RIOTS IN CAIRO.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16448, 31 May 1919, Page 5

RIOTS IN CAIRO.

NEW ZEALANDER’S STORY. ACCOUNT OF FIRST OF RIOTS. The following interesting account (dated March id) of the first Cairo riots has been received by Mr. C. J. Bilton, of Temuka, from his son, Sergeant-Major F. J. Bilton, Bth Canterbury Mounted Rifles, who is at presfent in the. New Zealand Records Office in Cairo:— I told you in my last that I would, in -all probability," be in Alexandria during the week, but the whole thing was upset by this native rising. We tried to go down to-day, but found it impossible, as the train had ceased to run, for how long no one knows, but wo think it likely wc shall be able to leave to-morrow. AVell, this rising is the only topic of interest, so I had better get on with it. In the first iilace, 011 Saturday morning, the 6th inso., five pashas (a pasha is practically equal to an English lord) came down to the G.H.Q. just opposite our offices and asked for an interview with Major-General Watson, who is the commander of the' force in Egypt. These five pashas delivered an ultimatum to Major-General Watson to the effect that he was to get all the English troops and civilians out of Egypt immediately, and to hand over the country to the Egyptian people,. These pashas belong to the Nationalist party, which has been antagonistic to the English fraternity ever, since they declared the country an English protectorate, and which has been working up, mostly by religious methods, among the lower classes , of the Egyptians, a fanatical hate of the English. This week tlio whole affair has come to a head, starting, in the first instance, by these five pashas attempting to ride the high horse with the commander. I understand that Watson hoard them through, and then rang his bell, when in marched a platoon with fixed bayonets, and the pashas were immediately placed under arrest, and inside six hours wore on their way to —, deported and imprisoned long before their party had time to get their breath. It was a jolly smart piece of work, and it makes me think that Watson had very good information long before hand that this affair was likely to come to a head, and, in fact, from events which have happened since, it is very apparent that the intelligence staff" at G.H.Q. know every detail of the affair. FIRST RIOTS ON MONDAY. Well, on Sunday the Gyppies got their heads together and arranged the programme for the Monday morning. Monday, morning everjone came down to work just in the usual stay, no more thinking, there was going to bo anything doing in the way of a riot than of jumping over the moon. In fact, it was only a few of us at G.H.Q. who knew that the pashas had been deported oven. So consequently when, about 200 of tho rabble of the town rushed down Sharia Kasr-el-Nil, which is the street G.H.Q. and our offices are. in, and started in with sticks and stones to smash everything breakable in the street, there was no one more surprised than the ordinary Tommies knocking about the. streets. This mob broke every plate-glass window for miles, and it appears that similar mobs were doing tho same thing in practically every quarter of the town. It was quite well organised,' but, of course, as soon as the Gyppies were let loose they became just a rabble. Within two hours of the outbreak there were thousands of troops put into the town, and every civilian,’ po r liceman they could lay hands on was quelling the disturbances. I can assure you there was some fun; no firearms were used, just sticks and batons, and immediately a mob commenced to collect then, either the military or the police, would rush in and scatter them. One or two soldiers were rather badly handled on that day, hut nothing very serious was received. Of course there were quite a number of Gyppies who had to be taken tho hospital. They burnt down a big printing establishment not far from here, and it was then apparent that tl#i thing was serious. This mobbing and breaking up of mobs wont on all Monday, hut settled down at night. On the Monday afternon the senior N.C.O’s. were issued with revolvers and thirty rounds of ammunition, and instructions were given that we were not to go about singly, hiit must stick together in little crowds, and also that, on leaving tho office, we wore to go straight to our billets, and were pot to shift from there except under very special circumstances. This last order was not strictly observed by our crowd; wo wanted to see any fun that might come off. • LOOTING AND .ATTEMPTED BRIDGE-WRECKING. Tuesday wont off fairly quietly, although there was a good deal of rioting in the lower part of the town, and one or, two shops wore burnt down. Wednesday they went for it properly down in the Moosky quarter. A great number of tho bazaars and shops in this quarter are owned by Europeans, tho majority of.whom arc Jews, and in every instance the shops of these people were smashed up and looted. Of course, wo have been unable to go down there, it being well and truly out of hounds, but it is an absolute wreck. They say that hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of goods have, been looted. They went for tho gold bazaar first, then everywhere any anywhere there was a possibility of looting. The military sent wagon-loads of troops down, hut they did not uso their rifles, only pick handles, and there were numbers of broken heads among the Gyppies. The place is awkward to get through, little narrow by-paths, in many oases covered completely by the overlapping of tho houses overhead, so that tho Gyppies just went before our fellows and wrecked everything before the Tommies could come, up with them. There Were nunlerous little dust-ups everywhere in town that day. It was quite a common occurrence to see ten or a dozen soldiers clearing a square with sticks.

The next morning, Thursday, the mob attempted to wreck the Chonbra .traffic bridge, and, of course, that really had to he stopped with a firm hand, so the- infantry in the nearby barracks of Babel-a-Did were ordered to open fire, and did so, the casualties being reported as 17 killed and 50 wounded. That effectively put a stop to the bridge-wrecking stunt,_ and I think it made the Gyppios think twice about doing any damage in the better quarter of the town. In their own quarters they still carried on with the smashing’ of everything Thursday was very exciting during the morning, no one knowing exactly what was going to happen, hut in the afternoon everything quietened down again. Friday they started it again in the Moosky, and when an armoured car was

sent down to quell the disturbance some Gyppies on top of house opened fire, wounding four soldiers. The car immediately turned the machine on and killed a number more. Since then there have been similar disturbances and I believe the casualties among the Egyptians up to Sunday night wore 161 killed and several hundred wounded. SOLDIERS ACT ON THEIR OWN ACCORD. One litle incident which happened yesterday morning affected ns a good deal, because it was onr own fellows who were mixed up in it. Two New' Zealanders and threfi Australians, who were clown here on leave, hired a taxi and started out for the’Barrage, which is a very interesting place for sightseeing. They were very foolish to do so ;if, was looking for trouble. They got about four miles out, and ran into a mob of Gyppies, and the driver, an Egyptian, stopped the car in tho middle of the mob, and said it had broken-down, which was a lie, for immediately after our fellows got away he started her going again. Well, the boys were attacked and had to fight their way out with sticks. , One New Zealander was seriously injured, and is now in the hospital, dangerously ill. They all got away all right, hut they were in a frightful mess when I saw them.

Consequent or. this the New Zealanders and'Australians held ai mass meeting to decide what, and when, they were going to do in the way of revenge. Tiiis came' off all right last night'at 6.30, and they formed up into column of fours and marched through the town and through Choubrah to Chouhrah village, the place where the mob took to out boys. A big crowd went right out there and played merry harry for a while. They burnt four or five shows’ down and smashed every nigger that came near them. Then they calmly turned round and marched hack to town again. Nearly everyone of us in tho crowd had a revolver, and it says something for the fellow's that not one shot was fired, any head-break-ing that had to he done w r as done with walking sticks. The latter have been the older of the day for this week, and the vendors in the streets must have done a good trade. This morning" G.H.Q. kicked up a bit 1 of a shindy 1 about us taking the matter into our own hands, but I think they have taken a tumble, . that, if they don’t take some strong measures soon, the troop D will take the matter into their own handstand then there wall ho some hlood-lot’ting. The 10th Division, composed of big, raw-boned Irishmen with the ham between their teeth) is camped at Mena, nine miles from town, and to date they have been confined to camp, but it is rumoured that they are getting sick of it, and have threatened to march out, look, stock, and barrel. If they do, then every Gippo. out of doors will get his head broken, foi they are the wildest, most hairbrained soldiers I have struck yet. It is the same crowd who played up, about three months ago. 1 hope they don’t get loose, or things will really move’in this country, and in 'all probability-it .would put the kibosh on for us, in the political line anyway. WRECKING LINES OF COMMUNICATION. On Saturday, the natives from many of the smaller villages ’started, rioting;, they have had great trouble with ; this 1 ■crowd, for they are going for tho railway lines. They have broken up the line several times, though each time they have been caught and severely punished by our machine-guns on the armoured cars. However, they got away with it laM night by putting an engine and three goods trucks off tho line at Kalouh, and that is the reason that no trams are running north; from Cairo. The service has been very restricted so far as the South line is concerned, but things seemed to have improved there lately.. The military have hundreds of aeroplanes scouting along all the lines, and these can do a good deal to stop the natives damaging the lines. Orders have been given that anyone tampering with any lines, railway or telegraph (the telegraph lines from Cairo have all been cut) is to he shot at once.

Practically every, train that has got through from Alexandria has been attacked, so this means that we may get a chance to use the revolvers to-mor-row r if wc can manage to get a train. I do hope the rotters come along, for I’m just dying for a chance to knock them over. They come on by hundreds and fling stones, etc., at the windows of the trains, so one will have no trouble in shooting them, and I’m .Sure I won’t have any compunction about it. " '

■ In ■ sympathy with the movement, the tram-drivers and conductors have gone on strike, and so up till to-day we have had no trams. I think the mili- . tary would have stopped them anyway to prevent the natives moving easily from place to place. However, the trams started again to-day, and on each are two soldiers with hall cartridges and fixed bayonets. On the first day of the affair the mobs broke about a dozen trams, so they have had to guard them, and even now they are only using the main lines. We are beginning to wonder when! the affair is going to end; but it is quite oxciting going around with a loaded revolver in your bolt, and never knowing what is going to happen round the next corner. We have had one nice little dust-up. Six of. us went round to the Abdin Square and got properly mixed up with a crowd of about 3000 students, and although we cleared the square once, they were too many for us. and eventually wo had to get for our lives. While we were retreating down a small alley, we had the pleasant sensation of hearing' flower-pots, half-bricks, and, in fact, any old .thing, coming down from above, thrown by people on the roof. It was rather oxciting while it lasted, but I was not sorry to get out of it unhurt. One of the armoured cars was sent down and the crowd soon scattered. DIFFICULTIES OF THE AUTHORITIES. T would not like to have. MajorGeneral Watson’s job; he must bo having a very anxious time. We “sling off” at., the military authorities, but when you think the thing out, they have more to contend with than you at first realise. If they shoot these natives “bolus bolus,” then someone will make a row at the Peace Conference. (This is one of the hones of contention between the parties, for the Egyptians consider they should be represented, and they have nob been allowed to send a delegate even.) Then, should one of the other nations make trouble about Egypt, there is t a possibility of England losing the country. It is easily seen that England would rather fight than lose any part of the country, because it is essential to the Empire that we retain Egypt. As they cannot use violence to any extent, they will have to take things quietly, and that is apparently what they are doing. Whether it’ will turn out all right rein.", ms to be seen.