GREECE AND TURKEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15849, 20 February 1915, Page 8

GREECE AND TURKEY.

INCIDENT SETTLED. London, February 18.. A telegram from Athens states that the incident concerning the insulting of a Greek naval attache in the streets of Constantinople has been amicably settled. TROOPS IN EGYPT. THE NEW ZEALAND CAMP. WAIKATO PRIVATES NEWS. Writing to a friend in Auckland from the Zeitoun Camp, in Egypt, a private in the 16th, \Y aikato, Regiment describes some incidents of the life under training conditions of the New Zealanders. There was no change in tho menu on Christmas Day, he says, to celebrate the occasion, and the greater part of Boxing Day was spent by the men in grinding their bayonets. As the Mahommedan Christmas does not coincide with that of British people, the shops and business places in Cairo were open as usual. The writer goes on to say that the Canterbury troops placed rings of stones round their tents, and, as the entire camp had to be made uniform, the rest of the troops copied them with more or less elaborate designs. A square picked out in stone adorned his tent, with two Sphinxes in the front coiners. The big lumps of stone were carted in from the desert by transport waggons, and they had to be broken up with picks, many of which were spoiled! The Australians put stones round their camp a.so, but their method of procuring the ctones was more arduous. They would inarch a battalion out to the quarry, and make each man carry a large stone with him.

Describing a visit to the Pyramids, the writer says the guide took them through a narrow and sloping tunnel right into the heart of Cheops, the largest pyramid, where the burial place of the king was. There were several chambers in the pyramid, and the main one, about 10ft or 15ft square, was very fine. The sides were composed of single slabs of granite, and at the end of the chamber was a raised platform, where the king's mummy once rested. The men also saw the Sphinx and the old temples, and had their photographs taken while on the backs of camels in front of the Sphinx. One of the most interesting places in Cairo is the citadel, the correspondent continues. It is a large fortress, built on a commanding hill some hundreds of years aco, and now in use as a barracks for troops.. In the citadel is a large mosque, the interior of which he describes as being very beautiful. He goes on to state that the general wrote, complaining of the behaviour of a few of the men. "He gave us a great blowing up in the first part of the letter, but concluded by saying he had just been writing ' i Lord Kitchener to say how overwhelmed with pride he was ■at being placed in command of so magnificent a body of men. As a matter of fact, the behaviour of the New Zealanders while on leave in Cairo is very creditable." The writer adds that there has been no tourist season in Cairo this year, but that as the troops spend between £6000 and £10,000 per week in the town, that has tided the tradespeople and others over what might otherwise have been a bad season.

WORK OF THE NAVY. ! NEW ZEALANDER'S STORY. AN EXCITING DAY. RAIDING CRUISERS SIGHTED. i [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Dunedix, Friday. Mr. J. Sinclair Thomson, who is wellknown in Dunedin, has three of his four sons serving at the front. The youngest is under age, and one, Lieutenant Colin Sinclair Thomson, is serving on a destroyer at present in active commission in the North Sea. Judging by letters received by his father his boat is having a lively time. Writing in Sept-ember Lieutenant Thomson refers to the bad weather being experienced, and says that a destroyer on a calm day is a very different weapon from the tame ship in a gale. One-half of the officers and ship's company are more or less seasick, and no one can get any food or sleep. The German submarines seemed to be good sea boats, but happily they appeared to be poor shots when it came to the critical moment, because a number of our ships had been missed. Some hid also been hit by torpedoes which did not explode. "They appeared amongst us the other day," says the lieutenant, " and we had a lively five minutes." He then relates an experience in action. "It was a night affair in which we could not see whom we were shooting at or who was shooting at us. We do not "know what damage we did to the enemy, but they put one shell into us. It was a wonderful piece of luck that no one was injured. It was early on the morning of the Scarborough raid, and German ships were all over the place. We had to reduce speed and drop out of the line to see what the damage was, as we were full of water forward, and when daylight came we were by ourselves. It was an exciting day, as we could not steam fast. The weather was awful, and just when we were making the best of our way to the nearest port, we heard that the Germans were practically between us and it. We had to risk meeting them, and sure enough ab<sut two o'clock in the afternoon saw themfiv large, fast cruisers, like the New Zealand, only larger and faster. We did our best to "run. but had to slow down. However, they either did not see us or they thought it not worth while chasing us, as they passed us about 10 miles off. The destroyer sent to support us was fired at by a German cruiser, but escaped and picked us up later" on." In a later letter, Lieutenant Thomson says it appears that they were luckier than they thought to escape. The German cruisers actually fired on one of their ships, and it was simply marvellous that they did not sec the injured destroyer in the daylight.