A SPECTACLED ARMY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1016, 12 October 1882, Page 3

A SPECTACLED ARMY.

“ In fitting out the Egyptian expedition,” says a Home paper, “ we are glad to say that everything possible is being done by the Government to alleviate the sufferings of our troops during the campaign. Unfortunately the hot season will have set in before the war commences. To protect the eyes of our seddiers against the blazing Egyptian sun 20,0C0 pairs of blue spectacles have been ordered, and a pair is to be given to each man previous to his embarkation. Each soldier is alsc to bo provided with an Indian helmet and a veil. We have heard a good deal about the cutting off the water supply, but so long as water can bo be obtained at all our troops will bo all right, as each man will carry one of those silicatcd carbon pocket filters which proved of such immense value in the Ashantee and Zulu wars. Besides their superior purifying properties, the filters now supplied have the advantage of having the carbon enclosed in a china cell protection, making the filters better fitted to stand rough usnage. An extra 5000 of these pocket filters have have just been orderea of the Silicatcd Carbon Filter Company, of Batterse.., who are also supplying a number of ambulance filters of the pattern approved of by the Army Medical Department.” No wonder the Egyptians made such a poor stand against Sir Garnet Wolseley. Who could withstand the extraordinary sight of an array of blue spectacled, white-helmeted beings, swooping down upon them ? The British forces, with their veils and goggles, must look more like a body of savans fossicking in the sands of the desert for buried ruins or fossil specimens than a sensible body of disciplined troops.