CAIRO IN WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16824, 7 April 1915, Page 3

CAIRO IN WAR.

LIFE IN A HARRISON TOWN

TURKISH PRISONERS

ARRIVING

('■ Ago'' Correspondent.)

CAIRO. February 11

One cannot wall. a. yard m Cairo without nwatiug « soldier. laa can divo into the heart of the bazaavs &Mu you will find there either Tommy Atkins or an Australian Tommy: yon p-n walk into the drawing room »ot the finest hotel and \ou will find both being entertained by and entertaining wltlfb.t -rruck room gossip some recently Rrri'vod undo or aunt from home. Probably thare is not a regiment in the Empire that'has not some representative in this city, new practically a. garlson town. Maybe he is mi officer, perhaps he is a nr.vate in a company r'rom our own .shores. A spirit of revelry is abroad, an air of gaiety in tho streets, though the dogs of war aro barking at the distant gates of tho highway .leading to the capital. Hut ten minutes ago a regiment of "Terriers" havo marched past my window, their rifles carried easily across their shoulders or tucked conveniently under their armpits (for it is not a ceremonial march), singing "Way Down upon tho Swaneeßiver.V At least, I fancy they h*.d substituted soma words about, th? Sues Canal, where they were longing to' "roam." They had no band or drums to l>at thii step for thorn, so they whistled th-j air. Tho thousands of idle natives. " floating population " they might be called, who "aro ever present in tbcj city sirests, run to tho rondsr'de and look dully at tho man as they march. I. exoect that their thoughts aro wondering how can these men be happy when they cannot bo drinking coffae until dusk releases' them from their day's drilling. When the troops pass the native returns to his seat by the footpath in the open air cafe «ind orders another cup of Or'ental coffeo. and buys for a nickel coin a foot of surjar cane, or a handful of lettuce which ho eats w'th noisy relish. The white ambulance waggons with their staring red cresses 1 .e become so plentiful and are in such constant use that they -have ceased to create any wonder or stir the crowd. Since these Australian gift cars have arrived in Cairo they have been of immense service, for ambulances of this kind were lacking, and they have been engaged in transferring wounded from Lho stations to the hospitals. Guards and pickets aro constantly moving about the streets, while ■ the ' Sultanjs bodyguard of mounted troops, in their bright blue and red uniforms give a relief to the ever-present, khaki. Yet even in this "fashionable" coleui the.rei are a variety of shades. The B :glish regiments have darker uniforms, the Indian troops lighter ones than the Australians. Their jackets fit closer to the body. For once the Cairo season knows nothing of the fashions ancient or modern. There art danc?s where an officer's wife will dance as readily with a light horseman in spurs (if he can dance) as she will with" a brigadier-general in new kit. Here only will you find dark blue uniforms and red goreet patches taking the placo of the brown. It is a cones'ion that even a bitter war_ make" Take away the officers and their "wives and the hotels would be empty save for t few re'ugees and public officials ot •Egvnt". The Egyptian people have extended a hearty Welcome to the troops. 1 watch our Australians walking down little-frequented ways with native busir««s men deep in discussion. They dine with them in their homes. Tiiei' - so"s and d-nnditers are doing their best in the language of France to mak* 1 thonv<dves understood. Ore finib that French is the common language more widelv spoken, I fancy, tlu»" English. Mor*> and more. too. are tb<troops of thf D-«»«!*»ions mingling with tho*e from the .Mother Country. They •hunt in c~u-des or as a merry tr : o. Th<--arrival of tho second contingent from Australia C"ve a fresh start to sis/M which w'-s Ip"«nr'shing, and the guides er? reaping harve-ts. NEWS OF THE TURKS.

Movement of troops from tho camp in tho desert, tho racket of waggonstreaming through the almost deserccd streets at midnight, the scenes of activity at tho railway 'stations, were enough for rumour to spread through the town —as only rumour can spread in a crowded Arabian city like Cairo —of the approach of tho Turks. 1 noticed then how little knots of Eygptians were gathered together in cafes earnestly reading tho columns of thei own Arabic papers for some hhn. of the clash ofarms. Then, when the Press communiques \vers> issued, one heard murmurs of the disbelief of the people of the might of the British arms, till, forced to recognise against their will, the signs of dominance with ocular proofs, it was declared in the bazaars that tho wosbegqno prisoners that marched from the railway station in the early hours of ono morning under a gurrd bristling with bayonetswere merely English troops* dressed up. Did not rumour havo it. too. that 40,000 Turkish troops had crossed the canals and were even then marching on Cairo? An unwary Arab_ ventured to bint as much to a prisoner through the. bars of his prison, which accounted for the cheerful look that gleamed in the eye of some of the malignant Turks, with their lean, unshaven faces. Certainly the incautious one is now viewing the wide expansive waters of the Assouan dam, along with :\, few other suspected spies found in

!:ho city. Even tho wounded from the front and the busy ambulances wore enough to magnify tho losses a hundredfold.

But in the end there would be no jainsaying the defeat of the Turks. The native Press has been emphatic in its attitude. The Coptic paper tho "Watan" wrote regarding the attempt to bridge the canal:—" The Ih-iti*li Army must have laughed at them (the Turks) when they came to undertake tedious" work, and scoffed at their felly. "Wo are not afraid of them, and There is nothhnr to cause viy anoHmnsion here in tlr's respect, British forces concentrated in "?.gynt for its defence a'-e strong enough to cnr>e wi*-h the invasion. . Numbers -><•' the soldiers —Australians and New 7»a.landers —aro e t*ll in Cairo, going eomiTJsr nr> thousth there was nothin<r to os'l frv +h°ir advance to the c vort;" Tho "Molottnnv." which cir»h'a+j»» rieht. into J - ,, ° M&vt of the G oud«n. wr'>+f:—"Tho G><*ernment ws mr'to f'"'-* irlioi it R»id ; " »" ■ «;p-'"1 nrvfntniut'nn.a < month that i'.o 'TnWs w'onVt onV be !»*>J? to 00-rno ••o Fjrrnt n.s tv>- : con»rs. '.Mnf<» nr''"nfire* ovrvooted to come V ro ." Th« •""»et bn<i' nr'"-°'l +-o be jus* ""V) „ n + .jll +V,,V +?mo of Trvi+.,"v.<r.

DELUDED TURKISH PEOPLE. Germany is evidently following up er efforts at befooling her own wople with false news which, is now >csted ut> in the Turkish empire re;arding the oporations against Egypt. fhe following is the scanty account of .he invasion as seen through Ottoman yes:—"Our victorious troops have rossed the Suez Canal, after burning ho first British warship, destroying vhe second, sinking tho third. The fourth steamed away. On our side e had four killed, whilst the enemy s -sses were innumerable." Moreover t the snn.? time the Wolff (German' •gency at Beyreut is publishing detaus of Turkish victories in the Caucasu 1 nd the capture of Gars and Tiflis. The Turkish armies are said be narehine on Petrograd, and the,Czar has- fled to Moscow. Anyone who does •■>ot believe this news is flogaed.

extraordinary messages were •uiblishud here at a time when the u-st of the Turkish prisoners wer-» 'lping b-ought into A cruard ■>f a half company of Australians had been to'd off "at Ismai'ia to brine no 'he first batch of over 200. Tt was a long and very wearisome i journey, made in the le + e hours of the niVht. lie train arriving at Cairo at 330 a.m. The Turks and Bedouins- seemed •iesirons of nothing else but food and -est. Some were wounded, and thes > were conveyed to the Kasr el Aim Hospital by an Australian motor ambulance, where all the Turkish wounded have been collected. Too prr-on-©rs were handed over to a Territorial unit, and marched through the deserted streets to the Kasr el Nil barracks on the banks of the Nile, where they were placed in a building that stood apart from the rest of the bar••acks and which had be°u u>ed on occasions as a prison. Most of these unhappy men believed that they were to be executed, but instead found -themselves given food and clothing (many had little more than a shawl round them). It was a curious fact thai- obtruded itself at this moment, for it was fourd that a larse majority of them had left their boots on tho hanks of the canal, -where they were later picked up. ilLshaped, roughly made and badly w—u articles. There 'var, no stitching, rivc-ts being used to join tho seams and rivets, too. in the i n rc"» twtowoa wbioh had evidently been made on tbe march. PRISONERS TAKEN TO TOURAH.

Nearly SOO prisoners wore marched through the streets of Cairo ou Monday, 'February 15, under a strong escort composed of Territorial infantry and Australian Light Horse. The first party of over 300 left the Abasseh barracks, on tho northern side of the town, early in tht> morning. They were a motley crowd these fighting Turks and roaming Bedonins,, who had come under the influence of the Hums. A troop of Australian Light Horsemen rode at tho head, while there wore others placed at intervals down the column, to drive back too inquisitive natives. The prisoners marched in fours, guarded ou either flank by Territorial soldiers with fixed bayonets. Right at the head of the lino was a civilian in red tarbusch—a captured spy. Behind were four Turkish f-.ol-cfiera clad in a blue-grey uniform similar in all respects to the German uniform. In tne' next rank was a tall, proud-looking Turk, in a long grey great cosa. He had a strong beard, and his head was bound up in a turban of grey cloth. Then came forty or fifty of the Turkibb. regulars, men who were wearing the dark khaki uniforms I have already described', and by whose side hung a water bottle. A few carried a white canvas bag, containing a couple of extra articles of clothing. For the rest, the party were each garbed differently. They shuffled along in their bright yellow slippere, that had been supplied them by a generous Government, drawing their rags about them. They bad thin faces, and

j dark drooping moustaches tinder noses with very pronounced' curves in them, and a wook or two of growth of beard did not make them more soldier-like. As a general rule thay were tall and tiiin, but. sometimes one saw- a- prosperous looking Bedouin who threw his cloak of variegated design, over his shoulder and moved' with obvious discomfort. Many of the prisoners bad a kind oi white puttee which they wore as a protection to their legs. Another party of our ' Light Horse brought up the rear of this curious procession, and' following wore n number of waggons loaded with a few articles, of furniture, beds and blankets for the prisoners when tlmy should reach Tourah. the camp which had bcou prepared for them. There were several waggons of flour. A Victorian" motor ambulance also followed the column in case of men dropiiing out. At noon the prisoners arrived on tho large barrack square at Kasr el Nil, where the other prisoners looked down on them from barred windows. They squatted hero while fresh guards marched out and formed up into extended Hues, with bavonets glinting,in the &un. The remaining 400 prisoners were brought out. between fliesa guards, nnd wcro quietly ordered to place themselves' four abreast. Four Turk'sh ofheers, j fine big man. in b'uo uniforms and j brown leggins, wearing thoir. groatcoats. were placed at the bend or the column, and on the signal tho whole party moved oft". Thousands of natives M-.d assembled outside the; barracks square Ui watch tho prisoners leave. There was'nothing dramatic ill the : r cVparturc. but it has at least vunk into tho mind of the people that the Ottomans havo enmo to Cai~o only as prisoners. Tourah is a settlement bevond the Mradi Light Horse camp, which T b»,ve described, and is about 13 miles from Cairo. It « mainly a large quarry works that st-«nd right ill the desert at the foot of th« Mokatt>'m Hi'ls. At this plsce civil prisoners are interned, and may be scan working in gangs in the desert. LATEST SUCCESS IN PENINSULA. A communique issued two days ago gives some details of a surprise effected on a body of Turks who were operating against tlo Government station at Tor. This solitary port is at tha entmnco to the Gulf oi : Sue:;, and is used as a quarantine, station for tho Mecca pilgrims. It is a weekly port of call for the Khedival mail steamers. The) communique states:—"ln January last'the commandor of the Turkisn troops at Nekhl. the headquarters of tho southern Ottoman army (in the heart of the Sinai Peninsula), being inforir.ed that tho Government .station 1 at Tor was undefended, sent a. body of fifty men, with two German officers, to occupy tho place. The party found on its arrival thlvb Tor was garrisoned by 200 Egyptian soldiers, and by no tfneans likely to fall ail easy prey, so sent to Nekhl for reinforcements. These were* sent, and brought up tho number of the enemy's main body to a little under 200 men, -Turks, and Arabs, who occupied a village r.bout five miles north of Tor itself. On their arrival being known, a small detachment of Indian troops was -'aided in the rear of the enemy, n.nd, advancing over the hills, made a surprise attae'e upon their nos : tion at dawn on February 12. The enemy force wps annihilated. Ofer 100 prisoners we"o taken, amongst them a Turkish major. Omv sixty of their dead, including a M"b'/,im. were' cou"ted on the d°sert. It is believed that none got away. Two hundred cam Is wer? captured, and the enemy's camp and stores destroyed."