SOLDIER’S LETTER

Evening Star, Issue 23553, 17 April 1940, Page 5

SOLDIER’S LETTER

NEW ZEALANDERS IN EGYPT IMTEREHTIMfi IMPKSBIMS OF THE EAST !‘*lf the folks back home could see the ' excitement and joy it gives the boys to get some mail I’m sure they would feel constrained to write more often than they do,” writes a Dunedin boy with the New Zealand Forces in Egypt. “At least they would know that their efforts are appreciated by us all. :■ I did very well myself to get eight letters all told, but I could not help feeling sorry for a, cobber of mine who got none, and was quite icut up about it. '. “ There has been some indication that'the summer here in Egypt has a hot time in store for us. At the same time we have experienced some very cold ’ weather, the nights being very chilly. In this part of the world it is yet (February) only spring, and we have been told to expect the really hot weather in April. ' , ... “Tf I am spared to see through this war there are days in my Army experience which will always live in my memory. For instance, there s the memorable day on which our troopship sailed. None of us will ever forget the crowd on the wharves, the excitement, and the din aa we started to move, with people shouting and waving, ship whistles screaming, and-the whole-just one tremendous uproar., Neither shall we- forget the thoughts which passed through our minds as all this was being enacted. The following day, found us still in New waters, and. the,. first thing in the morning wa sighted the rest of the convoy. _’ _ , 1 “ We are camped on dust in Egypt—oceans of the stuff, and when it is windy wo get the fuff .benefit of ■ it. There, are plenty of places of interest to see here. Cairo has its interesting spots,' and there are'the Pyramids, I have been to Cairo on three occasions so far. It isa-trej-mendoos city, with, a population of nearly, a million and*a-half, or almost ■ the same as the population of the whole of New. Zealand. One. feels depressed at the'state of fihhinesa on every hand. The streets are in a terrible mesa, and the pectple.are as.bad. Only about onetwelfth of the population has had any education. Boys start work at a very early age, so that their mentality is not the "highest in consequence of.’ such conditions. When they get together in * crowd they-all try to talk at once, the result being a babble of talking, yelling,, and shouting. There ‘are of. motor cars .in the place, and T haven’t yet been able to find whether it is;the ambition of an Egyptian to one day own a car-of his *own or whether it is the horn on the car that means so much, to him. At any rate, they have a mania for • blowing' 1 the - horn, not. the. up-to-date press-button tooter. but' the old-, fashioned rubber -one .that you squeeae. All the time they keep honking on the things—and what a din! _. . . In Cairo we are pestered all the time with people selling all sorts of things—hats, pictures, leather-whips, cigarettes, mirrors,; and snakes. YeSj they, sell snakes for .as low as 5 piastres (a piastre is worth 2)d). Just fancy a couple of feet of real live snake for something like fid a foot,' or the whole thing for a ‘bob.’ They’re the biggest rogues, these Gippos. I have had leather whips offered to me for 25 piastres, and after bargaining had the price brought down to 3 piastres. .The usual native mode of transport is the donkey, and, you should " see the Wads they stick upon these unfortunate little animals. Camels are a regular sight, too. “ The other side pf Cairo concerns the beautiful buildings. Not all the streets are filthy, though the majority of them are. There are some very clean and respectable parts of the city. Most of the buildings in the city area (and it is vast) range. from eight to 15 stories high.. Most of. them are very modern, particularly the blocks of flats, tremendous structures of the verv latest type and really magnificent. Electric trains arid rail cars run out to the suburbs, so that there are some pleasing features about the place. Neon signs are i gnite numerous, and it is a •new experience to see them lit up in Arabic. English posters afld signboards are in -the majority, although French is spoken far more. Nearly everyone speaks both Arabic and French, with a smattering of English. Some speak several languages, as Cairo is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, and if you are to be successful in business you must know, a number of languages,” ,