EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 215, 19 February 1915, Page 6

EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN.

ENEMY DISUNITED. DIVIDED COUNSELS. Melbourne Age Correspondent.) Refugees from the .'Sinai d 4 cniitsula, EayroiUh, Syria, and Jerusalem. tell oi tlx; pitiful position (if Hie Moslem army and. people- in Asiatic Turkey. If the j Turks try to ivaih the Suez Canal, it | will be an invasion of despair, fostered, by arrogant •. ; erm ins. who sacr ii - Turki.-h liMnji:, and jrc Irving lo fu.-us. the aten:i't;i ef 'Sval J'.riiaia on *....■ Egyptian Protectorate. Hie Holy War theory is rejected i;y the Moslem-. Egypt never held such armies as -<a. lioidi now*. Stories of the last TuvUi.-i: rout prove that too much limelight ha i lieeu east on the shattered Turkish array, but rumours 1110 it extravagant have been circulated in the city for the ln-t weuic. -Caini as the city is to outvavd appearances, the knowledge that t itTurk* were less than 70 miles from thcanal ten days caused a sudden dror in values on the Bourse, and m.inv Egyptian families left Alexandria am! Cairo for their summer residence;. From official sources it wa.vlcarned that the advance army of (10M Turks, with transport, and camels, were in Egyptian territory. Every day the advance is delayed imperils this army. Every day its chances of r."\"himr itr- goa' grow less. Frantic preparations to laan.-h this Turkish host point to the situation 'being erithal. SUFFER'XO SYRIA XS. The Syrian population sutlers gricv ( I ousiy from tlie Hardships military des- ' j potion has brought in its train. All | I manner of provisions and supplies have 'been commandeered, and the owner, ! left, with a faint ray of hope that tli=-re | will be a settlement, when the army re- I turns. The Turkish military authoritio.i alienated the Bedouins by an attempt to rob them of 000 camels, and iight ensued. Tile best proof of th 1 ir. : t of the people is reflected in t?l<; latitude of Turkish officers, as describe,) by a landing party from a Russian cruiser. An Arabic paper says: —"The landing party met with Turkish troop.-, led by an Arab, who ordered the men rot to lire, and walked up to a Russian office, wit'ii whom he shook hands. In the course of a friendly conversation the Arab oflicer made it clear that he r-;.d no hostile intentions towards the Russians provided they abstained from ' aggression. He declined, however, to I 'g.ve the strength of his command. They parted amicaMy. No wonder Arab 1 officers are b- injj replaced by Turkish md Carman of liters, in Syria, as far , as can lie gathered, the Turks are treeing the missionaries civilly." | DJEMAL PASHA. | The Commander in Chief of the »dI vancing army is Djemal I'asba, but ins I command is purely nominal. Tile real ■ driving fr.rce is Colonel von Kressenetein and staff of German officers. it JirusJl-mi ,and Constantinople German officers have been established, and they pre Jivatiug intense dissatisfaction it. tl;e Turkish army, as well as brawls. The following official communiques liavj been issued:—-"January 12 —Tlie latest reports tend to show that German a:M Turkish officers commanding troops ( collect'd in South Syria arc (lctei lniiv.i to carry out aa a latch upon j£„> |u. The concentration of the Turkish force-: seem; nearly, if not <|uite. complete, and the stores and provisions seized without payment from the luckless po-plation <>' Syria are probably sufficient for the expedition. It is true that tie Turkisn commanders seem to have grown neivoih at t'ie last moment., and are sending to Constantinople urgent demands for 'more trained soldiers, which the Turkish Government, threatened ,n Europe with defeat in the Caucasus, is not able to di.-patch. Turkey will pro bablv need to strike a decisive blow to recover her lost prestige, and tl:e im•possibility of deferring the venture for wliuih such elaborate and costly prepara lions have been made will outweigh : cautions counsels.

ATTACK CAXXOT BE DEFERRED. Keinforeements are »aid to be on the way south, ami perhaps the advance niay be delayed until they arrive, but t>ie JJritUli military authorities believe that the attack, ii made at all. cannot bo deleired Tlie numbers which the Ccrman; are lively to against are large, and should they gel within striking. distance t'hey wiii make .1 determined cll'ort. Although tin: 'j ::rks may L t . expected to make a good lijint. the Ara!) and Syrian troops forming t.ii large a proportion of tlieir army have iiut got their hearts ill the busilies-, and are more anxious to expel the Turks from .Syria than instill them in i'g.y.t. One German-led venture has resulted in the annihilation of two eommohs that distinguished themselves at C'hatalja during tlie late lialkan \Var. Remnants of those picked Anatolian troops are nov.- struggling to escape from the Russians and the snowdrifts or the Caucasus The story of this disaster, bruited through Syria, cannot fail to dishearten the recruits mustered at Hebron. but the German objec; i? not to win victories, but to distract Great Britain from the weakening liii" of German defence in "Belgium. This is the idea on which tliev embarked 011 a fore-doomed failure ill Egypt. The Young Turk party may weaken if it .s not used quickly Probablv within a few weeks the Syrian army may b.c'rivcu forward.

AcoorxT.s ]',r kkfugeks. Accounts given by refugees froni .Syria present r.;i interesting piciure of the state of t'-.e Turkish army, which intends to invade Kgypt. A doctor oi good standing m Palestine ,sav%:--"Il i-i iKidor.lited that, in many cases. soldiers "re actually starving. This is due to baii organisation rather than lack of supplier;. A. Hoy, who is chief of tli ' ,-upply and transport department, r «M-rsi'tic and honest .Tie is not at all s.itis!i--il with the organisation of the -imply department generally. lie \wiiitr,! lO.Olill horses anil rilJ'j!! earn"!-, but could only get 3000 horses and 41 '■! camels. It is impossible to carry on tlie war successfully with the materia! :u hand, but he doc. : ; his best." "Many eam'.'ls are dying of scab: »:> died ill one uifrht on tlie journey fr.e.i Tiaiiialah to Jerusalem. All the camellia ve become weak and thin like sk" : - tons from want of food. All the troop, I >aw were clothed in summer khal.i. much torn, with no boots; some with native shoes, some with sandals. Some had overcoats, but all these were oldprobahly those used in the Balkan wa'\ Another refugee savs the German officers sent .1 report- to Berlin sayiii'i il ev wouhl not advise an attack oa Kjr.v|>t with such troops, and suggesting if. iie postponed. General von Kofi'man was .lisifiisttd that be said to a. f:iend. ' ftp arc ordered to march, hut we .are mapiiing to certain diaih " A\ih'-n war was declared the Turkisu :;:nhorities colh'Ctcd about. &VW> IV'h'uin- at llebion by vigorous le.-iititil> ; !iiiasur--s. A ft -v three days wiiho'it r.-oil. the Bedouins returned home i'.i--:jii-lell. sav hvr that this imlcnl avh* not; ;i 1 n> 1 \* war. Thoiv is groat misery ami <]is=nti>f;iotion. especially amongst th l Anatolian i it. i-; rrpiivirtl Unit the t\v:iiiL r l' fv, f'u iiti- Turkish ;twl ufHiT-'-i«< r-ot. £oo<l. Oennan of fieei*:; snv th"l if tiny do not succeed in gi'ttin*/ lb • Canal thfv arc 10-4. The Turk-; will I 111 !l ()a them. Gonsfant r>Mmn Usances are beiiej made by French and English aviators as to the position and progress of the Turks. Seaplanes can be cent from tlu

Cult" of Akaba. into the desert, while from points along tlie Can:.! it is >n» Cleat llignt towards th.' enemy's .iu.\ During one of ihtvc aerial 'Yeoman -.- :i:ice; disaster befell an English pilot and a military ol'licer. Tiiis v.-as reported m a coiinuuiiiiuie issued at Cairo.