CAIRO THE GAY.

Evening Star, Issue 11896, 26 May 1903, Page 5

CAIRO THE GAY.

It Ss tot difficult, savs the correspondent of a Home paper, to detect that the chief attraction of the Cairo season lies in its absolute freedom from a good deal of stereotyped conventionality, There is a certain well-known lady who never travels “ East of Suez,” nor beyond the Delta of the Nile. This is our old friend Mrs Grundv. There is something exhilarating, a soupcbn even of abandon, in the atmosphere of the land of Khem that would test her constitution too severely. It is, in fact, something of this that has elevated the ancient city on the Nile into the position of a Society Mecca at this season of the year, when the festivities partake of an' extremely go-ahead character. But even Cairene Society has nht quite lost the capacity for rah:ins its eyebrows. Quite lately the doinirs of a young ladv of considerable originality have succeeded in achieving this somewhat unwonted effect. She is the sister of a charming mid well-known countess, and her naturally high spirits have been exhibiting themselves in a rather bizarre fashion. She is a capi tal horsewoman, or perhaps it would savor of greater accuracy to describe her as a capital horseman, for she has abandoned the conventional scat of her sex for the masculine position in the pigskin, and, scorning such half measures as'the divided skirt, boldly donned breeches and boots. But not content with .this measure of fame, the lady proceeded to win imperishable renown at a recent fancy dress ball at which all the elite of Cairo were gathered. She appeared in the ball-room habited in the extremely startling guise of a native syce or groom, a costume whose chief advantage lies in its great coolness under tropical conditions. A syce’s legs, at any rate, are completely uncovered, and the lady had not diverged in any particular from a strict exactitude in .detail. She is, moreover, such a devotee to realism that in place of driving to the ball she walked through the streets. The Egyptian night is sometimes uncommonly cold, so the experience must have been extremely chilly. At any rate, she is the talk of the gay citv. Since the departure of Lord Kitchener's monastic rule, Egypt has been a far happier hunting-ground for the predatory and speculative spinster. Formerly it afforded too many sad instances of Shakespeare's cheering saw, “ Men were deceivers ever.” In those days the gallant Bimbashis of the Egyptian Army came up to Cairo for the season, saw, and conquered, and, having loved with all the ardor of which their sunny natures were capable, obeyed their orders and rode away. Under the present Sirdar, however, there is free permission to contract strictly fegal marriasre, and they are many who have availed themselves of the privilege. Some have selicted American bonds to invest in, but, sad to say, in several cases the loved ones have proved to have no assets beyond a return ticket to “Amurrica” and an infernal Yankee twang. All are not American heiresses who gllt'ter. But “there are others.” Some of us were much amused one day by a certain Amencan “Poppa"— I think hailing from Chic-ago—-who did not disdain to advertise the genuine article. He was about to- drive to the Pyramids in a four-in hand, upon the box seat of which his fair daughter was already sailed. It was outside Shepheard s, and ere mounting to his place beside the damsel he turned to the throng of friendly onlookers and observed : “ Wal, gentlemen, I guess there’s more millions on that than box than there are bosses to pull it. And in justice to his daughter lam bound to add she accepted the situation with all the equanimity of her race.