New-York tribune., 1919-05-28
Egyptian Garrison City South
of Cairo Stands Off 5000
Iribesmen Three DAYS
Until Help Can Come Up
Natives Village Bombed
Educator Arriving Here
Says Lucknow Massacre
Was Nearly Duplicated

The story of an uprising of natives
and an attack upon the town of Assiut
Egypt, in the latter part of March
was brought to port yesterday by Pro
fessor Roy Allgood, of Birmingham
Ala, who was passenger on the
transport Roma from Marseilles
Had it not been for the airplane,
monitors and other devices of modern
warfare, DR.. Allgood said, the defence
of handful of beleagured white men
might have been as bloody as the siege
of Lucknow and ended in massacre
such as occurred in American villages
during the days of the Indian wars.
DR.. Allgood, who had the chair of
science at the College of Assiut, was
one of 400 foreigners who held off 5000
Fcllaheens and Senyussi Arabians in
a siege lasting three days.
There had been trouble brewing
ever since the deposing of the Khe-
dive,' he said, "and an attack was not
unexpected. The great mistake made
by the natives, however, was the cut
ting of the wires between Assiut and
Cairo. This was virtually signal to
the British forces at the capital and
at Alexandria that something was
wrong down our way.
On March 20 an outpost rider came
IN with a report that Senyussi Ara
bians had killed an Englishman. The
railroad tracks had been torn UP. We
expected an attack by the Senyussi, but
we learned that the leading band of
marauders were the FelIaheens, the low
Arab class. We all got together in a
little garrison protected with a stock
ade and were determined to give the
enemy our best resistance. We had a
hundred faithful troops, but we we're
greatly outnumbered. They tried many
times to get close enough to the gar
rlson to set fire to it, but always were
1cpulsed by machine gun fire, which
proved to be effective.
With the wires down it was impos-
slble to communicate our plight or our
immediate needs to army Headquarters
IN Cairo, and our greatest fear was
that our ammunition, which was run
ming low, would be exhausted before
help arrived. If the natives once got
the upper hand there would have been
massacre.
"The women of our garrison were
brave throughout, and were prepared
to XIII themselves rather than en-
counter worse fate in the hands of
the maddened tribesmen.
"Aftertwo days of fighting a sea-
plane came from Cairo, about 25O miles
to the north Of us, maneuvred over
head and then flew away. The be-
siegers saw itand renewed attack. A
few hours. later the plane came again,
flying low and with goodam dropped
supply of ammunition into our stock
ade.
after two days of fighting sea-
other plane, which we afterward
learned was laden TO capacity with
bombs, came down from Alexandria
and with deadly aim bombed the enemy
village, killing about 500 natives. On
the third day our hopes frightened, for
more alrplanes came up and, flying
low, poured a steady and it seemed
never ending machine gun fire into the
opposing forces.
AT the same time native and Brit
lsh troops were coming up the river
on gunboats and smaller craft, and the
Arabs were routed, with heavy losses"
DR.. Allgood said that for the sake
of safety all foreigners were moved to
Cairo. During the siege he said the
Arabs destroyed as much British and
Christian property as they could