THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15834, 3 February 1915, Page 10

THINGS IN GENERAL.

THE CITY OFiiOAIHO.

The city of Cairo, the qipital of -modern Egypt, and the most j>opulous city in I Africa, has an added interest to us now ! that the New Zealand forces are in its ' . neighbourhood. The city is 14S miles i east of Suez by rail, although only 84 ; miles from that port by the overland I : route across the desert rwhich was in use ' ' before the opening of "the canal. Cairo , • rcupies a length of five* miles on the east i bank of the Nile, being partly on the plain and partly on tfie rocky slopes of ■ a range of hills. From the citadel, which | i? built on a spur of the hills, can lie , obtained a prospect of the city "which is j . of striking picturesqucness and beauty. Rp'.mv lies the c:ty. with its ancient walls '. and lofty towers, its gardens and squares, i i's Palaces and us mosques, with their : delicately carved domes and minarets ' covered with fantastic tracery, the broad I river studded with islands, the valley of ; the Nile dotted with groiqis of trees, with the pyramids on the horizon, and barren j > lift's barked by a waste- of sand Since the middle of the 19th century the city lias more than doubled its size and population. The eastern part of the town, however, retains almost unimpaired its Oriental aspect, and in scores of narrow, tortuous streets, and busy bazaars it is <asv to forget that there has been any change from the Cairn of medieval times. The population of Cairo is about 700,000. of whom about 50.000 are Europeans. I Th« inhabitants are of many diverse races, j the various nationalities being frequently j distinguishable by differences in dress as | well as in physiognomy and colour. In the Oriental quarters of the city the curious shops, the markets of different Trades, the shops of each trade being usually confined to one street or district, the musical and quaint street cries of fruit a.'d water venders, with the ever-chang-itg and many-coloured throng of passen- ! gers, ali render the streets a delightful j study of Arab life, nowhere else to be | seen in such perfection or with so fine j a background of magnificent buildings, j ."Asides the Cairenes proper, who are largelv gaged in trades and handicrafts, the inhabitants include Arabs, numbers i of Nubians and Negroes — mostly labourers and domestics in nominal slavery, together with Syrians and Armen- | ians. The higher classes of native society j are largely of Turkish or semi-Turkish descent. Of other races the most , numerous are Creeks, Italians, British, French, and Jews. Bedouins from the desert frequent the bazaars and add another touch of colour to an already gay scene. j EDUCATION IN RUSSIA. Of all the civilised countries in the world Russia has the largest proportion | of illiterates amongst its population, although in recent years conditions in this Tespect have been very much improved. In 1908 official statistics showed that out of every 1000 of the population only 211 could read and write. How much progress has been made, however, in the work of introducing general education is revealed by the fact that the census of the early nineties showed that only 50 ( oat of every 1000 were literates. Illiter- j ucy is much more common among Russian i women than among the male population- j In Russia as a whole there are 22 men | who can read and write for every 10 | women who are able to do so. In i Siberia there are 58 literate males for j ©very 10 literate females. Some idea of the interest of the people at large in j education is revealed by a comparison of school populations in Russia and in the United States- With a population of 100 million, the total enrolment in the pub- j lie and private schools of the United States in 1912 amounted to just over 19 million. With a population of 172 million, the tot, .1 enrolment in all the schools in Russia was nearly eight million, with an average of 23 males for every 10 femalesA law was passed several years ago making general education compulsory, but the growth of the village schools has been slow. Although women in general have received, such little attention educationally, Russia lives well up to its reputation as a land of extremes, being the first country in Europe to establish a technical school for women. The first woman civil engineer in the world was a Russian, and as far back as 1859 a woman was admitted to the University of Petrograd. The largest of the ten Government universities in Russia is that of Petrcgrad. which has over 10,000 students. The one at Moscow has about 9000 students. One result of the general illiteracy of the community is the use of pictorial rather than written signs before many of the stores, more especially in the poorer sections of towns. These signs snow coats, bats, shoes, edibles, etc. The restaurants, too. have their particular colours, green standing for eating and yellow for drinki*v. A combination of both colours over a door shows that within mav be obtained both .solid and liquid refreshment. THE MOTOR IN WAS. The enormous importance of the motor in war was foreseen by all the great military Powers in Europe. The colossal fleet of motor vehicles now being used on the Continent probably exceeds in number the combined forces which Wellington had at his disposal at the battle of 3 Waterloo. It lias beer*, estimated that the five principal belligerents possess over 610.000 motor vehicles of all sorts. The majority are of course privately owned, but everything in the motor line, from omnibuses to "bicycles, that could render useful help was "pressed into service by the military authorities- In England at the time of the outbreak of the war therewere registered 425,588 motor vehicles — that is. 227,907 motor-cars, 179.526 motorbicycles, and 18.005 heavy vehicles- Of this number probably some 50,000 are now being used to assist miliU.rv operations. Taking the round figure of 200,000 as representing the total number of motor vein- in use by all the belligerents and 15 as the average horse-power, a good indication i- afforded as to the number of ):< : ei\ that would be required were th»re '..■' automobiles, although the calculation must, not be taken literally to mean to many horses. In many cases the horse could ii' possibly do the work which is row being done by motor.-. Generally Evenki:..:, where the railway ends, mechanical rc. ; id traction begins. It is the link between the barrack and the railhead on the one side, and the base of operations and The fighting line on the ether side As war consists of fighting End uiiiclrnery. the motor is used on every poss hie highway that intersects the Country over which the fighting is being conducted. The units in use range from the humble motor-bicycle to the 50-ton 11actor train, the vehicle-- being used foi every conceivable purpose, scouting. despatch carrying;, carriage of supplies and ammunition, transport of troops and guns, and last, but not least, for ambu lance work. The armoured car mounted with quick-firing guns and powerfu. searchlights is also playing an important part in the war. It was in motor-can that the Germans first invaded neutral Luxemburg in defiance of treaty obliga tio-ns, and throughout the motor has beer the speeding-up element of the campaign When the Germans were nearing th« French capital thousands of the Pari* taxi-cabs were in constant use transporting troops to wherever required and bringing back the wounded.

EHEIMS CATHEDRAL.

Architecturally speaking, one of the I blackest of the deeds perpetrated by the ! German hosts has been the destruction >of Rheums Cathedral. The walls and the .towers may still stand, it is true; but | the beautiml west front is scarred and j broken and a' least one of the towers ;is damaged. The fact that anything at ■ ail is left standing is probably due to the unusual strength of the ' masonry, ' many of the blocks of stone used in the j building being as nun It as 12ft by 4f.t. ! lint the great row windows aV«ov"e the . main portal and in the tiansepts. and the rest of the magnificent stained glass, nearly all of it by . r»'"t>m. a of the 14th i century, have been shattered to fragments, j and their peculiarly ri< h colours can never be replaced." The cathedral, in | which the kings of Franc; used to b.crowned, replaced an older church which 'was burned in 121.1. The building, with | the exception of the west front, was com- j j nlet-ed by the end of the ]3th century. I I That portion was erected in the 14th ceil- j I tun, the nave in the meantime having ; j been lengthened. The interior of the j I cathedral is 455 ft long. 9Sft wide in the j ) nave, and 125;'t high in the centre. In j j 1481 fire destroyed the roof and spires- , ; Since that time of the four towers which flanked the transepts nothing has remained above the level of the roof. Only 40 years ago the sum of £80,000 was voted for repairs to the facade and balustrades, | the facade being the finest portion of the I building and on*» of the most perfect I masterpieces of the middle ages. The \ main towers. 267 ft in height, were originally designed to be 394 ft. That on the south contains two great bells, one weigh- | ing 11 tons. Inside and outside the i cathedral are innumerable statues and statuettes, the cathedral possessing in adi dition many fine and priceless tapestries | One of the architectural features of the building is the flying buttress, here developed on extraordinarily beautiful lines. A PROHIBITION NATION. The abolition of the sale of intoxicants lin Russia represents the greatest prohi- ] bition victory of the age. With one I stroke of the pen one-sixth of the earth's I surface and one-tenth of its population | went " dry." Hitherto vodka-drinking has been the habit of the Russian masses. j Being a Government monopoly, the officials encouraged the sale of vodka, and the constantly and rapidly growing revenues I from that source showed that they had | been doing so with success. Then came | the great war and millions of Russia's vast army were mobilised. Realising that I a drunken soldier cannot be a good soli dier, the Tsar prohibited the sale of vodka i temporarily and inhibited his troops from I using intoxicants in any form. Over j night hundreds of thousands of Governi ment dram shops were closed. The response of the. Russian people to this order was one of the surprises of Russian history. Everywhere it was received with ! acclaim, and there was such widespread and universal evidence of the approval of the Government's stand in the matter ! that it soon became evident to the Tsar I that what was primarily intended as a temporary measure could be made perI manent. The result was that Tsar I Nicholas has answered a petition of the j Russian Christian Temperance Society, presented by the Grand Duke Constantine, ov saying : " I have decided to prohibit for ever the Government sale of alcohol." And so prohibition, the Russians hope, has come to a great Empire that, probably more than any other in history has suffered from the evils of intemperance. What was the national Russian drink— vodka— originally made almost, eni tirely from rye. barley malt being used to : effect saccharification. At the present ! time potatoes and maize are the staple | raw materials from which this spirit* is j manufactured, green rye malt being used instead of barley. Vodka, when manj- ! factored contains over 90 per cent, of ; alcohol, but it is diluted, previous to rc- ; tailing, to a strength of from 60 to 40 i per cent- of alcohol, it being illegal to i I sell it at Jess than the 40 per " cent,, i j strength. i ! The General. .