THE RIOT IN CAIRO.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 16, 19 May 1915, Page 8

THE RIOT IN CAIRO.

(Frcm Driver Stan. J. Robinsan, N.Z.F.A.)

New Zealanders and Australians fairly disgraced themselves on Cloud Friday in Cairo. A bit ot a row happened in a street with a reputation, and from mere it led to quite a eivil war, and lasted from -'1 p.m. till ICdO p.m.. Ihy crowd entered about fifteen places of questionable repute and lett absolutely not a stick of furniture in them. They threw it all out of the windows and doors from two and three stories high, and then gatheied it all in a couple ol heaps and set hie to the lot, as well as setting lire to a couple of buildings in the upper stories. The crowd was so great that when a box was thrown from a window or door it never reached the ground hut was passed from hand to hand ovei the heads till there was room to drop it to the ground. A piano was also dropped from a second storey. Just at the start of, the row, the Wed Caps, or English military police, fired revolvers on the crowd. This did not mend matters, but drove the crowd mad to such a pitch that nothing was bad enough to do. 1 hey smashed up a couple of beer drinking shops, and two tobacco shops, as well as throwing the bricks from the top of the parapets. It was absolutely dangerous to he near, so I stood well away. 1 don’t know what number of casualties there wore, but 1 saw one man shot dead on the spot, and others were wounded with bullets. The lire brigade was called out, but the boys took charge, and after drenching the firemen, cut, the hose into small pieces. Leave nou C absolutely .stopped for Cairo as well as Heliopolis, where they had smashed up two beer shops. An officer infoifered with drawn sword in Cairo, but that was taken from him and broken up, and the officer pushed out of the way.