The Daily News. SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1916. THE SUVLA FAILURE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1916. THE SUVLA FAILURE.

It may safely be asserted Unit no such record of daring bravery bus ever been penned as the final dispatch of General .Sir Inn Hamilton dealing with the operations which took place at GalHjjuli between August 0 and 12. A new chapter of military hf-tory was opened >i|i diuiny these momentous days when troops from India, llritain, Australia, and Xew Zealand, including Hie Maoris, assisted by the British fleet, made a determined effort to clear a passage for the fleet to Constantinople. The record of the gigantic struggle, and of the general plan of operations will form an imperishable testimony to the strategic skill of our military officers as well as undying "amc for all who took part in the fighting at Anzac and Siivla. Every word in this memorable dispatch is pregnant with force, while the various movements described are full of thrilling' interest. Geneva! Hamilton's plan was to storm the dominating height (Hill 305) and follow on with the capture of Maidos and Gaba I'tpe. He hoped that the landing of a

force under Sari Bair would have KM to the strangling of the Turkish comaiunicatioiiß, but ho was doomed to disappointment. llow skilfully the p,nn "f operations was tho'ught out is abundantly evidenced. The Turks wove hoodwinked by a variety of clever ruses, and the time chosen was during the period of moonless nights. Troops in large numbers were smuggled to Anzac and securely hidden, tactical diversions were carried out, water stored and every preparation made for that one strong thrust forward that would have secured the command of the row.-;. How that thribt only just failed when it appeared to be within reach i s graphically told in the dispatch. Although the landing under (Sari Bair did not benr fruit, the Australians and New Zealanders rooted themselves very near 1 the enemy's vitals, and their tenacity ana courage 6tik held open the doorway ito the command of the Narrows. General Hamilton's recorded opinion that the clearness and completeness of the General Staff* orders for this concentration and landing will hereafter be studied as models at military academies will bo fully endorsed by all who are acquainted with military tactics. The scheme was carried out without a bitch. The chronicle of the events ot those memorable six days, with nothing but a succession ol terrible moments accentuated by desperate bravery and indomitable tenacity of purpose is one of the grandest stories in history. Barbed wire, stout pine beams, rifle and machine-gun fire, grenades, ami bayonets failed completely to daunt the heroic Australasians. Wave upon wave of Turks swept forward to overwhelm our men, yet a weak Australian Brigade of 2000 men, supported by two weak battalions, carried Lone Pine, under the eyes of a whole enemy division and maintained it in a vice-like grip for six days against successive counter-attacks. Equally pulse-stirring is the record of the attack on Table-top, with its banks of such steepness thai it appears like a mushroom. We cannot but quote the following excerpt from the dispatch:

'•'As faith moves mountains, so our men's valor carried them Neither the. Turks nor the angles of ascent were destined to 6top Russell and his New Zealanders that night. There are moments in a battle when men become super-men. This was one of those moments. ... No word? can do justice ito the achievement of Russell and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, the. Otago Rifles, the Maoris, and the New Zealand field troops." Well may the Dominion he proud of such well-merited praise. At Chunuk Bair the expected help from Siivla, failed to materialise, but the troops performed a feat, wiihout parallel. To Taranaki readers the record of thrilling events on the daw.i of August 8 will be read with especial interest, for it was then that gallant officer, Lieut-Colonel Malonc, was mortally wounded, and even/ oilicei', sergeant-major, and quartermastersergeant was killed or wounded, the men lighting on from mid-day to sunset without any odlcers. It was here also that our troops saw the promised land, only to be forced back over the crest. Nothing could damp the keenness of the New Zealanders, but the knowledge that an accident plucked the fruits of victory from thoir hands must have sorely tried the temper of the men. It is true that the Turks had to pay dearly when "their time came, and we now know that had tho Suvla commanders advanced as they should have done there would have been no failure, and General Hamilton would probably have taken Constantinople and tho whole course ot the war would have been changed. He considers that if the reinforcements he asked for had been supplied immediately, ho could have cleared a passage for itlic fleet to Constantinople. Instead of that he was recalled to London because he considered the evacuation impossible. Subsequent events June proved that the evacuation was just as practical aa the successful strategy described in the dispatch, both being marvellous operations that have shed splendid lustre on the military achievements of the Empire.

Tin? Teachers 0 C. and D. and the Senior Civil Service examinations are bein" held in the Technical College this week, ami they will continue through next wee!;. Iu' all,■about 100 candidates are silting. Mr. i\. G. Whetter, Insneetor, i-- supervisor.

One of the wonders of plant life is ihe weepiii',' tree of the Canary Islands. H, in of the laurel family, and rains down a copious shower of water drops from its tufted foliage. This water is often collected at the foot of the tree and forms a kind of pond, from which the inhabitants of the neighbourhood lean supply themselves with a beverage iihaf is al'i-i.lntely fresh and pure. The j water (Mines out of the tree itself i (hro'.ijih innumerable little jiofes situatled at the margin of the leaves. It issue- from the plant as vapour during the daytime, when the heat is suflicicnlly groat to preserve it in that condition; jbut in the evening, when the temperature has lowered very much, a considerable quantity of it is excluded in the form of liquid drop, that collect near the edges of the leaves until these members so bend down that the tears tumble oil' on to the ground below in a veritable >ho\vcr. THE GERMS OF CEREBROSPINAL MENINGITIS arc stated by the Director of the Bacteriological Laboratory of the University to Melbourne to be quickly destroyed by eucalyptus. SANDER'S" EUCALYPTI EXTRACT was proved at tins Supreme Court of Victoria to possess far greater antiseptic power than the. common eucalyptus oils and so-called extracts. Therefore, if you are not particular about your health you use any sort of eucalyptus; if you are—you use only SANDER'S KXTRACT, 3 drop 3on sugar. It protects you not only from meningitis, but from all other infectious diseases; scarlet fever, measles, influenza, tvphoid, diphtheria, small-pox, etc. SANDER'S EXTRACT is the strongest and safest antiseptic, and its curative qualities have been demonstrated to be genuine and lasting—it not only disinfects, but stimulates and gives new vigor to diseased parts. Ulcers, poisoned wounds, chilblains, inflamed skin are quickly curwl bv SA.N"])Kr/y EXTRACT.