TEMPTATIONS OF CAIRO

Southland Times, Issue 17533, 9 June 1915, Page 6

TEMPTATIONS OF CAIRO

INTERVIEW WITH A RETURNED CHAPLAIN. TRIBUTE TO THE BEHAVIOUR OF' NEW ZEALANDERS. DIFFICULTIES OF RESCUE WORK. The Rev. Guy Thornton, one of the chaplains with the forces, who has returned to Auckland from Egypt, and proceeds to Trenthahi, preparatory to his return to Alexandria or the Dardanelles, gave some interesting information to a Star representative on Monday with regard to the nature of a chaplain’s task in Cairo. After a reference to the elaborateness of the Cairo Camp, both ■ with regard to equipment and the commissariat, Captain Thornton explained that he had mainly been engaged on rescue work in connection with the many temptations that befell our men when they arrived in Cairo. "There are three main influences that make for the 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, if a man finds that his soup has too little or too much salt, it is a ground for divorcing his wife. He has only to pronounce ’I divorce you’ three times, and the divorce is accomplished. The woman lias no option hut to go, and she has no redress. and no means of-earning her livelihood, save one. The third cause is the liquor trade. Almost every shop in Cairo sells 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 groat many instances the Whisky was drugged. I had an analysis made 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 Now Zealand troops there would be a oirlr.in proportion of undesirables, but to condemn the whole lot for the conduct of a comparatively small number is absolutely unreasonable. Our men's conduct on the whole was splendid. One cannot deny that a certain proportion of Uio men succumbed to the novel temptations to which'they were exposed. Seeing that they came from the cleanest spot morally on the earth and entered what is perhaps the worst city in the world, tlig wonder is not so much that many fell, hut that so many fellows came through with their reputations untarnished.”

Speaking'of the drugging of the drink that is systematically carried on in the city. Captain Thornton said that it was, of course, 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, and made him 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 the greatest difficulties. The Chaplains had to literally fight their way into the dens of the bad characters of the city to rescue decent young fellows, declared Captain Thornton, and ho 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 the dangers of the city, the chaplain said that everything that could be done in the shape of preventing 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 "cussedness” or drink, in nearly every case through the latter. Unfortunately the authorities were not in a position to adopt root remedies at the outset, owing to the fact that the capitulations were still in operation, and had the effect of preventing action against 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 he mentioned these things so that the men who would bo leaving the dominion for Egypt would be fully warned. and would lie wise enough to profit by the experience of others. As a tribute to the conduct of most of the men, ho mentioned that the troops were in the best of condition before leaving for the Dardanelles. Nevertheless, something should be done to prevent enlistments under the prescribed age, for mere boys simply could not stand the strain of continuous training.