THE HOLY LAND

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 35, 5 November 1918, Page 3

THE HOLY LAND

c BRITISH CLEANING IT UP SOME "AUSSIE" STORIES

Trooper Louis Salek, of the Stli Sani- ; tary Austnuian lUeihcal Corps, and son 01 Air. i. baiek. ot WellinEiun 'i'erraco, is at present visiting AVellington on fur- , louah, uuvmg oblaiiicd what, is Known as "lialiipolr leave" (leave granted to Aus- . traliau soldiers who served in the Galii- ; iioli campaign, ami are still in harness). | iio has to report again for .duty in ; /.iolbourne on December 2. As one of ; tae Medical Corps, wno has been through • ijallipoli and the Palestine campaign ; ;including the advances on Amman and : lis Sail), Trooper baleli has had eicep- , tional experiences. He speaks interest- ! ingiy of the wonders already accomplish- ; cd in tho Holy Land by the British i •Vrmy control there. Every town and , city was indescribably filthy and unhygi- i i'.-iie. The natives h«cl not eventlie most primitive forms of oleanliness, with ti;o result that :iawsj wts lainpant—• malaria fever, septic sores, cnronio soro .'■jes, etc. At Jerusalem there was no : ivatcr system.' Ail tiiev hud wern aces piil cisif.rns. underneath the houses,'* filled ia the rainy season yitv.eiuiici-, January, end t'elji-'iary), from the (framings of the ' dirty roofs, and tiwy seldom held sum- : cient water (meagruly as it was used) for j tne rest of the year; so it was common to see the water-carrier with his-goat- I skin water-bag vending water from door to door during tho dry, hot summer months. As soon as the British entered into possession the Engineers were told o.f to give Jerusalem the Golden a water supply, and within three months they ha:! brought an adequate supply into Jerusalem from Hebron by iron pipes, and erected stand-pipes in each of the various) colonies (they were pretty well all distinct) in Jerusalem. Each standpipe had thrce'big brass taps, and such was the ignorance of the populace that they troiild leave them turned on full force until somebody's place became Hooded with water. Then a complaint would be made to the authorities, and someone would be sent to investigace-nnd turn on the tap. Trooper Salek.returns (o New Zealand with one of the finest and most up-to-date collections of'.photographs of the holy Places in and around Jerusalem which has come under "notice. Among them is a very clear photograph of the Holj'l hepjilchre (the burial place of Christ) i Inside the Sepulchre is the Holy Crib, where a light is always kept burning. A story is told of the visit to Die place by some Australian soldiers. "How long has it been alight?" asked one "Aussie" of the custodian (referring to the sacred oil lamp). "It has been burning now for nearly 2000 years," said the cuistodian with the deepest reverence. "Well, it's < near timo it had a spell," said the Aussie,' and with that he clew out the lamp, to the speechless horror and indignation of the attendant. The soldier was court-mnrtialled'for his thoughtless act, and sentenced to five ;■ ears' imprisonment An inscription below the lamp in Greek refers to'the incident recorded. Christ's Birthplace, at Bethlehem is a cave with an arched entrance of masonry, adorned in the centre 'by a repre- v sentation in mosaic of the Lord. Inside .were certain stones which had been'kissed by millions of pilgrims throughout the ages. They were in such a stato that the Army authorities detailed a fatigue party _to give the stones a thorough wash; In the magnificent Lutheran Church erected at Jerusalem by the Kaiser a portrait in mosaic,of William Hohenzollern', fig. wing as another Christ, with a. glittering halo radiating from his head—a tangible representation of the "Me und Gotl'' hallucination possessed by the Kaiser.

•Another interesting photograph is one of the famous watch tower and • mosque at Gaza, showing an enormous hole in the latter structure made by a British shell. A. complaint had been made by the Turks that the British wore wantonly destroying their sacred edifices. As n matter of fact, Turkish and German machine-guns were posted in the lofty tower besido the mosque, rnd when the mosque itself was hit an enormous explosion occurred, and afterwards prisonel's divulged the-fact that it was\the repository for thousands of rhells. Trooper Salek showed photographs of the Garden of Gcthsemane, a half-acre patch of garden on an arid hillside, ono of Rachel's tomb, > a mass of neglected ruins, four, miles out from Jerusalem, on the Bethlehem Eoad. Wh.en ho. left Jerusalem three months ago the Turkish police, in Turkish uniforms, were still doing duty. The men used to sell their rations of flour to the natives, and buy the loaves at Is. each; • but the practice was soon stopped. There was absolutely no eugar in Jerusalem' w v hen the British troops took possession, and the soldiers were able to 601 l their weekly ration (311b.) for ,£3 10s. The natives wero using a kind of grape jam as sugar —not very palatable stuff. A rather good story is told of the members of a thirsty New Zealand platoon who thought they would like to sample the wine of the country. There were ample stocks in the cellars, of the Carmel Company at Richon le Zion, guarded one evening by British "Tommies." At 5 o'clock a New Zealand squad arrived, and informed the "Tommy" guard that they had been sent to relieve them. The "Tommies" protested that their orders ran that they were not to be relieved until 6 p.m., but the New Zealanders persisted, and in the end the "Tommies" left. The coast clear, the New Zealanders sampled the wines'with great, gusto, and then cleared out before the real relief guard arrived on the scene.

On another occasion a thirtsy "Aussie" seeing some cases of whisky stacked outside the quarters of a commissariat officer conceived a bold idea' for getting a "spot."., He brazenly pnssed; the sentry, and asked the officer, busy at his 'desk, what time the train left for. Kantara. The officer told him the time, and as the soldier, reached the door he asked "From here, sir?" "Ye 3!" came the answer. As the soldier stepped out he took up a case of whisky, and the guard, hearing tbe question and answer, allowed the man to pass with the coveted whisky.

Trooper Salelc gives "Jaoko" (the Turk) a very good name. • He was not half a bad fellow, and a good fighter under certain conditions. Never once did the Turks use gas on them in Palestine. It might have been for the lack of.it, still the fact ■ remained. ■

Referring to Mr. .Masse/s suggestion that the Anzacs should be allowed to man the Dardanelles forts, Trooper Snlek said that the.British Army authorities were hardly likely io employ Anzac troops at Gs. a day, when they could get British "Tommies" for Is. Cd. a day to do the work. In any case; he did not think'that anyone who had been on Gallipoli would be languishing with desire to return to the place. They wanted to forget it as soon as possible. Being of Jewish persuasion, Trooper Salek was asked what he thought of the Zionist movement in the light of his first-hand knowledge of the country. With great frankness he said ho did not believe that the Jews would ever reassemble in Palestine as a nation. They knew when they were well off, and, in his own case, New Zealand or Australia was good enough for him.