons and saw H i m pe rfo rm o n e mir a c l e afte r
anothe r c ould you forget it if you lived many years . E ven 1 with
my ordinary memory can re call many thing s that happened 7 6
year s ago.
For instance , 60 year s ago the fir st w ords 1 heatrd
the profe s s o r say were the s e. As he entered the large amphi
theatre whe r e 3 0 0 students were pre sent he bowed as we cla pped
hands. I can se e him now with his hands ome fac e and long s ide
whi ske r s , tall and elderly. As we be came quiet he said, IlGentle
men you are he re, I I and paused a s e c ond. Then h e turned t o the
blackboard and wrote DIS EASE , then he faced u s again and said ,
IIGentlemen you are here to remove the " . He did not fini sh the
sentence but turned again to the blackboard and with the chalk put
a stroke through the DIS leaving the word EASE , meaning if you
remove the dis you get ease. So simple a thing. yet I have neve r
forgotten it. There are many other incidents which I can relate
word for word. Can you imagine Matthew or John or Peter or
James forgetting Hi s words or the miracle s which they s aw Him do ?
1 think it i s impo s sible to forget one syllable or one act.
I be came thoroughly convinc ed that there was such a
one as Christ. The evidence of thi s fact i s seen all around u s . The
Chine se c ount their calendar year s from s ome g reat man . The
Israelites count their fir st year from Abraham. The Mohammedans
count their calencl.ar year from the birth of Mohammed which took
place about 6 0 0 year s afte r Chri st. The old father s , a s well a s the
very same R oman s who wanted to de stroy Chri s tianity, began t o
count the calendar year from the date of birth of thi s man of hi s
tory. Thi s is to me a gr eat pr oof that the people d o not change
their calendar year just to suit a fictitious book or a mythic al
character . We all know that the United States date s its official
documents from the year of our inde pendence.
Did it eve r occur to you, dear teacher , why the
Jewish Sabbath, which was called the day of re s t or the s eventh
day of the week, was changed to the fir st day of the week and the
early father s called it the L ord ' s Day o.r Sabbath ? Do you think
if Christ had not risen from the dead, the Chris tian R omans would
have made this change ()r would they have dated the Chri stian E ra
from the time of His birth ? We all know that the Mohammedans
ado pted Friday a s their Sabbath ? T o me changing fraIn Saturday
to Sunday is alone a great proof that s<?mething miraculous mus t
have taken plac e and the pe ople wanted to c ommemorate the day
of R e surrection and call it the Lord ' s Day.
Another que stion was a sked: .Why did His discipl e s
wait s o long after Hi s death to write about Him ? It is my impr e s
sion that with the exc e ption o f Paul and Luke the other s did not
know how to read or write . . Je sus was able to read at the age of 1 2 .
�"'202
At thi s age He dis cus sed the old books of the Bible. This alone
prove s His divinity. We are inclined to think that His disciples
were e ducated m.en, clever with shorthand and the typewriter .
The se .shnple m.en were fi sherm.en and mo st likely illiterate .
One can hardly believe that even in our day there
a r e m.illions who cannot r ead or write . As late as the yea r 1950
in the city of Dam.a s cus I saw the so- called s c ribe s sitting in
corne r s of the main streets . with a small table , a bottle of ink.
and a few pens with a m.an or a woman sitting oppo site dictating
to the s cribe what he or she wanted written. Sometime s it was
a lette r or a docum.ent or an appeal to the judge. When finished
the custom.e r dips his finge r in ink and stam.ps it on the paper . .
Y ou s e e fingerprinting i s not a new art. I can safely say that
64 year s ago in the village of Bluedan not m.ore than five or six
peo ple were able to read. The prie st, the sheik, and one or two
m.ore. Many a tim.e a s a boy I was a s ked to read or write a letter
for s om.eone . H ow can we expect nineteen hundred and fifty yea r s
ago. whe r e pape r was unk.nown and par chment s carce. to find
the s e poor fishermen able to read or w rite ? After their Master
left them. they wer e dazed. They we re bubbling over in their
m.em.orie s with all the events that pas s ed before their eye s .
Even while fishing I can hear one of them. say t o the othe r , liDo
y�u rem.em.ber . John when they made a hole in the roof and low
ered the sick m.an down and the Master not only healed him but
for gave Him hi s s ins ? W ell, I could see the man getting up and
walking because many Um.e s befo re He lifted the cripple s up and
m.ade them. walk, but I c ouldn't see where He had the power of
for giving the man his sin. I didn ' t blame the Phari see s when
they que stioned hi s right and ability to forgive sin. " " Gan I ever
for get it,? I t said John. " I, too. questioned His powe r but did not
have the courage to a sk Him be cause His words and His fac e
. had s omething about them that smacked o f truth. I I
I am. sure the se fishermen had a burning desire to
tell the w orld about it. Imagine the s e fishermen. like our fi sher
m.en of today. sunburned. rugged faces and rough hands . sitting
down after their hard day ' s work and learning how to read and
w rite . Papyrus wa s mos t likely expensive and scarce be cause
it was m.ade out of the s edge fam.ily plant found in marshy s pots.
The s pongy pulp of the papyrus r eed i s cut into fine strips which
are laid s ide by side vertically. anct ()ver them mor e strips
are laid down s ide by side horizontally to form the de sired
sheet o r s c r oll. Then it i s s oaked with water , treated with gum
and a llowed to dry in the sun. Next it i s polished with ivory
r olle r s until it i s smooth enough to use. For a pen they used
anothe r kind of reed which i s whittled to the shape of a pen with
a fine s plit at the point, s imilar to our pens of today . .•
Many a tim.e I have whittled m.y own pen as steel
pens were not known. A length of reed sim.ilar to a pencil
and c osting about a penny can be whittled many time s until it i s
"
�203
..
..
..
�204
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al so;
" The high prie st rent hi s c10thes p saying. 'He hath spoken bla s phe my ' II
al so;
ItThe prie sts said unto Pilot. S i r . thi s de c eive r. said while He wa's
alive 'After three days I will rise again' . "
Now let u s s e e what Mark r emembe r s of his Ma ste r ' s
words :
"But that you may know that the Son of Man hath powe r to forgive
sin"
also;
"He said unto them but whom say ye that 1 am ? Peter answereth.
' T hou art the Chr i st ' . "
al so;
" B e gan to teach them that the Son of Man mu st suffer many things
and be reje cted of the chief prie sts and be killed and after thre e
days ris e again. I I
al so ;
HAnd they ke pt saying within themselve s que stioning one with
anoth e r what the rising from the dead means. I f
also;
" Behold we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man shall be delivered
urito the chief prie st s and they shall c ondemn Him to death and shall
.c;.d elive r Him to the gentile s and they shall scourge Him and shall
kill Him and the third day He shall ri s e again. "
al so;
"But after I am risen I will go before you into Galilee . "
als o;
"Again the high prie st a ske d Him. 'Art thou the Ghrist the son of
the ble s sed and Je sus s aid, 'I am and ye shall see the Son of Man
sitting on the right hand of power. i If
Now let u s s e e ' what Luke records:
" But whom.- s ay ye that I am. ? Pete r answering said, ' The Ghri st
of God. ' I I
also;
" The Son of Man must suffer many thing s and be rejected of the
elde r s and the chief prie sts and be slain and the third day He
shall ris e again. It
al so;
"That y ou may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom and sit
on the thr one judgin.g the twe lve tribe s of Israe 1 . "
als o;
" Then the chief of priests said to Him. 'Art thou then the Son of
God ? H e said to the m, lYe said that I am' , and they said, 'What
n eed we for further witnes s for we ourselve s have heard of His
own mouth
t "
,
Now w e 'will ask John, whom the Master loved, what
he remember s.
..
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t
"
\.
..
205
"Nathanie l answered and said unto Him, 'Rabbi, Thou art the S on
II
of G od. Thou
" art the King of Israel '
al so;
"When the people aske d Him for a sign, Je sus answe r e d and s ai d .
'Destroy thi s temple and in thre e days I will rai se it u p again. ' I I
also;
"When therefore He was ri sen from the dead. His discipl e s remem
be red that He had said thi s unto them '. I I
also;
l IAnd no man hath ascended up to heaven but He who c arne down
from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. I 1 1
also ;
"A s Mose s lifted up the ser pent in the wilderne s s s o the Son of Man
be lifted up. "
also;
"But who soever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eve rlast
ing life . "
al so;
" Therefore the Jews sought more to kill Him be cause He not only
had broken the Sabbath but said also that God was Hi s Father
making himself equal with God. "
al so;
"I am. the bread of life . He that c ometh to Me shall neve r hunger
and He that believeth in Me shall never thir st. "
al so;
"For I carne down from heaven not to do My own will but the will
of Him who sent Me . "
al so;
"I am. the living bread that carne down from heaven; if any man eat
of thi s bread He shall live forever and the bread ,that I' shall give
i s My fle sh which I will give for the life of the world. I f
also;
"Even Hi s disciple s murmured at His saying s . Jesus said unto
them.: 'Doeth thi s offend you ? What and if you shall see the S on
of Men a sc end to where He was before . "
als o;
"Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go . thou hast
the words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that thou
art the Christ of the Living G od . "
also;
"Yet ye have not known Him but I know Him and if I should s ay I
know Him not. I shall be a liar. "
also;
"Verily. verily, I say unto you before Abraham was I am. II
also;
.. Jesus a sked the man whos e sight wa s restored. " Doest thou
�elieve on the Son of God? lie answered and sald ,Who i s .he .. Lord
that. . I rttight believe on him.? Je sus said unto him, Thou hast s e en,
"�
I
�t
i s he that talketh with thee . I I
also;
c;,II and My Father are one , then the Jew s took up stone s again to
stone Him. "
al so;
"I am the r e surre ction and the life . He that believeth in Me ,
though he were dead yet he shall live . I I
also;
.. til came forth from. the Fathe r . Again I leave the world and go
to the Father. "
him and
it
I trust that you have read the se paragraphs carefully.
Can you still say that Je sus who made the se statem.ents i s a good
teache r ? T rue , He taught us to love one another , to love our
enemi e s and to do go od to tho s e who hate us. But if Christ i s only
a man, how can He make statements such a s , "I and the Father
are one il, or, "Before Abraham was I am, etc . "
Thi s g ood teacher of yours reminds me of the Chicago
CO,,", ""'ho gave the Ir'..ilk but :kic ked the bucket.
Thi s same teacher taught us how to tell untruths, to
impersonate false ly and to dec eive . It is no wonder that the high
pri e sts decided to do away with Him be cause they said that He
bla s phemed and said that He i s the Son of God. One cannot read
tl1e se reporter s ' memoi r s without becoming convinced that Je sus
time and time again tried to impr e s s on their minds that He was
way above them, that He wa s divine , and that He wa s with G od
before the world was . They were so thoroughly imbued with the s e
ideas that you can pity them. They couldn 't make up thei r minds
what manner of man He wa s - just like them yet s o different. He
s poke with authority and understanding like no one had spoken,
claiming that He c an forgive sin. How can we r e s pe ct a man who
mis r e pr e s ented himself a s being divine and cau s ed millions of
His follow e r s to s uffe r torture and misery, . ye s even death J
bec ause they believed Him to be a Saviour . What do you think of
a man who kept talking about getting killed and rising from the
dead after three days ?
You will notice that every time He made a predi c
tion that He is to be killed, He always followed it up by saying,
ti The thir d day I shall ris e again. " C ould anyone in his right
mind s ay . '.'As Jonah stayed in the belly of the whale thr e e days
He will stay in the belly of the earth three days ? I I Could anyone
for get such a statement ?
All the four reporte r s told exactly what their Maste r
s poke of and the manner o f death which was awaiting Him and
that after thre e days He shall ris e again. The r eporte r s were
puzzled and among themselves said. what is this he says that
he wiU be killed and the third rl;ay ris e again. You too. dea,r teacher,
would have been puzzled had you been one of them. I think you
would hav e said that the man i s out of _his mind but now you say
oJ
f
,.
�207
\.
"
".
He i s a g ood man, a- good teacher .
Whether o r not H e wa s a good teacher o r a n impos
ter his predictions con�erning H i s death came true in spite of the
fact that we judged him insane for He wa s crucified at the insti
gations of the high prie sts. 1 do not think that you will que stion
this fact. The evolution of the c r o s s :i s a unique symbol and i s a
reminder of this Jesus dying on the cro s s . Also, everywher e you
travel you s e e the sign of the cro s s - on mountain top s , carved
in stone in old ruins , on church stee ple s , inside of churche s and
old abbeys hundreds of years old.
Now we come to the second prediction, which puzzl
ed the re porte r s , namely Hi s saying , " The third day I shall rise
again. t I They all tell us that He did ri s e from the dead because
they saw Him in the fle sh after He had risen, they talked with
Him, walked with Him. ate with Him and were thoroughly convinc
ed that He had ri sen from the dead. But they did not sto p there
but insist that they saw Him lifted up into a cloud. Not until then
did it dawn on them what He used to tell them that He carne from
the Fathe r and would return to the Father in heaven whence He
came . Having seen their Maste r crucified. risen from the dead
and di sappearing from. their sight add to it the thre e year s they
lived with Him, the miracle s they saw Him do and they had no
furthe r doubt that thi s marvelous character who fulfilled all Hi s
promi se s and predictions and sayings was no other than the Son
of the Living God. They we re so satisfied by the convincing
evidence that pas s ed before their eye s that they wanted to broad-_
cast it to the whole world.
If only one of the re porte r s had told the story we
would have the right to doubt him and say the poor reporte�
was hard of hearing o r had poor sight o r too m.uch wine and gave
a fi ctiti ou s story, but when the four reporte r s quote Him a s
. saying that He i s the Son of G o d you can c ome t o one o f two con
clusions; either that He is really the Son of G od or that He i s
the greatest deceiver that eve r trod this earth . . . Y ou cannot say
that the se re porte r s did not re port him corre ctly but you can say
that He pulled the wool over their innocent minds and made them
believe that He wa s superhuman.
W e often refe r to any per s on who doubts a c ertain
statement as being a "doubting Thoma s ll • We are inclined to
place a sti gma on dis ciple Thomas I characte r and ridicule his
lack of faith. Instead _we really should sympathize with him. Here
i.s a man who loved his Master perhaps more than the other s . His
nature was such that he could not believe his master whenever
He referred to hi s rising again from the dead. He saw Him nailed
to the cro s s , he saw the big gash in His side and he watched Him
die . His hopes we re dashed to the ground and he w ent about
grieving his Master ' s los s and hopeles sly tried to get some s olace
and c omfort by going ove r in his mind the miracles which his
Maste r made before his eyes. The s e miracle s he had to believe
�t
because he saw them with his two eye s . Howeve r his doubting
natur e played havoc with him and made him downcast and deject
ed. How often we find our selve s saying, "I don't believe it" in
r e s pons e to something startling, e s pe cially if the thing in que stion
i s s omething w e dea r ly d e s i r e .
I think my wife i s a d e s cendant of St. Thomas. She
doe s n ot m.e an to doubt you but. poo r thing, it i s he r nature not
to a c c e pt anything without verification. F re quently she will say:
"How do you know u , " Who told you" , "lt can 't bell , "I d on 't
believe it" . "Who said s o " . etc . I often say to he r , "Listen Sara
whenever I s ay 'I think' you may doubt me . Any other time you
must beli eve me. 1I I feel sure Thotnas too could not help it
bec au s e i t was in hi s natur e and instead of c r iti cizing him w e
ought t o prai s e him f o r the strength of hi s c onvi ctions and for
not being gullible o r credulous . No wond e r then that when he w a s
in the midst of his g rief s omeone rushe d to tell him the j oyous
new s that they saw the Maste r . The new s was s o startling that it
was only natural for Thotna s to say I d on ' t believe it. They must
have t ri e d to convince him becau s e he said, tlUnle s s I place my
finger s in the mar k o f the nails and place my hand in His side .
(the gash must have been large be cause he saw it and knew it
was lar ge enough for his hand) I will not believe . When the chance
carne and he put his finge r in the print of the nail and his hand in
His side he exclaimed: liMy Lord and my G od . I t
T hank you. dear St. Thoma s , for unbeknowingly you
have made a g r e at c ontribution to millions of be liever s whos e
faith has been strengthened beyond measure by your inadvertent
dis belief.
Now. dear teache r . having read the forgone state
ment s , it seems to me that you c an come to one of two conclu
sions. E i ther that Chris t w a s divine , was c rucified, d e ad and
burie d , and r o s e the thir d daYi o r . that He i s human, faked � Hi s
mir ac le s , taught wise sayings, died and i s still in the grave .
Picture pleas e the founde r of Christianity lying in the grave ,
that same pe r s on who boasted that He will only stay in the grave
thre e day s , the ver y same man who put the que stion to hi s dis
ciples thus , " and who do you say I am ? " Peter, one of His fol
low er s , answ e r ed Him saying. " Thou a rt the S on of the Living
God. I.' Now if Je sus was not the Son of the Living G od and He ,
being a g ood man, a truthful man, a wise man. He should. like
any s i nc e r e honest tnan, say: "No Peter ; 1 am not the Son of
God, 1 am a human being like yourself, but Jesus, in o rder to
pull the wool further over the eyes of his di s ciple s who were
gather e d ther e with HiIn intently listening to the c onve r s ation
hea�d Jesus s ay, in o rder to c onfir m Pete r ' s statement,
" B le ss ed art thou, Simon Peter , for fle sh and blood hath not
revealed it to· you but My- Father which is in heaven. ft. '
Had you been ther e and heard this c onver sation
c ould you have for g otten one wor d o r one syllable if you lived a
,
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hundred years ? Who wants t o believe an im.postor, a deceiver ..
or have anything to do with him ? Or who can trust the wis e s t
man if you kn�w that he i s taking advantage of the simple-minded
peo ple and making them believe that he i s divine ? All hi s teach
ing s will go to naught for the truth i s not in him and I want nothing
to do with Christianity if it i s founded on untruth and dec eit and
the actor in it i s an impostor . T o me this i s logic .
It i s hard, however , for anyone who has read the life
of Chr i st, the man of sorrow s and acquainted with grief, who went a
about doing good even the touch of Hi s garment had healing in its
folds , whose teachings a r e on the lips of millions and who taught
the sweetest le ssons, it i s hard to believe that such a man i s an
imposto r . It i s hard als o to believe that the r e porter s were lYing .
when they said that they saw Him on the c ro s s and s aw Him many
time s after He rose again from the dead. They walked with Him.
and talked with Him and ate with Him. It i s hard to s ay that all
the quotations which the se reporte r s wrote about Him are a pack
of lies . And the bigge st lie of them is the one where Thomas put
hi s hand in the Maste r ' s thigh.
One of the apostle s wrote , I I If Christ be not risen we
are found false witne sse s of God that He rais ed up Christ, whom
He rai s ed not up� if s o be that the dead ris e not up then i s Christ
not raised.lI In another chapte r he writes . "How Christ died for
our sins and that he was buried and that he rose again and that He
was s e en of Sepha s, then of the twelve. Afte r that he wa s s e en of
above five hundred brethren; of whom the greater part remain
unto thi s pre sent, but s ome are fallen a sleep. last of all He a ppear
ed to me . I I I wonder i f h e too i s lying ?
To me the whole Chri stianity hing e s on the question of
whethe r Chri st rose up from the dead or n ot. If, a s you say, 'lIe
is a man, a good teacher , etc . • then Christianity i s a far c e and let
us for get all about it. If. on the other hand. Chr i st has ris en it i s
easy to believe that H e i s a supreme being diffe rent from u s .
I find. dear tea che r. after studying thes e proofs that
I cannot agree with you, much a s I would like to , be cause you
know the Arabic saying , "He who teaches n:le a letter has made
me his slave . " From all the se proofs I deduct further that he who
doe s not believe in the divinity of Christ and His r e surrection,
should not c laim that he i s a Christian becau s e if Christ is still
in the grave , he make s Chri st and all Hi s re porter s liars . S uch
a r eligion be comes a man-made religion bas ed on moral ethic s
and the s o-called brothe rhood of man. This kind of religion leave s
us in the grave to rot forever and a day.
A s for me . I derive a great deal of s olac e and c omfort
from such a saying a s this. til am the r e surre ction and the life.
He that believeth on me. though he be dead. shall live a gain. " Yes ,
my teacher.., you may call-this a dope. Please give :me. more-ofthis dope which gives me the wonderful hope of life beyond the
grave. No, dear teache r , I cannot agree with you because I find
-�'
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1 .
H
.\ :.-
,,:?'the evidence i s overwhelming, and since I feel that I have written
the s e memoirs from IneInory and re ported them truthfully. why
should I doubt the truth of the s e re ports and say that these r eport
ers fo rgot the s e incidents in the life of their Ma ster and did not
c re port them truthfully and accurately. e s pecially when the tl¥ng s
:
'they s aw and heard' a r e unforgettable ?
A s St. John puts it, " That which wa s from the begin
ning. which we have h eard, which we have Reen with our eye s ,
whi ch w e have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word
}of life . For the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear
' witne s s and show unto you that eternal life which wa s with the
Father and was Inanife sted unto u s . " Since I cannot doubt the se
reporter s , even though they have written from their Inemory, I
believe that thei r r eports are true and c onvincing and , without any
doubt in Iny mind, I can s ay like Pete r: " Thou art the Son of the
Living God and that thou art the Christ who was born of the virgin
Mary, who was crucified dead and buried. the third day r ose again
froIn the dead and sitteth on the right hand of God the Fathe r
AIInighty.
It would take a great deal of s pace to quote so many
more saying s and proofs from the book of books but if you read it
car efully I feel sure you will agree with me that Christ a rose from
the dead in the fle sh and not symbolically. It is not hard to believe
that the one who time and again raised other s from the g rave can
rai se himse lf.
Here I should like to quote part of John 1 5- 26: "But
the C omforte r , which i s the Holy Ghost. whoIn the Fathe r will
s end in My naIne, He shall teach you all thing s and bring all things
to your r emeInbrance , whatever I have said to you. f I So you see,
the se r eporters did not r ely strictly on their IneInorie s but had
supernatural help which sha rpened b.eir recollections .
So my dear chilqren I hope you will s earch the
Scriptur e s diligently. I am sur e you will find that it i s the only
thing that c ount s .
..
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wadea and Aelyas Kassab Memoirs
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Portraits
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Wadea Kassab was born in Damascus in 1872 to an Orthodox family connected to British and American Protestant missionaries. Wadea immigrated from Syria to the United States in 1889, moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a former teacher of his had settled. He first worked in a stove factory and later became a molder in a factory making brake shoes for the railroad. After leaving the factory, he spent several years working on a farm, peddling fancy goods, and doing other miscellaneous jobs. During this time, he built relationships with Americans, including the O’Neill family of Chester, Pennsylvania. Wadea graduated from dental school in Philadelphia in 1895 and practiced dentistry in Chester. He began taking care of the O'Neills, who had financed and encouraged his dental career.</p>
<p>Aelyas (Elias) Kassab, Wadea’s younger brother, was born in Bloudan, Syria in 1883. Aelyas followed Wadea to the United States in 1899. After completing high school in Chester, PA, he also attended dental school and practiced dentistry at Wadea’s office. </p>
<p>Both brothers married women in Syria and brought them to the United States. In 1905, Wadea married Sara Hajjar, who had been educated at an English boarding school and was teaching at a mission school for Jewish children in Damascus prior to her marriage. In 1921, Aelyas married Soumaya Khoury of Beirut, Lebanon. The Kassab brothers both raised their families in Chester. Aelyas continued the brothers' dental practice while Wadea attempted a career in real estate; when this failed, Wadea rejoined the dental practice. Wadea died in February 1972, and Aelyas in October 1987. The brothers are both buried in Pennsylvania.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p>This collection contains a photograph of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab and two typed manuscripts: “Memoirs” by Wadea Kassab and "Kassab Family History” by Aelyas Kassab. The manuscripts offer insight into the social fabric and workplace challenges faced by early immigrants.</p>
Creator
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Aelyas Kassab
Wadea Kassab
Source
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Family of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1954-1958
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Khayrallah Center staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Linda Jacobs and Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 November.
Identifier
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KC 0035
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Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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kc0035_002
Title
A name given to the resource
Memoirs of Wadea Kassab
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Description
An account of the resource
"Memoirs" by Wadea Kassab recounts Wadea's life from his childhood in Damascus and Bloudan, to his immigration to America in 1889, and through his pursuit of education and a career in dentistry.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Wadea Kassab
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
The family of Wadea Kassab
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1954
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1950s
Biographies
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KASSAB FAMILY H I STORY
by
Aelyas Kassab
�PROLOGUE
wr iters of h i storical events or r ecords o f
important persons are not necessarily creat ive wr i t er s .
Many h i stori cal events and many inc idents o f the lives o f
important people though they may b e un i ntere s t i ng mus t b e
recorded , and the good wr iters must u s e the i r bes t
t alents to so portray the ir sub j ect ' s quali f i cat i on that
the reader ' s interest may be reta i ned .
I am not a wr iter , creative or otherwi s e .
I
have undertaken the task of wr i t i ng the h i s tory o f the
Kas sab f amily in general and my branch i n part icula r , at
the request o f s everal members o f i t , s ince I am the
oldest member .
Whether it will be interes t i ng or not ,
they are the j udges .
A . Kassab
2
�The family t ree o f the Kas s abs had its roots in
the long ago . Careful search o f the archives o f the
Patr iarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church i n D amascus
revealed that one Jacob Kassab , who was the seed o f thi s
tree , was born i n that c ity in 1 7 20 .
He w a s educated i n
the schools o f that Church and became a well known
merchant .
He was marr ied and had f our boys ;
f ollowed i n h i s f ather ' s footsteps .
and had three boys .
one , Nami ,
He , too , was marr ied
The oldest , Elyas , was born i n 1 8 1 4 .
Th i s boy had a very interes t i ng career .
When h e was
twelve years o f age , h i s father died and he was sent to
his uncle in Cairo , who was a well known merchant and who
pledged to look a fter h im .
About th is t ime , Mohammed Ali , a n Alba n i a n
s oldier , acceded t o the pashalic o f Egypt , then under the
rule of the ottoman Turks , and under h i s s o n ,
I br a h im
P a sha , part of Arabia and the Sudan were annexed t o
Egypt .
I n 1 8 3 1 I brahim began the conquest o f Syr i a ; h i s
forces routed the Turk i sh Army , and Syr i a w a s ceded t o
I brah im o n the condition of t h e payment o f t r i but e .
These men brought galvanic prosper ity to Egypt ; and i n
the i r d e s i r e t o improve the educati onal status o f the
country , I brahim Pasha dec ided to send young men at
government expense to Europe and elsewhere , t o s tudy and
be tra ined in arts and sc ience and in craf t s and trades
s o that they would return and become the future teachers
3
�and leaders o f the country .
Elya s ,
( son of Nami , grandson o f Jacob ) ,
w i sh ing to go , wrote an applicat ion , and not know i ng what
to do , decided to deliver it in person to I brahim P a sha .
H e sought the palace and awa ited at the door for the
emergence o f that dignitary on his way to the mosque to
attend the Fr iday a fternoon prayer .
He wa s long in
c om i ng and Elyas got very t ired from wa i t ing ; he s at on
the steps and was soon fast asleep , with the applicat ion
i n his hand close to h i s breast .
When the Pasha emerged ,
h e s aw the sleeping lad ; he called t o one o f h i s a ides
and ordered h im to awaken the sleeper and br ing h im over
t o him .
Elyas bowed respect fully and pres ented h im with
the applicat ion .
After look ing it over , the Pash a was
a s to n i shed and s a id ,
" Do you really want to go? "
" I surely do , " the lad repl i ed .
" You shall go , " the Pasha a s sured h im .
Elyas spent s ix years in I t aly study ing arts
a nd s c ience a s well a s the cra ft o f mak ing gla s s .
Return ing to Egypt , he began to teach . After a while , the
pol i t i cal s ituat ion began to change and he gave up
t each i ng and dec ided to travel in Europe and A f r i ca
trad i ng in a var i ety of merchand ise .
of that and resolved to
Dama scu s .
He s oon got t ired
return to his former home in
He embarked on a Turk ish steamer .
On h i s way ,
war was declared between Greece and Turkey , known a s the
4
�War o f I ndependence .
A Greek war ves s el attacked h i s
steame r , k i lled many of the pas sengers and crew , and he
wa s one o f those who were taken pr i s oner .
When the
capt a i n d i scovered that he wa s Greek Orthodox and could
speak many languages , he asked h im to r ema i n w ith the
s h ip as a n interpreter , but he refused .
The Capt a i n gave
h im all h i s belong ings and s et h im free at the port o f
S idon .
There he heard about an English lady ,
from the
party then in power in England , by the name o f Lady
Stanhope , who needed an interpreter to replace the one
she had becaus e he was charged with a cr ime .
her ; she liked h im and h ired h im .
He s ought
After a season , one o f
h i s f r i ends told h im that an envious person f als ely
accused h im of having done someth i ng against the Lady ,
wh i ch a ngered her .
He became worr ied and fled t o
Constant inople , and from there he went to Europe .
He
then returned to Damascus wear ing a wh ite cloak , like an
Egyp t i an colt .
He marr ied the s i ster o f Dr . Jubran
K a s s a b who bore h im a son , Salim .
years old , h i s mother d i ed .
When the boy was f ive
Elyas then marr i ed M i r i am ,
the daughter o f J i bran Abo- Shaar .
F ive boys carne f rom
that union : Abdo , George , John , I skander and M i chael .
Elyas taught I talian to important men in the government
service and other noted men , Chr i s t i ans a s well as
Moslems .
He also taught class ical Arab i c in the s chool
of the Greek Orthodox Church o f Damas cus .
5
He also
�practiced s imple medic ine on the s ide , a th i ng that he
had learned in Egypt .
He died in D ama scus i n 1 8 6 9 , a s a
r e sult of a k i ck o f a horse .
Elya s ' s eldest son , Salim was born i n 1 8 3 9 .
h i s father took care of h i s early education t each i ng h im
bes ides Ara b i c , I talian , English and French .
Later he
stud ied at the Rus s ian school , prepar i ng for the
p r i e sthood .
I n that school , there was a f amous p r i e st ,
Father Joseph Haddad , who wa s an expert of anc i ent Greek
language .
Two doctors , Eli smith and Cornelius Van Dyke ,
o f the American Congregat ional Church were engaged i n the
translat ion of the Holy Scr iptures and they s ought the
a s s i stance of Father Haddad in the r ev i s ion o f the proof
sheets .
Th i s fact caused the priest to study the B ible
and to encourage the students to d i scu s s reli g i ou s top i c s
i n h i s presence .
I n order to do that , he r es orted t o
relig i ous debates and s elected three top i c s :
S alvat ion by f a ith alone
I nterces s i on of Sa ints
Prayer for the Dead .
H e s elected Salim Kassab to take the s ide of the
Protestants and chose another s tudent to d e f end the
p o s i t ion of the Greek Orthodox Church and he gave the
debaters a fortn ight to prepar e .
Salim spent the t ime
d iligently searching the Scr iptures .
He def ended the
f irst propos i t i on and challenged the other two .
6
As a
�r esult o f h i s study he d i s covered that the teach i ng o f
the Church was not i n accord with the S cr ipture s and
there f ore , he could not cont inue in the prepara t i on f or
the Greek priesthood .
On leaving the s chool , he was
e ngaged by two m i s s ionaries , Drs .
Lans ing and Crawf ord ,
who had opened s chools in Dama scus , t o teach them Ara bi c .
Th i s contact w ith the protestant m i s s iona r i e s helped h im
t o r emove any doubts in h i s mind about the r ightn e s s o f
the protestant beli e f s and h e le ft the Greek Church and
j o i ned the miss ionar ie s .
Just be fore the massacre o f 1 8 6 0 , he
accompan i ed Dr . and Mr s . Crawford to Yabrood a s the i r
t eacher in Arab i c ; they had intended to open a s chool f o r
boys .
The Greek church leaders urged the people t o
oppose t h e proj ect and have n o dealings with them
whatsoever .
Even the ir ne ighbors shunned them and would
turn away as they pas sed by . However , there wa s no
r e s ident med ical doctor in the c ity and that gave the
mi$s iona r i es a good opportunity to help the s i ck , to
f reely g i ve medi c ines and vaccinate the babi e s .
Naturally th i s k i ndnes s made them many fr iends among the
non-Chr ist ian section of the populat ion , a fact that
s aved the ir lives when the d i sturbances broke out in
the ir locality .
7
�Removal to B e i rut and F ir st Meet ing w ith Mrs . B owen
Thomps on :
As a consequence of the d i s turbances o f 1 8 6 0 ,
the M i s s i onary S chools in Dama scus d i spersed for a t ime ,
and Dr . Rob inson and Dr . Crawford a sked Salim K a s s a b to
accompany them to Be irut .
One day they showed h im a
letter f rom Mrs . Bowen Thompson ,
an English lady , who
answered the c all to help the homeles s and d e s t i tute
w idows i n Lebanon , and came to B e i rut to help .
She had
a sked for a nat ive a s s i stant to teach her Arab ic and help
her in her work .
Dr . Robinson and Dr . Crawf ord gave a letter of
r ecommendat i on and introduct ion ; and Salim called on Mrs .
Bowen Thompson one day in September 1 8 6 0 .
That day
marked more than a milestone in h i s career ; i t proved to
be an epoch in h i s l i f e .
letter of introduct ion ,
When he called and showed the
it was grac iously rece ived ,
and
h e was taken in at once .
The very f irst th ing he had to do wa s to
t ranslate a very touch ing letter o f sympathy s ent by
s everal widow-ladies in Great Brita in , and addr e s s e d to
the i r s i ster widows in Syr ia and Lebanon .
Hundreds of re fugees came together from all
parts of the country , and a meeting was called to rece ive
the mes s age from the widows in Great Brita i n addr e s s e d to
the w idows in Syr i a and Lebanon .
8
Salim Ka s sa b read the
�mes s age on that memorable occa s i on , and it brought balm
t o the bru ised hearts o f the poor , homeles s w idows and
r e fugees .
A large quant ity o f cloth arr ived for the
poor , and Mr s . Thompson began a sewing clas s .
More than
s eventy women j o ined and wh ile help ing to sew the
clothes , they began to learn how to read and wr i t e and to
hear the message o f the gospels .
Where s adness and g r i e f
had preva iled , peace and serenity began to r e ign among
the older r efugees .
That helped to reli eve the immed iate
need o f the older people .
To care f o r the children , who
could not be le f t at home , was the next problem .
could not j o in the ir mothers in the i r clas s e s .
They
So Mrs .
Thompson provided them with a teacher , who conducted h i s
cla s s e s in tents p itched in the yard .
From g i ving employment to the elders ,
organ i z i ng schools for the children , Mrs . Thompson
organ i z ed v i s itat ions to the slums ,
cottages and crowded
khans herself , ably ass i sted by Salim Kas s ab , carryi ng
clothi ng ,
food and med i c ine to the helples s wretches
l iv ing in them . Many a day he had to s it up , a s she d i d ,
t i ll one in the morn ing ,
the
daily gr i nd .
and r i s e at f ive a . m . to begi n
The ir hearts were in the reli e f work .
Mrs . Thompson had intended to rema i n s ix months
only in Syr i a , but a s the work grew so rap idly , and the
s chool flour i shed ,
she came by degrees to th i nk o f
s ettling in Be irut , and eventually s h e did , plac i ng a
9
�heavy part o f the burden on the shoulders o f S alim
K a s s ab .
Thus started the schools that came t o b e known
as the B r i t i sh syr ian Miss ion Schools in B e i rut , and a
comm ittee wa s formed in England known a s the Br i t i sh
Syr ian M i s s i on .
10
�Arr ival o f Mr . Mentor Mott Accompanied by Mrs . Mott and
M i s s Lloyd (S i sters o f Mrs . Thompson)
About the end of 1 8 6 2 , Mr . and Mrs . Mentor Mott
and M i s s Lloyd came to Beirut and , perceiving the
magn i tude of the work , they became instantly i nterested
and threw themselves wholeheartedly into the work .
Mr Mott , having pr ivate means , bought s ome land
adj o in i ng the I nst itut ion started by Mrs . Thompson and
bu i lt " La Ma i son"
( now the Lycee Franca i s ) wh i ch became
the center of benevolence , hosp itality and Chr i st i an
i nf luence .
The need for teachers being great , Mrs . Mott ,
a s s i sted by Salim Kas sab , took in a f ew g irl boarders
w ith a v i ew to train ing them a s teacher s .
Mrs . Thompson
gave i n-person instruct ion in English , and Salim K a s s a b
i n Arab i c a n d other branches o f learn ing .
Opening o f Branches in "Be irut
As children cont inued to come in great numbers
to the I ns t itute ,
it was found necessary to e s tablish a
s eparate school for the boys , and for many years was the
only Protestant Boys School , where S alim Ka s s a b a s sumed
heavy dut ies as a teacher and as manager of the s chool .
Many o f its pup ils later went to the Syr ian Protestant
College and became masters , doctor s , newspaperme n ,
pharmac i st s , etc .
11
�The S chool for G i rls became too large and the
Engannon I nfant School was opened in the immediate
ne ighborhood with a roll of two hundred includ i ng s ome
poor bli nd boarder s .
I n 1 8 6 3 , a ragged school , called " Olive Branch"
was opened near the sea .
I t wa s soon f illed , and shone
for th irty year s , a solitary light i n the nor thwes t s ide
o f B e i rut .
I n 1 8 6 3 , the Moussa itbeh S chool was opened on
the south s ide of Beirut .
I n 1 8 6 6 , the Ashra f ieh School was opened i n the
ea stern quarter of B e i rut .
I n 1 8 7 2 , E s - Sayf i School was opened i n the
northe a s t s ide of Beirut .
The S chool for the Blind was then opened by Mr .
Matt , wh i ch later became absorbed by the B r i t i sh Syr ian
M i s s ion .
I n the autumn o f 1 8 6 3 ,
i n response t o urgent
appeals from the widows , who , a fter peace wa s r e stored to
the country , had returned to the ir homes i n Ha sbayah ,
praying for open ing of a school , a s chool was opened in
Moukhtara at the spec ial insi stence o f s itt Jumblatt ,
w i f e o f S a id Bey Jumblatt .
s itt Na z eera Jumblatt became
one of the f irst pup ils of this School , and she stood
f ir st in her clas s .
Later she became the f avor ite o f her
grandmother who willed to her all her property .
12
�I n 1 8 6 8 , the School at Zah l eh wa s f ounded ,
later a schoo l was opened in Moa l laka .
13
and
�School in Dama scus
Wh i l e so many schoo l s wer e b e i ng f ounded in
Lebanon , none were opened in Dama scus unt i l 1 8 6 7 .
I n 1 8 6 7 , dur ing a v i s i t to h i s nat ive c ity ,
S a l im Kassab was d i stressed on compar ing how much was
b e i ng done for Lebanon with the tota l neg lect o f
D amas cu s .
So he set about it , and got seve r a l l e a d i ng
Greek Orthodox gent lemen and others from the other
C ommun i t i e s i n Damascus , to s ign a p et i t i on t o Mrs .
Thompson for a G i r l s Schoo l .
The petit ion was s igned and
s e a l ed by forty - f ive lead ing c i t i z ens of the c ity ,
and
S a l im Ka ssab promptly ma i l ed it to Engl and where Mrs .
Thompson had gone for a rest .
The answer was prompt:
" wa i t in Dama s cus , I am coming , " and she d i d come , where
she was enterta ined by the Greek consu l
( whose daughter
was educated in Beirut at the I n s t i tute )
other s ,
and f i fty
includ ing the Greek Orthodox p r i e s t s .
Dr . N a s i f
Meshaka and the Amer ican Consu l , and one o f the most
d i�t i ngui shed Protestants in Damascus l ent h i s
a s s i stance .
So in 1 8 6 8 , S a l im Kassab accompan i ed Mr s .
Thompson to Damascus for the f inal arrangement s .
She
(
rented a suitab l e house near the Greek Church ,
and
start ed the work with s i xty pup i l s .
The work wa s remarkab ly success ful ; and i t was
dec ided to hold a pub l i c examinat ion .
14
The schoo l room
�be i ng sma l l , the British Consu l procured f r om a Mos lem
E f f en c i a f ine mans ion , and invited a numbe r of prom i nent
c i t i z ens , the Va l i and Sar iaskar of the Vi l ayet .
The day was memorable - the crowds i n the
street so immense that f i fty gendarmes had t o marsha l the
avenue to the mans ion .
Every ava i l ab l e p lace was packed
- veranda s , ba l conies and even the ba lustrades on the
hous etop .
Day by day app l icat ions came in , and the school
had to be tran s ferred to the northern part of Damas cu s in
the Chr ist ian Quarter .
The cont inued success l ed to the open i ng o f
another schoo l f o r the Druz e boys i n the Ma idan s outhern end o f Damascu s .
Soon the Schoo l had two
hundred pupi l s .
The work grew rap idly to such propor t i ons that
the Comm ittee in London summoned Sa l im Kas s a b to Engl and
to p lead f or more funds for more spa c i ous accommodat i ons .
He. embarked from Beirut in January 1 8 7 1 ; v i s i ted
Scot land , and spent over s ix months ho ld ing pub l i c and
drawing-room meet ings in var i ou s loca l it i e s , and he
succeeded in ra i s ing three thousand pounds S te r l ing f or
the proj ect .
I n 1 8 7 6 , he wa s aga in summoned to Eng l a nd t o
p l ead t h e cause o f the Brit i sh syr ian M i s s ion gener a l ly .
15
�Schoo l at D e i r E l Kamar
When D e i r el Kamar was rebu i l t , and the peop l e
returned to the i r new homes , many pet i t i oned for a
s choo l .
One was opened to meet the urgent demand s ;
but
no sooner wa s it organ i z ed , and the pup i l s began to
a s s emb l e , than strong opposit ion was aroused and Daud
P a sha , the f irst Muta s s a r i f of Lebanon , ordered i t
c l osed .
An appeal wa s made to the B r i t ish Ambas sador at
Constant inop l e , and another to the Comm ittee i n Eng l and ,
who prompt ly communicated with the M i n i ster o f State .
I t s o happened that Su ltan Abd e l Az i z was i n
London at the t ime , and when din ing o n e eve n i ng w ith the
Lord Mayor of London , h i s Sadr A ' z am rose to respond to a
toast , and s a i d that H i s Maje sty the S ultan wa s grea t l y
i nterested in encourag ing the open ing o f schoo l s , a n d was
g iv ing fu l l l i berty to European M i s s i onar i e s in h i s
dom i n i ons .
Whereupon , Lord Beacons f i e ld , B r i t i sh Pr ime
M i n i ster , stood up and s a id:
" We r ejo ice t o hear of H i s
Majesty ' s good intent ions toward h i s subject s , t o whom we
are bound by h i stor i c and commerc i a l f r i endsh ip:
but we
regret to learn that some of h i s o f f i c i a l s do not c arry
out h i s w i shes , " referr ing to Daud Pasha ' s act ion .
The Grand V i z i er trans l ated thes e words to H i s
Majesty the Su ltan , who was much concerned , and i nqu i red
who the o f f i c i a l was , and wa s told Daud Pasha had c l o sed
the Br i t i sh School at De ir el Kama r .
16
A prom i s e o f
�i nqu iry and reparation was immediate ly g i ven .
As a
r e s u l t D aud Pa sha cal l ed on Mrs . Thompson and S a l im
Kassab at the Schoo l in Be irut .
" What have you done ? " he a sked in Eng l i sh .
" D id you accu s e me to the Su ltan about the Schoo l ? "
Thompson answered:
Mrs .
" I t wa s not I who accused your
Exce l lency , but the B r i t i sh Pr ime M i n i ster , a f te r I had
l a id the matter be fore our committee a s I was o b l igated
to do . " D i scus s i on f o l l owed , and Daud Pasha invited them
t o be h i s guests for a f ew days at B ' tedd i n ,
at the
conc lu s i on o f wh ich v i s i t he promi sed to accompa ny Mrs .
Thompson and S a l im Kassab to Ain Z e j a lta , and that " with
a pub l i c demonstrat ion so that a l l Lebanon m ight b e
impressed . "
And he did , and at Ain Z eja lta a Scho o l was
opened .
17
�The V i s it o f H i s Roya l H ighness The Pr ince o f Wa l e s
(Later K i ng Edward VI I )
I n 1 8 6 2 , H i s Roya l Highnes s v i s i ted B e i rut ,
com i ng f rom Jerusalem over land . He was rece ived at the
Br i t ish Schoo l , where S a l im Kassab conducted h im a round
the p l ace .
As a consequence of h i s v i s it ,
and the deep
i nterest wh ich he took in the we l fare o f the B r i t i sh
Schoo l s ,
Sultan Abde l Az i z granted a F i rman - THE F IRMAN
OF 1 2 8 3 A . H . .
The I mper i a l wr it reached Mrs . Thomps on i n the
summer of 1 8 6 8 , permitt i ng her to open schoo l s i n
d i f f erent parts of syr i a , and ca l l i ng on t h e author i t i e s
n o t o n l y to protect but t o a id the undertak ing .
I n 1 8 6 8 , Mr . Mott and S a l im Kassab opened a
s choo l i n Tyr e .
I n 1 8 7 6 , a schoo l wa s opened in Baa l beck .
Bes ide h i s work with the M i s s ion ,
c e l ebrated scho lar . He spoke Arab i c ,
Turk i sh ,
I ta l ian and Greek .
S a l im was a
Eng l i sh ,
French ,
He trans lated many books
f r om f ore ign languages to Arabic s o that they could be
used in the schoo ls ; he wrote many other s ; he co- authored
the Arab ic-Eng l ish dict ionary w ith Dr . George Hamman .
He
was a great preacher and a much sought -after speake r .
He
was mar r i ed to Fomia Banna from Dama scus and had f our
boys and three g i r l s .
One o f the boys d i ed in i n fancy .
The o ldest Ami n and h i s two brothers graduated f r om the
18
�Amer ican Un ivers ity of Be irut .
Ami n opened a department
store in B e i rut and was j o ined later by h i s two brothers .
Sa l im s erved the Miss ion and h i s country f or
over forty years ,
and one morn ing at the ope n i ng s e s s ion
o f the s choo l , he was of fer ing the morn ing praye r ,
he uttered t h e words ,
and a s
" Lord , Make u s a lways r eady t o meet
Thy Face , " he s lumped and f e l l and h i s s p i r i t entered the
presence of h i s Lord .
noth ing cou ld be done .
Severa l doctors were s ummoned but
Beirut wa s shocked:
h i s funera l
was very impre s s ive for he wa s loved and respected by
Chr i st i ans , Mos l ems and Dru z e s .
Note:
-
B irthdays of S a l im ' s Ch i ldren ;
1 8 7 3 ; S e lma , Oct .
S ept 18 8 2 ; Az i z ,
Deaths:
Amin , Apr i l 2 3 ,
1 8 7 5 ; Shukr i , Jan . 2 8 ,
1 8 8 0 ; Najl a ,
Sept 1 8 8 4 ; Mar i e , Apr i l 18 8 6 .
S a l im , Feb 19 0 7 ; Fom i a , Mar .
Shukr i , Mar 1 9 3 6 .
19
19 2 2 ;
�ABDO KASSAB (1 8 4 5 - 1 9 1 8 )
Abdo , who was the o ldest son o f E lyas ' s second
marr i age ( to M i r i am ) , a l s o ha lf-brother to S a l im ,
and the
f ather of th i s wr i ter , was born in Damas cu s in 1 8 4 5 .
His
e a r ly educat ion wa s i n the school o f the Greek Orthodox
Church to wh i ch the fam i ly be longed .
h e l earned the weaving trade .
Leaving the schoo l ,
When he was f i ft e e n years
o ld a mas s acre of the Chr ist ian popu l at i on took p l ace in
Syr i a and Lebanon .
Thousands of men , women and ch i ldren
were k i l led and the ir homes and property burned .
The
s l aughter was terr ible and the Chr i st ians woul d have been
c omp letely wiped out , had they not been r es cued by a
God- s ent d e l iverer in the person o f Em ir Abde l e l Kader ,
a n Algerian Pr ince who , a fter f ight i ng the French Armi � s ,
was e x i l ed to Damascus where he wa s l iving with h i s
ret inue o f a hundred men .
shout ,
When he heard the Mos l em mob
" Deem , Deem Mohammed , " f o l lowed by ,
butcher them , p lunder , burn ,
" K i l l them ,
leave not one a l ive , " he
orpered his men to rescue the h e l p l e s s Chr i s t i a n s and
take them to his palace .
Hundreds were re scued , h i s
p a l ace was f i l l ed with refugees , Europeans a s we l l a s
nat ive s , and when no more could be accommodated there , he
ordered that the fug i t ives be taken to the great c a st l e ,
1 2 0 0 0 o f a l l ages and sexes , where he protected them and
fed them .
When the mob saw that they were b e i ng
f rustrated from accomp l i shing the ir devi l i sh act ,
20
they
�threatened Abde l e l Kad ir h imse l f .
Hear ing that the mob
was com i ng , he ordered that h i s charger be s a dd l ed whi l e
he put on h i s armor and h e lmet and ordered h i s men t o do
the s ame .
As the mob approached , he drew h i s sword
and
s ingly charged into the ir midst .
" Wretches , " he shouted ,
" i s th i s the
way you honor your Prophet? May h i s cur s e s be
upon you .
Shame on you !
Shame !
Y ou t h i nk you
can do as you p l ease with these Chr i st i an s ?
N o t a Chr ist ian wi l l
brothers .
I g ive up !
They are my
Stand back or I w i l l g ive order to
my men to f i re . "
The crowd d i spersed .
Not a man of that crowd wou l d dare
r a i se h i s arm aga inst that renowned champ ion of I s l am .
A l l honor to that nob le man !
H i s deed o f mercy and
human ity became known throughout the c iv i l i z ed wor ld and
a l l the ru lers of Europe sent h im tokens and letters o f
a cknowl edgement .
The Pres ident of the un ited states s ent
h im
, a beaut i f u l pair of gold-mounted r evo lvers proper ly
inscr i bed a s a present .
Elyas and the members of h i s f ami ly e s c aped the
ma s s a cr e through the kindness of a Mos l em f r iend , who
r i sked the wrath of the mob and brought them t o h i s home
and , when the s ituation qu ieted a l ittle , took them t o
t h e Cast l e wh ich wa s protected by t h e forces o f P r ince
Abd e l -Kad i r .
21
�When order was restored , Abdo went back t o h i s
weaving trade but not for long .
Short ly a fter h i s f ather
d ied , Abdo as sumed the respons i b i l ity of car ing for h i s
f am i ly o f h i s mother and four brothers . F i nding that the
i ncome f rom the j ob o f weaving was not suf f ic i ent t o meet
the needs o f the fam i ly , he dea l t in s i lk f iber and
opened up a grocery shop .
But the resu l t was not much
better than be fore , so he dec ided to make a comp lete
change .
Thi s dec i s ion was no doubt i n f luenced by the
a s soc iat ion o f h i s h a l f -brother S a l im with the B r i t i sh
M i s s i on ,
and the m i s s i on ' s work in char ity and educat i on .
He took a j ob a s a caretaker of the M i s s ion ' s propert i e s
and a purcha ser o f a l l the supp l i es that t h e s choo l s
needed .
He a l s o taught in the schoo l f or the b l i nd ,
wh i ch was newly opened .
The work of the Miss ion i n Dama scus was
d i r e cted by a B r i t i sh lady who came from a we l l-t o-do
f ami ly .
She was very reserved ,
and un l ike the members o f
th� Ame r i can M i s s i on , kept her s e l f a l oof f r om a s s oc i a t ing
w ith the natives .
She opened a scho o l for g i r l s , a
bu i ld i ng cons ist ing o f two separate house s connected by a
corr idor ; one sect ion wa s used for c l a s srooms and the
other for l iv ing quarters for hers e l f and the teachers .
She be l onged to the Church of Eng l and and she changed one
of the rooms to a chap e l where r e l ig ious services were
observed .
22
�There was among the teachers a young woman who
was educated in the M i s s ion scho o l in Ha sbaya .
One " day
Abdo was supervi s ing some repa ir work i n the t eacher s '
He s aw the g i r l and it was l ove at f ir s t
quarters .
s ight ; he wa s sure that it was rec iprocated .
When he
went home that even ing he to ld his mother about her , but
h i s mother told h im that it wa s a pass ing wh im and to
f o rget her .
Abdo saw the g i r l aga in a f ew days later and
he was sure of h i s attract ion to her .
When he t o l d h i s
mother that thi s i s the g i r l that h e wanted t o marry and
no other , h i s mother remonstrated ,
saying
" But my dear son , you know noth ing about the
g i r l or her f am i ly except that they are
Protestants .
You know that our church f r owns
on that re l igion ; cons ider what my brothe r , the
Archb i shop of the diocese of Dama scus w i l l say
when he hears what you are go ing to do .
wi l l hurt h im terr ibly .
It
There are many g i r l s
who w i l l b e g l ad t o marry you .
G ive t h i s
not ion a f ew more weeks of thought .
I w i l l f ind
a jewe l of a g i r l , you ' l l see that what I am
te l l ing you is the w i se th i ng to do to keep
harmony in the fam i ly . "
" Mother , " he s a id ,
" I t i s she and nobody e l s e .
I ' l l rema in s ing l e i f I g ive her up and w i l l
put the blame on you .
23
What ' s th i s idea o f
�Orthodox , Catho l i cs and Protestant s ; they a l l
wor ship the same God .
jewe l of a g ir l ; she ,
No , mothe r ,
she i s a
and nobody e l se . "
When Abdo was convinced that the consent of the
fami ly was not forthcoming , he asked the Chap l in of the
M i s s ion to marry them .
After the
He wa s g l ad t o do s o .
ceremony , Abdo took h i s bride to h i s home and ca l led h i s
mother saying ,
" Here mother ,
I ' ve brought a daughter . "
H i s mother accepted with res ignat ion not be ing a b l e to do
I t took only a few days t o convince h i s
otherw i s e .
mother that her son was r ight with h i s cho i c e and that he
did not do her just ice ; that the near future wou l d prove
it .
Mar ita soon became a beloved and l ov i ng daughter .
I n a few days she entered into the l ife of the fam i l y and
made herself so usefu l that a l l members of the fami ly
were convinced that Abdo had chosen w i s e l y .
tak i ng on the many dut ies of the househo l d ,
B e s ides
she helped
her husband with his work in the M i s s i on v i s i t i ng the
s i�k and help ing the needy .
She was not used to t h i s
strenuous work and with the corning o f a baby , s h e became
i nd i sposed .
The doctor from the M i s s ion suggested a change
from the su ltry heat of Damascus .
The M i s s ion
recommended " B ludan" where the M i s s ion had bought a p iece
of land and bu i lt some houses for the use of the
m i s s iona r i es to es cape the humid heat of Dama scu s .
24
Abdo
�acted on h i s advice .
He went to B ludan and rent ed a
l arge room from N i c o l a Ma s r i wh ich was used a s a s itt ing
as we l l a s a l iv ing r oom .
cooked on the veranda .
There was no k itchen ; they
They did not have to worry about
the weather because it does not r a i n �ur ing the s umme r
s e ason .
I n a f ew days they began to see a change i n
Mar ita ' s hea lth , s o much f o r the better that i t convinced
Abdo that the M i s s ion was r ight .
S o he bought a p ie c e o f
ground adj o in ing the M i s s i on ' s property w ith the hope
that when his f i nance s permitted he wou ld bu i ld a hous e .
They enj oyed a p l easant summer and r eturned home greatly
r e f reshed .
The family was p l easantly surpr i s ed at the
improvement in Mar ita ' s health and was g l ad t o know that
they were p l anning to have a home there .
25
�ABDO KASSAB - AGE 72
�B ludan
B ludan , a v i l lage in the Ant i -Lebanon Mouht a i n s
about th i rty mi l e s from Damascus ,
leve l .
i s 4 5 0 0 feet above s e a
I t i s a v i l lage of about three hundred persons o f
m i xed r e l i g ious b e l i e f s - Mos lems , Catho l ic s ,
orthodox .
and Greek
They l ive harmonious ly with each other . The i r
homes a r e bu i lt o n the s ide of the h i l l s .
The sty l e i s
d i ctated by the weather for i n winter they a r e e nt i r e ly
bur i ed i n snow .
The average home i s a l arge r oom d i vided
i nt o a l iving and a ut i l ity room to store the g r a i n s ,
d r i ed vegetables and fruit , nuts and pre served meat s , a l l
Fortunately for them , they can l ive a
f o r . winter use .
great part o f the year outs ide .
B ludan ' s weather dur ing
the thr e e months of summer i s dry and pract i ca l ly
c l oud l es s ,
and at dawn it i s a joy to see the sun r i s e in
the morn i ng and touch the mountain top then des cend
s l owly downward to bathe the va l ley be l ow .
And i n the
even ing i t i s a breath-taking scene to see the s ame sun
r ecede s l owly
unt i l it disappeared in the sky and watch
a s the stars one by one beg in to take the i r p l ace ,
myr iads o f them .
Because of the c learness o f the
atmosphere they s eem so near danc ing in the sky that the
o n looker f ee l s that he can touch the Great D ipper .
I ndeed , a think ing person cannot help but be f i l led w ith
awe and wonder and he f inds h ims e l f exc l a im ing w i th the
p s a lm i st " The heavens dec lare the g l ory o f God and the
26
�f irmament showeth H i s hand iwork . "
Qu ietnes s then
descends on the sou l s of the wear ied men ,
f o l l owed by
r e fresh i ng s l eep .
The l ot of the Bludanese f armer was very hard
due to B l udan ' s weather .
Dur ing the months o f June ,
July , and August there i s no rain ,
and the farmer h a s to
depend on irr igat ion , but the f ew spr i ngs e i ther d im i n i sh
i n quant i ty or become dry a ltogether .
O ften because o f
t h e drought , he l o s e s the fruit of h i s hard l abor .
There
are two or three sma l l springs above the vi l l age , whose
waters are jo ined and each farmer i s a l lotted his share
accordi ng to the s i z e of the l and that he owns . D i sputes
occur when one takes more than his a l l otted share , but on
the who l e they managed to get a l ong .
Thi s l ack o f water supp ly necess itated hard
work to be ab l e to r a i s e wheat and corn and barley .
At
harvest t ime they f o l lowed the same methods o f reap ing
the crops a s was used by the ir fore fathers ages ago : they
carr i ed the crops to the thresh ing_f loor and spread them
in c ir c l e s .
A heavy board about s even by f ive ,
r e i nf orced on the unders ide with a s e r i e s o f f l i nt stones
s e t in the wood , wa s h itched to a pair of oxen ; a per son
s it s on the board and dr ive s round and round over the
spread sta lks unt i l the gra in is separated from the
chaf f .
Then wa it ing for a f avorab l e bree z e , he w innows
the ma s s and the cha f f is b l own as ide from the g r a i n .
27
�T h i s in turn i s gathered and washed , d r i ed and stored for
the f ami ly ' s use .
The cha f f i s a l so stored for the
a n ima l s ' f ood dur ing the winter season .
f am i ly ,
Usua l ly each
i n the spr ing , buys a young sheep and f attens it ,
o ftent imes forced feeding unt i l it gets s o f a t that i t
can h a r d l y move .
Then , a t the end o f summer ,
it is
k i l led and cooked with its r ich fat and preserved i n
conta iners for the use o f the f am i l y dur ing w inter .
They a l so sun-dry vegetab les , nuts and fru i t s ; r a i s i n s
and honey sUbst itute for sugar .
Not having any pub l i c
ut i l it i e s , they are forced to me lt the snow that
somet imes bur i e s the v i l l age into water for themse lves
and the ir catt l e .
They use wood and dry catt l e dung for
h e a t i ng and , when ava i lable , kerosene for l ight ing .
Many
houses have l ooms ; the women spun the wool into yarn and
wove it into c l oth wh ich in turn was s ewn i nto garment s .
The ir s was a pr imit ive l i f e ; very f ew could read or
wr i t e .
A sheik , appointed by the government sett l ed a l l
s imp l e d i spute s .
They had no schoo l s unt i l the M i s s ion opened an
e l ementary schoo l ; education wa s unknown .
They spent
the i r t ime , when they were not needed i n the farm or
f i e ld , d i scu s s ing and tak ing care o f things that were
vital for the i r surviva l .
They were good people ; they shared the i r j oys
and the i r sorrows and when a f am i ly had a d i f f icult j ob
28
�t o be done , they were ready to help .
Though they
d i ffered in the i r re l ig ious be l i efs , b e i ng h a l f of them
Mos l ems and the other half Greek Orthodox or Catho l i c or
The
Chr i st i ans , they seemed to l ive in comp l ete harmony .
Mos l ems had a sma l l mosque and the Chr i st ians two sma l l
churches .
The i r common meet ing p l ace was a sma l l p i ec e
of l and in t h e center o f the v i l l age where t h e r e was a
spr i ng of water from wh ich the commun i ty drew i t d r i nk ing
water .
I n the spr ing of the fo l lowing year , my father
rented the s ame rooms , Mother ' s brother who was an
exce l l ent bu i lder arrived from Zahleh , and they bu i lt the
hou s e wh ich wa s of two stor i e s , each with three r ooms
w ith a l ong veranda , from s ide to s ide .
The hous e
occup ied a sma l l part of the land l eaving a good s i z e
p i ece of ground for a garden .
I t wa s fortunate that a
sma l l brook meandered through the property mak i ng i t
p o s s ible t o have a garden o f vegetab l e s , o r f l owers .
wa s at once p l a nted .
It
A large copper cau ldron was p laced
in the garden and it was a lways fi l l ed with water from
the brook for the use of the fami ly ' s washing and
bath i ng .
Water for dr inking had to be brought from the
ain .
Wh i l e the house was be ing bu i lt in 188 3 , the
third boy of the fam i ly but the s ixth ch i ld , f i r s t s aw
the l ight of day and took the first breath of the coo l
29
�pure a i r o f B ludan wh ich gave me l i f e and made me a l over
of that spot even to thi s day .
The f am i ly was st i ll
My mother ' s mi lk wa s
l iving in the r ented rooms.
i n su f f ic i ent and I began to lose we ight .
A wet nurs e wa s
f ound f or me and very soon I began t o gain we i ght .
Soon a fter , the house wa s r eady for occupancy
and the fami ly moved in .
My f ather was so p l ea s ed that
he bought several p ieces of land , some deve l oped and some
not , and he h ired a caretaker to take charge of both
property and hous e .
That was very important for the
house needed someone to shove l the snow f rom the roof and
f r om the veranda .
My father was to supp ly the nece s sary
t oo l s and seed and the caretaker to share ha l f the
r e s u lt .
For two years , thi s worked we l l then one day ,
I braheem , the caretaker had a mul e and he was tak i ng him
t o gra z e in one o f the f ie lds .
l ik e smoking .
On the way I br aheem f e l t
He t i ed the reins o f the mu l e t o h i s a rm
a n� began to ro l l a c igarette .
As i t happened , they were
p a s s ing a lane w ith heavy bushes on both s ides .
Suddenly
s ometh i ng rushed by wh ich so fr ightened the a n ima l that
he darted and began to g a l l op .
I braheem wa s thrown to
the ground and the mu le dragged his v i c t im on the rough
terr a i n for quite a d i stance .
Fortunate ly , I braheem wa s
not s e r i ou s ly injured , but enough to stop work ing for a
t ime .
My father h i red another caretaker but he was not
30
�r\
s a t i s factory , and another with the s ame r e s u l t .
After
two years o f d i sappo intment s , he rea l i z ed that to make a
succes s o f the undertak ing he would have i t g ive i t h i s
personal attent i on .
Th i s wa s not p o s s i bl e .
First of
a l l , h e cou ld not give up h i s work a t the M i s s ion ,
and
aga i n , he was not a farmer ; so it was wi ser for h im to
s e l l the property and get rid o f the worry .
And he d i d .
When the fami ly heard the news , they objected
strenuou s ly ; they cou ld not be l i eve that he wou ld s e l l
the house without t a lk i ng i t out with them .
But f ather
t r i ed to convince them that it wa s a l l for the best and
they wi l l st i l l be able to go to B ludan as they had done
previous ly .
That winter was very s evere and f ather kept
remind i ng them that he was not worr ied about who wa s
g o i ng to shove l the snow from the roof of the hous e .
That f o l lowing Spr ing , a tragedy struck our
f am i ly .
My o lder brother Two feek was f e l led w ith scar let
f ever ; he gave it to me and to Najeeb .
we�e conf ined each to a room .
med i c a l sk i l l d i d not save him .
The three o f us
Twof eek had i t very bad ;
He was my f ather ' s
f avor ite chi ld ; and f ather wou ld not be reconc i l ed .
fami ly spent the hot'summer in the c ity .
The
Father rea l i z ed
that he had made a mi stake in s e l l ing the house and he
to ld the f am i ly that he wou ld bu i l d them another hous e .
True to h i s word , he bought a p i ece o f ground adjo i ni ng
the other s ide o f the Miss ions ' s property and t o l d mother
31
�to get r eady . Th i s t ime , he deeded it i n mother ' s name .
Mother did not hes itate ,
for a s soon a s the
weather permitted , she and her brother went to B ludan and
began w ith the bu i lding .
The lot was a l it t l e f arther
f rom the v i l l age , adjo ining John Ph i l l ip ' s hous e .
It had
no brook and there fore was not suitable for a garden ,
but
it was h igh ground with no obstruct ion f rom any s ide .
It
w a s a two story house with sta irway o n the out s ide .
There were three rooms on the f irst f l oor , the roof o f
these made up the f l oor of the veranda and jo i ned the
The roof o f
wa l l o f the three rooms of the second s tory .
those rooms was supported by f ive stone columns , wh i ch
made up f ive archways in the front and one on each s ide .
I t wa s a beaut i fu l hous e .
The unus ed port ion o f the l and
was c leared of rocks and terraced so that i t was pos s ib l e
t o have a garden .
I n the f o l lowing years twins were born and were
named Braheem and Kah l i l .
Mother l iked the name
( chosen
f r�m the B ib l e , the Old Testament , where i t says in the
Arabic Vers ion ,
Kha l i l o f God . ) "
" And Abraham was the fr iend of God ,
( the
Kha l i l was about a year old when he
contracted a s evere case of scarlet f ever .
The house was
quarant i ned with the other chi ldren in it , and
consequent ly the four boys got the d i s ease as we l l .
Only
the doctor from the Miss ion was a l l owed to enter the
house to render help to our str icken fami ly .
32
But with
�a l l h i s help Kha l i l , the fri end of God , the beaut i fu l
baby , returned t o h i s Maker . The recovery o f the other
'
f our ch i ldren tempered the loss of the boy .
Short ly
a fterward , the last ch i ld of the fam i ly , a g i r l named
Wadad was born .
Mother worked very hard in des igning and
bu i ld ing the house . She loved B ludan .
s imp le peop le
She l oved i t s
and they loved h e r and brought h e r a l l
the i r troub les and she pati ent ly l i stened t o them and
coun s e l ed them .
I t was very fortunate for us that my f ather was
a s s o c i ated with the B r i t i sh M i s s ion ,
for the M i s s ion had
e s t ab l i shed good e l ementary as we l l a s k indergarten
s choo l s for boys and g i r l s .
So natura l ly Abdo ' s ch i ldren
wou ld go there for the ir education a s soon as they
reached schoo l age .
Though the scho o l s wer e estab l i shed
by the M i s s i ons , the teachers were nat ives ; they taught
the three Rs as we l l as the sc iences in Arab i c .
The
s tudy of the B ib l e a s we l l as the Eng l i sh language wa s
o b l igatory .
They taught what was needed for entrance to
c o l lege .
My brother Wadea became very f r i end l y dur ing
the year w ith h i s Eng l i sh teacher who was go i ng to
America and who promi sed h im that if he , too , wanted to
go to Amer ica , he wou ld help h im .
So when he f in i shed
that year , he told my father that he would l ike to go to
33
�Ame r i ca .
My f ather strenuous ly obj ected and i t took the
urgent p l eading of my mother to get father ' s consent ( see
Wadea ' s memo irs ) . Wadea l e ft for Amer ica .
I was s ix years o ld when my brother l e f t for
Ame r i c a and I was sent to the M i s s ion s choo l for boys' .
We started with the pr imary a s we l l a s the s econdary
r eaders wh ich contained stor ies from the B ib l e and as the
course advanced ,
severa l pas sages were requ i red t o be
c omm itted to memory .
Arabic grammar , h i story and
geography were later added and mathema t i c s was e spec i a l ly
stres sed .
Eng l ish , with an I r ish brogue , was the
spec i a lty of one of the miss i onar ies ; French and Turk i sh
I
were e l ect ive and were taught outs ide schoo l hour s .
was not a br i l l i ant student , j ust l ike the average boys .
I think that the fear of pun i shment f rom father he lped me
make the grade .
Meanwh i l e ,
d i f f iculties .
in Amer ica , Wadea wa s having h i s
T imes were bad , jobs were scarce and he
had no previou s preparat ion for any k ind o f work .
His
f r i end t o whom he had wr itten from Dama scus was then
l iving i n Chattanooga , Tennessee , and Wadea ,
a fter
landing i n New York , went d irect ly to that c ity where the
only j ob ava i lable was in a stee l f oundry .
Th i s type of
work was very hard on one who had not had any exper i ence
with phys ical work , but he could not be a chooser .
He
took the job hop ing that someth ing better wou l d turn up .
34
�Un f ortunat e ly , t imes did not improve .
The ear ly years o f
1 8 9 0 were years o f depres s i on , and he not o n l y d i d hot
f ind better k ind of work , but even h i s foundry c l osed and
he was f orced to return to New York where he had s ome
Syr ian f r i ends .
H i s l etters back home were cheerfu l ,
f u l l o f admirat i on for the country and its peop l e , but
m i xed w ith fee l i ng of d i s appo i ntment that he cou l d not
s end a port ion of his earning home to h e lp f ather w ith
the expenses o f a large fami ly .
I n New York , a merchant in the l ine o f l inens
and embro ider i e s , whom he had known in Dama scu s , gave h im
on cons i gnment a satch e l fu l l o f goods and t o l d h im to go
and try h i s fortune .
f ather ' s advice .
He immed i ately wrote home a s k i ng
My f ather had made i t a sacred r u l e to
w r i t e to him each week and he numbered the l etters s o
that Wadea wou ld know i f any were l o s t in trans i t .
Wade a
d id the s ame and kept the family i n formed o f a l l h i s
movements .
ad�ice ,
Father ' s letters were f u l l o f devot i on and
" Remember , Son , don ' t do anythi ng that d i sgraces
yourse l f or your fami ly .
We are praying God t o s ave you
f r om a l l the temptations in the land of your s ojourn . "
Mother ' s l etter were a l s o fu l l of trust that her son
wou l d a lways g ive heed to what she had t r i ed to inst i l l
i nto h im:
the love of truth , honesty , and the f a ith i n
God .
Wadea l e ft New York with h i s s atche l and
35
�t rave led south ,
stopping f irst at Princeton and
Ph i lade lph ia w ith very l ittle succe s s .
Rea l i z i ng that
th i s type of work is better adapted to the suburbs than
to large c it i es , he cont inued south and stopped i n
Chester , Pennsy lvan ia .
He went to the post o f f ice to
wr ite a card to s end home , and wh i le he was stand i ng at
the desk writ ing it , a middle-aged lady stopped at the
same desk to address a letter .
I t happened that a l l the
pens were out of order and see ing her d i l emma he
ventured ,
" Excuse me ,
I see that you only want to addr e s s
a l etter , may I o f f er you my pen? "
The l ady w a s greatly
surp r i s ed as she looked over at his card and f ound that
i t was not wr itten in Eng l ish , and she s a id as she
accepted the pen ,
" Thank you very much , and by the way
wha t k ind of a l anguage is th i s that you are wr i t i ng ? "
He rep l i ed that it was Arab i c .
" Oh , that i s the language
of the Arabian Nights , " she s a id .
" Y es , " he rep l ied .
"And i s that where you came from? "
" Ye s , " he s a id .
" And what are you doing here ? " she a sked .
Though he was not interested in thi s
conver sation h e thought that i t might produce a s a l e ; s o
he gave her a br ief resume of h i s movements . Then she
s a id ,
" How interesting , young man ; my f ather and s i ster
l ive not far from here , " and g iving h im her name and
address she cont inued ,
" When you get through wr it ing ,
36
�stop to see us , we might be interested . " He thanked her
and s a id that he wou ld stop in the ear ly a fternoon .
The
f a ther ( Mr . o ' Ne i l l ) and the two women inqu ired a bout the
country and its peop l e and a fterward bought s ome l i nens
and sent h im to some of the ir f r iends who l ikew i s e d i d
the s ame .
When Wadea returned to thank h i s new f r i ends
for the i r he lp , the father s a id ,
" Whenever you are i n the
ne ighborhood be sure to stop to see us . "
Wadea went as far south a s Wash ington ,
at B a l t imore and many towns in-between .
stopp i ng
He f ound that
the expenses of trave l and hote l s was more than the
p ro f it from the goods s o ld .
So he dec ided t o return to
New York and look for someth ing better .
On h i s way , he
stopped to ca l l on h i s new fr iends i n Che ster .
One o f
the s i sters s aw d i sappo intment o n h i s f ace and s a i d ,
" You
s eem to be a nice inte l l igent young man , why are you
wast i ng your t ime with th i s k i nd o f work? "
" I can ' t f ind anyth ing better , " he r ep l ied .
"Why don ' t you study some profe s s ion? "
" I t i s a strange coinc idence , " he rep l i ed .
"I
j us t rece ived a l etter from my father suggest i ng that I
s tudy dent i stry , because we have no graduate dent i st s in
D amas cu s ; but I have no means and I don ' t know how to go
a bout i t . "
" Come on , " she sa id ,
" I ' l l take you to my
dent i s t and he w i l l gu ide you and g ive you a l l the
37
�necess ary information . "
Fo l lowing words with act ion ,
she took h im· to
s e e her dent i st , Dr . S . B l a i r Luckie , who encouraged h im ,
gave h im a l l the inf ormation and prom i sed to be h i s
He a l s o gave him a l etter o f introduction to
p r eceptor .
the dean o f the Phi lade lphi a Dent a l C o l l ege .
The
f o l l ow i ng day Wadea went to Phi lade lph i a , had an
i nterv i ew with the Dean , and wa s accepted a s a student .
Through the e f f orts o f the O ' Ne i l l s , a loan o f money was
arranged from a f r i end of the ir s , an Eng l i s h l ady .
happy and grateful man returned to New York ,
The
s ett led h i s
account with h i s merchant f r iend and d i d some odd j ob s
unt i l the approach of the schoo l term .
He returned t o
Che ster and h i s fr iends adv i s ed h i m to rent a room i n
P h i lade lph ia near the col lege , whi ch he did .
Wadea kept h i s fam i ly informed o f a l l what had
taken p lace and corre spondence kept up between the
K a s s abs in Damascus.·and the O ' Ne i l l s i n Che s te r .
My
. -mo.t her- , recogn i z ing the great servic·e and a f f ec t i on that
the O ' Ne i l l s bestowed on her son , sent them a warm
i nv i ta t i on to v i s it the fam i ly .
They accepted the
i nv i ta t i on and promi sed to do so a fter Wadea ' s
graduat ion .
I n the meant ime , two traged ies took p l ace ,
f i rst Sam O ' Ne i l l , the fathe r , took s i ck .
He was quite
o ld and Wadea nur sed him for weeks but he d i d not r ecover
and actua l ly d i ed in Wadea ' s arms . The other tragedy was
38
�my mother ' s death .
She was only forty - two ; but e i ther
due to hard work or to g iving b irth t o too many children ,
she d i d not survive a ga l l bl adder attack .
S o now the
fami ly had a terr i f i c b l ow ; Mother ' s death l e f t the
f am i ly w ith a prob l em that was d i f f i c u l t t o s o lve F a reedeh , Asma , Ade l e , Ae lyas , Naj eeb ,
and the baby Wadad , e l even months o l d .
deso late .
S amee , Braheem ,
Father was
But mother had rai s ed her daughters we l l ,
for
Fareedeh at once as sumed the re spons i b i l ity o f a mother
and we carried on .
She was w i se and s t r i ct ; she had
f a ther ' s back ing , and we obeyed her .
Father was heart
broken , and though urged , he would not r emarry .
The
o ldest s i ster took charge , became the mother of the
househo ld .
She wrote to the O ' Ne i l l s and asked them to
break the news to Wadea .
I n the ir l etter o f sympathy ,
they suggested that the ir promi sed v i s i t be cance l ed ; but
f ather as we l l as my s i ster wrote and begged them to
c orne .
A f ew weeks a fter Wadea ' g graduat�on ,
arr ived in Dama scus .
th� three
The lad ies enj oyed the l i f e in the
or i enta l c ity , espec i a l ly the o ld h i st or i c a l s ights :
Street ca l l ed Stra ight , the p l ace where st . Paul was
converted ; the wa l l from wh ich he escaped , the Great
Mos que and the ba z aars .
They then toured Jeru s a l em ,
Bethl ehem , Jordan and the other sacred p l aces .
Wadea brought them to B ludan .
39
Then
For three weeks , they
the
�raved over the p l ace .
They loved the s imp l e l i f e o f the
v i l l agers wh i ch reminded them of the l i f e of the peop l e
o f the B ib l e . They got t o know each member o f the f am i ly
and i t was then that they to ld my f ather and me that i f
ever I wanted t o corne to the united states , there was a
horne for me .
I wa s thirteen years o ld when my brother
graduated and r eturned horne with the O ' Ne i l l s .
do i ng f a i r ly we l l in schoo l ,
I was
I had two years more to go .
The s ituation in the country was unsett l ed ; the Mo s l ems
were wary .
Syr ia wa s then under Turk ish ru l e .
were a Mos l em nat ion .
The Turks
They had no l ove for the
Chr i st ians , and they were undu ly upset because of the
presence of the fore ign nati ona l s and the i r apparent
s upport to the Chr ist ian community .
And to make th i ngs
wor s e , the Greek Government attempted to s e i z e Crete , an
i s l and be long ing to Turkey .
War f o l l owed .
Thi s made the
Mos l ems more demonstrat ive aga inst the Chr i s t ians .
Ru�ors reached the c ity that the Greek forces had
d e feated the Turks .
Father and I wer e in the bus iness
s e ct i on , which was predominant ly Mos l em ; the news spread
qu i ck ly .
Al l the merchants began to c l ose the ir shop s ;
the Mos l ems gathered in the streets and were extreme ly
ag itated ; some shouted that they wou l d revenge .
Father
and I hurr ied home and locked and bar r i caded the door .
Father having gone through the Mas s acre
40
o f 18 6 0 f eared
�The f am i ly sat together , soon shout i ng i n the
the wor st .
street f i l led the a i r ; this cont inued through the night
with no one going to s l eep .
I n the morning c r i e r s went
through the streets shout ing that the rumor s were f a l s e
a n d that the Chr i st ians had nothing to fear .
I t was an
exper i ence not to be forgotten ; for though the danger had
p a s sed for the moment , the Chr i st ians f eared that the
troub l e with the Mos lems could start at the s l i ghte s t
p rovoca t i on .
About th is t ime , the M i s s i on f e l t that a schoo l
f or Mos lem g i r l s should be opened in the Mos l em quarters
of the c ity .
A l arge house suitable for a schoo l a s we l l
a s for l iving quarters for the teachers was rented .
Fema l e teachers were s e l ected with great care .
wa s app o i nted a s principa l .
My s i ster
Unfortunately , there wer e no
f ac i l it i e s for cook ing and the fam i l ies o f the teacher ,
twice a week , prov ided the teachers with the ir mea l s .
I
wa s a s s igned th i s duty and I a lways dreaded the trip to
the s choo l for I was insu lted by boys p lay ing in the
streets w ith the shout of " Here comes the Chr i st i an p ig , "
or " What ' s your cross made of , " and on seve r a l occa s i ons
s tone s were hur l ed at me . I a lways w i shed for the t ime to
come when I wou ld leave th i s c ity for a freer country .
I had no troub le in schoo l and on graduat ion I
rece ived my cert i f icate and a l etter from the p r i nc ipa l ,
Abdo Kahee l , addres sed to my father , wh ich s a i d that I
41
�d i d very we l l in schoo l , that I had an " exce l l ent " in
mathema t i c s and was ready to go to a scho o l o f h i gher
l e a r n i ng .
D ad . "
I handed the se to my father and s a i d " Here ,
Dad read the l etter and s a id ,
" I am very p l ea s ed . "
Then he handed them back to me and s a id ,
" Now what do you
want to do? " I s a id that I didn ' t know . Then he s a i d ,
" You have two courses from wh ich to dec ide : one to be
apprent i ced to some craft here in the c i ty ; the other i s
t o g o t o Amer ica ,
c o l l ege . "
for I cannot a f f ord t o send you to
I rep l i ed ,
" Dad ,
I have a l ready dec ided ,
I
You know , Dad , the l ad i e s
wou l d l ike to go to America .
who came here with my brother t o l d m e that i f I ever
l iked to come to Amer ica , they have a home for me . "
Then
h e s a i d , " That ' s very good , your brother has written me
that when you f in i sh schoo l here , he wants you to go to
Ame r i c a .
Get ready then , though i t wi l l be very hard for
me to part with you . "
The next f ew days were very busy gett i ng me
r e?dy to make the tr ip�
As it happened Unc l e George was
r eturn ing to Be irut from a fam i ly v i s it and it wa s
dec ided I woul d accompany him ,
mak ing the trip .
saving my father from
When the day arrived for me to leave
home , my f ather took me to the sma l l room wh i ch wa s to
the l e f t of the court and we went in and he shut the
door .
" You know , Ae lyas , " he s a id ,
42
" I t i s go ing to be
�very hard for me to let you go ,
been of great help to me .
you .
f o r you have
I am g o i ng to m i s s
You are going to be very f a r away f r om
I want you to a lways
me , but not from God .
remember your her itage .
I want you to be
honest , truthfu l , f a ithfu l , dependable and
industr ious . Now I want you to prom i s e me that
you wi l l not smoke , dr ink , or keep bad
company . "
" Father ,
I wi l l do my very be st . "
He then kne lt and asked me to do the s ame and he prayed
f e rvent ly ending with ,
God . "
" I ' l l leave you to the mercy of
When he f in i shed ,
the tears in h i s eyes .
I looked up to h i s face and s aw
I never forgot that face and it
br i ng s tears to my eyes when I th ink o f i t .
We l e ft on June 9 ,
by t r a i n .
18 9 9 ,
Bes ide my satche l ,
for B e i rut trave l ing
I had to carry a b lanket ,
a p i l l ow and two tins , one ha l f ga l lon each f i l l ed w ith
ap� icot preserve as a present to my brothe r . Cous in
Ameen , who was a merchant in Be irut was to make a l l the
arrangements for my trip .
After spend i ng a week or s o at
Unc l e ' s hous e , Ameen and I went to Thomas Cook and S ons
t o buy the t i cket to New York . The agent in charge was a
f r i end o f Ameen and he s a id that I d i d not have to pay a
f u l l fare , that I wa s sma l l enough to be c l a s s i f i ed f or
one-ha l f .
The f u l l fare was f i fteen pounds ster l i ng
43
�wh i ch my f ather had given me .
So I p a i d s even and
one -ha l f and kept the others with my l it t l e change .
I
was trave l ing steerage to Marse i l les , thence by t r a i n to
B o l ogne , France , and then third c l a s s to New York .
t i cket was for transportation only ,
My
j ust for a p l ace on
deck .
I t was summer and there was no need for a state
room .
A l s o it d i d not provide mea l s from B e irut t o
Marse i l le s .
My Aunt packed a large ba sket for me .
It
was fu l l o f sandwiches and fruits o f a l l k i nd s and she
s a id that if she f i l l ed it more it wou ld spoi l .
Wh i le we were wa i t ing to embark a group o f
three young men came with the i r luggage ready t o s a i l .
They introduced themse lves to Ameen and me ; two f r om
Lebanon and the third from Damascus .
The Dama s cene
turned out to be from a we l l known f ami ly to Ameen .
They
were going to New York and had the s ame k i nd of t icket a s
I had .
After chatting for several minute s , Ameen a sked
them to . take me , wh ich they promised to do . M inut e s
l a� er , the steamer shr ieked -its horn _ for the p a s sengers
t o get aboard .
We were the last to board ,
for the
s a i lors had to c l ose the doors to the hold wh i ch was to
be our rest ing p l ace .
I
boarded the steamer " Portuga l "
o f the Mes s ager i e Mar i t ime and l e ft B e i rut for my f uture
home .
For a wh i l e we stood by the ra i l ing s i l ent ly
watch ing the ship l eave the land , uttering not a word but
wonder ing whether we wou ld tread that s o i l aga i n .
44
�We were awakened f rom that trance by the purser
ask i ng for our t i ckets .
me ,
When I handed him mine , h e ' a sked
" How old are yoU? "
" F i f teen , " I sa id .
lI y ou can ' t trave l on ha l f fare , " he s a i d .
He then l e ft me and co l l ected the t i ckets o f the other
p a s s engers .
Very soon a fter , he returned and demanded
the other seven and one-ha l f pounds .
I s a i d that I am
te l l i ng him the truth ; that was a l l the agent a sked me to
pay .
He s a id that he wa s sorry and wou ld have to put me
o f f at the next stop of the ship at Ha i fa .
that he was r ight and I paid h im forthwith .
l e f t me ,
I rea l i z ed
After he
I stood for a moment mot ion l e s s , no doubt a
p icture of despa i r , wonder ing how I could get to New York
with hardly any money .
and s a i d ,
Suddenly a man stood bes ide me
"Are you Aelyas Kas sab? "
I said ,
" Yes , how d i d you know? "
He rep l ied that he wa s t a l k i ng to my cou s i n
whom he knew very we l l . H e s a id that h i s name w a s Fuad
S a l l oum , that his brother was the m i n i ster o f the Church
in Damascus to wh ich our fam i l y be longed ; that though he
wa s not from Dama scus he knew of the f am i ly ; that Ameen
had a sked him to look a fter me .
I told him my s tory and
he a s sured me that he had p l enty of money and that it was
at my d i sposa l .
f r iends .
From that moment we became very good
He wa s going to San Franc i sco on bus in e s s and
45
�h e i ntroduced me to h i s group .
We got a l ong very we l l .
For a l ittle wh i l e the steamer f o l l owed the
shore l ine and we watched the scenery , then i t veered
The
away and we began to look about our surround i ngs .
c lo sed doors of the hold were our staterooms for the tr ip
and we p l aced our luggage there .
As the even i ng
approached , we opened our baskets and had our supper and
as the l ights d immed we rol led our s e lves in our b l anket s .
The steamer was very steady , we were soon a s l eep .
Very
e a r ly in the morning we were awakened by the s a i l or s who
t o l d us that they have to open the ho ld because we were
approaching Ha i f a and they have to unl oad some
merchand i s e .
I n mov ing my luggage ,
I d i scovered that
dur ing the night someone had gotten away w ith my basket
of prov i s i ons , which
meant that I wou l d be without
provi s i ons un l e s s I supp l ied mys e l f at Ha i fa .
I
comp l a ined to the Purser who a s sured me that i t mus t be
one of the passengers and that they wer e not respons i b l e .
Th�t taught me a l e s son to be more - carefu l .
I n Ha i fa we
r ep l e n i shed our needs and in the even ing we r esumed our
j ourney toward Marse i l les , pass ing through the stra i t s o f
Mes s ina ; I can never forget the s ight o f Mt . Vesuvius
w i th the smoke be lch i ng from its cone .
Further on the weather changed , a bad s torm hit
u s and it was dangerous for us to rema in on deck .
The
o f f icers were afraid that we might be inj ured or swept
46
�i nt o the sea ,
ship .
so we had to go down into the hold o f the
I t was a bad exper ience ,
for there were an ima l s
After the second day ,
there and the stench was terr ib l e .
the sun shone brightly and we were g l ad to get on deck
aga in .
We arr ived in Mars e i l les wi thout any further
troub l e .
We were met by the agent of the company who
s o ld us the t i cket Marse i l l e s -New York .
He hust l ed u s
through customs and immigration without d i f f i cu l ty and
took u s to a s econd c l a s s hot e l where we were to stay
t i l l the next morn ing , then by tra i n to Par i s for a f ew
hour s , then to Bologne and the White star L i ne steamer
for New Y ork .
The passage wa s long and t i r ing and f u l l
o f expectat ion o f putting our feet o n the s o i l o f the
l and of the free .
However we were a l it t l e worr i ed ,
becaus e wh i le in Par i s we had heard that many imm igrants
were b e i ng returned because of eye troub l e or l ack of
funds .
We had to take our chance .
As we approached New
Y o�k the morning was most beaut i f u l .
As we entered the
harbor we were ama z ed at the t a l l bu i ld ings but we were
l ook i ng for something greater and when we saw her bathed
in sun l ight with the torch in her hand up l i fted
' heavenward our tears were not spared .
The steamer
cont inued to E l l i s I s land where the immigrants
d i s embarked .
Wh i le we wa ited for the examina t i on by the
I mmigration and customs o f f i c ia l s ,
47
I a sked my f r i end
�S a l l oum to loan me f ive pounds wh ich he g l ad l y d i d .
I
gave him my address in Chester and he gave me h i s in
Ca l i fornia .
The Custom and Immigra t i on examinati ons were
both sat i s factory and we were led in groups to d i f f e rent
parts of the bui ld ing and were separated f rom each other .
Our l e ader with an o f f icer ' s cap and i n s ign i a on h i s l e ft
a rm a sked me my name and dest inat ion and he led me t o a
s e a t i n a large room and said ,
" Your train doesn ' t l eave
unt i l nine o ' c l ock . Don ' t leave th i s p l ace unt i l I come
back .
Do you understand? "
I s a id that I under stood , but
my brother wou ld be wa it ing for me on the dock . When he
understood my story , he said it was too late now and that
it was better for him to put me on a train f o r Chester .
Aga i n he s a id ,
" Don ' t leave unt i l I come . "
I t began to get dark and I began to get hungry .
On the other s ide of the stat ion , wh ich wa s a l arge room ,
I s aw a fruit stand and I wa lked there to get someth ing
t o eat .
The owner , recogn i z ing that I was a n a l ien l ike
hi�s e l f ,
soon got my f u l l hi story and a s he began to put
the s e l ected fru it in the bag .
He suggested that s ince
Che ster is a day away that I had better supp ly mys e l f ,
wh ich I d i d ,
and not only for one day .
seat I gorged myse l f with the fruit ,
Return ing to my
At a quarter to
n ine , the o f f icer came ; he lped me with my l uggage and as
I boarded the train I heard h im te l l the conductor that I
was a stranger and to be sure to put me o f f at Chester .
48
�I was put in a seat near the exit door o f the car .
After
the train pul l ed out of the stat ion , the conductor c ame
c o l l ec t i ng t ickets .
He punched the t i cket and KEPT I T .
I d i d not say anyth ing and be ing exhausted and with the
ro l l ing o f the train ,
I f e l l dead a s l eep .
At twe lve
o ' c lock sharp , the whee l s ground to a stop . The tra i nman
shook me to wake me up ; but I wou ldn ' t move .
I s a id I
was go i ng to Chester and that Chester was a day o f f .
Conductor came and when he heard what I was say ing ,
The
said ,
" Come on , young f e l low , I can ' t hold th i s t r a i n any
l onger . "
He caught me by the c o l lar o f my coat and
k i cked me down the steps with the trainman f o l l ow i ng w ith
the luggage . with a loud voice ,
I cr ied ,
" G ive me my
t i cket ! "
As the train pu l l ed o f f , the stat i o n master
came out to c lose the stat i on for the n ight .
He saw me
stand i ng and had heard me shout out . He s a i d to me ,
" What ' s the matter ?
Where do you want to go? "
I rep l ied
th�t I wanted to go to Che ster , PA . , and he got my
t i cket .
He s a id .
" Th i s i s Chester . "
See ing me
i ncredu lous , he took me around the stat ion and showed me
the s ign on the wa l l .
Now he s a id ,
Where do you want to go? "
" Th i s i s Chester .
I told him that I was
expect ing my brother to meet me and the rest of the
story .
He a sked me my brother ' s name and where he l ived .
I t o l d h im .
He looked at my luggage and he s a id ,
49
"We
�c an ' t go there tonight , you better stay with me ton i ght
and we ' l l see in the morning what we can do . "
to the t i cket o f f ice .
So we went
He spread a mattr e s s on a l arge
tab l e for hims e l f and I stretched on the f l oor .
I was
phy s i ca l ly and menta l ly exhausted and soon fast a s l eep .
I n the n ight nature cal l ed ,
so a s I was look ing f o r the
door to go outs ide , he awoke and led me out s ide to the
r e s t room .
We hardly went back to s leep aga i n when h e
a l arm went o f f f o r t h e f ive o ' c l ock tra in ; t h e o f f i c e
mus t b e open .
When he opened the door , he saw a
huckster ' s wagon , he cal led to the dr iver to stop , and he
t o l d him to " Take th i s stranger to O ' Ne i l l ' s at 18 0 0
Prov idence Avenue .
He has a brother l iving there . "
The
huckster s a id " I know them , " and with that he put my
l uggage on the wagon and I sat bes ide h im .
We d i dn ' t get
a warm we l come when hear ing the doorbe l l wa s rung ; M i s s
L i z z ie opened the second f loor window and shouted ,
" What
are you r inging the be l l for . so early in the morn i ng ? "
My. brother who was l iving on the third f l oor on hearIng '
the n o i s e , opened h i s window and when I saw h im ,
shouted " Wadea " and ran to
door .
I
meet h im as he opened the
What a meet ing !
I t was the last s aturday o f July ,
18 9 9 , that
marks the arr iva l at the horne of my f r iends , the
O ' Ne i l l s .
I thought that I wa s in a dream .
I cou l d
hardly be l i eve that I had at l a s t reached t h e Prom i sed
50
�Land .
My brother woke me up by saying ,
o f f , " and turning to me he cont inued ,
" I have a day
" F ir s t of a l l �
we ' l l g ive you a bath for you certa i n ly need i t ; then
we ' l l have a cup of c o f f e e ; then we ' l l go and have a h a i r
c u t for y o u need that too , and then some c lean c l othes
and then we ' l l l eave you to rest for a wh i le . "
I n Chester , Saturday was a g a l a n ight .
A l l the
stores were open . The O ' Ne i l l s had a mi l l i nery store on
Edgmont Avenue ,
in the bus iness sect i on o f Chester .
Usua l ly very l itt l e bus ine s s wa s done ; most ly w i ndow
shopp ing or v i s i t ing fr iends .
As it happened , two
f r i ends dropped in for a soc i a l v i s i t , and of cour s e ,
was introduced .
One of the lad ies wa s a teacher ,
I
and
when I began to t a lk , she smi l ed becaus e o f my I r i sh
brogue ( what l ittle I spoke I had learned f rom the I r i sh
M i s s iona r i es in Dama scus ) .
My brother asked her where I
shou l d app ly for information about my schoo l ing .
She
o f fered to take me to the super intendent ' s o f f ic e t o see
wher e I wou ld f it . . True to her prom i s e , she took me .
The super intendent tried to talk to me ,
answer inte l l igently .
but I cou l d not
I rea l ly did not under stand h im .
He gave me the ninth grade books and said ,
" Look them
over and come back later , and I wi l l see wher e you f it
in . "
For the f irst three weeks ,
mys e l f to do anyth ing .
I cou l d not br ing
My brother was in h i s o f f ice , the
51
�O ' Ne i l l s were in the ir store ,
supposedly to study .
and I was l e ft a l one
I was home s ick ; I yearned f or "
B ludan and the free l i f e .
I wou ld open the books ,
l o ok
at the pages but my mind wou ld f ly back to what I wou ld
have been do ing in the mountains .
Then one day , my
brother saw me a s leep over the books and he s a i d ,
" Now
the honeymoon is over , when you are t i red from s tudy i ng ,
I want you to make your s e l f use ful around the hou s e ,
in
the o f f ice and the garden ; remember you came here t o make
s ometh ing of yourse l f . "
That was very good f o r me ; i t
kept m e busy and took my thoughts away from home .
My
brother and the ladies were very good to me and t r i ed to
he lp me in every way pos s ib l e .
My brother taught me some
of the mecha n i c s of l aboratory work ,
such a s sett ing
teeth and po l i sh i ng p l ates .
At the end of August ,
and ,
sad to say ,
I took an exam i nat ion
I f a i l ed in every subj ect not because I
d i d not know the answers to the que s t i ons but because I
d i d not understand the questions .
said ,
The superintendent
" I ' m sorry that I can ' t put you in the n inth grade ;
you wi l l have to go to the e ighth grade . "
f i fteen year o ld boy in the grammar grade .
humi l iated .
Imag i n e a
I was
But th i s turned to be a b l e s s ing in
d i sgu i s e ; becaus e due to the k i ndne s s of three t eachers
who spent a great deal o f t ime correct ing my Eng l i sh and
exp l a ining to me the rud iments of grammar , they kept me
52
�hours a fter schoo l reading a l oud and correct i ng my
pronunc i a t i on .
I made so much progre s s that by the end
of the s choo l year , I asked the Super i ntendent to loan me
the books of the n i nth grade so that I cou ld study them
dur ing the vacation and take an exam inat ion in the f a l l .
P erhaps I cou ld skip the ninth grade . He did , and I was
succes s fu l .
I did the same thing at the end of the
second year ; borrowed the books for the e l eventh grade
and in the f a l l I sk ipped the e l eventh and was adm itted
t o the twe l fth grade .
A ca l l from my father was s o
urgent to earn some money t o help my brother s that I
dec ided not to f in i sh the twe l fth grade but to try t o
t a k e t h e examinat ion for entrance to t h e denta l
department of the Un iver s ity of Pennsylvania .
matr i cu l ated in October ,
I
1 9 0 1 for a f ive year course
wh i ch led to both degrees o f dent i stry and med ic ine .
It
was f ortunate that I d i d becaus e in 1 9 0 2 the dent a l
course a l one was increased t o four years .
The . s cho o l fee
o f one hundred and f i fty do l lars was paid by my brother ,
f or wh i ch I c l eaned h i s o f f ice every day and d i d h i s
l a boratory work .
Dr . K irk ,
When I s igned the reg i ster , the dean ,
shook my hand and s a id ,
you to the f am i l y of our schoo l . "
' Dr . Kas sab , I we l come
I f e lt so proud .
I did not f ind the pract ica l part o f the cours e
d i f f icult thanks to the fact that for two y e a r s I had
been he lp ing my brother in the l aboratory ; but not
53
�previous ly having had any chemi stry ,
that cour se ,
I wou ld have f a i l ed
I am sure , had a good f r i end not coached me .
I wa s s o exhausted that my good fr i end , Dr . Preston ,
recommended that for the present , I not cont i nue w ith the
med ica l cours e .
I f e l t that he wa s r ight , that I should
d e l ay f o r a year .
After graduation in June 1 9 0 4 and
p a s s ing the state Board examinat ion ,
my shingle next to my brother ' s .
I was g lad t o hang
My o f f ice was a
s creened part of h i s laboratory with crude furn i sh ings
and only the neces sary instruments for a beg i nne r .
Fortunat e ly ,
I could borrow what I needed f rom my
brothe r .
with the many l etters o f congratu l a t i on f r om my
f ather and s i sters for having attai ned the degree o f
Doctor o f Denta l Surgery , came letters t o Wadea s ay ing
that i t was t ime for h im to return home and br ing the
O ' Ne i l l s with h im ; that he was ready for mar r i age ; that
Aelyas can take care of his o f f ice wh i l e he was away ;
that there was a wonderful g i r l teach ing in the M i s s i on
s choo l who they want h im to meet ; that unc l e S a l im knew
her f r om the t ime she was a l ittle g i r l ,
and that she was
a wonderful catch .
My s i ster ' s l etters to the O ' Ne i l l s wer e very
i n s i stent that they shou ld accept the invitat ion and come
w ith Wadea , and renew the f r i endship .
The l etters were
s o warm that Mary O ' Ne i l l dec ided to accompany Wadea and
54
�they l e ft f or Damascus .
I took charge of the o f f ice wh ich was l ocated
at 8 0 2 Edgmont Avenue , a two room space divided i nto two
parts ; one for operat ing and recept ion and one for
l aboratory .
I n due t ime , we rece ived the che e r f u l news f r om
Dama scus that the f o lks were enj oying the ir v i s it ; that
Wadea had met the young lady , Sara Ha j j ar ; that she was
the dream g i r l of h i s l i fe .
They had spent t ime i n
B ludan enj oy ing the beauty of nature ; but more enj oy i ng
e ach other and they f e lt sure that i t was the Supreme
Power that brought them together and they dec i ded to make
it f o r l i f e .
28 ,
1905 .
They were marr ied at Souk - e l -Gharb ,
S ept
After the wedd ing , the coup l e spent the i r
honeymoon tour ing Lebanon wh i l e Mary O ' Ne i l l trave l l ed to
Engl and to v i s it with some f r iends ; later j o in ing the
mar r i ed coup l e on the ir way home .
The good event made Wadea and me r ea l i z e that a
chpnge must be made ; Wadea could not rema i n l iv i ng at the
O ' Ne i l l s and I could not rema in occupying h i s o f f ice .
The s o l ut i on :
the bu i ld ing next door , 8 0 4 -8 0 6 Edgmont
Avenue , was for s a l e .
Wade a bought it and changed the
f ront o f the bu i lding into two o f f ices , each with an
operat i ng room , a recept ion room for both and a
l a boratory .
These were on the second f l oor .
Wadea
occup ied the rest of the bu i ld ing except the f ir s t f l oor
55
�wh i ch was rented for bus i nes s .
Now we were organ i z ed :
Wadea renewing h i s relationship with h i s p a t i ents ,
!
w ith
bu i ld ing a pract ice , the O ' Ne i l l s with s e l l i ng the i r
bus ine s s , and Sara with tak ing care o f the house and
prepar ing for the coming of her f irst baby .
Hardly had we got set when we had to go New
York to meet Braheem . Father wrote that the lad wa s not
do i ng we l l at school and he thought that the change w i l l
he lp h im ; a f ew months l ater , Naj eeb f o l l owed ; h e had
tr i ed a year at the American Un ivers ity o f Be i rut and wa s
not sat i s f i ed .
So he dec ided to try Ame r i c a .
He took a
bus iness course o f one year in the high schoo l i n Che ster
and then went on to New York .
He worked for a l it t l e
wh i l e with George Kas sab ( no re lation )
in the embro idery
bus ine s s ; he l iked the manu f actur i ng end better ,
went to Made ira and then to F l orence ,
Italy ,
so h e
and
estab l i shed a center for mak ing embro ider i e s and l a c e s .
Later on he estab l i shed the f i rm " Ka s sab Bros " and took
with h im h i s brother Braheem and h i s nephew Far i d Haddad .
He d i d very we l l ; however , Wor ld War I I k i l led the
embro idery bus iness . He then went to Egypt to see i f he
could do anything there .
He met and mar r i ed Leoni Trak ,
a d i stant re lat ive o f the Kassabs and had two ch i ldren , a
boy named Albert and a g ir l , Lorra ine , who d i ed i n her
teens .
Naj eeb took s i ck in B e i rut with c irrhos i s o f the
l iver and the doctors in Be irut adv i s ed him to come to
56
�Ame r i c a for treatment wh ich he did .
The d i s e a s e was we l l
advanced , neverthe l e s s a n operat ion was per f ormed f r om
wh i ch he apparent ly recovered .
He returned to B e i rut ,
but a f ew months l ater , the d i sease r eturned and he d i ed
in the 1 9 5 0 ' s .
Braheem ' s arr iva l worr ied us for h e had not
f in i shed h i s prel iminary education at the M i s s ion s chool
and he was not anxious to cont inue i t here .
Unw i l l i ng l y
h e went to schoo l at our ins i stence , but at t h e e n d o f
t h e schoo l year h e did not p a s s the course a n d h a d t o
repeat it .
H a l fway through the year ,
the p r i n c i p a l o f
the schoo l not i f i ed u s that the lad was not do ing we l l
and that he better f ind work to do .
B raheem wanted to hear .
That was j us t what
He started to work i n Chester in
a wood sawing factory , but he did not l ike that j ob ,
wa s too d i rty .
it
He went to New York and worked with
N a j e eb in the embro idery trade .
After a short per iod of
t ime , they l earned that Funcha l , Made ira , was the home
wh�re laces and embro idery were made ,
so Braheem went to
Funcha l and started in bus ine s s , manu f actur ing and
sh ipp ing to Naj eeb in New York .
He did very we l l .
Dur ing Wor ld War I I , the i s land lacked e l ectr i c ity ,
so
Braheem began t o make candles and supp l i ed the i s land .
He l oved Funcha l and made it h i s home .
He mar r i ed late
in h i s l i f e C l ara , a Portuguese gi r l , and had two boys ,
Alexander and Edward .
He died from cancer in 1 9 8 2 .
57
His
�w i f e , C l ara , d i ed from a heart attack wh i l e on a v i s it to
the U . S . A .
He had
sami came to America a fter Naj eeb .
f in i shed his prel iminary education i n the M i s s ion
Schoo l s , he d i d not want to go to the Co l l ege i n B e i rut ,
and father dec ided that America was the best p l ace for
h im .
We persuaded h im to go to schoo l here ,
month ' s t r i a l , he dec ided to go to work .
t o be emp l oyed .
but a fter a
He d i d not want
He wanted to be h i s own bos s .
He took a
j ob rep a i r ing t ires and when we saw that he made a
success at it we he lped him open a shop in our bu i ld i ng .
For a wh i le he d i d very we l l .
Then t ires began to
improve so much that it was not pay ing ,
a nother l ine of work .
exper i ence in bus iness .
so he changed to
He went to New York to get s ome
We had in our o f f ice a young
l a dy f r om Med i a , Matt i e C l evenger , work ing for us as an
a s s i s tant with whom Sami was fr iendly .
f r om New York the two were married .
When he c ame back
I t was a per f ect
match and they took over s i ster Ade l e ' s bus iness i n our
bu i ld i ng , 8 0 6 Edgmont Avenue ,
that interested ladies .
bus ine s s to Med i a .
for the s a l e of art i c l e s
They eventu a l ly moved the
They made a good l iving and were a
very happy coup l e but not for long .
Sami became s i ck
with cancer ; he wa s operated on but without succes s .
Now that a br i e f account o f the l ives o f my
brothers has been noted , we ' l l go back to the year 1 9 0 9 .
58
�Ma i l f r om home was .very d i stress ing ; f ather began wr i t i ng
how lonely he wa s ; that he m i s s ed the boys ; that he gave
up h i s j ob with the Miss ion , and that he d i d not f e e l
we l l , and that h e wanted t o s e e me .
He kept wr i t i ng that
he cou l d not see any reason why I d i dn ' t go back home ,
get mar r i ed and open an o f f ice in Dama scus where I am
My answers were not
needed and be c lose to him .
s a t i s factory .
So h i s wr iting style changed ,
about his phy s i ca l cond i t ion :
now mostly
that he had been examined
by two doctors ; that he had ga l l stones wh i ch mus t be
r emoved by surgery ; that he wa s sure that he wou l d not
surv ive ,
and that he wanted to see me before he d i ed .
So
I dec ided to go home for three months .
I
packed my persona l belong i ngs and my denta l
i nstruments hop ing to be ab l e to do some work f o r my
f o lks and left late in September on the North German
L l oyd s teamer " Be r l i n " for Nap les ,
connect ion there on the steamer ,
I t a ly , and made
" Pr i n z He inr i ch , " for
A lexandr i a , Egypt , hop ing to make connect ion there on the
Khed i ve Lines for Beirut . But though the steamer was
r eady ,
I cou ld not get aboard because they told me that
a l l the staterooms were occup i ed .
When I protested
say ing that my ticket ca l led for a stateroom on the ship ,
they s a i d that the only th ing they had wa s a p l ace in a
two bed room with another pas senger .
I accepted and no
s ooner that I embarked that the steamer l e f t and the be l l
59
�rang for lunch .
I left my luggage i n the room and went
After lunch , the pas senger s went up t o the
for lunch .
Wh i l e wa i t ing , a man c ame up
promenade deck for coffee .
carrying a sma l l tray on wh ich was a c o f f ee pot and a few
sma l l cups .
He was dressed in or ient a l garb .
He went
d i r ect ly to a gent lemen s itting on a cha ir watch i ng the
crowd and of f ered him a cup .
I nstead o f tak ing i t , the
gent l emen brought the carr i er directly to me and s a i d ,
" You are the gent l emen who wa s a s s igned to my room ,
I
w i l l not take the coffee un l e s s you share i t w ith me . "
S o I took the cup saying ,
" I am honored , S i r , thank you . "
Dur ing that afternoon and the f o l l ow i ng day other f avors
such a s or ienta l sweets or fru its were served by h i s men ,
but a lways o f f ered to me f i rst .
The evening o f the last
n i ght on board , we were stand ing on the ra i l i ng watch ing
the Lebanese shore , and he a sked me about the po l it i c a l
s itua t i on in Be irut .
I told h im that I had been away
f r om the country for several years , and he changed the
sub j ect . About ten o ' c lock ,
that on the morrow ,
I begged to be excused saying
I was go ing to meet my f o lks who were
com i ng to meet me and I had better retire .
could not s l eep .
I n my room ,
Long a fter midnight , the l ight was
turned on and a s he came in he s a id ,
" I am sorry that I awakened you . "
" That ' s a l l r ight , " I s a id .
" I ' m not a s l eep
for the excitement i s too much for me . "
60
I
�" I am very nervous for the morrow ; I am Abido ,
the out l aw from B e i rut , " he s a id .
" I have been
exi led from Be irut with the threat that shou ld
I r eturn , I wou ld be t aken stra ight to j a i l .
But they can ' t do that to Abido .
Don ' t you see
my henchmen? They are a l l armed and we have a
group coming out o f B e i rut to meet u s w i th
boats .
We have a rope f a stened at the stern o f
the ship and be fore the ship reaches t h e port
of Be irut , they w i l l come out to meet u s and we
wi l l go down on the rope to the boat s . Woe be
to h im who tr ies to stop us . "
H e unbuttoned h i s coat and there shined two revo lvers at
the h i lt . Need l e s s to say , there was no further s leep for
e ither o f us nor further comment .
We j us t r e c l i ned on
our beds t o awa it the break o f day .
I must have do z ed ,
f o r the deep b l owing o f the horn o f the s h ip brought me
to l i f e .
I rushed up to deck j ust i n t ime to see the
bo.a t s coming out with men and women com ing to the ship to
we lcome and rece ive the passengers a s the ship cou ld not
approach the shore .
with
Among the boats ,
I recogn i z ed one
my f ather , s i ster , cous in Shukr i , and a he lper who
was to take care of my luggage through customs .
After a
b r i e f per iod Shukri and I went to the stateroom t o get my
l uggage but there was no s ign o f any luggage ther e .
We
rushed up to the purser and told him our story and the
61
�f irst thi ng he asked wa s ,
" D id you have your room
l ocked? " The answer was no , and he s a id ,
r e spons i bl e . "
He cont inued ,
" We are not
" Hurry and look f or them in
the customs , you might catch the thi eves . " We hur r i ed but
were stopped by an o f f icer and told to go to the p a s sport
o f f ice for ident i f icat ion .
When we told him o f our l o s s
a n d begged for permiss ion t o g o and search , he permitted
us to go .
But i t wa s a l l in va i n .
My cou s i n asked i f I
had a companion and I told h im the s tory of Ab ido .
s a id ,
He
" Ab ido wa s pardoned by the sultan a f ew days ago ,
i t wa s i n the newspaper . "
Ab i do ' s house .
We took a cab and went to
We found the house was fu l l with
we l l -w i shers .
When Ab ido saw me , he rushed to grasp my
hand and s a id ,
" I didn ' t di e l "
c ongratulatory words ,
After a few
I asked a bout my luggage of wh i ch ,
o f cours e , he had no knowledge ,
and ca l l ing one o f the
men who were with us , we l earned that a l l the luggage
that was in the cabin wa s brought s a f e ly horne , wh i ch o f
course inc luded mine .
We thanked them for the i r troub l e
and for saving us from hav ing to go through customs .
Natur a l ly I didn ' t go back to check my pas sport .
Whe n an
o f f icer from the Immigration carne to the Kassab Brother ' s
store to check on the incoming stranger he was told that
h e wa s a relat ive of the fami ly and that he wi l l only be
here for a short v i s i t .
I was so worr i ed about my f ather and h i s t a lk
62
�about an opera t i on that the very next day I took h im to
h i s doctor who , a fter a thorough examinat ion , a s sured me
that my f ather had a case of ga l l stones wh ich cou ld be
taken care of with med ication and that no operat i o n was
neces sary .
My f ather was not sat i s f ied becaus e he s a id
that h i s doctor in Damascus had s a id that h i s p a i n i n h i s
back wou l d not b e cured without a n operat ion .
sat i s fy myse l f ,
S o to
I took h im to that c ity . Dr . McK inon , who
was the M i s s ion ' s doctor and a o ld f r iend of my f ather ,
t o l d me ,
" Your father wi l l not be s at i s f i ed unt i l he gets
a n operat i on . He i s in good shape .
s ometh ing t o do .
What he needs i s
My advice to you i s to get h im
s ometh ing to occupy h i s t ime . "
I t was good advice ,
f or
my f ather had begun to comp l a i n short ly after he had
g iven up his work the M i s s ion .
Ad j o ining our garden in f ront of the house in
B ludan , there was a v ineyard ( karm ) wh ich I thought would
be a very important add i t io'n to our property .
My f ather
thought it wou l d be wonderful but it was too expens ive .
I a sked ,
" How much do you think it i s worth? "
s a i d that the owner wanted one hundred pounds .
My f ather
I said ,
" Don ' t you th ink that wou ld be better than an operat i on? "
I can st i l l see the smi l e on my f ather ' s f ace when I
said ,
" You go over to B ludan tomorrow and buy i t . "
The
karm wa s bought and deeded in my name .
The next prob l em wa s where to spend the w i nter .
63
�B ludan was out o f the question for i t was too c o l d , and
D ama scus p o l i t i ca l ly was not s a f e .
B e i rut wa s the p l ace .
We dec ided that
We rented an apartment wh i ch was
supposed to be furni shed , but it had only b a s i c furn i ture
and we were obl iged to bring from B l udan our bare
neces s i t i e s .
t ime .
Though we were crowded , we had a very good
I apprec i ated every minute that I spent w ith my
f a ther .
I had l eft home as an immature boy and returned
a mature man and I could talk to h im a s an equa l .
I knew
f r om the nearly s ix hundred l etters that he had written
to us in America that my father was o f an unusua l
character - honest , truthfu l ,
was generous yet thr i fty .
l oving and unse l f i sh .
I cou ld now under stand why the
B ludanese loved him and wou ld swear by Abu Wadea .
was working ' on h i s teeth ,
When I
and would hurt h im a l it t l e , he
wou ld l ook up to me and say ,
r evenge ? "
He
" Ar e you tak ing your
I wou ld rep ly , ' " O f cours e .
How e l s e could I
have kept order? "
The t ime for my departure approached ,
a l l owed myse l f three months .
I had
I had a wonde r f u l vacat ion ,
and my mind was at ease about my father .
Now back to my
o b l igat i ons .
B idding my s i ster Fareedeh goodbye she s a i d ,
"I
have been th ink i ng that s i nce you have never been to
P a l est ine , and s ince you are s o interested in Sunday
s choo l work , I th ink that it wou ld be good for you to go
64
�I s a id ,
and see i t . "
" That ' s a very good s ugge s t i on ,
I
sha l l do i t . "
The s teamer ' s f irst stop was Ha i f a .
I got o f f
and surpr i sed my unc l e I skander , stayed w ith h im f o r the
r e s t of the day and the f o l l owing day took the t r a i n to
Jerusa l em , a three hour drive .
I entered the coach and
got the best seat next to a window ,
for we were g o i ng
through B ib l e c ountry and I wanted to study the s c enery .
I had w ith me the maps that I had bought i n Ha i f a .
S oon
the coach began to be f i l led with p a s s enger s and
present ly a man with f l owing robes and a green turban ( a
s ign that he had made the hadj to Mecca )
me and greeted me with " A l s a a l am Alykum . "
t ickets were c o l l ected ,
survey them .
sat down next to
After the
I took out the maps and began to
My seat mate l ooked over and s a i d ,
you are a tour i st .
speak good Arabic . "
" I s ee ,
I thought you wer e an Arab s ince you
I rep l i ed that I was Arab , that I
had not seen th i s part o f the c ountry before , and that I
was g o i ng to v i s i t Jerusa l em .
you f r om? "
Then he asked ,
" Where are
I r ep l i ed that I was f rom Dama s cu s but that I
had gone to Ame r i ca .
" Oh , " he s a id ,
" I am f r om D amascu s
a n d mak i ng a bus iness trip to Jerus a lem . "
The
conversat ion qu i eted for a l ittle wh i l e so I turned to my
maps .
But not for long .
s a id .
" I s i t a s wonderful as they say? "
" T e l l me about Ame r i c a , " he
He kept ask ing
one quest ion a fter another and I rea l i z ed that i t wa s no
65
�u s e , the part o f the country that was o f interest to me
had passed by , so I fo lded the maps .
f o r a minute .
a sked h im ,
said ,
We wer e now s i lent
I thought that I had o f f ended h im .
So I
" Now t e l l me something about your s e l f . "
He
" I am a Mu l l ah and I be long to the great mosque of
D amascu s ; I have made my visit to the Holy Mecca and I
dec ided to pay my respects to our Holy Shr ine i n
Jeru s a l em . "
" We l l , " I s a id ,
" We a r e then o n the s ame
m i s s i on . "
It was gett ing towards noon and he took out o f
h i s pocket a sma l l package saying ,
" I am hungry . "
I
could see that i t had a loaf o f bread , chees e , and
o l ives , and saying ,
" B i sm E l ah Alrahaman Alraheem , " he
p a s sed the package to me .
s ay ing ,
I thanked h im ,
" You must break bread with me . "
sma l l p i ece and he s a id ,
but he ins i sted
So I took a
" Now we are brothers . "
I n a few
m inut e s a fter that we approached the stat ion , and as he
descended the steps of the car , he turned to me and s a id ,
" M.' a e l S a lameh . "
After s ecur ing my lodg ing and with map i n hand ,
I toured the important p l aces of Jeru s a l em and
environment and I took the l etter of introduct ion that my
unc l e had wr itten .
I gave it to h i s f r iend and he was
very p l ea s ed to do someth ing for unc le .
He showed me the
Mosque of Omar and the el Aks a and exp l a i ned t o me the i r
h i stories and the stages o f rebu i lding .
66
He then took me
�downstairs and showed me the Chamber o f Prayer .
v i s it was very instruct ive .
The
There was one p l ace l e f t on
my map and I dec ided to v i s i t Bethl ehem .
I h ired a
donkey even though the d i stance was not very far .
There
were many tour i s t s f rom my hot e l who were go i ng by bus .
The owne r of the donkey pra i sed the anima l t o be very
good and everyth ing was a l l r ight when I started .
But
when I d i smounted , he started to retreat towards home and
i n t ime I caught h i s br id l e .
No matter how hard I
pu l led , he had the better o f me ,
so I l et h im go and I
cont i nued wa lking towards Bethlehem .
How impress ive i s
the exterior o f the Church o f the Nativ ity ; and how deep
a n impress ion is left on your memory when you l ook at the
grotto where the Baby Savior was born .
There were others
b e s ide me at that sacred spot but no one had power to say
a word .
On the way ,
returned .
The owner reached to pay me back ,
d i d that to you too? "
it . "
I stopped to s e e i f the a n ima l had
I said ,
" Keep it ,
say i ng ,
"He
it was worth
I wa lked s lowly back to the c ity med itat ing on j us t
what h a d happened .
I saw a crowd mov ing s l owly ,
for
every l ittle wh i l e they wou ld get on the ir knee s and
chant someth ing that I could not understand .
They were
Rus s ian p i lgr ims recit ing the stations of the cross .
f o l l owed s l owly to the Church o f the Holy Sepu lche r .
I
I
had been there the day before but what I had gone through
67
�today put me in an ent i r e ly d i f f er ent sp ir i t .
I t has been s a id and j us t ly that there are many
more things yet to be d i scovered in Pa l e s t i ne than what
a lr eady has been uncovered , and that a person cou l d spend
h i s who l e l i f e i n the ir pur suit but without succe s s .
I
wa s g l ad that I took my s i ster ' s advice and c ame over .
I
s aw in a f ew days so many thing s that took me back
thousands of years in h i story .
For now ,
I j ust wanted
to expe r ience the same f e e l ing that one on my fr i ends had
as he stood on Mount O l ives and ga z ed at the expanse o f
Jerus a l em before h im , with the sun bathing t h e go lden
cup o l a o f the temp l e and re f l ect ing its rays w ith an
imprint which one can never f orget .
have t h a t exper i ence today _
I hoped that I wou ld
O f cour s e ,
the tour i s t and
the p i lgrim are shown many p l aces and told many stor i e s
wh i ch c o u l d n o t p o s s i b l y be genu ine or true , wh i l e others
are probably genu ine .
True , too , mountains a nd h i l l s of
themse lves cannot change , bu i ld ings and other s i tes
cr.e ated by the hands o f man do change . Mount Z ion or Mt .
Mor i a do not change , but the bu i ld ings constructed on
them do change .
David .
One p l ace that i s genu ine i s the Tomb of
Today there i s a mosque on the s ite .
Not only i s
Dav id bur i ed there but a l s o h i s son S o l omon and others o f
t h e good anc ient kings o f I srae l .
Th i s mosque i s near
the C loenacu lum , the upper room where the Lord had h i s
l a s t supper with h i s d i sc ip l e s .
68
There was a mosque bu i lt
�over the tomb with a wide door and a passage t o another
court l ead ing to the mosque . I s aw the door opened and
the passage lead ing to the s econd door .
Just a s I moved
to enter the mosque I was rough ly stopped by two a rmed
men who c a l l ed me " the cursed p ig . "
I am sure that I
wou ld have been s everely beaten or ser iou s ly i n j ured had
not a man with f l owing robes and a turban i nterfered .
ca l l ed to them to stop and to me " I cht i fee . "
He
Though my
knee s began to shake , I managed to d i s appear .
I t was the
h a j j i who wa s my seat mate on the tra i n from Ha i f a to
I wanted to wa it to thank h im , but I was
Jerus a l em .
shaken with fear and thought that it wou ld be wiser to
comp ly with his order to disappear .
I managed to f i nd
the narrow wind i ng street to reach my l odg i ng s .
I
must have l ooked fr ightened ,
at the desk o f the lodg ing house sa id ,
f o r the c l erk
" You ' re sure ly
l ucky because they could have been very rough w ith you .
There are only two persons who are not mos l ems who have
s een i n s ide the mosque .
One is the Prince o f Wa l e s ,
and
the other Ka i s er Wi lhe lm of Germany by a spec i a l order
from the Sultan .
But s ince you didn ' t go i n you are in
no danger . "
Just before sunset ,
I ventured out t o get a
l a st look at Jerus a l em from the top o f Mt . O l ives .
Though the v i ew wa s magn i f icent with the rays o f the sun
b l a z i ng on the cupola of the temple ,
69
I did not get the
�f e e l i ng that my f r i end had previou s l y descr ibed .
Howeve r ,
the words of the Lord came to mind and I f e l t
mys e l f say ing ,
" Oh , Jerusa l em , Jerusalem .
Thou that k i l l e st
the prophets and stone st them wh ich are sent t o thee ;
How often wou ld I have gathered thy chi ldren together
even as a hen gathers her chickens under her w ings , and
ye wou ld not .
Behold , your house i s left unto you
d e s o late . "
I t was the t ime to be back to my work ,
took the tra in back to Ha i f a .
so I
The f o l l ow i ng day I l e f t
by steamer f o r Al exandr ia , then Genoa , Par i s ,
c r o s s ed the
E ng l i sh Channe l to London , Southampton , New York and
horne .
The fo lks were happy to we lcome me ,
espec i a l ly
Wadea , because he was anx ious to get r i d o f my p a t i ents .
I d i d not waste any t ime , becaus e the s ervice that my
pat i ents had rece ived from Wadea wa s j ust enough t o t ide
them over unt i l I returned .
I was g l ad to get t o work
f or I had a good restfu l vacat ion .
At that t ime my s i ster Ade l e f in i shed her
tra in ing a s a nurse and carne over expect ing to f ind work ;
but she cou ld not because her diploma was not r ecogn i z ed
i n th i s country ,
To be e l ig ib l e wou ld requ ire a year ' s
s tudy here in Amer ica .
Ade l e d i d not want to do that
becau s e her hea lth wa s not good enough ,
so rather than
s e e ing her idle , we suggested open ing a sma l l store and
70
�start i ng in bus iness .
She was del i ghted .
We rented a
sma l l shop oppos ite the Young Women ' s Chr i st i an
A s s o c i a t i on and stocked it with art i c l e s that were o f
i nterest to women .
Naj eeb he lped her by s end i ng a fu l l
Ade l e wa s very
l in e o f embro ider ies from New York .
She cou ld kn i t and embro ider and
c l ever w ith her hands .
she taught many of her customers .
She d i d quite we l l .
Not long a fter Ade l e l e ft home , my f ather ' s
letters began to show s igns of lone l iness , yet he stopped
a s k ing the boys and me espec i a l ly to come f o r a v i s i t .
I t turned out that dur ing the short war ,
I ta ly-Turkey , he
was v i s ited by an agent from the gove rnment demand i ng why
Ae lyas and N a j eeb Kassab did not re spond when they were
c a l led t o serve in the army .
My f ather rep l i ed that the
boys had l ong ago gone to America and proba b l y d i dn ' t
The agent s a i d that he had
know a nyth ing about it .
better arrange to pay for a sUbst itute or e l s e the boys
wou l d be cons idered AWOL .
Father ' s l etter showed that he
was greatly d i sturbed . I wrote h im not to worry , that we
were now both Amer icans and that it wou ld take more than
the Turks to get us .
I
added that s i nce he was a l one
there was no reason why he wouldn ' t come to pay u s a
v i s it , that he wou ld see not only u s ,
but h i s
grandch i ldren and th i s great country . T o prove our
s i ncer ity that a l l expenses were guaranteed , Wadea and I
enc l o s ed the pr ice o f a t icket .
71
To our great surpr i s e he
�wrote that he wou ld come a fter he attended to some
important th ing s .
We cont inued ins i st ing week a fter week
that we were wa i t ing to hear the news that he had set the
date and when no f avorable answer came ,
say ing ,
" Dad ,
I wrote h im
I never knew you to go back on your word . "
H e rep l i ed that he wou l d f i n i sh h i s work i n ten days and
that he wou ld go to Beirut and buy h i s t i cket and be on
h i s way .
Th i s cheered us a l l . Unfortunately ,
soon
therea fter , we had a l etter f rom cou s i n Ameen say ing that
he took f ather to buy the t i cket from Thomas Cook and
Sons whos e o f f ice wa s on the shore s ide fac ing the sea .
I t was a very stormy day and the waves were h igh ,
str iking the stony wa l l .
When my f ather s aw that he
changed his mind , and noth ing could change it .
Father
was terr i f ied of the water from a bad expe r i ence he had
a s a chi ld .
H i s unc l e N i ck who l ived in D j oun i eh , took
f ather out to teach him how to swim .
Somehow f ather
s l i pped f rom his care and nearly drowned and ever s ince
h e. dreaded the s ight of the sea .
Ameen s a id ,
not use , arguments were to no ava i l . "
his r e fusa l to go .
" There was
He wa s adamant in
My f ather wrote begg ing us to excuse
h im , that it was beyond his contro l . He p l eaded with me
to come say ing that it had been a long t ime s i nce I had
had a vacation and that l i fe wa s too short and that he
wanted to see me before he d i ed , etc .
Wadea a l s o
e ncouraged me and promi sed t o take care of my pract ice
72
�and to l ook a fter M i s s Mary , who had had a stroke .
I
dec ided to make the trip .
I l e ft New York by steamer f o r London where I
spent about a week see ing the s ights .
There were two
t h i ngs that I wa s anx ious to see : the Rosetta stone , and
the anc i ent manuscr ipts in the London Museum .
I a lso
wanted to pay my respects t o the memory o f Char l e s
D i ckens i n Westminster Abbey .
I had a very p l easant
v i s it . w ith Mr . B . W . Mat z who wa s then the secretary of
the D i ckens F e l lowship .
He o f f ered to show me the s ites
and s ights immorta l i z ed by D i ckens .
I did not accept
say ing that I wou ld impos e on h i s t ime and I thanked him
j us t the s ame .
He corresponded with M i s s Mary a lmost
every week .
Par i s was then next on the s chedu l e .
the Channe l without gett ing s i ck .
I crossed
I had a great surp r i s e
when I went t o v i s i t our dear fr iend George Mossaw i r ,
whose brother marr ied my cous in S e lma .
He told me that I
had j ust m i s sed my brother Naj eeb who was on h i s way to
F l orence ,
Italy .
He a l s o told me that Unc l e I skander
with Cous in Az i z were a l s o in Par i s on the ir way to
Constant inop l e and Be irut , and that my s i ster with her
husband were spend ing the ir honeymoon i n Par i s in an
apartment near the Arc de Triomph .
Az i z and I v i s ited
with my s i ster and her husband for a short wh i l e , then
got l odg ings nearby .
Unc le and cou s i n were spend ing j ust
73
�two days in Par i s and were then l eaving for
Constant inop l e via the or ient Expre s s .
My t icket to
B e i rut was via the Med i terranean , and at my unc l e ' s
ins i stence , I canceled my t i cket and j o ined them on the
train .
He even paid the d i f f erence in the fare .
We l e ft Par i s in the morning for Vienna ,
stopped only to change engines , then on to B e lgrade
cros s ing the Alps through the S imp lon Tunne l .
As we
moved from one country to another , we showed our
pas sports .
The train had only one s l eeping berth
unoccup i ed and we a l lotted it to Unc l e I skander .
Az i z
and I passed the t ime e i ther in our seats or walk ing i n
t h e corr idor .
When we reached the Austr ian border , the
conductor accompanied by an Austrian pol iceman checked
our pas sports .
Just bef ore go ing to s l eep Unc l e I skander
r ea l i z ing that at each border he was go ing to be awakened
for th i s f orma l ity , showed the conductor where he p l aced
the p a ssport and begged him not to wake h im .
Everyth i ng
went we l l unt i l we reached the Turk i sh border .
Unc l e ' s surpr i s e , there wa s no passport .
s a id ,
To
The o f f icer
" I am sorry , Mi ster , we ' l l have to deta in you . "
Unc l e charged the conductor with tak i ng it .
s a id to Unc l e ,
f o l l owed .
" Come with me . "
The o f f icer
He l ed the way and we a l l
Unc l e didn ' t te l l us that one of h i s customers
w ith whom he wa s do ing bus iness wa s coming to meet him .
74
�When he m i ssed h im at the gate o f the stat ion , he began
to ask and look for h im .
He surmised that i t might be
pas sport troub l e . As he entered the o f f ice , he shouted ,
" What are you do ing here ? " " Someone stole my p a s sport , "
r ep l ied my unc le , and turn ing to the conductor , h e
cont inued ,
" You s aw it an hour ago . "
turned t o the conductor and s a id ,
my fr i end l ike that .
Unc l e ' s f r i end
" I t is a shame to treat
You must produce the pas sport th i s
a fternoon or e l se I ' l l hold you accountab l e .
S ir . "
Come on ,
They never bothered looking at our pas sports .
Th i s was good for me ,
for I entered the country
un i de nt i f ied .
We stayed in I stanbu l long enough for Unc l e to
f in i sh his bus iness wh i l e Az i z and I exp l ored the
beaut i f u l c ity and then we boarded the steamer Portuga l ,
the s ame steamer that f i fteen years before took me on my
l ap o f the j ourney to Amer ica .
Greek i s l ands of the Aegean Sea .
c la s s ,
We s a i l ed through the
We were trave l ing f irst
so I took Unc le and Az i z and showed them how I
trav e l ed on th i s steamer " on deck " and I wanted t o show
them how they put us in the ho ld o f the ship ,
but a s we
went down the steps Unc l e cou ld not stand the stench and
came back up .
We had a very warm we lcome i n Be i rut , mo st
members o f the f am i ly came out in boats to greet us .
pas sport prob l em caused troub le aga in .
that I must not show mine ,
The
Every one dec ided
in fact my father took it away
75
�from me .
Our d i stant relat ive by marr i age N i c o l a
Mos s aw i r s a id ,
" Leave it t o me ,
then gave m e h i s t i cket ,
I c a n hand l e i t . "
"Admi t one , " and s a i d ,
He
" That
w i l l take care o f you , and I ' l l manage to get out . "
then told Ameen to look a fter our luggage .
He
Fortuna t e l y
everyth ing worked out a l l r i ght .
The next f ew days , we had the prob l em o f where
t o spend the summer .
I t was the midd l e o f July 1 9 1 4 and
the wor ld wa s a s t i r with the news of war .
I ndeed we had
seen s igns of i t a s we trave led here from P ar i s ,
for at
every stat i on we saw sold iers on and around the stat ion
i n group s , earnestly talk ing with worr i ed faces
apparent ly d i scuss ing the threat of war .
Ameen who had
an entree to the Eng l ish papers reported that the t a l k
about w a r was preva lent everywhere .
H i s op i n i on was that
we shou l d rent a place in Lebanon c l ose to B e i rut where
i n case o f troub l e we wou ld be safe .
I n case o f war ,
B e i rut was not s a f e because in 1 8 6 1 the Great P ower s
f orced the Turks t o free Lebanon , but the agreement
exc luded B e i rut .
We rented a large house in Bhamdoun in
the Lebanon Mountains large enough to accommodate our
f am i l y wh ich inc luded s i ster Asma and her two ch i ldren ,
Ameen and f am i l y with Shukr i , Az i z and Mar i e .
spar s e ly furn ished but f a ir ly comfortable .
I t was
That wa s a
good arrangement for Ameen and h i s brothers were a b l e to
go down to the ir work in the morning and return for
76
�s upper and a cool night ' s s l eep .
We had hoped t o spend a
beaut i fu l vacat i on together , but a l a s our hopes were
shattered by the dark c louds of war .
August f irst ,
On Sunday n ight
I was awakened at midnight by cous i n Ameen
who had arrived f rom Be irut with the awful news that war
was dec lared and that a l l exits from B e i rut were b l ocked
by the a rmy .
Ha l f awake , I j umped f rom my bed and s a i d ,
" I must l e ave at once . "
He s a id ,
" Wake up , Ae lyas ,
and talk rat i o na l ly .
Y ou
can ' t go down to Be i rut for you wi l l be caught
at once .
I j ust arrived f r om the c ity and the
pol ice are a lready at the border s .
Now give me
a l l the checks , dra fts on Thoma s Cook and S ons .
I am go ing back now so that I w i l l be at Cook ' s
o f f ice where they wi l l cash them for me .
It is
better t o be on the s a fe s ide . "
He took them and went down and cashed them .
And what a w i s e thought that wa s for the banks c l osed
that day and hard cash was unava i lab l e .
How the f am i ly
wou ld have suffered that summer had Ameen not ca shed the
checks !
When the news spread , everybody who could get
out of Be irut was on the way to Lebanon and the roads
were c l ogged with vehicles and with pede s t r i ans carry ing
t h e i r be long ings .
where to go .
They squatted on the road not knowing
They j ust wanted to be away from under
77
�But soon it was announced that the
Turk i sh ru le .
government had abrogated the Cap itu lat ion wh i ch had made
Lebanon free and that now Lebanon was under Turk i sh ru l e .
I t was a l s o announced that a l l men o f m i l i tary age shoul d
regi ster in the army and those who p r e f e r n o t to s e rve in
the army wou ld be excused. by pay ing for a sUbst itute .
For a wh i le nobody paid any attent i on to these orders
be l ieving that Lebanon wa s a free state and that the
Tur k i sh author ities wou ld not dare put the i r f oot on
Lebanon ' s so i l .
But they soon saw the Turki sh po l ice
a round and they began to f l ee to the mounta ins .
My
cous ins , because of the i r bus ine s s in Be irut , p a i d the
f e e and they were ab l e to go through the cordon of p o l i c e
w i thout any d i f f iculty .
When the government found that very f ew obeyed
the ca l l for regi strat ion ,
searching the houses .
it started a program o f
When the searchers wou ld show up
a nywhere , watchers wou ld sound the a larm and thos e who
were e l i g i b l e wou ld disappear .
Naj eeb and I twi c e l e f t
o u r beds at n ight and sought re fuge in a house that had
j us t been searched .
Thus went our summer ; had it not been f o r the
war we wou ld have had a very de l ightful vacat i on ; now the
worry was how to get out . Everybody wa s g i v ing advice ,
for examp l e , work on a boat that s a i l s between D j oun i eh
and Cypress .
About the f irst o f October Ameen c ame up
78
�f rom B e i rut and s a id ,
steamer ,
" I have good news for you .
Sphinx , o f the Message r i Mar it ime ,
and is l eaving in two days for Franc e .
The
is i n B e i rut
I t i s go i ng t o
stop at D j oun ieh and maybe you c a n board her there . "
So
N a j eeb and I went to D j oun i eh with brother - in - l aw S a l eem
Haddad and wa ited .
Sure enough the Sph inx came a l ong
f o l lowed by a Turk ish gunboat and both anchored .
There
were many peop l e bes ides us wa i t ing t o board her , but
b e f or e any one could reach the ship a sma l l tug boat with
a po l i ceman and two gendarmes came a shore and announced
that no one who didn ' t have a Lebane s e pas sport wou l d be
a l l owed to board the ship .
they got on .
Few peop l e wer e lucky and
After loading the cargo , the ship l i f ted
anchor and s a i led .
How disappo inted we were ! Ameen was
p lann ing a trip for us to Cyprus whe n he heard that the
Sph inx wa s mak i ng a trip to D j oun i eh aga i n t o p ick up a
cargo the same a s before .
Th i s t ime S a leem Haddad , who
used to l ive in D j oun ieh and who worked there as the
sup e r i ntendent of a mi l l mak ing f l our , knew the boatman
qu ite we l l and thought that he might be a b l e to get u s
on .
We were at D j ouni eh on the appo i nted day and the
s ame scene happened as before .
Sa l eem went up to the
boatman he knew from before and s a i d to him ,
are my peop l e .
p a s sport .
" Look , these
They are Amer icans and have an Amer i can
They a l so had an exit v i s a to l eave Lebanon . "
Tak i ng an Eng l i sh sovere ign from h i s pocket he cont i nued ,
79
�" I ' l l g ive th i s to you i f you can get them on that s h ip . "
The boatman ' s eyes got big when he saw the gold c o i n and
he s a id ,
" Do they have a Lebanese pas sport?
You know
that no one can board the ship without it . "
r ep l i ed ,
" I f they had Lebanese pas sport s ,
o f fer you th i s c o in . "
r ight ,
I ' l l go .
us he s a i d ,
I wou ldn ' t
Hassan the boatman rep l i ed ,
"All
I have noth ing to lose , " and turn ing to
" Leave it a l l to me .
you understand?
S a l e em
Don ' t say a word , do
G ive me your passports . "
w ith
trep idat i on , we went a l ong and when we reached the boat
Has san shouted ,
" Good morn ing . " There were no answer .
Then Hassan s a i d in a qu i et moderated vo ice ,
A l ikom , " to wh ich he go the usua l rep ly ,
"Al S a laam
" Wa A l i kom Al
S a laam . " Hassan got c l oser and then handed over the
p a s sports and s a id ,
" Ya Seed i , the s e two young men are
Amer icans and here are the ir pas sports . " The o f f icer
r ep l i e d ,
" None but Lebanese can leave . "
" I thought that they cou ld go .
Hassan answered ,
They even showed me the ir
e x.it permit . " " They don ' t know what they are talk ing
about , " s a id the o f f icer .
" Li sten to me , " begged Ha ssan ,
" For God ' s sake and our Holy Prophet , they a s sured me
that they were r ight and they showed me the exit permit .
Just l ook at it p lea se .
Wa l l ah i ,
I haven ' t made a Bara
for so long and my chi ldren cry every day that I go home
w ithout a loaf of bread . "
Th i s wa s s a id wi th such a
broken down vo ice that the o f f i cer took one f rom me and
80
�a s he opened i t , h i s back wa s to the sun and a s the sun
h it the sheet ,
I cou ld see that the s e a l was on top o f
the page wh ich indicated that the o f f icer d i d not know
a ny European language and h i s attempt at read i ng was only
a sham .
But he started asking me ,
" Who are you , what ' s
your name , where are you from , where are you g o i ng , " to
wh i ch I made no answer .
He opened my brother ' s p a s sport
and a sked the s ame quest ions with the s ame result .
Meanwh i l e Hassan was talk ing very rap idly ,
ch i ldren have not eaten .
" For days my
May God s end us some money .
Our prophet b l e s sed thos e that fed the hungry ; b l e s s ed
and promi sed them long l i fe , " and as he saw the o f f icer
f o ld Na j eeb ' s passport said ,
Rash i d .
" My name i s Hassan abo
Ask for me , everybody knows me . "
w i th that the
o f f icer pointed us towards the ship .
None o f the three of us s a i d a word unt i l we
were far away from the boat , then my brother a sked ,
d i d you do it? "
it.
" How
Hassan s a id that the last sentence d id
I s a id noth ing unt i l I he ld the ra i l i ng and put my
f oot on the step of the ship for I knew then that I was
on a French ship and Unc le Sam was back ing me up .
N a j eeb ,
I told
" There is a book cal l ed P i lgr im ' s Progr e s s ,
ma in character i s a man cal led Chr i st i an .
its
He was
trave l ing on the road of l i fe with a big bund l e o f h i s
m i sdeed o n h i s back , and o n h i s way , h e saw the face o f
Chr i s t and as h e looked a t it that heavy bund l e f e l l o f f
81
�Now I am l ike him .
h i s back .
That big bund l e o f worry
has f a l len o f f our backs , may i t never return . "
Up on deck , we found a f ew pass enger s who had
gotten on ear l ier in the morning and they congratu l ated
u s when they heard our story . When the ship f in i shed
load ing its cargo ,
it returned to B e i rut and ear l y i n the
a f t ernoon the passengers from B e irut began to embark .
We
kept watch ing to see i f someone perchance m ight have our
l uggage ,
for our brother - i n - l aw Sa leem had agreed that a s
soon a s he s a w us go ing to the ship , he wou ld return to
B e i rut with our luggage and g ive it in trust for s omeone
t o g ive it to u s .
As it turned out , my aunt a nd her
daughter who had spent the summer in Lebanon and who were
now returning to cairo g l adly accepted the j ob .
A l l the
conversat i on among the passengers was about the upheava l
i n Lebanon and the good fortune of thos e who were a b l e to
l eave .
We arr iVed in Alexandr ia in good t ime and we
t o.ok the train to cairo .
Aunt i e ins i sted that we go home
and stay with her , that she had a spare room ,
wou l d accept no refusa l .
and she
Our prob l em now wa s how t o
reach London where there wa s a committee for stranded
Ame r icans .
The banks in Ca iro were c losed and Aunt i e
hardly had enough cash t o take care o f her d i r e needs .
Then I r emembered that f ive years ear l i er , the bank o f
C a i ro c l osed its doors and a student who w a s study i ng
82
�dent istry at the Univer s i ty of Pennsy lvan i a was u na b l e to
pay the t u i t i on for the second s eme ster o f the year a nd
wou ld not have been able to cont inue h i s cour s e had not
the Dean of the scho o l told him ,
" There is a countryman
of your s prac t i c ing in Chester .
Go s e e h im , he m i ght be
a b l e to help you . "
He carne and I he lped h im .
h i s o f f i c e in Cairo and went to see h im .
s tory and he s a id ,
" My dear Kas sab ,
your k indness to me .
I l ocated
I told him my
I ' l l never f orget
You know that the banks are c l o sed
and I don ' t have loose cash , but I ' l l not s e e you
stranded .
Come w ith me . "
we entered a store .
owner ,
We wa lked a short d i s tance and
After introduc ing me , he s a i d to the
" G i ve me a pound ( Egypt i an ) . "
" Ar e you cra z y? "
My fri end s a id ,
have t ime to argue .
I am serious ,
H i s f r i end rep l i ed ,
" Come on now ,
I don ' t
I am in a hurry . "
He
got h i s pound . He tried the same on another store w ith
the s ame resul t .
A l l that a fternoon , he went from p l ace
t o p lace , begg ing from some .
Fina l ly he r a i sed the
required amount o f f i fteen pounds .
He wanted to take me
around the c ity but I re fused saying that t ime was very
short and that I wanted to go and t e l l my brother who wa s
i nqui r ing about steamer ' s schedu l e s .
I prom i s ed that I
wou l d send h im the money as soon a s I reached Ches ter ,
and I inv ited h im to v i s i t me in America .
Naj eeb found out that the f irst ship reach ing
London wa s the Wh ite star L iner Pers i a wh i ch was
83
�s chedu led to depart in two on three days depending on
when i t arr ived f rom Austra l i a , and that if we wanted to
t rave l on her we wou ld need c l earance from the B r i t i sh
Embassy .
The author ities there were very g l ad to s e e us .
They kept asking us in deta i l about the s ituat ion i n
B e i rut .
We told them a l l that we knew . Having rece ived
our c l earance and a permit to leave Cairo , we went by
t r a i n to Port S a id and wa ited .
The Per s i a wa s a l it t l e
late because s h e had to change h e r cours e s evera l t imes
i n order to escape from the German r a ider " Emden . "
Because she was late , she did not tarry l ong .
I t was
crowded but we got on and need l e s s to say we were very
anx i ou s when the Persia cont inued to change her course
through the Med i terranean .
we r eached G ibra ltar .
However , out m inds e a s ed when
The weather was bad enough t o make
us s ea s i ck when we s a i l ed through the Bay of B i s cay .
When we reached the Eng l i sh Channe l , our m inds wer e eased
when we saw two minesweepers gu iding us through the mine
f i€ lds . Ha l fway through the channel we cou l d s e e f l a shes
of l ight .
The Germans were then bombarding Antwerp .
We
docked without any d i f f icu lty and wa lked stra i ght to the
Y . M . C . A . of wh i ch I wa s a member .
free f oot of space .
f a r and near .
There was hard l y a
It was crowded w ith s o ld i er s f r om
After a thorough search I located the
s ecretary and begged for accommoda t i ons showing h im my
i nternat i ona l Y membership .
He s a id ,
84
" Doctor , you can
�s e e f o r yourse l f . "
When he saw our d i s appo intment and
how weary we were , he s a id ,
" You come with me , " and
tak i ng me by the hand wa lked j ust a l it t l e f r om the Y and
knocked at a door .
door , he s a id ,
When a middle aged l ady opened the
" I want you to g i ve t h i s man and h i s
brother she lter f or the night .
f r om abroad . "
She s a id ,
They have j us t l anded
" I am p leased to . "
and I had a wonderful night ' s s l eep .
Both N a j eeb
I n the morning I
a sked her i f we cou ld stay unt i l we f ound p a s s age abroad .
She s a id a s long as you care to .
I thanked her and was
re l ieved when she said that she did not want t o be p a i d
unt i l we were ready to l eave .
I had very l it t l e money ,
j us t one pound and two sh i l l ings .
We had break f a s t at
one of the cha in restaurants , two s o f t bo i l ed egg s and a
cup o f tea for n ine pence each . Our next prob l em was
get t i ng cash f or we cou ld do nothing w ithout i t . S o we
s ought the help of the committee f or the a id of stranded
Ame r icans .
Hearing my story , the c lerk handed me two
l arge sheets to f i l l out .
I s a id ,
" Why do I have to do
a l l th i s and put you to a great dea l of troub l e whe n I
have money in the bank but you won ' t l e t me get hold o f
it?
I don ' t want you t o loan m e anyth ing .
do is to cable for it . "
regu l a t i ons . "
I rep l i ed ,
He s a id ,
A l l I want to
" That ' s against the
" We l l then ,
if you think that I
am a spy I ' l l g i ve you the name of my bank and let the
comm i ttee cable for me at my r i sk and expense . " He s a i d
85
�that he would go and ask .
I gave him my name and that o f
t h e bank with t h e requested amount o f f i fty pound s .
went t o ask and r eturned with a hope f u l reply ,
'
He
" Come
tomorrow and we ' l l l et you know . " On the morrow there was
no news but the day a fter he s a i d ,
is the money . "
What a r e l i e f !
" You are lucky , here
We went stra i ght away to
Thoma s Cook ' s o f f ice and found that the only ship o f
Ame r ican regi stry was the st . Paul wh i ch was t o s a i l
three days hence .
We booked pas sage . I t was a one c l a s s
s h i p and be ing o f Amer ican regi stry w a s s a f e f rom the
German ra iders .
That done we got accommodat i ons i n the
Strand P a lace Hote l , then on to the Y where we thanked
the s ecretary , then we paid our hostes s .
Next was a
f irst c l a s s restaurant f or a good mea l .
Our trip on the st . Paul was without a ny
i nc ident , neverthe l e s s we were very happy to s e e the
Statue of L iberty in New York and the we lcome at the
dock .
N a j eeb rema ined in the c i ty and prom i s ed to f o l low
a s. s oon a s he took care of some important bus ine s s .
Back home to Chester , to a loving and w a i t ing
pract i c e , and to a country fearful of gett ing embr o i l ed
i n the great war .
Pres ident W i l son was do ing h i s best to
keep u s out of i t even though the German submar ines were
p l ay i ng havoc with our sh ipp ing .
But when the l iner
Lus itan i a wa s torpedoed with heavy loss of human l i f e ,
W i l son ca l l ed the German ambas sador �nd gave h im the
86
�d i sm i s s a l order ,
and we were in the war .
I was beyond
the dra f t age but my f r i end Dr . Lucki e and a f ew others
vo lunteered with me to look a fter the drafted men ' s teeth
and g ive them the needed service .
After the war we
rece ived the thanks of the President and Congre s s for our
services .
Short ly a fter the war two th i ng s o f importance
happened to our fami ly .
Sara ( Wadea ' s w i f e )
left for
B e i rut to pay a v i s i t to her f ami ly , a n d M i s s Mary
s u f f ered a heavy stroke wh ich para l y z ed her l e ft s ide .
We had a hard t ime managing her because she was very
heavy .
I n a few days her speech returned to norma l , but
she was par a l y z ed on the left s ide f rom her shou lder
down .
I was l iv i ng with them then at 8 0 2 Edgmont Avenue ,
whi le our o f f ices were at 8 0 6 Edgmont Avenue , and i t was
d i f f icu lt for me to leave my o f f ice when I wa s needed for
he lp .
As I recorded previous ly , Wadea ' s bu i ld ing ,
bes ides our o f f ices , �ad three l arge and thre e sma l l
apartments .
One of the l arge ones was d irect ly across
the ha l l from my o f f ice , so we moved and occup i ed i t .
Years be f ore , when Miss Mary wa s in London ,
she had
v i s ited the f am i ly of Char les Dickens and was introduced
t o h i s son who wa s then the pres ident of the D i ckens
F e l lowship .
On her arr iva l back home she organ i z ed a
branch o f th i s society wh ich was the f irst branch o f the
She had a genu ine i nterest
F e l lowship in North Amer ica .
87
�i n th i s F e l l owship , she kept a l l the records and m inute s
o f t h e meet ings .
Even with her para lys i s ,
of a l l contacts with London .
she took care
Fortunate ly she cou l d u s e
her r ight hand s o she could h e l p her se l f , but tak i ng care
of her in bed was very hard on her s i ster so we got h e lp .
Y e a r s be fore the s i sters adopted a young g i r l , Joseph ine ,
who had no relat ives and who in t ime was marr ied to a
baker , James Sweeny .
w i th u s .
She volunteered to come and stay
I t was very fortunate for u s because a short
wh i le later E l i z abeth caught a cold .
Wh i l e her doctor
was treat ing her , he went away on a f i sh i ng tr ip w i thout
t e l l i ng us whom to ca l l in case of emergency nor d i d he
ask someone to look a fter his pat i ents wh i le he was away .
When we were able to get a subst itute , the cold had
deve l oped i nto a case of pneumon i a f r om wh i ch E l i z a beth
d i d not survive .
S ince she had been both the hous ekeeper
' and the cook , our prob lem doubl ed .
S o we asked Josephine
" t o br i ng her husband and l ive with u s .
They agr e ed and
they stayed with us unt i l Mary d i ed .
One morning a s I was operating my secretary
said ,
" There i s a gent l eman to see you . "
the wa it ing room to see .
YMCA in Chester .
s a id ,
He sa-id ,
I went out to
He was the secretary o f the
" I s George any r e l at i on? "
" Yes , he i s my unc l e , why do you a sk? "
I
He s a i d ,
"I
don ' t know the gent l eman , but I rece ived th i s l etter from
h i m wh i ch conta ins not very good news .
88
I am very sorry
�t o t e l l you that your f ather , your s i ster ' s husband
S a l eem and h i s daughter Wadad pas sed away dur ing the war ,
and he thought that th i s was the best way to break the
news to you . "
I thanked him for h i s words o f sympathy
and I told him that I fu l ly appreciated how d i f f icult i t
w a s for him to d e l iver th i s mes sage .
D i scus s ing th i s with the rest of the fami ly , we
a l l r ecogn i z ed how d i f f icult it must have been for my
s i ster to bear a l l the sUf fer ing dur i ng the war trying to
get the nece s s it i e s of l i f e even though we were send i ng
her a s t ipend each month .
We did not know whether or not
she wa s even rece iving the money !
I n f act , a s we l e arned
a fterwards , she was receiving deva lued Turk i sh money .
A l l o f u s agreed that somethi ng must be done , that i f she
were w i l l ing to come here with her f am i ly , that one of us
wou l d a s s ume the respons ibi l ity o f go i ng and br i nging her
over .
Th i s cou ld not be done unt i l peace was dec l ared
and trave l ing permitted .
On November the s eventh the
r eports c ircul ated that the arm i s t i ce wa s s igned and I
be l ieve that no one , yes , no one , could adequately
descr i be the j oyful excitement that took p l ace . Every
man , woman , and chi ld l e ft what they had been do ing a nd
took to the streets wh ich were crowded with veh i cu lar
tra f f ic o f every description creep ing between a ma s s o f
humanity .
r ing i ng ,
The no ise , oh , the noise , church be l l s
f actory wh i stles shr i eking , nearly everybody
89
�with a t i n pan and a s t i ck trying to outdo the other in
mak i ng a greater volume o f sound . Add a l l th i s to the
shout i ng of the mu lti tude and you may have a f a i nt idea
of the j oyful exp los ion emanat ing from the breasts of the
mu l t i tude at the ending of the war .
After a f ew hours of th i s ,
i t suddenly ended a s
i t began when i t w a s announced that t h e news was
prematur e .
But not for long .
On the e l eventh the
armi st i ce wa s con f i rmed , the ce lebration renewed but on a
sma l l er s c a l e .
And what a re l ie f !
At the peace tab l e Turkey was d i smembe red , her
provinces in A s i a , Syr ia , and Lebanon were a l l otted to
F rance under a twenty year mandate , wh i le P a l e s t i ne and
Trans j ordan were l ikew i s e a l lotted to Eng land a l so under
a twenty year mandate .
That left Constant inop l e in
Europe a s a cap ita l with a sma l l state .
B e i rut wrote ,
My f ami ly in
" You never need to fear the Turks anymore .
We want you to come over for we need you . "
There was the
p r.o b l em of my s i ster and her fami ly , and the house i n
B ludan .
After f ather ' s death , i t was l e ft without a ny
one to take care of it , and th i eves ransacked it and
carr i ed o f f a l l unfastened things .
d i s cu s s ions ,
After long
it was dec ided that I shou ld go and try to
s ett l e things .
I t was not unt i l September 1 9 2 0 that
through the e f fort o f Dr . E . C . Kirk o f the Univers i ty of
Pennsy lvan ia , who had some good contacts in Washington ,
90
�that I rece ived a pas sport and a v i s a .
bad t ime for me to leave my practice ,
Though i t was a
I neverthe l e s s ,
dec ided to make a qu ick trip .
I arrived in Be irut around S eptember 2 0 , we had
a j oyful but sad meet ing , and I soon l earned the deta i l s
o f my father ' s and ni ece ' s deaths .
I t was dur ing the
i n f luenz a ep i demic , the fam i ly was in B ludan where there
wa s no med ica l h e lp of any kind , and the war wa s near i ng
the end .
The Br i t i sh had routed the Turks f r om Syr i a and
P a l es t i ne and they were advanc ing towards Damas cu s .
My
n i ece had a cold wh ich turned out to be an attack o f the
f lu .
My father had heard that Genera l Al l e nby was
p a s s ing ahead of his troops through Z ebdan i , about f ive
m i l es and drop of twenty f ive hundred feet be l ow B ludan .
Not havi ng any veh icular transportat ion , he wa lked .
The
day was hot and hum id and when he returned he was
c omp l ete ly exhausted . He went to see the s i ck g i r l and
when he saw her cond i t i on , he went to his r o�m and
s tr etched out on his bed .
A short wh i l e later Asma went
to h i s room to ask h im to come and he lp with her
daughter , but she could not wake him .
Asma r ea l i z ed that
s ometh ing was wrong and she went to the v i l l age t o summon
help but none would come , for they were a f r a i d o f
catching the f lu .
An o ld man from Damascus who was
summer i ng in B ludan came to her rescue , but no one could
do anyth i ng . The girl d i ed in the night , and my f ather
91
�the next morning .
The bur i a l was a problem ,
was no funeral director nor any caskets .
f o r there
Father had s ome
p l anks in the house wh ich were used to make two caskets
and s ome men f rom the v i l lage dug a grave i n the garden
and bur ied them there .
My s i ster never got over that
shock .
The next th ing we d i scussed was what wou l d be
the best thing for my s i ster and her ch i ldren .
O f course
we conc luded that f in ish ing the ir education i n Ame r i ca
was best ,
and that we shou ld go as soon as pos s ib l e and
not wa ste any precious t ime .
About B l udan we agreed that
I shou l d go to see what cond i t i on it was i n , app o i nt a
caretaker ,
and have h im report to my s i ster Fareedeh .
I
went t o B ludan and f ound the house to be i n poor shape .
The windows and doors were broken , and th i eves had
unsucc e s s fu l ly attempted to burn i t .
I had the p lace
c l eaned and put in shape .
We dec ided to rema in in Be i rut because we could
nO.t spend the t ime in B ludan .
The weather was turn i ng
c o l d s o I spent the t ime between the three s i ster ' s
househo lds .
Natural ly the conversat i on turned to my
getting marr i ed .
s o hard to p lease?
They wanted to know why I d i dn ' t , was I
Weren ' t there any e l ig i b l e g i r l s ?
My
answer was e i ther that I was too busy w ith f am i l y a f f a i rs
o r that I hadn ' t found the right one .
Now they i n s i sted
that I not delay any longer and that I must not r eturn to
92
�Ame r ica s ing l e .
They made a l i st o f many o f the i r
f r iend ' s g i r l s a n d whenever we met at d inner or s oc i a l
gather i ng s the conver sat ion was ,
" Th i s one i s not pretty .
Th i s one i s too t a l l or too short .
Th i s one h a s a
b eaut i fu l vo ice and s ings in the cho ir .
c o l l ege graduate and so on . "
That one i s a
One night Kha l e e l Khoury
with h i s w i f e and two daughters came over to v i s i t the
fami ly and we brought out some p ictures that we had taken
on a t r i p the week be for e .
The gir l s j o i ned in the
conversat i on and were quite free in the ir d i s cu s s ion .
It
wa s a very p leasant evening and when they l e f t , Ameen
s a id ,
" What ' s the matter with one of the s e g ir l s ? " I s a i d
t h a t there was noth ing wrong with them , the prob l em wa s
me . Maryanna s a id ,
them .
" There i s a great dea l the matter with
One i s going to be married soon and the other i s
s ought a f ter b y a wea l thy merchant f r om South Ame r i ca ,
a nyhow she i s supposedly engaged to her cou s i n . "
said ,
Ameen
" I ' l l f ind out tomorrow , Kha l e e l is my t a i l o r , and
i s. on the s e s s ion of the church . "
mus t be very interested .
a j oke ,
'!Ameen , you
I have been tak i ng a l l t a lk a s
I have a lot to look a fter .
l ook a f t er now .
I s a id ,
I have the f am i ly to
Forget it . " Ameen rep l i ed ,
never let you go back s ingle .
" I ndeed I ' l l
That ' s f ina l . "
I t was gett ing c l ose to- the hol idays and I was
anx ious to get home , but s i ster Asma and her f ami ly were
not ready .
I t wa s d i f f icult for them to c l o s e the house
93
�and d i spose of the many things that were not go i ng w ith
her .
I kept begg ing them to make haste . Meanwh i l e I
began to th ink o f the prob lem o f transportat ion .
We were
now f ive and to trave l f irst c la s s wou ld be very
expens ive , so I dec ided to go s econd c l as s to Mar se i l l e s ,
s econd c lass to Le Havre , and thence f irst c l a s s to New
York .
I did not have the neces sary cash s o I cab l ed my
bank in Chester to send me more money .
But another
d i f f i cu lty arose at the trave l agency ; name l y that s ince
Asma ' s ma id was i l l iterate , cou ld not even wr ite her name
in any language , they could not guarantee that she wou ld
b e adm itted to the Un ited states ,
r e turn fee for her return .
that I had to post a
When my s i ster heard that
there was a chance of not having her ma id , Le i l a ,
adm itted , she changed her mind about go ing .
We let the
matter rest f or the t ime be ing .
Chr istmas was upon us .
church .
I t centered around the
s i ster Fareedeh was the hos t e s s in the cho i r ,
Sal eh Nucho was the organist and cho irmaster , and the
cho i r sang spe c i a l mus ic for the Chr i s tmas service and
for a cantata .
The cho ir had s evera l rehears a l s and o f
course s i ster Fareedeh took m e a long .
I got to know the
member s very we l l , and I a lways had a wonder f u l t ime .
Th i s s ame crowd wa s having a Watch N ight service for the
new year to wh ich I was spec ia l ly i nv ited .
I t was he ld
in a home of one of the members and the Khoury g i r l s were
94
�there .
By spe c i a l request at 1 1 : 5 5 I was a sked to say a
f ew words b idding the o ld year good-bye and to we l c ome
the beginning of the new year .
I mus t have done pretty
we l l for I heard about it later on .
When it was t ime to
l e ave the group dec ided that if the morrow was c l ear and
warm , they wou ld take a long h ike in the country .
The
group was carefree , and as soon as they were i n the
country , s ang and carr i ed on .
and j o i ned in the fun .
I ta lked with every one
Pass ing a r a i l road track , one o f
t h e g i r l s cha l lenged me t o s e e who cou l d w a l k f arther o n
the tracks .
s a id ,
She f a i led .
Then one o f the Khoury g i r l s
" Let m e try , " and she won .
" No wonder , she is a good dancer . "
the v i ctor ious girl asked me ,
The def eated g i r l s a id ,
Later on the way horne
" I hear that you are a very
c l ever dent i s t , what makes gums bleed? "
I r ep l i ed
because the teeth are not c lean , I then a sked ,
your gums b l eed? "
c le an i ng them . "
c leaning .
She s a id ,
I said ,
" Y e s , and I am a l l the t ime
" I don ' t mean that k ind o f
The teeth can have a depo s it on them that you
cannot c l ean with a brush , and if it s tays on ,
d e stroy your teeth .
She s a id ,
thank f u l . "
" Why , do
i t wi l l
Do you want me to look at them? "
" I f it is not too much troub l e , I ' l l be very
I s a id , " We l l , tomorrow I ' l l be at my
cous in ' s o f f ice at Bab Edr i s e ,
i f you can come around
n i ne thirty I ' l l be g l ad to see you . "
She c ame and I
f ound a perf ect set of teeth with no s igns o f decay but
95
�w ith p l enty o f tartar .
I SLOWLY sca l ed and po l i shed them
and I mus t say that I was sorry when the j ob was
f in i shed .
She warmly thanked me and l e ft .
I was very
much impre ssed with her and I had a fee l i ng towards her
that I had never had for any g i r l be f or e .
That even i ng I
t o l d my exper i ence o f the day and Ameen s a id ,
B a e t ik , d i dn ' t you grab her? "
" Yu r i b
Then he s a id that h e
ta lked to h e r f ather who s a i d that t h e e l der daughter was
engaged and soon to be married but the younger one was
f r ee .
The f ather a l so s a id that the g i r l wa s f ond o f
her f irst cou s i n who was qu ite s i ck with tubercu l o s i s and
that she went to see h im and read to h im f requent ly .
He
a l s o s a id that the a man from South America asked him for
her hand and his reply was that it wa s up to the g i r l and
that the g i r l had turned the o f fer down .
rested there .
B e i rut .
The matter
But it did not rest with the peop l e o f Ra s
The rumor wa s that the gir l had g iven up on her
cous in and was go ing to marry the r ich Ame r i can .
g ir l ,
Poor
for two weeks she wou ld not go out o f the house .
I n the meant ime my Unc l e I skander had brought a car over
f r om Amer ica ( a Chand ler ) and Raj a Ra i s had come f rom
Ha i f a to B e i rut to c l ear it from customs and dr i ve it to
Ha i fa .
When he tr i ed to drive i t in B e i rut , not hav ing
dr iven a car be fore , he decided to h i re a chauf f eur
i nstead and he invited me to go a long say ing ,
good company and you w i l l visit your unc l e . "
96
" We ' l l be
So I
�agreed .
The chauffeur s a id that the d i stance to B e i rut
wa s a bout n inety m i l e s and because the car was new , h e
wou ld n o t dr ive it f aster than th irty m i l e s per hour .
So
we started and everyth ing all r ight unt i l we r eached the
outs k i rt s of S idon .
The car started mak ing a n o i s e ,
and
the chauf f eur examined it but s a id that he could not f ind
anyt h i ng wrong , but that he suspected that a spr ing wa s
broken .
He crept into S idon and fortunately there was a
garage c l ose by .
Thorough examinat ion showed that irideed
the car had a broken spr ing , but the make o f car had
never be f or e been seen in S idon , so the cha u f f eur s a i d
that he must r eturn t o B e i rut t o get a rep l acement spr ing
i f perchance he could f ind one .
.. {\
that n i ght .
We stayed in the inn
O f cours e there were no beds i n the i nn but
we d i d not mind .
We stayed up l i stening to the r a i n .
The cha u f f eur succeeded in f i nding a part and he r eturned
with the post .
I t took them unt i l sunset to f ix the car
but the dr iver wou ld not take the r i sk to cont inue to
H a,i f a ,
lest we have more troub l e , so we had to stay t i l l
the f o l l owing morn ing . The go ing was a l l r ight t i l l we
r eached Makourah where the road we were f o l l owing a l ong
the coast suddenly shifted landward and after about a
m i l e i t became soft from the ra in o f the previ ous n ight .
As we were wonder ing whether to cont inue or turn back , we
f e l t ours e lves go deeper .
A l l e f f orts to move u s ,
even
w ith us go ing into the mud and pushi ng , proved u s e l es s .
97
�We dec ided that one of us wou ld go back to S idon f o r
Just be fore the chauf feur started , a bedou i n came
he lp .
by ,
l e ad i ng h i s came l to Ha i f a .
f o r he lp .
agreed ,
We stopped h im and a sked
He s a id that i t wou ld cost u s a gu i ne a .
We
so he t i ed a heavy rope to the bumper and t o l d
t h e chau f f eur to get in the c a r and at a g iven s igna l for
h im to start the car .
At that instant a sudden no i s e so
f r i ghtened the came l that he gave one leap so quick that
you cou l d not see anyth ing except the rope .
The bedou in
w ith a curse started chas ing a fter h im and we never saw
h i s shadow from our tear - f i l led eyes .
We sat there
wa i t ing and presently the ma i l truck with three f i ne
d r iven horses came along and the dr i ver stopped .
s a id ,
He
" I don ' t have t o a sk , " and unh i tched h i s horses and
in a b r i e f moment had set us free .
He a s sured u s that we
wou ldn ' t have any further troub l e , that the indentat i on
i n the road was due to a l itt l e brook that c r o s s ed by .
We o f f ered him gratu ity but he refu s ed say i ng ,
s a.l ameh . "
"M' a el
The road turned towards the coast aga i n and
a bout a m i le from Ha i f a it turned towards the l and again .
The chauf f eur took the turn say i ng that th i s was a short
cut and wou ld save us t ime .
We soon reached a stream and
d i d not want to go through but the cha u f f eur s a i d ,
i t i s only inches deep .
t imes . "
with that ,
" Oh ,
I have gone through i t many
from a good d i stance away , he put on
f u l l speed ahead and ha l fway into the stream the water
98
�c ame over the hood and found us s itt i ng in the stream
w i th water comi ng from the sea for i t was f u l l t ide .
We
gave h im a look and each one gathered or rather grabbed
h i s luggage and got into the water to swim t o the beach .
Raj a rushed to the br idge and sent word to h i s f ather to
hurry a l ong w i th men and horses to pu l l us out .
In a
short t ime there were horses and men pu l l ing the car out .
They took the car to c lean and dry and we wa lked t o the
house to bathe and change c l othe s .
I v i s ited with my unc l e for two days and went
with h im to h i s off ice and it was there that I heard and
s aw a great deal o f the I srae l i -Arab conf l ict .
The
unrest was brewing about the inf lux o f Jews , the buy ing
of the l and and the underse l l ing of Jews o f n e a r l y
everyth ing to undercut the non-Jew i sh s t o r e s and p u t the
owners out o f bus ines s .
Unc l e , now having a new car , had s ome bus in e s s
i n N a z areth and wanted m e to g o a l ong , but I wanted t o
r eturn to Be i rut to see what had gone on .
But Unc l e
i n s i sted and I s a id i f it w a s o n l y f o r a d a y or two , I / l l
go .
N a z areth was not very far from B e i rut .
We l e f t the
next morn ing a fter breakfast and by ten o l c l ock Unc l e had
transacted h i s bus iness and we were moving t oward the
market p lace .
The car attracted onl ookers and who d i d I
s e e amongst the crowd but Soumaya .
my eye s .
99
I could hardly be l i eve
�" M i s s Khoury , what are you do ing
here ? "
" P le a s e don ' t ca l l me Miss Khoury , ca l l me
Soumaya . "
" Soumaya it sha l l be , "
I s a id .
" I am v i s it ing my s i ster , she i s look i ng over
the p lace where she is go i ng to l ive ,
she i s
going t o be marr ied in Apr i l . "
" Corne on , " I s a id ,
" I want you to meet my
I took her and introduced her to our
unc l e . "
" How long are you stay ing here , " I
group .
asked .
" Just a few days t i l l my s i ster gets her work
done .
Her intended has a pharmacy not far from
here .
I think that you must know him .
He i s
the cho irmaster and organ i st o f our church .
H i s name i s Sa leh Nucho .
How long are you
stay ing? "
" I carne with my unc l e from H a i f a , " I s a i d .
"
He comes here very frequent l y on bus ine s s .
Th i s morn ing , I had noth ing to do s o I thought
I ' d accompany h im for the r ide and I was lucky
to f ind you here .
D id you run away from the
gos s ip ? "
" I sn ' t it dreadful , " she rep l ied .
" Don ' t take it too serious l y , " I s a id .
" Oh , " she s a id ,
" You don ' t know the peop l e o f
100
�Ras Be irut .
I hope that you don ' t m i nd i t .
Just to change the subj ect , how l ong are y ou
stay ing? "
" I was p l ann ing to go back w i th my unc l e but i f
you ' d l ike m e t o stay I ' l l b e glad to stay
unt i l tomorrow , " I answered .
" Come l et us go see S a l eh , " she s a i d .
Sa l eh asked me i f I had ever been in N a z areth
b e f ore .
When I s a id that th i s was my f irst v i s it , h e
s a id to Soumaya ,
" Take the gent l eman t o the t o p o f the
h i l l and show h im the view from there . " On the way she
spoke a great deal about her s e l f and about how they a l l
s u f f ered dur ing the war but the fam i l y managed t o keep
her and her s i sters and brother in the Ame r i can and
Prus s ian schoo l s .
She was now teach i ng priva t e l y the
ch i ldren o f a mus l im fam i ly French and danc ing .
She kept
ask i ng a bout me and why I never marr ied , and espe c i a l ly
don ' t want to .
I s a id that I did not have the t ime ,
th,at f am i ly a f fa irs and prob lems inter f ered , and that the
r ight g i r l hadn ' t come a long .
be l i eve that .
h e r e now . "
" We l l , " I s a id ,
She s a i d that she cou ldn ' t
"Maybe the r i ght g i r l i s
W e reached the top o f the h i l l , t h e scene was
beaut i fu l , but who was looking at the scene at that t ime l
The next day I left for Be irut , stopp ing at
Ha i fa to see Unc le who only a sked ,
" I s a l l we l l , " to
wh ich I shook my head and he i n s i sted that I must qu i ckly
101
�r eturn .
I n B e irut , the word went out that both
p r i nc ipa l s o f the Kassab and Khoury fam i l ie s were out o f
A l s o , the
t h e c ity and the gos s ip was hotter than ever .
money had arr ived from Chester , my s i ster was reconc i l ed
t o the chance that Le i la may not be admitted ,
s o there
w a s no reas on for further delay . On the way t o the o f f ice
i n the morn ing , Ameen said ,
"I know how I can k i l l that
gos s ip and frustrate its originator s . "
He rep l i ed ,
" By gett ing marr i ed ,
I a sked ,
of cours e .
o f m e I can ' t s e e what ' s hold ing you back .
I s a id ,
never f ind a better girl . "
" How? "
For the l i f e
You w i l l
" I am sure that you
are r ight . "
As we approached the Kassab department store we
s aw a man carry ing a l arge f i sh wh ich he had j us t caught
and had f or s a l e . Ameen ca l l ed h im and s a i d ,
" I f you w i l l
c l ean t h i s f i sh and wrap it neat ly f or a g i ft ,
it from you .
my store . "
You must be qu ick though ,
The man was off .
I ' l l buy
and br i ng i t to
Ameen turned t o me and
s a.i d ,
" Now you hurry to the Ha i f a bus and take the
f i sh with you as a g i f t to Soumaya and don ' t
come back s ing l e !
What more can I do for you?
I thought that you Amer icans were made of f ire
not i ce , as the man comes w i th the f i sh you go
and don ' t argue .
For God ' s sake , prove that
you are a man of action . "
102
�After that t i rade , I could not do �nything but
go s e e Soumaya .
Ha i f a .
I thought o f h i s words a l l the way t o
Unc l e poured more o i l on the f ire by hand i ng me
the keys to the car and say ing ,
" Good luck .
t o s e e you back empty handed . "
In N a z areth ,
f am i ly in the k itchen c leaning f i sh ,
I don ' t want
I f ound the
for they had been to
Lake T iber ias the day before , and S a l eh , a good f i sherman
had caught some o f the famous var iety that they c a l l
" Far ideh . "
When they saw what I had i n the package they
cou l d hard ly be l i eve it .
I s a id that I wanted to s how
that I cou ld catch f i sh , too .
S a leh s a id ,
enough food for the rest of the week .
"We have
We are g o i ng t o
h a v e f i sh f o r breakfast , d inner , and supper .
i t f r i ed , baked , gr i l led ,
of it .
We ' l l have
in s a l ads , and we ' l l make k ibbe
Just why did you do that Ae lya s ? "
I s a id that I
hoped that the young ladies l iked f i sh , to whi ch S oumaya
s a i d that she j ust loved f i sh , that her father was a
f i s herman too , and that she he lped him eating but not
c l.eaning them . For two days we had a lot o f fun w i th the
f ish .
After l unch that a fternoon we drove out t o s e e
T iber i a s , the l ake that I ta lked about so much in my
Sunday school c lass .
I yearned to take a bath in i t , but
that was out of the quest ion .
I j ust took o f f my shoes
and stock ings and rol led up my trousers to the knees and
when the rest o f the group saw that , they f o l l owed suit .
We bathed in lake T iber ia s ! When we returned horne I s a id
103
�t o S oumaya ,
" Let ' s leave the lovers a l one and let tis
e n j oy that scene aga in from the top o f the h i l l . " They
a l l approved , a good idea .
Alone with Soumaya I s a id ,
" I wanted to take th i s opportun ity to te l l you
what ' s on my mind . I am sure by th i s t ime you
know how I fee l .
I am thirty s ix years o l d , I
am a dent i st , I have never l ooked upon a g i r l
with idea of marr iage , though I had h a d many
opportunities . I am not r ich , though everybody
here says that I am .
I have a very good
pract ice but I have a good many
respons ibi l it ies , you see some o f them here .
But in Chester , I have a respons i b i l i ty t o a
s i ck o ld woman . "
I cont inued by te l l ing her about our r e l at ions
with the O ' Ne i l l fami ly .
I told her a bout a l l that she
should know about our l i fe in Chester a nd then I s a i d ,
" I s there anyth ing e ls e that I can t e l l . ·you? "
She l ooked
a t. me w i th her beaut iful eyes but s a id noth i ng .
I wa ited
a f ew s econds , then I s a id ,
" I understand .
I t i s not f a i r to expect an
answer now , you have not known me l ong .
Think
it over carefu l ly and when I s e e you aga i n ,
hope that you w i l l have a smi l e for me .
I
Come ,
let ' s go back , I must return to Ha i f a tonight
and tomorrow to Be irut . "
104
�-----"-- - ���
BROTHER AND S ISTER
AELYAS AND ADELE
KHOURY S ISTERS
NAJIA AND SOUMAYA
�In B e i rut , they were
so soon .
surpr i sed t o s e me back
I gave them a good report o f my t r ip and s a id
that I was sure that it wou ld have been cons ummat ed had
it not been f or the s ituat ion here .
Meanwh i l e , we
r e c e ived word that a big storm was rag i ng at sea and we
dec ided to wa i t t i l l it blew over .
We got our t i ckets
f rom B e irut , to Alexandr i a , to Marse i l les , t o Par i s , to
Havre , and then to New York .
But Ameen s a i d ,
" Do you mean you wi l l go w i thout getting
marr ied?
How do you know that the girl w i l l
wa i t for you?
foo l i sh .
I think that you are very
stay , take my adv i ce .
care about this storm?
storm ,
What do you
I f you get marr ied , the
in a few days w i l l be forgotten . "
" I was not thinking about mys e l f ,
I was
think i ng about the f e e l ings o f the g i r l and her
fami ly , " I s a id .
" We l l then , make no f inal dec i s i ori unt i l you
know how she feels . "
Two days l ater , Ameen told me that he was t a lk i ng to the
g i r l ' s father who told him that the g i r l was back horne
and that she was very unhappy about my dec i s ion to l e ave .
I s a id ,
r e p l i ed ,
" D id you ask h im how she fee l s about it? "
He
" She sa id that those peop l e had better f ind
s ometh i ng more important for them to do .
She wou ld t e l l
Ae lyas her s e l f when she wou ld see him next . "
105
�When I met her , she was a l l smi l es and s a i d ,
" Knowing how anxious you were to l eave for
Amer ica , I regretted that I d idn ' t make mys e l f
c lear about the gossip that i s going on .
I f it
hurts you persona l ly or a n y o f t h e K a s s a b
fami ly , of course l et ' s part a s f r i ends .
But ,
i f you think that -it hurts me or my f am i l y ,
then they can drink the s ea . "
with that she . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And w i th that ,
I sett led the matter by say ing ,
ready for the day as soon as possib l e .
" Let ' s
Asma and her
f am i ly are ready . "
" Ameen , " I s a id when I saw him ,
" I want one
more f avor from you . I want your help i n the s e l ec t i on of
the r ing .
" Come on , " he sa id ,
b e l i eve my ears .
" You are j ok ing , I cannot
There i s a re lative i n the f am i l y who
i s a j ewe ler , he ' l l help us . "
We sought h im , he s e l ected
the d i amond wh ich he set in a p l at i num r ing .
Then we
s topped to see Kha l e e l and a sked h im if he wou ld g ive us
t h i s b le s s i ng to whi ch he rep l i ed that he wou l d not only
g ive u s his b l e s s ing but that he wou ld be very proud to
ca l l me his son .
Soumaya loved her r ing and we p l anned
to have the wedd ing in two weeks .
Two days later , on Sunday we l earned that my
cou s i n Farid who had been s i ck had had a r e l ap s e .
Ameen took me a s ide and s a id ,
106
So
" I want to t e l l you that
�T
should anyth i ng happen to Farid , accord ing t o our
customs , your wedd ing wou ld have to be postponed for at
l e a st a month .
f e e l i ng s . "
You wouldn ' t want t o hurt your fami ly ' s
I s a id ,
" O f cour se not . "
Ameen cont i nued ,
" My advice to you i s to get marr ied at once . "
I s a id
that I was wi l l i ng , but how about S oumaya? I a sked her
and she s a id that i f I was ready , so was she .
Ameen and
I then took a cab and went to the Amer ican Consu l a t e to
see about a pas sport for Soumaya .
We l earned that i f the
Consul o f f i c iated , the Consulate wou l d recogn i z e the
marr i age and g ive us a pas sport immed iately .
However , we
a l s o l earned that s ince the consul was away , they wou ld
a l s o recogn i z e the s ignature o f Dr .
marr i age cert i f icate .
? i f i t were on the
Dr . ? s a id that he wou l d be g lad
t o o f f i c i ate and wou ld be with u s at Ameen ' s hou s e at 8
p . m.
We hurr i ed back to the house to get ready and at
e i ght o ' c l ock on May 1 5 ,
19 2 1 ,
in the presence of both
f am i l i e s and a few guests gathered i n Ameen ' s l iv ing
r o.om , the knot wa s t i ed in a s imp l e Protestant service .
The marr iage cert i f icate was s igned by the m i n i ster and
w i tnessed by some of the company .
We then had
r e freshments and loads of congratu l a t i ons .
S oon the
company l e ft and we found our s e lves a l one , Ae lyas and
S oumaya , husband and w i f e .
Unbe l ievab l e !
no t ime for rej o i cing , we had a lot t o do .
But there was
P i ctures for
the pas sport had to be ready ; and a s we had made no
107
�prov i s i o n on where to spend the night , Soumaya went home
for a much needed s l eep and I stretched out on a couch
too exc i ted t o s l eep reviewing the events of the past
twenty hours and planning for the immediate future .
I n the morning Soumaya and I met the Consu l who
congratul ated and wi shed us j oy and happ ine s s and i s sued
us the pas sport .
Soumaya then returned home and I went
t o the Burj and reserved a car to take us the f o l lowing
morn i ng to H a i f a .
Then I went to the o f f i ce o f the
Mes s ag e r i e Mar i t ime and bought six t i ckets on the Sph inx
wh i ch was s a i l ing the fol lowing week from Be irut t o
Mar s e i l le stopp i ng a t Alexandr ia .
The p lan was that
s i ster Asma w ith her ch i ldren and Le i la wou ld l eave on
the Sph i nx and that Soumaya and I wou ld go to Ha i f a and
spend a f ew days at Mt . Carme l and N a z a reth and return to
Ha i f a where we wou ld trave l by tra in to Alexandr i a and
j o i n them on the Sphinx .
We had no troub l e l eaving
B e i rut except the sad feel ing of leaving the · f ami l y a fter
g i.v i ng them so much trouble .
When we assured them that
we wou l d be back soon , they f e l t reconc i led .
spoke to each other .
Soumaya was weep ing and kept i t up
unt i l we were outs ide Be irut ' s bounda r i es .
s a id ,
We hardly
Then S oumaya
" I am not cry ing a ltogether for sadne s s , but for my
good luck at being with you . "
I said ,
" I t i s rea l ly wonderful that now we c l a im each
other when a few weeks ago we did not even know
108
�each other .
I think that i t was God ' s goodness
to me that in all the years in Amer ica ,
many g i r l s both in my pract ice ,
I met
in my c la s s in
the Sunday schoo l , and var ious societ i e s ,
I
never looked on a g i r l with the idea o f
marr i age .
Yet , here on the f irst n ight when I
was showing you the p i cture s , someth ing kept
you in my mind .
I t was so sudden , but
wonderful , and I hard ly even knew you .
I feel
that I got m y reward f o r mak ing the trip , and
much more .
I am now in a dream and I don ' t
want to wake up . "
The chauff eur was an exce l l ent dr iver , he knew
the way and he covered the ninety m i l e s in three hour s .
My unc l e rej o i ced when he saw u s and when he l earned of
our p lans , he immed iately reserved us a room at Mr .
Carme l and put h i s car at our d i spos a l .
We were very sad
t o f ind my aunt quite s ick , but my unc l e s a i d ,
" I don ' t want you to go to the house now
because I know that you are t ired .
Take my car
and go to your hote l , for they are expect ing
you .
us .
road ,
When you are rested you can come to see
You won ' t have any troubl e f ind ing the
it is stra ight up the mountain and the
hot e l is r ight there .
Congratu lations ! "
109
I l ove your w i f e .
�I d id a s I was told and we f ound the
arrangement exce l lent .
· We spent thre e
never-to-be - forgotten days , I forgot a l l t h e troub l e s and
a nx i e t i e s
of the past few weeks and I restocked the
e nergy that I knew I wou ld need for the rema i nder o f the
j ourney t o the U . S . A .
On our last day , I s a i d to S oumaya ,
and surpr i s e Naj la and Sa leh in Na z areth . "
" Let ' s go
We parked our
car and wa lked up toward the pharmacy a nd there was S a leh
try ing to open the door .
He looked at u s with
unbe l i eving eyes and s a id , " When d i d you get here?
have j ust left to go to Be irut . "
You
I said ,
"We are going , but not to B e i rut . Come S a l eh
and k i s s the bride . "
" What , " he s a id , " I don ' t b e l i eve i t . "
" Don ' t open the p lace , " I s a i d .
" Let ' s go see
Naj l a . "
Naj l a couldn ' t be l ieve it e i ther .
through a fu l l exp lanat ion and - S a Teh s a i d ,
sur e ly do act fast ! "
We had to go
" You Amer i cans
Then the conversat ion turned to h i s
d e s i r e t o l eave Naz areth and g o t o the State s .
no chance for improvement here .
l i f e is very hard .
" There i s
The town i s dead and
I don ' t mind work ing hard , but one
l ikes to see some results . "
We d i scu s s ed the s i tuat i on
pro and con and we conc luded that they wou l d s tudy the
prob l em and wr ite me .
I p l edged to do my very best to
110
�" You have a home in Amer ica , shou l d you
h e l p them .
dec ide t o come , " I said .
After a very p l ea sant v i s it and a s ad f arewe l l ,
we drove back t o H a i f a .
A l exandr i a .
And the next day we departed to
The Sphinx had j ust arr ived that morn i ng .
We boarded her and found Ameen , Asma , and Asma ' s f am i ly
wa i t ing f or u s .
After a few hour s , Ameen l e f t u s a s h i s
s h i p w a s s a i l ing for Italy .
The Sph i nx was very crowded
and the accommodat ions poor but we arrived at Mar s e i l l e s
w ithout any troub le . W e d i d not tarry , w e took c a b s t o
the r a i lroad stat ion and l e f t l a t e that even i ng for
P ar i s , arr iving early the next morning .
We were s o
t ired , exhausted , and dirty from the smoke o f the tra i n
that when w e a sked for accommodations at a f irst c l a s s
hote l , they c l a imed that they were fu l l .
s ec ond .
S o at the
We were accepted at the th i rd try .
When I was
regi ster i ng I exp l a i ned to the c lerk that we had j ust
c�me by tra in from Marse i l l es and that I wanted a good
s upp ly o f hot water for wh ich I was w i l l i ng t o pay .
" Ou i , ou i Mons i eur , j e comprend . "
I told the folks t o
wash and put o n their best dresses which w e a l l d i d , and
I am sure that the help was aston i shed to s e e the change .
Early the next morn ing , they woke up anxious to
see the s ight s o f Par i s and I s a id ,
" Pa r i s has many
wonderful s ight s , some we can see by go ing w ith tour s ,
s ome by bus ,
but a good many of them we mus t go by f oot .
111
�Now I propose that the f irst thing that we do i s to hunt
a for a good shoe store and provide ours e lves w i th good
w a l k ing shoes , " an idea to wh ich a l l subscr i bed but it
I had a lready a sked at the
was e a s ier said than done .
desk in the hote l for such a store .
i n , they could not be f itted .
stores w i th the same result .
But when they went
I took them to other
F i na l ly around noon , they
thought that they made a good choice .
But I doubted it
and I think that they made the cho ice out o f shame a s i t
turned out later .
So we conf ined our s ight s e e i ng and
they j ust got a fa int idea o f Par i s .
We left that beaut i fu l city for Havre and the
U. S . A.
Our cross ing the At lant ic was unusua l ly good .
We
were trave l ing f irst c l ass and the accommodat i ons were
good a lthough the steamer was sma l l in compar i son to the
b i g l iners .
a day or two .
harbor .
S oumaya was not seas ick , but s i ster was for
We were on deck when we entered N ew Y ork
The fam i ly was ama z ed at the s ights , the ta l l
bu.i l d ing and they were solemn when I exp l a ined to them
what the Statue of L iberty meant not only to Ame r i cans
but a l so to the who le wor ld .
our Water loo .
Soon we l anded and faced
The fam i ly and I presented our pas sports
and we were admitted w ithout any troub l e , but when Le i l a
handed hers with the word " I LLITERATE " on it , the
examiner asked her name wh ich she s a id wa s Le i la , then he
gave her a penc i l and sa i l ,
"wr ite it down , " and o f
112
�course she couldn ' t .
He then gave her a paper and s a id ,
" Read t h i s , " and of cours e she cou ldn ' t .
Then he ca l l ed
me and s a id ,
" Th i s woman cannot be admitted .
D idn ' t they
te l l you that ? "
" Ye s , they did but somet imes they make
except ions , " I s a id .
" I am sorry , I cannot make any except ions ,
p lease step a s i de . "
" What must I do now , " I a sked .
" She must be returned un l e s s you s ign a notice
that she w i l l appear before the imm igrat ion
court and have her case heard . "
H e gave me a forma l not ice that s a i d she was to be
deta i ned unt i l her case was heard .
When Asma heard th i s
she began t o cry and s a y that s h e shou ld have never come .
I s a id ,
" Let us go home and talk the matter dver and
dec ide what to do . After talk ing with Le i l a we a s sured
her that she would be a l l r ight and that I wou ld see her
soon .
Then a guard took charge of her and we left f or
the r a i l road stat ion .
meet our train .
I t e l ephoned home and told them to
I had expected a warm wel come and s o i t
w a s but i t was tempered with sadne s s , f o r Asma could
t h i nk o f noth ing but Le i l a and how she wa s far ing .
m i nd was a l s o on what to do .
I d i d my best to show pr ide
and happ iness in introducing my bride .
113
My
I must say that
�she was wonderful and spoke with each one a s though they
were o l d f r iends .
I was very worr ied that i f s omet h i ng
should happen to Lei la , I wou ld hear about i t a l l my
l ife .
I rea l ly be l i eved Asma when she s a id that she
wou ld go back .
I had a close f r i end in Ph i l ad e lph i a who
I thought cou ld help me .
and he s a i d ,
So in the morni ng I ca l l e d h im
" Sure , come on . "
I went to Ph i l ade lph i a to
see h im and told h im o f our troub l e .
He took me t o s e e
another mutua l f r i end who had an o f f ice in t h e s ame
bui ld ing and s a i d ,
is in troub l e .
" Barney , here is our f r i end Ae lyas who
You must help h im ,
Barney S amu e l s was the
I know that you c an . "
head o f the Republ ican party in
Ph i l ade lph i a and the mayor of Ph i l adelph i a .
Pat i ent ly
hear i ng my story , he ca l l ed his secretary and s a i d ,
" Get
me the Department of Labor in Wash ington and t e l l h i s
s ecretary that Barney wants t o talk t o h im . "
I n a f ew
m inute s , the secretary was on the phone .
" J im , " said Barney ,
and so am I .
" I know that you are busy
I have a dear f r i end here that
has some troubl e with New York Immigra t i on .
They are deta in ing a member o f h i s fami l y and
threatening to deport her .
I am send i ng h im to
you and I want you to do what you can do for
h im .
When can you see h im? "
" I ' l l see h im tomorrow afternoon at two o ' c l ock
here in my o f f ice in the Department .
1 14
Just g ive
�h im your card . "
)
I went home w ith a word o f cheer but not f or I O g ,
for
Miss Mary who had had s everal strokes wh i l e I w s away ,
and who had been unconsc ious for two days , was gett i ng
weaker .
I f e l t that there wou ld have to be a change in
our hou s ing arrangements , but I decided to l eave that
unt i l we found out what would be Asma ' s dec i s i on shou ld
Le i l a b e refused admittance .
The f o l lowing day , I took the tra i n to
Washington and at two o ' c l ock I wa s at the Secretary ' s
o f f ice and found the gent l eman wait ing for me .
He
rece ived me grac iously and asked me how l ong I had known
Mr . S amue l s .
" Long enough to ca l l h im Barney , " I s a i d .
" We l l , that ' s qu ite a wh i l e .
Now te l l me your
story . "
I to ld h im the story in deta i l and when I was through he
said ,
" Now t e l l me somethi ng about the woman hers e l f .
How i s it that you didn ' t teach her to read or
wr i te ? "
"My s i ster Asma p icked her from a hosp ita l and
she t r i ed her best to send her to s choo l , but
it was a l l in va in ,
" We l l ,
" I exp l a ined .
I don ' t know what we can do .
very str ict . "
115
The l aw i s
�" We l l , " I said ,
" I t i s too bad that the l aw
cannot bend a l itt l e and s e e the huma n i ta r i an
s ide o f a case .
Here th i s woman w i l l h ave to
go back to the ghetto and I am a fr a i d that she
wou ld not last long . "
" I s she Jewish , " he asked .
" Ye s , " I answered .
" We l l , that ' s d i f f erent .
I think that she may
be admitted on the p l ea that she s eeks
pol it ical asy lum .
I sha l l recommend that and
you w i l l hear from us .
Remember me to Barney . "
I thanked h im and told h im that he earned the ever l a st ing
gra t i tude o f my s i ster and her fami l y .
I a l so s a i d that
I wou l d d e l iver h i s best wishes to Barney .
" G ive me your
t e l ephone number and I ' l l get in touch w i th you
d irectly , " he s a id .
The fam i ly re j o i ced to hear the
news , but not for long , for three days later , Barney
c a l led to t e l l me that Le i l a wa s deported be f ore her case
was heard .
Our worry returned for we cou l d not conce ive
how she cou ld make it .
Our pat i ence was rewarded one day
when we heard that she had arr ived in Be i rut s a f e l y and
that she wou ld soon be on her way back .
was back .
I n due t ime , she
She cou ld not t e l l us any deta i l s of her
t r i p s . She did what the o f f i c i a l s told her and had no
troub l e whatsoever .
The honeymoon was over .
116
I t was t ime to
�cons ider our s ituat ion . As a newly
married man , due to
c i rcumstances over wh ich I had no contro l ,
I rea l i z ed
The bu i ld ing next to our
that I had neg l ected my br ide .
o f f ice had an o l d house whi ch we f ixed up for my s i ster
and her fami ly .
We intended to move her into our
bu i ld i ng a s soon as we could get one o f the apartments
free .
As I stated before ,
abroad w ith the O ' Ne i l l s .
f ac t now ,
I l ived there before I went
M i s s Mary was very s i ck ,
in
in a coma and w e had J o and J im a s
housekeepers . I t wasn ' t a cheer ful p lace f o r a stranger ,
s o i n our bui ld ing there was a sma l l apartment who s e
l e a s e w a s about t o exp ire .
I went to the renter and I
s a id that our fam i ly had increa s ed and that I wanted h im
t o move .
I
s a id that I wou ld pay h im one hundred do l l ar s
i f he moved be fore h i s l e a s e exp ired .
He moved and
S oumaya and I were a lone for the f irst t ime and we were
s o happy .
Poor th ing , she never thought that she wou ld
g o through so many prob lems .
One thing that I can s ay i s
that never d i d I hear a word o f comp l a int .
She a lways
s a id that it w i l l be a l l r ight and don ' t worry .
worr i e s do come .
But
Miss Mary went to g l ory a fter s i x years
o f s i ckne s s due to a stroke .
She was a wonderful person ,
a true mother to me and my brother .
and was a great reader .
works of Charles Dickens .
She had a good mind
She knew thorough ly a l l the
She organ i z ed the f irst branch
of the D i ckens Fel lowship in the un ited states and was
117
�i t s s ecretary unt i l she was incapac itated .
r e l i g i ous Catho l i c .
The d i scus s ion before she was s ick
was e ither about the church or D i ckens .
no chance w i th her , but on r e l igion ,
by saying ,
She w a s a
On D i ckens I had
she wou l d a lways end
" That God promised to be with h i s church , " and
that wou l d end the d i scus s ion .
And be f ore g o i ng t o bed
she a lways s a i d ,
I am a lways pray i ng for
" We l l , my boy ,
you to see the l ight . "
Now that Le i l a was back and s i ster Asma was
s ett l ed in the house next door with her two ch i ldren
attending Chester High Schoo l , Commerc i a l Department of
Commerce , and we were n i cely housed i n the l arge
apartment at 8 0 2 Edgmont Avenue , two important th i ng s
happened . First and f oremost , my dear S oumaya was w i th
ch i ld .
The other was a l etter from S a l eh say i ng that
a ft er a thorough d i scu s s i on with Naj l a and other s , they
c ame to the conc lus ion that h i s stay i ng in N a z areth was a
waste o f t ime , that the bus ine s s was gett i ng wors e da i ly
i nstead o f better .
He a l so asked my op in ion concerning
h i s coming to Amer ica .
I rep l i ed that I was not i n a
p o s i t ion to adv i s e , that i f h i s intent ion in coming was
to practice his profes s ion , accord ing to Pennsylvania
l aw , he would have to go to scho o l here and take a
refre sher cours e in a recogn i z ed Amer ican c o l l ege before
he wou ld be granted a l i cense to pract i ce .
S oumaya a nd I
wou l d help them a l l that we could and they could stay
1 18
�with u s unt i l they got on the ir feet ,
mus t be the irs .
but the dec i s ion
Correspondence went back and f orth
between us for s everal weeks ,
and f i na l ly they came .
S a l eh gave up the idea o f f o l l owing h i s pro f e s s i o n and
s tarted to look f or work . He got a j ob at Sne l l enberg ' s
department store in Phi l adelph i a , but a f ter a f ew weeks
t r i a l dec ided that th i s k ind o f work was not f or h im .
We had some f r i e nds who owned a sma l l mi l l that made
stock ings and the m i l l wa s idle because the manager had
qu i t .
They wanted to s e l l it because they d i dn ' t have
the t ime to look after i t , so my brother and I dec ided to
buy it and let S a leh run it .
S a leh went f or s evera l days
t o the f actory and stud ied how the machines operated . He
was succes s fu l in mak ing very good stocking s ,
good f or the trade .
in f act too
But they were too expens ive , they
cou l d not compete with the cheaper k ind and the quant ity
produced was too sma l l to make a prof i t .
m i l l and took a loss .
We s o l d the
Then S a leh ' s very c lo s e f r i end , a
c la s smate , David Z agha , come to Phi l adelph i a dur i ng the
S e squ i centenn i a l Expos it ion w ith goods that attracted
v i s itors to the f a ir such as or i enta l rugs , bras sware ,
etc .
He needed someone to help h im ,
r i ght person .
the fair .
so S a leh was the
He stayed with David t i l l the c l o s i ng o f
David was encouraged to ope n a store i n
Ph i l ade lph i a and h e put Sa leh in charge .
After a s e a s on
S a l eh bought the bus ine s s from him and made a great
119
�success of it .
He later moved the bus in e s s t o s outh 2 0th
street .
The Khoury fo lks in Be irut wrote u s and a sked
i f we cou ld f ind someth ing to do for Moun ira and the
a nswer was we don ' t know t i l l she come s .
stayed w i th us for a wh i l e ,
She came and
she tried to work for me but
she did not l ike thi s country and f e l t very l one ly for
her f r i ends in Be irut .
Kareemeh and Fouad came .
She returned t o B e i rut .
Then
Fouad worked f or a wh i l e w i th
S a l eh and then he tried New York c ity but f ina l ly l anded
a good j ob in Washington with the government .
Our l i fe went on an even kee l unt i l October
2 6th when Soumaya presented us with a cho ice baby boy ,
Wadea .
H i s coming comp l eted our mar r i ed l i f e and made u s
d o u b l y happy .
Soumaya came home from the hosp ita l w i th a
nurs e , Mar ian Spencer .
I was very g l ad to forgo the
f ir s t p lace in the attent ion of Soumaya , on the other
hand ,
I added my own ef forts to see ing that the proper
rule s and regu l at ions were observed .
When Wadea reached the age o f two and one ha l f ,
we fu l f i l l ed the promise that we had made to the Khourys
in B e i rut by send ing Soumaya and Wadea to spend a f ew
months w i th them .
w i th the baby ,
I was to meet them l ater . Soumaya ,
left in Apr i l 1 9 2 5 , s a i l ing on a
Med iterranean tour skirt ing many of the ports of North
Africa to Beirut without chang ing the s teamer and was
120
�I j o i ned them leaving
w e l c omed by the folks in Be irut .
by steamer in May of the same year .
Just be fore I left Chester ,
I contacted Mr .
Peter N o l an , a f ine bu i lder and persuaded h im t o bu i ld me
a hous e .
We had a drawing of a type o f hou s e that we
wanted , w ith the ki nd of stone , the number o f rooms , and
the k i nd o f roo f , etc .
I s a i led on the f ir s t o f May
before the foundation was dug .
in the bu i lder .
sad
I had s o much conf idence
When I reached Be irut ,
I l earned that
news that Marr iana , Soumaya ' s mother , was i l l w i th a
m a l i gnant diseas e .
The house in B ludan was vacant and we
dec ided to occupy it for the summer .
I t wou ld have been
a grand vacat ion were it not for our l oved one ' s i l lness .
B e f ore we went to Bludan , our baby ,
month s o l d , was not we l l .
i n f e cted tons i l .
two and one h a l f
He was suf f er ing from a badl y
A s it happened , t h e surg ica l c l i n i c i n
t h e Univers ity ' s hosp ita l w a s c l osed , a n d o u r doctor , who
was to do the operat ion
suggested that rather than wa i t
for t h e hosp ita l to open , that w e have the operat ion
perf ormed in his c l i nic in S idon .
I had s o much
conf i dence in h i s ab i l ity that we agreed .
drove to S idon and had it done .
Right away we
We spent that n i ght in
the doctor ' s home and we were back i n Be irut the next
day .
From that day on , Wadea began to improve .
At the end of September , there was a steamer
g o i ng d i rect to New York from Be irut .
12 1
We took a tour on
�I t s topped s evera l t imes on its way t o d i s charge
it .
p a s s engers and loads of merchand i s e .
I t was a l ove ly
We arr ived in Providence at the end o f S eptember .
tour .
We took the even ing tra in to Chester and arr ived around
m i d n ight .
The f o lks were at the Che s ter stat i o n t o meet
us and as they drove toward horne brother Wade a s a i d ,
moon is fu l l ,
" The
let us show the fo lks the ir new horne . "
So
they stopped and I could hard ly be l i eve my eyes when I
s aw i t .
in ,
I t l ooked so beaut iful that Soumaya wanted to go
but she had to wait unt i l the morn ing .
I t was a very
p le a s ant surpr i s e for both of us when we went through the
ha l l i nt o the l ight rooms downsta irs and up sta irs .
We
were s o surpr i s ed that I ca l l ed the bui lder and a sked h im
t o meet me at the bank with h i s bi l l , wh ich he d i d .
s a id ,
He
" Here are the actual b i l l s that I have spent for
mater i a l and labor .
very s at i s f ied . "
Add to them ten percent and I ' l l be
He was and I was more than sat i s f i ed
and I p a i d h im with thanks .
We l ived i n that hou s e with
comfort from 1 9 2 5 to 1 9 6 9 when we moved to Wa l l ingf ord .
When one raises a fam i ly w i th ch i ldren , one
mus t expect s ome surpr i se s and some shocks .
Work ing in
a n o f f i c e on Edgmont Avenue , I was hurriedly ca l led out .
My son Wadea was cross ing the street on h i s way to take
h i s mus ic les son when he was run over by a l ight car and
had h i s l eg broken be low the knee .
The dr iver carr ied
h im home and gave h i s mother a very bad shock .
122
The only
�way that I could qu iet her was by a s sur ing her that I was
g l a d that it wa sn ' t one of h i s front teeth .
She wou l d
n o t be l i eve that unt i l I sa id that in s i x or s even weeks
h i s leg wou ld be a s good a s ever .
I f he had a broken
front tooth , he wou ld have troub le w ith it the rest o f
h i s l i f e , and I was r ight .
Edd i e gave us two shocks :
one by f a l l ing from h i s h igh cha ir and crack i ng the bone
under the l e ft eye wh ich hea led without leav i ng any s car ,
and the other by f a l l ing from our cherry tree and
break i ng h i s arm .
For a wh i le ,
our l i fe went on
Our chi ldren gave us no troub l e i n the cour se
norma l ly .
o f the i r educat i on .
They a l l went through the grades in
a sat i s f actory manner .
The great worry came with the approach o f Wor ld
War I I .
Wadea was of m i l itary age for the s ervice and he
r e g i stered .
accepted .
He app l ied for the Air Force , but wa s not
He e nded up a s a paratrooper .
No one can
apprec iate a parent ' s anxi ety when they g ive up the i r
chi ldren for nat iona l service .
They put up a n app earance
of nat i onal pride that they too have ch i ldren who are
s e rv i ng the ir country but inwardly , they curs e a l l those
who caused or had anything to do with br ing ing about the
conf l i ct .
Hus bands usua l ly put on a courageous face to
ease o f the worry of the ir wives , and the w ive s usua l ly
take on knitt ing or some unusua l exerc i s e to h ide the
f ir e of anxi ety wh ich burns within the ir breast .
123
We were
�no except i on .
Of course with the pass ing o f t ime ,
coup led w ith the good news from Wadea that he was
enj oy i ng the tra in ing with his budd i e s , gave u s a l it t l e
comfort , but not f o r long .
Th i s t ime , they were g iven a
fur l ough before they were s ent abroad .
Even though we
knew that th i s was coming , we reso lved to show no worry
or concern but to make the v i s i t a s p l easant a s p o s s i b l e .
There was no use to say that we succeeded , I can only say
that we tr ied .
Wade a he lped for he showed no concern .
From that t ime on , the most prec i ou s th i ng that
we rece ived was ma i l that wou ld g ive us the j oyous news
that he was a l l r ight .
One even ing we rece ived two
l etters from the Ph i l ipp ine s .
The f irst began s ometh ing
l ik e th i s ,
" I am wr iting from the hosp ita l .
you rece ived my last letter .
I hope that
I cou ldn ' t t e l l
you in deta i l then about our acc ident , s o I ' l l
t e l l you now .
For some reason the a irp lane
fe l l , was wrecked , sever a l budd i e s were k i l l ed .
I got by with an inj ured back , was put i n this
hosp ita l , but I am now up and around .
soon b e di scharged .
I will
That i s the truth , don ' t
worry . "
We then opened the other letter , the one in wh ich he
wasn ' t a b l e to descr ibe the accident .
Had h i s second
l etter been d e l ayed , or lost , it wou ld have g iven us a
124
�m i s erab l e and anxi ous t ime .
Our son Edd i e , be ing three years younger , d i d
not have to enter the service t i l l t h e last y e a r o f the
war .
He was a s s i gned to the Merchant Mar ines and s erved
between th i s country and South Amer ica . How thank f u l to
God that he spared them both for u s .
But our j oy was tempered w i th sadnes s because
our l oved An i s Khoury ( Soumaya ' s broth e r ) d i d not come
back .
A l l dur ing the war we had the hope that we wou ld
hear from h im , but it was not to be .
An i s had come from
B e i rut where he had stud i ed dent i stry at the Univers ity
of Be irut .
He came to th i s country and started t o
pract ice i n New York .
He thought that it wou ld be h i s
advantage t o s erve i n the armed force s . -
H e was accepted
and a s s igned to the med ical s ervice . We were never sure
what happened then .
We were told that he and four other
o f f icers were sent overseas on a secret m i s s ion and the i r
p l ane was never heard from aga in .
For weeks they
s earched the seas , pass ing ships , and a l l i s l ands c l o s e
t o where they thought they went down , but w ithout ava i l .
After a period , they not i f ied u s that they must j udge h im
a s " Lost at S ea . "
125
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wadea and Aelyas Kassab Memoirs
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Portraits
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Wadea Kassab was born in Damascus in 1872 to an Orthodox family connected to British and American Protestant missionaries. Wadea immigrated from Syria to the United States in 1889, moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a former teacher of his had settled. He first worked in a stove factory and later became a molder in a factory making brake shoes for the railroad. After leaving the factory, he spent several years working on a farm, peddling fancy goods, and doing other miscellaneous jobs. During this time, he built relationships with Americans, including the O’Neill family of Chester, Pennsylvania. Wadea graduated from dental school in Philadelphia in 1895 and practiced dentistry in Chester. He began taking care of the O'Neills, who had financed and encouraged his dental career.</p>
<p>Aelyas (Elias) Kassab, Wadea’s younger brother, was born in Bloudan, Syria in 1883. Aelyas followed Wadea to the United States in 1899. After completing high school in Chester, PA, he also attended dental school and practiced dentistry at Wadea’s office. </p>
<p>Both brothers married women in Syria and brought them to the United States. In 1905, Wadea married Sara Hajjar, who had been educated at an English boarding school and was teaching at a mission school for Jewish children in Damascus prior to her marriage. In 1921, Aelyas married Soumaya Khoury of Beirut, Lebanon. The Kassab brothers both raised their families in Chester. Aelyas continued the brothers' dental practice while Wadea attempted a career in real estate; when this failed, Wadea rejoined the dental practice. Wadea died in February 1972, and Aelyas in October 1987. The brothers are both buried in Pennsylvania.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p>This collection contains a photograph of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab and two typed manuscripts: “Memoirs” by Wadea Kassab and "Kassab Family History” by Aelyas Kassab. The manuscripts offer insight into the social fabric and workplace challenges faced by early immigrants.</p>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aelyas Kassab
Wadea Kassab
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Family of Wadea and Aelyas Kassab
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1954-1958
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Khayrallah Center staff. Collection Guide content contributed by Linda Jacobs and Claire A. Kempa and updated by Allison Hall, 2023 November.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KC 0035
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kc0035_003
Title
A name given to the resource
Kassab Family History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Description
An account of the resource
This manuscript by Aelyas Kassab is a history of the Kassab family and a biography of Aelyas's own life. It begins with Aelyas's grandfather Elyas Kassab, born in 1814, and traces the family through the 19th century
particular attention is paid to the life and career of his uncle, Salim Kassab. After this family history, Aelyas gives an autobiographical account of his own life, from his childhood in Syria to his 1899 immigration to the United States to join his elder brother Wadea, finish his education, and join his brother's dental practice in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aelyas Kassab
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
The family of Aelyas Kassab
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
circa 1958
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
1950s
Biographies
Genealogy
Immigration
Medical
Pennsylvania
World War I
World War II
-
https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/files/original/ab18f171cf9d1571cf1f82ed557158a4.pdf
1cd19ecf1d930e07e3e5a1739844932f
PDF Text
Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fred and George Kadane Papers
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Biography
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1945-1946
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Processed by Sarah Bernstein, 2023 . Collection Guide created by Sarah Bernstein, 2023 October.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KC 0053
Access Rights
Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. Access Rights may include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
Digital material in this collection is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Physical material in this collection is also available to researchers. For questions or to access a collection, please contact us at kcldsarchive@ncsu.edu. Please give at least 48 hours for responses to any inquiries regarding the materials.
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical note</h4>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Fred and George Kadane were brothers born in Baskinta, Lebanon along with their sister and brother Charles (1889-1961). Fred A. Kadane (1883-1962) and Charles were taken by their widowed mother to the United States in 1892. George E. Kadane (1880-1945), the eldest son, followed later circa 1895, and their sister immigrated in the same year. In 1896, Fred left for Denison, Texas with his mother and sister, Charles stayed in New York due to a lack of funds, and George departed for New Orleans, Louisiana to peddle. Circa 1898, George reunited with his family in Denison, Texas.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">George went on to become an architect, operating in North Texas and Oklahoma, constructing buildings, highways, and railroads. Fred became an egg and poultry merchant, eventually expanding into margarine, clothing manufacturing, and cold storage. Both found success in oil drilling, circa 1917, when they formed the Western Drilling Company in Wichita Falls, Texas. After the company was liquidated and closed in 1921, George returned to contracting work in Oklahoma and owned two movie threaters in Frederick and Altus, Oklahoma. Fred, meanwhile, lost his grocery store in Wichita Falls after being targeted by the Ku Klux Klan and went on to pioneer margarine manufacturing. Fred later sold out his product, "Blue Bonnett."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">In 1935, George returned to Wichita Falls to drill for oil with Fred and his sons in the KMA oilfield. Fred created F. A. Kadane & Company, Drilling Contractors in 1944 and acquired Pure Ice & Cold Storage Co. in 1945. When George passed away in 1945, his two sons continued in the oil business. Fred passed away in 1962.</span></p>
<h4>Scope/Content note</h4>
<p>The Fred and George Kadane Papers contains bibliographic information provided by Fred Kadane, in 1945 and 1946, in addition to two written biographies from a third source.</p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
kc0053_001
Title
A name given to the resource
"The Story of My Life" by Fred A. Kadane
Description
An account of the resource
Autobiography of Fred A. Kadane, titled "The Story of My Life."
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1946 April
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Fred A. Kadane
Subject
The topic of the resource
Autobiography
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text/pdf
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
1880s
1940s
Biographies