NEW TOWN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 115, 13 April 1940, Page 3

NEW TOWN.

BEAUTIES OF EL MAADL DOMINION TBOOPS’ CAMP. AUCKLAND.. April 11. Laid nut in avenues by rows of jacnranda and flame trees, I'd Maadi, tlu: Egyptian township adjoining which New Zealand troops arc now encamped, 'has been practically created since tbe Great War. English residents are responsible lor its development into a place of lovely gardens and fine villas that emphasis a phase in the regeneration of Egypt. This information was given hv Dr M. A'. Zane, of Auckland, who for 11 years was medical inspector of girls’ schools under tbe Egyptian Ministry of Education and who relinquished the position about 18 months ago. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, E! Maadi is about eight miles south of Cairo. In 1914 the New Zealand troops went to Zeitoun, some miles north of the city. About eight miles to the south is the. railway junction town Hohvouan, with which in the Great War New Zealanders were familiar. From several places in El Maadi one can see the Pyramids to the west across the Nile, said Dr Zane, while to the north the town provides a good view of the Citadel, with the ornate mosque of Mohammed Ali so conspicuous with its two tall and slender minarets, and the nearby Mokattam hills. To reach El Maadi from Cairo the way is through Old Cairo and then along a beautiful avenue planted in lobbek trees, a dainty species of tree that grows a bean. If in the essentials of native life Egypt has little changed since the Great War, there have been other important developments with a substantial raising of the standard of living of some sections of the community. A great deal has been accomplished in improving the health and education of the population.