BEDLAM 



646 



BEDOUINS 



tion was 9323, an increase of 1,107 since 1910. 

 The area is less than two square miles. 



In the vicinity of Bedford there are more 

 than twenty quarries of fine oolitic limestone, 

 commonly called "Bedford stone," and large 

 quantities of it are shipped over a wide terri- 

 tory. This stone was used in the construction 

 of the state capitols of Indiana, Georgia, Ken- 

 .-<ippi. Resides the stone indus- 

 try, which employs about 2,500 people and has 

 an annual output valued at $5,000,000, the city 

 has cement works, machine shops and foun- 

 dries. The repair shops of the Southern Indi- 

 ana Railroad are located here. For its size the 

 city has unusually fine buildings, the public 



BEDLOE'S ISLAND, an island in New York 

 Bay, on which stands the famous Statue of Lib- 

 trltj (see LiiiKKTY, STATI K OF). Bedloe's, named 

 for a former owner, covers thirteen and one- 

 half acres and lies one and one-half miles 

 southwest of the Battery. It belongs to the 

 United States government and was formerly 

 occupied by Fort Wood. The Liberty statue 

 was en-ctcd on the site of this fort. 



BEDOUINS, bcd'ooim, the name for /;./>- 

 pie of the tent, are Mohammedans of the 

 Arab race, inhabiting chiefly the deserts of 

 Arabia, Syria, Egypt and North Africa. Pa- 

 tient and enduring, they lead a wandering 

 existence, associating in families under "elders," 



BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT 



buildings, schools and churches being built of 

 the local stone. Bedford has a Federal build- 

 ing, a Carnegie Library, Bedford College and 

 an academy. W.G.B. 



BEDLAM, a word used in modern speech in 

 the sense of wild uproar or confusion. It has 

 an interesting derivation, being a corrupted 

 form for Bethlehem, a name formerly applied 

 to an old hospital for lunatics, in Southwark, 

 London. The full name of this institution is 

 H<I>ital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem. In 

 olden days the patients of. this hospital were 

 exhibited like so many wild beasts, the public 

 paying so much each to see them, and the less 

 violent inmates were compelled to wander 

 about the streets as beggars. The present hos- 

 pital is a modern institution. 



or "sheiks," or in tribes under "emirs." They 

 are regularly shepherds, herdsmen and horse- 

 breeders, but because of prolonged summer 

 droughts, they raid on one another for self- 

 support, and plunder unprotected tra.vders, 

 whom they consider trespassers. They are 

 ignorant/of writing and books, so trust to mem- 

 ory or imagination, which latter finds play in 

 their song and story. They are undersized, and 

 though active, are not strong, living chiefly on 

 rice, vegetables, honey, locusts or even lizards 

 at times. The ordinary dress of the men is a 

 long shirt, girt at the loins, a black or red and 

 yellow turban for the head, and sandals. The 

 women wear loose trousers, a long shirt and a 

 Jarge dark-blue shawl covering the head and 

 figure. See ARABIA. 



