Letters of Athol Cluny McPherson, January to March 1915 - Part 6

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alongside these & there are men excavating in
there for the American Museum & nobody is
allowed on certain parts of it, there must be
acres of a buried City, it must be very interesting
work. There is a tremendous difference in these
Pyramids the way that they are built, they say
that the builders ran out of stone when they
finished the Great one & had to use inferior
stuff for the others, they dont look nearly as
well & are a bit inclined to break down by
degrees, like the mountains do, but neverless
it is wonderful how they were built. I'd
give a trifle to know, there is a big hole
in the same side of the big Pyramid as the
door, its is about 60 feet deep & the guide told
us it is where King Cheops sunk, to see how far
the stone went down to find a foundation
for the Pyramid, there is a sort of stone
wall on the West side of the Great ^second Pyramid
that has tombs all along, it would be
lovely to know the true history of them
all, the guides tell us who they belonged
to & who was buried there, but by all
accounts they are lovely liars & you
 

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cant believe half they say. We are having
fairly hot weather here now, but it is better
than being out in France by all accounts
I heard a fellow lecture in the Y.M.C.A.
here a few nights ago on the war & its effects
in England, he told us that Kitchener was
asked when he thought the war would end
& his reply was "I dont know when it will
end, but it will start about May." I guess
he means to hit the Germans hard then, the
same way as he did the Dervishers, he also
told us that he had an interest in one
of the largest Woolen Mills in Scotland &
that all the other powers had to go there
for woolen goods this year & he predicted
from a the twenty to a thirty Per Cent rise in
Wool as soon as the sales open as the Germans
destroyed the mills in Lille which were worth
millions & France will have to get woolen goods
from England in consequence. Well Mother
Dear I'm writing this letter early as I'm not too
sure that we,ll be here for long & I dont want to
miss the mail, I'm going to write to Alley if I can
Must close now With tons of love to all at home
not forgetting yourself I remain always
yr loving son
Athol
 

Roth Burtchaell told me today that
Lieutenant Ross of his Coy told them
today that as far as the officers know
we are going to Palestine soon, but we
never know what to believe here, the
officers dont seem to know anymore
than we do. Its funny you mentioning
about the loan through Parky, you
said in a letter not long ago that - "you
had resolved to carry on as you were" &
I thought you had left something
out, you never said anything about
how you meant to carry on., 720 should
carry you through alright. I had
a letter from Uncle Alfred this mail
& I'm glad he had a good season down
there, although the rain seemed to have
come just in time for them, I'll try
to Answer his letter by this mail
I saw some of the Turkish Prisoners
in Cairo this week, they are a very
sorry looking lot & a bit fierce
looking as well, one of the Terrors
"Terriors" was guard outside the barred
 

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window that we passed & he said to
us -"Do you want to see the wild beasts"-
they just looked like it through the
window, they are dressed in all sorts
of rags & lying on straw looking through
the bars of the window, they are the Prisoners
taken at the Canal. I believe the N.Zs
were in action on the Canal although
there was nothing about it in the Paper
they had two killed & by all accounts
gave a very good account of themselves.
Well Father as I intend to write to Mother
by this mail I will close. With Heaps
of love to all at home & hoping all
are well. I remain
Ever your loving Son
Athol C McPherson
 

Mena Camp
Egypt 13/2/15
My Dearest Mother
As this is Sunday once again I must
send you a few lines to let you know that I am
well & hope you were ^are the same.  I was sorry
to hear by your letter that Harry was unlucky enough
to get the rotten "Eczema" & hope he will soon be
alright again, as you say it shouldnt have much
of a hold on him & if nurse Martin can cure
you after about eighteen years of it, she should
have no difficulty in curing him, I'm very glad
that yours is so much improved & hope it
will soon be gone. Was In Ciaro yesterday
& had a fairly good time, there,s no mistake
Ciaro is a very interesting place to live, we went
through the museum first of all & had a good
look around & it is a museum, talk about mummie's
the place is full of them & old coffins by the
score. I saw the ones of Ramesis the II-3 & I think
4th the third is just marvellous, the hair
is still on the head & even on the eyebrows
& chin, some of the coffins are huge
things, made of solid granite & must weigh
 

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tons, there is also a great supply of old jewels
thousands of years old, a great lot of it is gold, there
are also old xxxx knives & daggers of 2 rulers of
long ago, there are also a couple of old Roman
^war Chariots it is ^they are on two wheels & they are fastened
on with keys, the same as the ones on the
Ackland Ploughs & the wheels are about the size
of the wheel that runs on the ploughed ground
From the museum we had a look round Ciaro
& came to the Mosque, a guide took us through
it, we had to put slippers on over our boots before
going in, they meet you at the door with them
& tie them on, it is alright going through
it is used as a school & church combined as far
as I could tell, they we teaching on Blackboards
in some parts of it & praying in others, theres
is also a fountain & the people get all round
it (as it has a sort of trap trough all round)
a wash their feet & then go back inside &
prey Pray, they get down on their knees & hands
& kiss the ground, there is also a very high
tower & winding steps right up to the top, it
put me in mind of the tower we went up
at the Fire Brigade in Melbourne but of course
 

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there isnt a lift, we could see all over Ciaro
from the top of it, the stairs wind round & round like
a cork screw, we could see all over ^old Ciaro from it xxxx
including the Citadel an old fort of Napoleons, In Im
going out to it the next chance I get, there is an
a Petrified forrest near it where the trees have
turned into stone & the leaves are still on them
they are just the same as ordinary stone
as hard as bricks, some of our fellows were
out there yesterday & brought a piece of stone
back. I was sorry to hear about Poor Old Mr
Laidlaws death, but is was a pretty ripe age.
We got our reinforcements here about a hundred
& there is a Smith attached to our Coy, he comes
from down near where Hickeys lived near Dollin
he is a son of a Smith Tom Smith, Harry would
know his place, I havent come across him yet
but Allan Carter told me about him. Im going
up to the Pyramids again today ^with Roth Burtchaell. I was glad 

to get the clipping from the Times with Mr Bevs
sermon in it, it was a bonzer, please thank
Father very much for sending it, Im going to
give it to Evans, we had one of Fathers favourite
Hymns this morning Son of my Soul, it is a
 

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bonzer hymn Captain Dexter is a bonzer preacher
We saw an Egyptian Funeral in Ciaro xxx last
Monday, it is a funny sight, six fellows dressed
in white run ahead, they are barefooted & kick
up a howling row as they run along the street
ahead of the hearse, we took them to be
the Pall Bearers, they carry a long stick in
their hand. I hope the Photos that I sent last
week arrived alright. Please tell Jook I,ll try &
write to her this week, I hope she enjoyed her
trip to the mountains. I don't think there
is anything else to say so will close. Hoping all
are well & with Heaps of love to all including Marion
& Kind Regards to Bevs Grays & Rennisons & all
Horsham Friends. I remain Always
yr loving Son
Athol C. McPherson
P.S. This is a photo taken of our Lce Corporal
Wm. Jackson & Myself at the guard tent. A.C.McP.
 

Mena Camp
Egypt 19/2/15
My Dearest Jook
I think it is about up to me to write you
this mail although there is very little to write about
I was pleased to receive your long letter from
Wartook, it was interesting to hear about your
trip out etc., it must be a bonzer place for a
few days in the winter summer & I expect it was
just about the middle of the summer with
you in Victoria, it is just lovely weather over
here & the nights are cold, we havent had
a warm night so far. We were all vaccinated
again yesterday, the third time since
leaving Australia, the other times that I was

done didnt leave a mark & Im just a bit doubtful
if it will this time. I believe we are to be
done again if it doesnt take. We dont
know yet when we are going to the front
but dont think we will be here for more
than a month at the outside, there is talk
of us going to Syria, but you will know
if that is the case before this letter reaches
you, it is bound to be published in the Australian
papers when we go to the front, it was
 

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in the paper yesterday that the Canadians had
gone out & had landed safely in France
There is talk of us being here for a month
longer on account of a rumour that we wont
be able to leave on account of small pox in
the Camp, I believe there are a few cases
in the Hospital & one of the patients went
into "Davy Jones,s Locker", they are sure to keep
us in Egypt for a while, but they may send
us to Syria & do hope that they will, it
is too cold out in France yet & it would
be alright to make a start against the
Turks. Yesterday was the day that Germany
was going to carry out her blockade scheme
if they arent very careful they will have
the Germans "Yankees" down on them as well
as the ones they have to face now.
I saw Harold Smith a few days ago he was
telling me about their trip to the canal
& seemed very disappointed that they never
had a go at the Turks, he said they were
only a short distance & they could hear
the guns going all night & had orders to
move out at three in the morning, but
when the time came the Turks had cleared