WITH OUR MEN IN EGYPT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2386, 16 February 1915, Page 6

WITH OUR MEN IN EGYPT

THETSALUE OP LETTERS A-CH£PL£ITrS INTERESTINGCOMMENTS ChapMa Major Grant, -of?*Cfrsbonre, , j writing from Zeitonn Camp, on. New •lYcar's Day, says:— A; prominent resident informed me < that before the arrival of the Expedi- . tionary Forces some of the liatives were quite insolent and otherwise offensive ; in their beliaviour, doubtless owing to the rumours in. tho native bazaars of.a •great Turkish and German army which was marching on the Canal. When, thay dearned, however, that 30,000 men bail passed through the Canal and camped •on the outskirts of their city, and when • those men were' marched, horse and •tool, through the native quarter of ■ their eity, their demeanour quickly : •cliaagcd to that of respect and deference. The..population and the country generally appear to have settled down .quite contentedly to the new regime, but some aro strongly of opinion that ; fcho arrival of the Australian and New ; Zealand troops happened very oppor- | tunely for the purpose of the Imperial . Government. ' ' , Cairo itself, with its mo3ques and . minarets, its native bazaars, where the social life is much what it was in the : days of_ Haroun al Itaschid, its motley . population, with" all its old_ world East- ! ern industries and trades,_ i§ one of .the \ most interesting cities in the world, ■ and well repays a close inspection. But ■ its picturesqueness and tho glamours of tho past which enfold it do not redeem ; -it from the. blight of licentiousness <■ which infests all the cities of the Ori- ; ent. The mass of; the people ap- . vpear to be not so much : immoral as- unmoral, utterly lacking a moral r ■ sense-- - But these things constitute a serious menace to the moral and phyi sical: well-being of the troops, and are , causing the authorities grave anx[v' iety.'; . It: would he bettor if. wo were lamped 20 miles out in the ijlcaight ;miss the comforts of civilisation, • • so-called, but wo should escape its ' snares and pitfalls. 1 We have escaped

f . the rigour of an English winter by com- ! j ing to - this, delightful climate, but'- in M doings so : we, havo encountered perils • ■ that are a good deal worse than those I, -German trenches: Mothers need to pray that- their, boys ■ may have grit to "play tho man" in !" .the' highest sense of .the term". And" let j-.: me say for. tb'eir 'comfort, that the repu- ! tation and -behaviour of the New Zeoi landers stand high: ;Much 'is being done i' to keep the men in the camp. A. re- (,• creation: tent (for reading and writing ; has been put up by the Y.M.C.A. at ; the expense- of the Mounted Brigade, ! and another is being put up by the Ini fantry Brigade. , The chaplains are as- | eisting in the management, ' and the ; tent is crowded nightly.: You should ; .have seen the'numbe'r of letters posted ■' 'in the' tent' the night beforo the New ' 'Zealand mail closed! ■'

t What a hunger we; all hatl_ for New Zealand Jetters,.. and. how,.delightful,it i, -was to . get our first mail just before, ; Christmas. Believe me, that mail did more than' a thousand policemen , ttf r keep the boys . straight during the ! Christmas, festivities in Cairo. Tender jy thoughts.of- home and loved- ones made ;i : them'-mighty to..resist the solicitations 1 : ; of ;e'vil. One cannot but be intensely t itha'nkful that such a fine lot of manly ! fellows are upholding the honour dfour ! island home. V ". ' ,

• About 2 per cent'.' of the'men are: in. [ 'hospital with various complaints. Two |i of the chaplains daily visit the main • and " arrangements are being ! ;made for a- daily visit to the others, so j j that the men will get a cheery greeting s i every dav, and the sympathy they: crave L-iwhen.-: "skies are grey."