A PREMATURE PRESS.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 July 1915, Page 12 (Supplement)

A PREMATURE PRESS.

HFJIMAXS OX HALLII'OLI. | liv the last Thursday in April the Herman press had put doubt aside, and, upon the strength of the Turkish re-1 ports, was celebrating "a great victory in the Dardanelles." It seems that at the celebration on Wednesday of the anniversary of the Sultan's Accession l-'.nver Pasha reported in person on the triumphs in (inllipoli, and the Herman Ambassador offered the congratulations: of the Kniperor William, who had also s"nt a warmly-worded telegram to the Siultan.

The newspapers talk almost as if the Dardanelles all'air was all over, and I .speculate upon the reasons which in-J dueed the Allies to court another "failure." Captain Persius writes in the Herliner Tageblatt:The new action against the Dardanelles is marked again by the underestimation of the task, by inadequate preparation, and by lack of will to carry the thing through. The ships achieved absolutely nothing. 'Hie senseless charge of the Knglish and Kren.-'i against the Dardanelles defences suits us and our brave Turkish Allies very v.-01l The more ships sunk in the La uern Mediterranean, the fewer ran be employed in the North Sea: and the more 'troops buried in (Inllipoli the fewer can lie brought against us '.n Wanders. Vice-Admiral KireholV. writes:— The. whole attack, exhaustively prepared for months past, has conic to grief at the very beginning'. Such a miserable collection of troops, got to. gelher anvhow and partly untrained colored Knglisluucn and frenchmen and colonial rowdies of all sorts, Cairo Australians, Canadians, and so on may frighten old women, and may be able to rob and plunder, but they can donothing against serious national forces like those of the Turks. The land attack was just as miserable as the attack by sea. There had been much talking iiiul writing about great preparations. Imt in reality they attempted nothing serious.

According to the telegrams published iu Constantinople, if was a Cerinan commander of the oth Army, Cleneral Linian \on Sanders himself, who claimed to have defeated the f<>l'c«'S 1»"«>' 11 '" ,ln| - lipoli. The Ct'i'iiian press lays iiiu.'h stress upon this fact, and the Cologne Cazette remarks that "Oernian joy anil satisfaction are increased by the knowledge that it was vouchsafed to a Herman general to lead this triumph of the Ottomans."