PRISONERS FROM THE DARDANELLES.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 July 1915, Page 2

PRISONERS FROM THE DARDANELLES.

On (he -uiinv s'ulf (]]' •:,. K'l leoking duwn upon ll.e broad Mudros I'ny lie four orderly lines of f-nt.-, v,i>:,-h contain llio lii'-t Turkish -:M-i-<i!:'-)--i taken from Hie navdanolles. Tlic-o v. eve captured l.v tin' Froivh during f!ie feint attack im Kmii Kale. 0:1 the Asiatic .-id ■ of til,' .eitran-, f,, (lie l)v.v,l::iclles. which divorl.-d (lie attention of the Turks mill prevented tliein from -ending , oiufoivenn ni-i aevo-s (o the Kiiropean p-miv's-s. sr.vs <l. Ward Price, -.pedal cun-esnon,;,'!!! of (he London daily Mail. Four hundred aiel ninety ir.cn ami Ike ! oiiicc-. aii,l J can -it across the. green fi, i,l on (lie edge of- which 1 am v- ril.in" (hi- a khaki colmar, of them, inarching in si dusty. iV.iiii'Vnip company, surrounded I'.v long, -litti-rinii- bayonets, and (.lie -I, kv. .-oldicrly pith helmets of Hie French Zonaio.-. Th.y are coming hack from a day's work of carrviiig stones down l.v the harbor. Beside ;• true <)smanlis. (here is a smattering of impressed Ottoman Creeks and Armenians among them. One never sees mneh expression in the face of the Turk. Inn so far as one can interpret the looks of these captives they are content with (heir lot. "'iTiny , are better fed. better lodged and no harder worked than when they were being driven by (lormans. The Turks in our hands live a* the Allied soldiers, ;vho live almost as if at liomc. A sous-officer 'who brought me (0 the door of an oilloor's ten fainted as ho introduced mo. and one of the Turks ro-e from a ilied of bav on which he. was taking a siesta. The other -it r,p in the Turk's favorite aUitm 1 ,". crossleirired, tabor-wise, They were an un--1 tidy, unshaven little group, with tunics \ unbuttoned, showing their ■ heap flannel -hiris 'beneath. Tlie'r unintelligent 1 faces- are dogged, obstinate, and with ' iusi that air of smouldering fanaticism and nride of race mingled with invincible -fupid'lty which is characteristic of the Tnk, who has nd been veneered by rontaet witT" Ku>opean civilisation. , 'Wilh all his faults, the Turk is a well-'.rod man by nature. The lieutenant, 'who '\vas himself spokesman, re- ] reived one with a. dignitv and even hospitality that made one forget his lot. Tli ir lines of trenches had lain eastivest along the coa-t p.i-t Kum : Kale, where (he French had landed both : while troops and. Senegalese. Tlie landt ing part v. supported by the lire of the ' .hips, whi.h according to the lieutenant, 1 were only five hnmlred yards from it.he : chore, had entrenched it'-clf three hun- : 1 1 red yards in front of (he Turkish n>o.sii tions. The Turks waited for night to : f-ttnek. hut as soon as they did so the 1 reanhlights from the fleet 'consentrated ; ro]oirtlcs*]v upon them ami machine-guns I'nd the lighter cannon of the ships took flii-iii in enfilade. Tiic Turk drew a sniritod ailnn of the 1 reaside on a. ihox .of Turkish' defeat to illustrate this. Thirty of (he French : ruriounded them and live hundred wore ; ta.ken prisoner. All (.hat these dative. ! elii.-ers isa.id 1 urn una.ble to relate.,' but I when they finished the lieutenant rose ; to accompany n;e to the -door of the | lent, 'putting on the new Turkish army j headgear, which looks like 'a helmet but I is reallv a. straw .fez covered with a ] khaki ',-loth which comes down in a Hap j over the. forehead and neck. ] I left him tuere s-milinn; and saluting, I but with all his nation's im'incMorial haI tied and contempt for the Christian in i his heart. A brave man. but nairowminded, one rigidly fettered l>y prejudices and tradition.