CAIRO'S TEMPTATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 15827, 11 June 1915, Page 6

CAIRO'S TEMPTATIONS

WHAT A RETUTtXED CHAPLAIN SAYS. TRIBUTE TO NEW ZBAXAIvDBRS. The Rev. Guy Thornton, one of the ckaolains with tho forces, who this -week returned to Auckland from Egypt, and has since proceeded to Trentham preparatory to his *omg to Alexandria or the Dardanelles, gava some interesting information to a 'Star' representative with regard to the nature of a chaplain's task in Cairo. After a reference to the elaborateness of the Cairo Camp, both in regard to equipment and tha commissariatCaptain Thornton explained that ho had mainly been engaged on, rescue work in connection with the many temptations that be. fell our men when they arrived in Cairo "There are three main influences that make for tho existing evil condition of things in Cairo," he continued. "In the first place the war has caused thousands of undesirable characters to flock into Cairo from Port •Said, Alexandria,, Paris, and even Algeria. Secondly, the Mohammedan religion has been largely responsible for the immorality existing there. Mohammedanism stands" everywhere for the degradation of womanhood. Divorce is easily obtainable. For instance, U a man finds that his soup has too little oi too much salt, it, is a ground for divorcing his wife. He has only to pronounce 'I divorce you ' three times and the divorce it accomplished. The woman has no optici but to go, and she has no redress and no means of earning her livelihood sa.v« one. Tho third cause is the liquor trade. Almost every shop in Cairo eclls liquor in some shape or form. Scotch whisky, made, in .Egypt, is sold at about three-halfpence of our money-per glass. Unfortunately in a. great many instances the whisky was drugged. I had an analysis wade of one bottle, and found it to be" an unmentionable product. " On the whole it was only to be expected that among the several thousand New Zealand troops there would be a certain proportion of undesirables, but to condemn tha whole lot for the conduct of a comparatively small number is absolutely unreasonable Our men's conduct on the whole was splen. did. One cannot deny that a certain propor< Hon of the men succumbed to the novel temptations to which they were exposed, Seeing that, they came from tho cleanest spot morally on the earth, aud entered what is perhaps the worst city in the world, the wonder is not so much that many fell, but, that so many fellows came through with their reputations untarnished." Speaking of the dragging of the drink ilia) is systematically carried"on in the city." Captain Thornton said that it was done with a specific object. One drug used was for the purpose of assisting the traffic in another form of vice. Others quickly made men mad drunk, or rendered the victim partly unconscious, aud made hira an easy prey to robbers. Ninety-nine cases out of a hundred of the men who went wrong were due to drugged drink. Under those circumstances rescue work was attended with tho greatest difficulties. The chaplains had to literally fight their way into the dens of the bad characters of the city to rescue decent yomig fellows, declared Captain Thornton, and he grimly pointed to the evidences of conflicts of this character in the healed scars on his hands. Asked what steps were taken by the military authorities to warn the troops of tho dangers of the city, the chaplain said that everything that could be done in the shape of prevcnthisr the men becoming victims of the vice of the city was done. The officers, chaplains, and medical men of the city worked to this end. No boy went into trouble through ignorance, " but either through sheer " eussedness" or drink, in nearly every case through the htter. Unfortunately the authorities were not in a position to adopt root, remedies at the outset, owin? to the fact that the capitulations were still in operation, and had the effect of preventing action asainst the offenders at. every turn. Corruption was everywhere rife, so that it, was well-nigh impossible to put a stop to the, drink and drugging evils. Now, however, the position was changed, and at. the time he left, Egypt the authorities were taking action to cope with the drink question. Captain Thornton added that ho mentioned these things so that the men who would be leaving the Dominion for Egypt, wouM be fully warned, and would be wise enough to profit bv the experience of others. As a tribute to the conduct of most of the. men. hr* meminned that the troops were in the best of condition before leaving for the Dardanelles. Nevertheless, something should be done !o prevent enlistments under ih" prescribed age. for mere boys simply could not stand the strain of continuous training.