New Britain herald., 1919-04-12
SOLDIER DESCRIBES
 LAND OF THE NILE
Isadore Pizer Stationed Where
 Cleopatra Once Held Sway

6Drf W can expeditionary forces in Palestine, writes a description or the Egyptian country and the people of Egypt, in a letter to his parents, MT. and Mrs. Abraham, Pizer of West Main street.
 ..Jusf a few lines to let you know that am in the best of health, and hope to hear the same from you all at home. ,t.
 .I have received your two registered letters with the photos, and am very pleased with them. There is no use |, telling me not to be ashamed to show them to the boys, because all the ooys in the transport have already seen them, and they are very good in deed.
 You have asked me so much to write to you about the country, that I have decided to tell you.
 'The country itself Is all right and the scenes are very beautiful about here The climate in the summer time Is very hot and not a bit of wind or & drop of rain to keep you cool, The winter is also hot, but there is plenty of rain and wind and sometimes it snows, but so far l haven't seen any.
 "The soil Is black and very good for agriculture but when the farmers ont here blow the ground, they only dig about three or four inches deep. and that is why the soil does not yield such large crops. As for fruit. the place is all right, oranges are plenti- ful and about as large as pineapples and as sweet as sugar. There is also plenty of dates and figs and all kinds or nuts. Now is the season for eggs ana they are Is for quarter, about Ihe only cheap things out here.
 Anout the people. take the Egyp- tla lS' they are the dirtiest people ana most uncivilized of any people on the Iace of the earth. Their complex lon Is sort of a niulatto and the clothes they wear are composed of nearly all rags. The mems clothing g consists of sort of red Turkish hat with a black tassel on top. Their clothes arc pantaloon shaped and over this they wear a. long robe. they seldom wear socks and shoes are very seldom seen
 "The way you can tell whether a person IS a 'Gypo' or not is by their finger nails because all the Egyptians have some sort of red paint on them AS soon as woman is married, she has her face tAktoed like the Indians, and they are vSry fond of jewelry, so the poorer class wear brass or any thing that IS made out of metal The habit of these people Is just like those of the Indians; the women do all the work while the men do nothing but hang around the street.
 ''The men are allowed to have as many wives as they please because they pay for them. and often times you will see a man riding on donkey and about six or seven of his wives following behind on foot, carrying the baggage
 "The conditions these people live in is sickening; you will never see :nore unhealthful conditions in all the world than those of the 'Gypos.'
 Their houses are made of mud and bricks; they have matched roofs, and the ground secves as a table, floor and a bed. They have their cows, camels and donk sys and all the other animals in the same room where they eat and sleep.
 "The food they eat I cannot explain to you but it looks like garbage, and ma aggots are crawling all over it. and their bread is made out of cement, the way it looks to me, and 1t Is not, but is simply put out into the sun to dry. Simple, isn't 1t?
 When they have their ID calls they all gather around in a circle and get down in a sort of kneeling position, and have their meal of garbage, or whatever you may call it in a, large bowl in the center of them all, and whether the bowl is dirty or not, it doesn't matter, so they carry on by digging their hands in the bowl, with out spoons or anything and then eat their meals in content and with great relish
 When they do feel like having a wash, they go out into the gutter, lnd find a puddle of dirty water and have a bit of a wash, and they scrub their teeth with sand.
 eff you were travelling, and. you should stop at one of the Arabs or Gypos' houses for som ething to eat, they would give you anything they have got, but when you got out of sight of the people they would kill you and take what money you have.
 "Where I am here in Haifa, there are all kinds of people and especially Turks who escaped from the army but the British government don't seem to take any notice of them. We are having quite a -bit of trouble with the Bedvurns and2 Moslems, but don't worry, we shall' soon get rid of them. The camp wetwere stationed at was Tel-el-K ebir desert and there was the Suez canal running through the viii