CONDITIONS IN EGYPT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 285, 30 October 1934, Page 8

CONDITIONS IN EGYPT

CONTROL WITHOUT BRITAIN

ROTARY CLUB ADDRESSED

“It is unfortunate that Britain ever relaxed her control over ]bgypt. It is a glorious place being shockingly handled. I would advise any prospective visitor to go there, stay tor three days and then hurry away, the nine weeks I spent there were the longest of my life, and it was a very unpleasant sojourn.” . these words, Mr G. McNamara, C.8.E.,. Director-General of the Post and 1 olegraph Department, who attended the last Postal Union Congress in Cairo, summed up, in an address to Palmerston North Rotary Club members yesterday, his impressions of' Egypt. Mr AV. E. Winks presided over a large attendance. Stating that he spent eight months abroad, Mr McNamara said the principal object was to attend the Postal Union Congress, held every five years, and the next- of which was. scheduled for Buenos Aires. Suez, which had a reputation not very desirable, was not such a 'had place after all, he said. He had travelled about 70 kilometres by car from there to Cairo on a three hours’ trip across the desert. They went through Suez like a flash of lightning in an Egyptian taxi, which made children and goats scatter in every direction. Soon after their departure, a ’plane followed them to the next stop. It was the practice of the Air Force to provide this protection for British travellers, because if their car broke down they would soon be walking home without their clothes. The Egyptian was not a thief, but had peculiar morals, and would take anything on which he could lay his hands. Speaking of the Suez Canal, Mr McNamara sttaed that its,construction had been projected as far back as 1300 B.C. by Ramesses 11. It had again been projected in 1500 A.D., and later by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. In 1854 the Vicerory of Egypt let a contract for its construction, and in 1869 the long waterway, through which it took twelve hours for a large liner to pass, was completed. Egypt had been given back to her own people with four reservations, "among which were the preservation of public safety, and the maintenance of cable, telegraph and railway communication. The Egyptians had no fixed calendar of time, except by reference to the past dynasties, but owing to the disappearance of old records there were several gaps in these. The pre-dynasty period was regarded as extending up to 2300'8.C. The country had been conquered by many other countries in turn, including the Africans, Persians, Greeks Romans, and Arabs. The Mohammedan Sabbath was celebrated on Friday, and the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday. There was now a perfectly good bitumen road of half an hour’s journey from Cairo to the Pyramids, which were better at a distance than when seen closely, the speaker added. Cairo had one of the finest museums in the world, including many relics of Tutankhamen’s tomb, which was found with the contents intact. The articles, the majority .of them gold and ivory, numbered 1318, itemised under different headings. From the tomb had come a wonderful golden boomerang. Tutankhamen was an Egyptian king who lived in a period lost to modern records. His body was found in a gold encased mummified coffin, this being enclosed inside two others. There was a stone sarcophagus. Signet rings, necklaces, ear-rings and bangles in gold had been found, together with many precious stones and oddities such as ivory seats and stone carvings. At Luxor, Mr McNamara had gone down into the tombs of the kings whose lives were depicted in paintings on the wall. There were dummy tombs to frustrate rifling and desecration. CONTRASTS IN CAIRO.

Cairo was a city of beautiful buildings and mud huts. No one had the faintest idea of the population, as most of the people could neither read nor write, and it was impossible to take a census, but there must be at least a million. Streets were both ancient and modern. The Egyptians had no idea of sanitation. Debris was swept into street corners, and next day’s wind brought it out again. Pigskins replaced buckets for carrying water, this method being used even in mixing concrete for the erection of large buildings. There was no soil in Egypt, Mr McNamara added. It was merely a light siltation from the overflow of the Nile. Cairo had a large French and Italian population and very up-to-date shops. Liquor was sold entirely without license, and there was no Customs tariff. Taxi-drivers ignored all other traffic. Cairo to-day was not exactly a safe place in which to wander down alleyways. Lfe was 1 Very cheap and many murders were committed. Frequently rifle-shots were heard, both native and European police being armed. England had not plased its mark ob Cairo. English was not spoken there, and Arabic and French were taught in the big schools. Now that English rule had been withdrawn there were few indications left of its influence. Poorer class Egyptians lived in mud huts about eight feet high and eight feet sguare. All the rubbish they could steal in the city was thrown on the roofs. Theie was no furniture. Possession of a donkey was an indication of wealth. Beggars lived on about ljd a week. They used no soap, certainly no water and just rags for clothes. Egypt depended upon the fertility of the Nile, which was a filthy river, and without it Cairo would vanish in a month. The city was full of disease, gloves had to 'he worn, and the most stringent hygiene and health precautions "were necessary. Food was never eaten uncooked. All water used in hotels was boiled and then served with ice. which was placed in glass tubes. The English winter was bad, but Cairo was freezing in January. It was inadvisable to stand in the shade. Yet half the world was convinced that Cairo was a wonderful place. _ The speaker, was accorded the vote of thanks on the motion of Mr B. J. Jacobs. Visitors welcomed were Messrs D. Black (chief postmaster), H. C. Brent (district telegraph engineer), J. H. Stevens and A. Shelton (former postmasters at this centre).