An Exciting Time In Cairo
Another diopter in the story of Miss Bea-
Irice Cobb's elipper trip around llie world.
.Biss Col>b is editor of tlie Veir.s-Ifern/c/. piili-
I idled in Mor^anfon. and has been sending
these interesting stories to her paper.
Cairo, Egypt. — Wo have had a
very exciting stay in Cairo. The
situation is tense, to say the least
of it— and at the moment we are
not sure when we will be able to
leave.
The climax came last night when
there was a city-wide blackout and
what we were sure was an air raid.
For more than an hour we were in
pitchy darkness in our hotel room,
heard sirens going and the quick
"ack-ack" of guns, and had the
terrifying uncertainty of not know¬
ing what was happening, our
imaginations in the meantime run¬
ning rather wild.
A day of sightseeing, as a
pleasant way to spend a Sunday,
included a trip to the Pyramids and
the Sphinx and a couple of hours
in the Egyptian Museum. We felt
worn out. and a few hours rest
before dinner seemed necessary.
Incidentally the usual dinner hour
in Italy. Turkey. Greece and Egypt
is 9 p.m. We had taken hot baths,
calculated to be restful, and gone to
bed. The first intimation we had of
anticipated trouble was when a
hotel porter knocked on our door,
came into the room i we couldn't
understand what he said), and
closed all the heavy outside blinds.
This was followed shortly by a
sudden brightening of the lights
we had left on. a quick knock on
the door and an excited voice called
"lights out ". . . and to make sure
that the orders were obeyed
another long-white-robcd man
servant ("Mother Hubbard" would
describe the dress) came in to turn
them out.
No Street Lights
Meanwhile street lights had gone
off and we could hear the shrill
voices and excited calls of people
in the street below, and above it all
the continuing shriek of a siren in
the distance. Another knock on our
door, and in the darkness we heard
but could not distinguish the form
of the man who asked that we not
even strike a match to light a
cigarette (neither of us smoke, so
that request was unnecesary).
About that time the guns started
popping and Corinne began crying.
"Come get in bed with me.” she
begged between her sobs. She was
utterly terrified and almost
hysterical, positive that at any
moment a bomb might hit the
hotel. We had been told that
Sheppeard's Hotel, where we are
staying, was known to be an inter¬
national center, we know that it is
in the center of things in Cairo— of
Egypt, in fact. I am not bragging
on myself, but in spite of not know¬
ing what was happening and think¬
ing. because of reports we had of
the war situation in the Near East,
than an air raid was altogether pos¬
sible. I somehow managed to keep
myself under control. “If this is
'my time' I am not afraid to die." I
told Corinne — and found comfort
in the thought that if we were to he
the victims of an air raid there was
nothing within ourselves or of our
own power we could do about it —
faith in a divine Providence our
one and only dependence. Time for
awhile meant nothing — it seemed
an eternity before the gun fire.
MOONSHINE POETRY
In October. 1940, Deputy Sher¬
iff W. L. Wheless spent two hours
in the woods of Guilford County
destroying one of the largest illict
liquor stills he had ever found.
When he returned to his parked
car lie found this unsigned poem
attached to his windshield wiper:
"W. L. Wheless is a red-readed
man,
He catch your liquor, if he can.
He slips thru the woods with the
ease of a cat.
He can smell mash if it is buried
in a vt.
If he goes to Heaven and has his
will,
He will catch Saint Peter at a
moonshine still!"
— Appeared in the Baltimore. Md.
Sun October 4. 1940.
which for a period came at
intervals, ceased and sounds in the
street below grew quieter. At any
rate the maddening and almost
continuous honk-honk of automo¬
bile horns had let up. "Let’s
get out of this room and get with
other people— in the halls, or lob¬
by. or wherever other guests in the
hotel have gathered." we decided.
Process of Evacuation
Meanwhile Corinne was partial¬
ly dressed and 1 managed to find
my house slippers, purse and coat
in the darkness. In the hall, very
dimly lighted, were several of the
long white-robed man servants
< we understood later that at least
one of the attendants on constant
duty on each hall at Sheppeard’s
is a policeman) — and we literally
crept down the four or five flights
of steps— in the darkness. I had
forgotten that there was any
necessity to lock our room door and
at the top of the steps stopped to
wait for Corinne. still, or so I
thought, in a state of extreme
fright. When I called back to her
to come on. I was encouraged to
have her answer that (“woman
like." I suppose the average man
would say > she wanted to go back
into the room to get her "compact
and lipstick." With my night gown
hanging down below my coat and
hair dishevelled. I must have
presented "a picture for Puck." but
for the time being I cared nothing
at all about my "looks."
Down in the lobby, still in semi¬
darkness. there was no excitement,
people sat around talking calmly,
some were in the bar and others
were having drinks, including tea
and coffee, in the long, wide lounges
leading to the dining room. Waiters
moved about saying dinner would
be served as soon as the lights came
back on. We learned that blackouts,
such as we were experiencing, were
not unusual in Cairo — that there
has been one nearly every night
during the past week, except Satur¬
day night, and that they have come
io
THE STATE. NOVIMBCR 27. 1948
