Page 213 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1927

Court in the morning. A lot of cases. The Shaikh came up & sat on the veranda for some time with Alban & myself & then
Alban stayed on for some time. As usual talk about the Dawasir. They have been bothering the Shaikh extra much lately
about the return of their rents inspite of the fact that it has been referred to the P.R. Went out to dinner with Khalil Moayad.
Also present the Dr, Alban & two of the mission. Rather a dull party but quite a good dinner, at a table with knives & forks.

Friday [6 May]

Sh Mohamed & his son Rashid came round in the morning, it bores me when people come on Fridays. Went down the
bazaar & then to Pickerings where most of the white people collect on Friday mornings. Sat there a long time. Had rather a
headache. In afternoon a meeting at the Agency about the proposed club for British subjects, clerks, wireless etc. Really
very comic. Alban presided & got rather in a mess about it, he began to elect a committee before he had asked whether they
wanted a club. Several big Arab merchants were invited who seemed extremely bored & it was proposed that they should be
asked for money on the spot. Altogether rather a fiasco, but it was clearly explained that we, the Englishmen here, did not
wish to join or to take part in it, at which some of the company seemed very fed up. Parke says its a socialistic attempt of
various Indians to get us to admit them to sort of social equality, but he's got a bee in his bonnet on the subject of the