LETTERS FROM SOLDIERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 August 1917, Page 7

LETTERS FROM SOLDIERS.

IN PALESTINE. Mr. Buchanan has' received a further letter from Trooper "Tap" O'Neil, which reads as follows: "Somewhere ia Palestine," May 16th, IUI7. Your welcome letter of March 14th to hand a few days ago, and I w*» sure glad to hear from you. You will not have had any wcr., .rom these parts this last three or i... ..celcs, as during that time we lune ~..jen at it again, giving Jacko some '"hurry-up," and consequently our field post office was closed luring the above period. However, I will try to dig up some news. During the recent fighting here, the N.Z. papers .ppear to keep you well posted, and ■j-.ving to strict censorship we are not allowed to say much re the same, beyond possibly a few • side-lights. As you know, our infantry do most of the attack work, and right well they do it, too, much to Jaeko's displeasure. We mounteds operating somewhere on the side, do the protae;ing of our railhead and dumps, etc. During tho engagement ofe.l7th to 21st March, we, on the l'Jth, were severely engaged in conjunction with our coppers of the Camel Corps. We found the Turks strongly entrenched, and it was solid going all the tune. Here it was our Trqop-Sfirgt., Dave Weli|t|r (Uvanui) went down fits "long sun-Set trail* getting hit in the head, and ,|fed ten hours later, without regaining consciousness. A peculiar thing is that Dave had a feeling that he would not survive the engagement and he told several of us only a few days before. Unfortunately, his words proved true. Dave was one of the best, an' 4 a ipopulat sergeant. He -would shortly [have received his commission, as I b»lieve he was recommended fdr it. Guthrie Kidd, of Inglowood, and Charlie Hughes, of Manaia, also "went west." Both were real good fellows. Among the wounded, you may remember Bert Bower, of Okau, who was hit in the arm. also Fred Early, of New Plymouth, the latter being hit in the thigh. Both; [ am glad to say, are doing well in Cairo Hospital. • The 2nd Squadron had more than its share of casualties, but I guess we have «ur lucky days, as well as unlucky ones. No doubt you have read of us out hero using a famous engine of war, used by the British in France for the first time some six months ago. fy ail aasouAis, Jacko got a bi;; surprise, as Frita did, when they waddled Ujp and introduced themselves. They did good' work, a.i also did the armored cars, which tho Turks do not appear to relish, By aU appearances this front looks like developing into trench warfare, nanus as in Fl&nders, and consequently our progress will be much slower, as I guess we will have to bjast our way -through. After' saying he had to knock off on account of a dust- Btorm, the "Writer proceeds: These storms are the worst thingß about this part ol the world, The surface soon powders up into fino dust, and where thero are thousands of horses they do not knproTO the conditions. Given the same water conditions as here, 1 think we would much sooner be back in the Sinai Desert, where dust is unknown. The country round about here has entiroly changed its color during the last -month or so,, the crops of barley, etc., having riponett; and pastures have changed from'green to brown, which reminds me of Central Queensland during the summer months. The barley is now ripe, but thqusands of acres' of it will not be reaped this year, although behind us the niggers are gathering in all the grain that is adjacent to them. Their method is jthat of the old stylo (sanie as in Noah/* time). The barky, for instaneo, ia ajoti out, but pulled out of the ground by hand by the men women and children. Then it is stacked in small cocks similarto the hay in New Zealand, and put into small stacks containing anything from 20 to 40 drav loads. As to their nift--1 Vhod of thrashing, so fa* I UUwe they use the old-fashioned flail, and «3»» e«#" ploy cattle and sheep to thresh It out by the wafting proeua » wet •natarodj sircle. I will send you a sample of the barley by next mail, and you can plant it in your garden if yon so desire to compare with the N.Z. article, The weather now is what you would call warm, considering that the glass goes iq> to 100 in the shade daily. A weak or so ago fro had three days out on their own, being 118 in the shade—trhicn.a bookie would call a shade above the odds.

As regards the- ladies in these parts, they are of the usual nigger type, half Arab, half Turk and half something else, with dirt inches thick. They wear the usual MahommedMJ veil, severing them from the eyas down. It ia a diagrams, to them fand I guts? a God-send to ujs) for an unbeliever or' Christian to, Ijpe' their dials. The women dress similarly to the men, with a- sack doth arrangement tied round, and several brass bangles on their feet and hand*. They have feet on them as big as camels', boots being unknown. xh»y I can assure you, »ro nothing to write home about, "it least thate beauty wottfii not disiiwrb yojir sleep, The writer mentions tluvt the toys take the keenest interest in the racing news a>d discuss the chances of" Desert Gold, The Toff and Co,, as if they were at home. Thejr eic up doubles oa the important jaoes. sne writer also mentions »ii *he Taranaki boys .in the sguadsec m» in gcod health.