The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-03-10
CAIRO, BURSTING
WITH WILD WEST
AUSTRALIAN ARMY
"Roughest, Toughest Fit and
Fighting Body Of Men, Says
Correspondent.
AWAIT ATTACK ON THE SUEZ
German-T Turkish Forces Expected to
Plunge Toward Canal-Veterans
Of GaIIipoli Are in the Defend.
ing Army-Longing
for a Scrap.

Of GaIIipoIi Are in the Defend.
ing Army-Longing
for a Scrap.
/ Cairo.-Egypt Is waiting. 1t Is wait
Ing with the patience of country
ages old that can afford to wait. 1t Is
quite conscious of its position in the
war. 1t expects the German-Turkish
forces to plunge toward the Suez
canal, and 1t is ready for them. But
It awaits the event with an eastern
calm on which is superimposed a
British calm.
Here in Cairo | feel | am in closed
territory After being raced across
the eastern Mediterranean in a p.
& o. liner with an honest fear OF
submarines, l was dropped at Port
Said and there was an ordinary train.
dining car and all, which hustled
US OH to Cairo, skirting the canal and
the desert which were not at all as
ordinary. Once in Egypt ! or anyone
can move about anywhere. II is easier
to knock about on the delta Of the
Nile than in France or England.
Once you are off the delta the tri.
angle with Cairo at the apex, you run
into military zones. The secretive
desert lies beyond and even the trains
of padded footed camels shopping on
across the skyline, no doubt on quite
ordinary errands, and their Arab
drivers add to the mystery. AS to the
Arabs most of them could tell good
deal il they cared to talk.
No Uprising Is Likely.
One can spend four and half days
going from Khartoum as easily as any
tourist ever travelled the Nile, but IL
there is one thing extremely unlikely
to happen in Egypt it is an uprising
between here and the Soudan; nor are
any of the desert tribes likely to Gre
ate any havoc along the river Trou-
BILE can come but from two directions,
east and west. Both are under active
military control and l am for the
present not permitted to write about
them.
But there is enough going on in this
small, intensely vivid world to keep
one from getting restless. For, re-
mote from the war as we are here, we
are in 1t in strategic position, and
the part of Egypt which counts
strategically in military sense is
really quite small. 1t is only three
hours from here to Alexandria and
five to Port Said. The situation has
dramatic compactness. Beyond that
there are only the considerable out
post forces at the GASES in the desert.
Egypt is staged in Cairo. Cairo
has not given up any of its ordinary
life, except the tourist trade, and is
carrying off it's military honors with
quite an air. 1t can afford to let the
tourists 60, because it has the
Australians and they are worth more
In q month than the tourists of ten
years.
News From the Senuss.
l happen to be waiting for some
thing that lifts the curtain and re.
veals corner Of the stage. A British
officer has located an Arab some
where in the depths OF Cairo, and
this Arab has just come off the west
srn desert and knows more than any
other man on the delta about the do
ings Of the most-talked-of man in
Egypt, the head of the Senussi, the
desert chieftain who is the unknown
quantity in Egypt and that officers
report will mean much. have seated
myself, as many thousands of Ameri-
cans have done. on the terrace Of
Shepherds hotel, but have quite an
other sight from the usual one before
me.
Imagine the most European of
Cafro's streets filed from the steps
of the hotel to the arcade across the
way with staggering men in khaki.
They walk with a swing and a
"cheero," their spurs jangling, the
Emu feathers in their hats waving,
their level eyes head above even
the tall Egyptians. To anyone used
to the areas of Europe they strike
you like a fresh wind off the noun
tains. For those are the Australians:
the toughest, toughest, fit and! fight
ing body of men believe the world
has ever seen. All the varicolored,
fascinating life of Cairo is swept away
by their, virility. They seem fairly
to swell through the streets.
Heroes Of Western Romance.
Imagine this ancient and secretive
city busting with the heroes of west
ern romance, with their pockets full
of money and itching to spend ito
blow 1t In in a large and conspicuous
manner. They fill the sidewalks,
Ticking with their swagger sticks at
the bare legs of the sons of the
Prophet who wriggle among them keen
on baksheesh and Offering to sell them
what they will. &..>
The steps Of the hotel are lined
with military police. soldiers wearing
the red and white brassard- Of the
p. Ms guard. They are here every
night. For that matter they are to
be found everywhere in Cairo to the
number OF 1900 to keep the same i'm.
~~~.~~-~~~~~.~~~~
MIN n oIlno Pnn 40 ,Iaaau