INTREPID TRAVELLERS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 12 May 1927, Page 5

INTREPID TRAVELLERS

MOTORING ROUND WORLD.

ADVENTURES IN TURKEY.

OBSTRUCTIVE OFFICIALDOM

RABIiB— PBESB ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT Received 11.30 a.m. to-day. LONDON, May 11. Now that Ellis and Britles are at last clear of Turkey, it is perniissable to reveal the annoyances and obstructions suffered at the hands of Turkish officialdom en route. At Berut, after being informed that the}'' could deviate and avoid the shocking roads so long as they did not go near the Ismid naval base, the motorists were stopped by Gendarmes and taken to Ismid by armed guards, in a state of open arrest. Thereafter Ellis, as leader, was virtually a prisoner. He did not move night or day without an escort, awaiting the Angora Government’s decision. In a letter he says: “Birtles threatened murder if a hair on my head was touched. ” . * Ellis was hailed before the naval commandant, who was provokablv rude and unrelenting. The resourcefulness of Ellis was largely responsible for his shadowing escort getting lpave,. and taking, hidden in his boots, Ellis’s messages to the British Embassy at Stimboul. A prompt repiy came, ensuring an early release.