The Children's Masked Party at the Hotel "al-Bahhar" — Aley

In summer, dancing parties for grown-ups or for the little ones multiply in the mountain hotels... and usually the first outweigh the second; for in this country, and in the Eastern countries generally, we have not yet grown used to giving childhood its due share of attention, unlike the European and American countries...

Some hotels depart from this rule — among them the Hotel "al-Bahhar" in Aley, whose management has long made a practice of holding a weekly party set apart for the little ones, which has drawn hundreds of summer visitors to it... And on August 16 last, about a hundred children and boys, ranging in age from two and a half to twelve years, gathered in its spacious hall — and the amusing thing is that they were all masked... for the dancing party this time was a masked one. The noise rose, the excitement mounted, and gaiety filled every heart... Nor was the task of the judging committee an easy one, especially as every child was hoping for a prize...