FROM BASRA

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2893, 4 October 1916, Page 6

FROM BASRA

TEE CAMPAIGN "UP THE RIVER." : . * Commander Steward, of Nelson, who >, \"- from tho head of the Persian , .Gulf, by, the Manuka, oil Monday, has -'practically been.invalided home. Liko % 'v: ■ ; < almost everyone else, he contracted the fover that is common'to tho country, and some three months ago had the - misfortune to rick the muscles of his • right arin severely by. accident, so severely that the ' arm had to .be :. trussed up for somo six weeks. > Commander Stewart,.-was the officer in , ■ charge of. the naval base at Basra, his ship being the sloop Alert, a vessel . ;about the size'of'H.M.S. Torch. BeA ■ '• ing the responsible officer, ho did not go- hut made 'Basra his ; ■ • _ headquarters, or rather his ship was the naval headquarters. There his chief duty was; to tho construction <j£ . river : gunboats, of which there is uofr quite a'small fleet.; Each of these Boats has a, draught of 2ft. Gin., and carries o 4-inch gun. There were also heavier monitors on the . river with two fi-inch gun's each'.The lighter boats ; v had sfeen a good deal of action. Commander Stewart'was at/ 'Basra when General TownsKend surrendered at Kut. As a matter of fact, it was known for some time previously that a ■ ii surrender was praotically inevitable. It was simply a matter of bard luck in -• v ' riot being 'able to got a relief force ' / through. ; v.J;,• Commander Stewart confesses that -|'4, tho troops ,employed ."up, the river" liada very rough timo of it, and the ■v ■olimatio - conditions—factors that had Jjniejfecfc on the general morale of the r' • troops.'- Tho heat in tho valley of the . Euphrates and Tigris was intense during May, June, July, and August,) and ... was not pleasant oven in September. ...; This month tho heat became endurable, and doubtless operations,, "would ' be commenced thero pretty soon now. lb would not surprise him to hear of Kut Being retaken at any time. After that he thousht it -would bo a case of waitI, ing until'tho Russians cut off supplies before anything - very effective oould to done against the Turks. . . ' Basra,. Commander Stewart oxplain- . , cd, is quite a largo town, on the west ' ■ side of the river. It is only built somo three feet above tho water, and 'consequently is sutycqt to floods, arid .What with tho damp and _ heat, the place is a first-class breeding ground ' for fever germs. ' Commander Stewart left for Nolson ■ yesterday. Whether he will '-return to active duty or not depends entirely , upon his health. , CEREBRO MENINGITIS, and other malignant germa are driven .out of the ; , - , system by Huenzol (1/6 & 2/6). A netfeot irrigant for- disinfecting tho nasal cavity, the microbes fitronehold. *