The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1944-06-23

NtdlntI " lIt Shltlll VI 1OO
pounds sterling. So. next day he
was engaged in the unpleasant
business of making amends, and
he invited us 10 the wardroom
of his vessel where we proceed
ed to help him frame a suitable
apology.
TRICK EXPRESSIONS
The point of the story is that
our friend brought forth a novel
use of the word porous. Each
letter of apology was deemed
porous-in brief lousy and
definitely not "goodo," so fin
ally the subject was given up
altogether and we took up other
matters, such as the deporable
fate of elderly Egyptian camels
at the pyramids.
All, the pyramids! No trip to
Egypt would be complete with
out pilgrimage thereto, so one
sunny but cool afternoon when
we were in Cairo. part Of my
crew-a delegation of l0-and
| engaged one Omar SULLIVAN
and one Mahmoud Hassan, IL
censed dragomen and guides. 20
show us the works. We got into
two cars and drove outside the
city over the River Nile to the
place called Gizeh, where the
largest of Egypts 1000 pyra-
mide thrusts its awesome bulk
into the sky. On high land over
looking the city, and alongside
of Mena House, the hotel where
President Roosevelt, Prime
Minister Churchill, and Gener-
alissimo Chang Kai-Shek held
their recent conference, we re-
moved ourselves from the cars
and discovered that staring at
us, with cold, disdainful mien,
were 20 moth-eaten and tired
looking camels.
THIS is IT.
Remembering the famo II 6
words of Nathan Hale: Il regret
that I have but one life to give
for my country" and the mod
ern expression uttered when .
couple dozen Zeros roar down at
you, This is it, boys" l non
chalantly strolled over to the
camels, looking for one with a
kind face. 1t would never do
now, to weaken in front of my
men!
So, / met camel named Mos
es, and when his driver gave the
sign and password, the beast.
with snorts and groans, rocked
forward to his knees and then
collapsed backwards to his
launches. 1t was time to get
aboard. did so, and before
long, u S. Navy caravan spe-
cial was rolling and pitching its
way up the hill to the pyramids.
1t was a queer motion and can
be conservatively described as
combination Of rough crossing
of the English Channel and
gale in the Boring Strait. But
we got there and soon forgot
any tendency to seasickness as
we got closer to the Great Pyr-
amid Of Gizeh, rising $50 feet
in the air and covering 10 acres
OF ground. Far at the top. we
could see tiny figures those
Of ambitious military visitors
who had scrambled up the side,
climbing up each step, which l
judged, was about five feet
high.
GIGANTIC PROJECT
The guide told us that the
stone for this pyramid, built a
couple thousand years ago by
Pharaoh Cheops, came from
quarries in the Sudan, far up
the Nile and about so miles in
land, and that the whole Job
took about Is years. Originally
the outside was covered with a
smooth face of better stone, but
THIS had all been carried away
and used for mosques, of which
Cairo has hundreds. Nearby are
TWO lesser pyramids, the mid
dle-sized one having been built
by Cheop S son. 1t had been COW
cred with that beautiful white
translucent stone, alabaster. and
1t was easy to visualize what a
magnificent pile it must have
been In that clear, blue Egyp-
tian sky. However, one of the
ambitious Turkish sultans re-
moved the alabaster and it now
composes the great Mohamed
Ally mosque, which we later saw
on the other side of the Nile.
For fee, another guide. hav-
ing thrust lit candles into our
hands, took us on a spooky trip
inside the Cheops pyramid,
where in large rooms in the CEN
ter, the Pharaoh and his queen
had been inferred. The tunnel
was low, the path rough, and