THE HOLY RAILWAY.
GERMAN DESIGNS ON EGYPT. The, military situation in Egypt and Asia ’ Minor is of supreme interest at all -times,' but th,e fact that onr troops are now acting Vs a garrison under the new Sultan’s government makes an additional reason for any information as to the-position in the Turkish provinces adjoining Egypt. It is.true that, according to the latest news,, ! ui;kiAi .opinion'is more or less divided, and that the Germans in Constantinople are far from easy as to what may folio'' ; hut the fa£t still remains that a military expedition, threatens trouble on the Egyptian borders. The exact,amount of railway accommodation such as a forcO.can command, and the vifews of the works just completed give a. very good Idea of the thoroughness withj which'the undertaking has been carried out..
HISTORY OF THE RAILWAY. The history of the railway itself exhibits the shrewdness with which Germany has for years past laid her plans, not • only to secure a dominant voice in the.;East, but also to prepare for the great Jday when mercenary England would bo. called upon to account for her Imperial possessions, and the ancient law that might is right establishlishetKby aid of Prussian “Kultur.” It i* not many years ago sihCe Abdul the 'Damned arranged for the construca, railway to connect Constantinople, via Scutari, with Medina and Mecca. At this news a tremor of religiOus excitement, ran through ; the East; " For it is the ambition of every faithfiil Mahotmnedan to make at least one pQgrifnage to the holy shrine at Mecca, but the roads to the holy cities were, few and arduous; whilst the perils aboandiug by the wayside were ous i and the pilgrims suffered terribly, murdered by bands of marauding tribes, who left their victims Inaimed ' and bleeding whenever they failed to satisfy their fimiucial demands. 'By this-one stroke of genius, the Sultan promised to minimise the risks, and t m eliminate the perils'Of’■ the pilgrimage. The project, of course' met with the unanimous support of all true followers of the faith,, and the money required Was immediately forthcomingCuriously'epough, it’was also conscientiously expended. The northern terminus of the railway was fixed at Damascus; whilst the southern end was to rest on sthe Red ‘Sea, preferably ac Jeddah,' the‘seaport at which many thousand# of pilgrims annually disembark upon their way to Mecca/The rest of the roUtfe' was left entirely to the discretion- dt the engineer-in-chief of the undertaking, subject only to,one condition the line was to . pass through" ; thelcbirtbpl ace and shrine of the Prophet £ And so a railway ing many• irnillioiis of money was starts ed, and whit was most unusual in all Turkish, uti(iertakings pushed on energetically frolm the first! •Vii , • : • M APPEARANCE OF"THE .GERMANS; But the|tri|ie reason for this energy was not a$ the -moment recognised. It soon transpired, however, that the actual work of the undertaking had been entrusted> to German interests, < and presently ,|n engineer from the Fatherland appeared on the scene with autocratic powers-to supervise the wholp operations;. The route adopted is some? what remarkable, , and to-day we are able to appreciate the consummate boldness which fonecived and carried out the design-. After a-while the line was extended .north to Aleppo, • the ultimate' a ini .being to connect -with * the Baghdad railway and thus with . Scutari anti Constantinople. Happily, , the lino has.not, beep fully completed, although recent cables announce that frantic efforts are being made to couple up the 180; miles separating the terminus at Aleppo from the southern* end* of the Baghdad line, at Bulgarin. .
The road is thoroughly well built. The' permanent way is sound, the sleepers of steel, and the rails of the heaviest known scantling.; .The bridges are of massive masonry, and at the stations accommodation' lines, have been provided to enable a huge' traffic to be carried without hitch. A peculiarity about the station buildings is that
they designed to form will huge military blockhouses, many of whicli are immune from rifle and machine <ghn file. The undertaking was-;' no 'd%bt', a profitable one for Germany, “jfeii, addition to the groat prestige' such an undertaking certainly had in the eyes of Islam, there monetary reward gamed byisvrpplymg all the material, cement, rails,' sleepers, rolling-stock, engines, and other necessary commodities for such a vast undertaking. ATTACK UPON EGYPT. The Hedjaz railway, as it is called, is, from a military point ofWiPiew, "(is* pecially .well protected by the barrenness *oi its route, and by the fact that ally iftrc© contemplating its attack -wdUld have to traverse long stretches bf’ : 'Waf6jp.ess, sterile country, it is undoubtedly the German intention to adopt the line for the invasion of Lgypt. Its provision to some extent discounts a % blpckade of the Dardanelles, whilst it throws additional duty on our navy.pl preventing the landing of. munitions of war in the lied Sea. It is impossible to ignore the position created ;4)y this ’ line of road, whilst every port between Aden and Boyrout* on tue Gaglidad line, is an additional military factor of .importance, and has to be just as assiduously guarded by the fleet. PROTECTOR .OF ISLAM. The Kaiser’s claim to the. gratitude of the Turks is based upon no unpretentious or modest assertion of what he has done for followers Who Phophet. Undoubtedly, such claims have had much the “Young Turks,” who have become’ inoculated wi|h some of the “kultur” germs made in Germany, The German Emperor becauys a godfather to •many schemes for the advancement of the Islam in the proviu. ces , 'Minor, but he naturally did not-diHffim *of ‘detailing, to the full the manjy military advantages the construction of the “Holy” railway might some ’ daj r bring to his allies. 'G.erman j methods and German gold have gone far in Constantinople, and it remains' tp bo seen whether t|ve Turkish: soldier has sufficient discernment left to grasp the. position caused by the inroads of Mammon on the T ul’ki®f conscience. iji >s' * y ■ jff 9js
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Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 7, 9 January 1915, Page 6
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987THE HOLY RAILWAY. Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 7, 9 January 1915, Page 6
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