Page 300 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

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every herb." VVliat a plague they are. Kven the eighteen-inch high bar­ I
ricade of slip|>ery gleaming tin does not suffice to keep them away from > t
uiir few vegetables without the constant elTorts of men and hoys brushing,
beating, and brushing them away. li
To the small farmer the locusts are indeed a plague, hut the poor say
that Allah is good when he sends huge swarms of them, for they are a
palatable delicacy when boiled or fried. They find their ignoble end in
the gasoline tin in which they are boiled alive and later carried to the •:
market place. The law of supply and demand operates in Arabia as well i
as anywhere else in the world, for when locusts are scarce oidy the well-to- : ,
do can afford them, but when they are plentiful the bottom drops right out
i of the market and an entire tin full can be purchased for a few pennies.
The gasoline tin finds its use in building, too. Walls are made ot it, It
I roots are sometimes covered with it. The tins themselves are used as • ;i
j containers for the fish oil and paint which are used in ship construction.
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j One sometimes wonders where t|ie Arabs would put their food supplies
! if it were not for these tins. Many thousands are used annually in which
! io pack dates and date syrup. Tobacco is stored in them. The desert ;
ijuinad fills them with his clarified butter, which, by the way, is neither
butter nor clear and which does not taste nearly as good as it sounds. .
■ Sweets are kept^in the tins and vinegar and tomatoes. !'r
i If some of you should visit in our homes and turn upside down a if -
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cookie you might see one or more of the letters of “The Standard ()il Is
Company” impressed into the bottom of it. The native tinsmiths are very
: clever at fashioning cookie sheets and bread pans from gasoline tins. They
• salvage our old vegetable tin cans, file off the rough edges, make covers !
from gasoline tins and they have a salable commodity, for everyone wants
tins in which to keep their bits of sugar and dates safe from ants.
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Small pumps and sprays owe their origin to the lowly gasoline tin, as
do the water dippers which are the accompaniment of every pearl diving i.
|H,at. Funnels and pails are made from the same thing. This with the If
tups cut out and wooden handles nailed in serve in our open wells as
"The Old Oaken Bucket,” albeit there is less of romance about them. i;
Kven in the hospitals tins find a use, for there they are cut into small ;
pieces of different shapes with holes punched in them, one being given to .
each woman as she arrives so she and the native doorkeeper may know
Iter turn to see the doctor.
Many and varied are the uses of the oil tin. A product of the civiliza­ i
tion of the Christian world, it is but one of the things which the Moslem i
world uses. Singer sewing machines, tinned fruits, arms, ice machines, S
motor boats and automobiles are finding a ready market in the bazaars. is
The Kasterner sees Western goods, tries them and finds them good, so I
continues to use them. But in the realm of the religious he makes an 1
exception. The Moslem sees Christianity, he observes it, he confesses that
it i* good, hut he does not dare to try it. We wonder how long it will ;
1* before he will.

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