EXPEDITION TO THE DARDANELLES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16405, 9 June 1915, Page 6

EXPEDITION TO THE DARDANELLES.

PREPARING FOR THE START

The Daily Telegraph published an interesting account ol 111s voyage to tne Dardanelles uy .ur E. AsJinieail-jjartlett, the Englisii war corie*>pondet who supplied the viviel report ol tne landing ol the Australian and New /•,■'.dand troops oil ttie Gallipoli l'eiliiisuLa.. We liiako tne lollowini; extracts from Mr Asuuieiiet l»ain lett's arUue, which was dated 110111 "hastern Mediterranean, April U" : —

Malta has played many great roles in die history ol Europe. " "ine little rock' of Malta,'' sayii UIDOOII, " delies tlie Turkish power, ami 1111s emerged under the government ol' its military order into tamo ,uid opulence." 011 June IV, l'/Dti, the island waicn (lie eagle eye ot Napoleon had i::s(oerned belore starting on his expedition for as "La place la plus forto do I'ii.urope," passed into the hands of tne l'rencii. T'herr occupation w<js, however, briel, and, ttie expedition to Egypt having failed, on September 4, 1800, General Vaubois, who had been left in command, 6urrenderod to General I'igot, who oomutiinded the British and All iotl lorces. These events of over 100 years ago havo a most important bearing on the present opcirat.ons jf tl.e Allies against the Dardanelles. Malta has remained ever since our principal Jootiy.ird and arsenal in tho l'xistern Mediterranean, and when General Pigot took over the uland on September 4, 1800, all unknown to himself he was making possible and pvacti-ial th© present oocr.it 10ns against the Turkish empire- , Little could anyone have dreamt in the year 1803 that a century later a combined English and I'Vencli Expeditionary Force would bo using tho famous island as its base. Tho importance of Malta cannot bo overestimated. Both the English and French fleets and transports are based on it—over 100 French ships and an even larger number of British. All supplies, munitions, and ammunition are c'-awn from its arsenals; to it damaged ships retire to be dockcd and repaired ; tho wounded find accommodation in its spacious hospitals; and it is the port of call for all transports on their ivaj to Egypt and the islands. Happy, indeed, 's the nation which lias complete command of tho soa. It. ivas tho unfulfilled dream of tho Great Napoleon to make the Mediterranean " a French lake." His dream lias half come true. At the present, moment, when Europe is ablaze, the Mediterranean is a French and English lake. Tho enemies of tho Triple Entente have been absolutely swept from this highway to Egypt and the East. It is as safe now for unarmed merchantmen, transports, colliers, and warships as it is in times of peace. The smallest and slowest, vessels pass up and down it unmolested, without any escort. The Austrian fleet lies securely bottlod up in the Adriatic, watched dav and night by tho latest and most powerful vessels of the French navy.

NO GERMAN WARSHIPS.

There is not a single German warship on the high seas. Once an English vessel has left tho radius of submarine activity around our shores, and finds herself in the Bay of Biscay she can continue her journey in absolute safety to Malta, to tho Dardanelles, Egypt, or on to the Far East. Such is the strength of the Allies at soa, and such an. ascendancy have they established over their enemies, that whilst Sir frohn Jellicoe and tho Grand Fleet is blockading the German coast, and whilst tho French are _ bottling tip tho Austrian fleet in the Adriatic, practically the wholo of our powerful pre-Dreadnought squadrons are_ free to attack the Dardanelles and to ■assist the French and English armies to open the iron gate which leads to Constantinople.

Having travelled overland, via Rome, I reached Syracuse on March 31, to find an Italian steamer leaving the same eveninc: for Malta.

On arriving the following day at Malta I reported mvscif to Vice-admiral Limpus, who promised to send mo on to the fleet in the first available vessel. " You. must not mind," said the gallant Admiral, who only gave up the control of tho Turkish fleet Inst August, " if you have to sail in a collier, because if you want to reach the fleet without delay I believe one is sailing this evening." However, it chanced that the s.s. Sunilc. h. brand new oil tank steamer carrying 6000 tons of water to the fleet, put in to Malta for instructions the same day, and the .Admiral infonried me T could sail on tho following afternoon in hor. SPIRIT OF-THE NAVY.

We are all proud of our navy, of the great deeds it has performed, and of the exemplary patience under tho most trying conditions with which the great blockadq has been kept up in the North Sea throughout tho winter. But wo ought to be equally proud of the officers and men who riian our mercantile marine, and without whose cordial and unhesitating cooperation the efforts of the navy would bo largely wasted. The officers are a splendid body of men. who deserve well of their countrymen. They -work unnoticed and without hope of reward. The ship, the Sunik. has spent the winter off tho coast of Scotland, and in the Irish Channel. She has braved storm*, submarines, and mines like hundreds of others. She carries no guns to protect her against tho deadly foe from below, and. as far as I know, the only wr.tnon on. board is the captain's revolver. Whilst off tho English from hour to hour no one on board knew -when tho summons might come. The officers and crow carry their lives in their hands. They can expect no warning and no mercy from the cowardlv enemv who has thrown the laws of war ard the time-honoured dictates of humanity to th» winds.

When ordered out to the Mediterranean the Runik mado her way unescorted down tV Tn'sh Channel, across the mouth of the English Channel, and then on into the Ray. After the North Sna, the Coast of Scotland, and the Irish Channel, a cruise down the peaceful Mediterranean comes as a delightful respite to these brave men. The sunshine of the south has a cheering effect on the soirita of the crew. You know and feel that you aro absolutely safe from man, and have only tho ever-changing elements to face. These have not been kind to the cause of the Allies |up to the present. Time and time again 'the operations against the Dardanelles have been hampered by storms, rain, and thick mists. , Wo left Malta on Friday, April 2, under ideal conditions—bright sunshine overhead, and not a ripple on tho water. It was impossible to believe that Europe was at war. On Saturday the weather held, and we mado good progress, but on Monday morning wo ran into a storm of wind and rain, which continued almost without cessation for three days and nights. Many of our merchant captains and their crews have never traversed the water? of the Mediterranean; its currents, changing weather conditions, its lights, and the innumerable islands of the Archipelago are a new field of discovery to them. Amazing as it may seem, tho charts aro also old, and very inaoourate, all of which adds to tho difficulty of correct navigation. As long as the weather holds, and you liavo n long horizon, these difficulties do not count for much; but when the sea is running high, and even-thing in front is blotted out bv thick, driving sleet, nnd bursting spray, and when you are not sure of your rcckoniru. and know from the map there should be an island somewhere on your port- bow. and two smaller ones to starboard, and that your correct course lies somewhere through a narrow channel between the two—why, then even the stoutest-hearted sailor lias moments of anxiety. PERILOUS JOURNEY. But we are a. fleet messenger, under orders to arrive at cur destination without delay, tho same blood and spirit of enterprize of the Elizabethan era courses through tho veins of die officers and men, and we press on. groping our way blindly, and risking bumps with tho Archipelago. The captain never leaves the bridgo for nearly 48 hours at a stretch, 'the sea is breaking over our decks, leaving the well a huge bath of raging surf. One*, when the sun appears for a moment, we see, a quarter of a mile away, a small tug towing a lighter, and making very bad weather. She signals, '"Can you tell me where I <im ? Have lost my reckoning." We reply as approximately as possible, although our captain frankly admits, privately, that he knows little more than the tug. Then she replies, "Have lost three of my four lighters, broken loos<>; have you sighted them?" We have not' and tell her so. One moro sifrn.il, and wo part company. "You might tell tiho admiral when you get in." Then we are off. .••nd the tug and (he lighter, which have come all the way from Malta, are swallowed up Worn view l>y the huge seas. That night we have to slow down, because a well-known island, which I will not mme, but which is sacred to Vonii6, the Goddess of Love, refuses to reveal hor whereabouts under such conditions, and the captain remarks. " Wo cun't have a love affair in the middle of a var like this." PLUCKY YOUNG OFFICEH3. At dawn the sea has risen even more, but it is rather clcarer, and the Isle of Love

i;i visible not far oil. Then we sight tvo utile black ilola a long way 10 poit, anil tin; captain pronounced tne-m to uu uawlern. I ni'y an: o.jviuoaiy luttiiiiig iru/iuc eiiorta 10 overtake no, so wu 3»ow do.vu and tvui, .ii We inuig/i oi u:o sea. lney are having auuiu iaitc.l a I.mc as u.iyu ne couiu wu»u lor. ji\L-ry .va riv\ct'jis njeiu irom buw to stern. -ilicy 101 l rignt under tuc waves and eiisapprai lioui vie>>' lor iiiiiiuica ut u tniiu, uiitl miu conic bobbing up c-ga.ii, o.iiy lo duappear oncu more. Alio low briuges iifti si.cpt by tnc sun, and even tne lunnuii anil ma-sls are hidden ill tne tviiilc cioud ol ureaknig loam. ' iney are two -North ,sc-a trawii-rn," .says the captain, " anu Wouueriiil aea boaus tney.aro, bat a bit ulicomiortable m vvcaUier like this." This mild estimate of what t.nu crowds must be suifciug sonnas u.iUioat cruel and oanous to tin: layman b ears. When they (.0:110 up wo can make out 011 tne tiny brielgc two hgurta covercj in oilskins, one rn.vertnelets mcnciied tnrough ami looKing like drowned rats. They are two young .sub-iieuioii:int», not. out 01 tneir " teens,' wnu have been placeei in charge oi t'lieso trawlers to tike Luem to tlic Dardanelles. 'ihey nave come straignt ironi tne North Sea, and Have tutlereci every imaginable iorm 01 discomtort 011 this way. j<'nr the last 48 hours they have been swept fore and aft toy trie 1 ugo wave*, and their oMiecrs nave not been a Die to leave tne brjdge. ■ Hut both are clieertul and happy and perfectly frank. They had us tnroi.au uio megaphone: •• Wo are qu:te lost; iiavn't any idea where we are; wnero arc you bound for; can we follow jou in'/" Uur captain gives our destinat ion, * which I am not allowed to do, and once i\»ore we get. under way. The two trawlers, trying to keep close t-p, have to increase their speed, and got more buried in tiie waves than over before. They dance on the top of a wave, are lost to view, then roll their gunwales under and twist and turn like .freak dancere. They fall behind, but keep us in view until ut length we sight our destination. Kvery full &hjp—whether a battleship, transport, or cargo boat—is moving eastwards in the Mediterranean. Thoso which go west are empties returning for fresh loads of warriors, ammunition, or stores. All are animated bv the same indomitaible spirit. You see it on the battleship, on the transport, and in the little tug. For the first lime since the last Crusade the West is turning against the East. The Christian world is about to avenge the great conquest of the Byzantine Empire: achieved by Mahomed II on that fateful May 29, 1453. THE QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Now wo round a bend and ccme in sight of a portion of the fleet. The first sight which greets our eyes are the fighting-tops ! of tho mighty Queen Elizabeth —the meet powerful warship afloat in any waters. Her ■Hugo body is hidden 'by some low-lying land. Shades of Nelson! But suddenly we see a destroyer dashing her way towards us and flying the French fl'ag. It is hard to believe that within two days' gentle steam of where tho Battle of tho Nile was fought,' a ceiltury after Trafalgar, a French destroyer is engaged in protecting England's battleships. \Vo give our number, and the destroyer retires satisfied, and we make our way slowly in. _ r JLhen a torpedo boat, this time flying British colours, dashes up and aske if we know our way among the rocks and shoals. We do not and frankly admit the same, so she givers ns a friendly lead. Half an hour later we are amongst the battleships. cruisers, store ships, and destroyers. Everything in tho navy is organised down to the smallest detail. Our captain sees a comfortable-looking, unoccupiec berth, ancf makes for it to anchor. On a battleship close by a sailor sits astride the bridge and starts furiously waving little flags. These cannot be read from our bridge, and both officers and men lack practice at the rapid reading of signals, so we have to turn the ship and go back. The little flags tell us that a berth' has been assigned: for us at tho other end of the bay. When wo are halfway across a pinnace steams up, and two officers come on board, who take charge of the ship and conduct us personally to our anchorage. ON A SUPER-DREADNOUGHT. This same pinnace, onoe .we are safely anchored, takes me across to the Queen Elizabeth to visit the admiral. This, the latest of our super-Droadnoughts, is a revelation. She only carries eight great 15in guns, and a secondary armament of 6in. But those eight make every other gun you have ever seen look ridiculous and contemptible. Tho gunners say they can almost land on a penny at 15,000 yards, even with threequarter charges. They have already done so-mo wonderful shooting right across tiie Gallipoli Peninsula, over the low-lying ground near Gaba Tepe. Tho great ship lias in turn received her baptism of fire, and has been struck by three shells, one of which came through tho gun room, but fortunately ell tho midshipmen were at their stations, and no one was hurt. Another came through her unprotected side, high up, but burst without doing any damage; Tho third, I think, hit her funnel.

You get a good idea of what a comphro command of the sea wo havo obtained when you see how we are able to snare this, our latest and most powerful Dreadnought, for tho operations against the Dardanelles, instead of hurrying her off, as soon as <x>mpleted, to Sir John Jellicoe somewhere in the North Sea. Very shortlv thero -vill bo four other Queen Elizabeths ready for active servico; therefore, if the Germans ever intend to leave tho shelter of the Kiel Canal they had better do so soon. They have no ships afloat which cm compare in gun power with tho Queen Elizabeth class. A short distance from the Queen Elizabeth lies t.he Dreadnought cruiser Inflexible. This ship has seen more fighting in the war than almost any other vessel in the fleet She was one of Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdoe's squadron when he put an end to Von and bis squndron off the Falkland Islands. Thn officers tell you that that action was child's play to what they had to faco on Mcrch 18 when the great attack was mad© on the Dardanelles. The Inflexible suffered heavily. Her fore tern was hit by a shell, which killed or wounded all of those up aloft but two seamen.' At thesame time another shell set fire to some woodwork at the base of the mast, and the flames spread upwards, rendering the task of bringing down tho wounded from the fighting top impossible until t.hev were extinguished. She will shortly rejoin tho fleet, as good as ever.

Information regarding unemployment in Australia has been made available by the commonwealth statistician (Mr G. H. Knibbe). From the tables it is seen that the effect of the war was to increase the percentage of unemployment from 5.7 iii May to 10.7 in August, 1914. September showed a further increase, but there was a decrease in November. December and January both showed inoreasee, while in February, though there was a decrease since the preceding month, the percentage was still higher than in either the third or fourth quarters of 1914. Mr Knibbs states that it is probable that the effect of the war on employment as indicated in the table may to some extent be obscured, inasmuch as broken, and short time havo been adopted in a number of establishments. In this connection, it is observed that the returns sent in by the trade unions include only those members who were out of work for more than three days during tho last full working week of the month. Persons who wero not working for from one to three days in the week are, therefore. not included in the returns.

Mince the troopships for the Main Expeditionary Force wero fitted out last August, Lyttelton has had no sliaro of the work, and the residents of the port are wanting to know why they liave been overlooked in the matter (says the Lytteltcn Times). Most of the work has been done at Wellington, and, latterly, Dunedin has been receiving a share, the hospital ship being fitted out at that port. Ae there are a number cf oarpenters and married men cut of work in the port just now, and as Canterbury is supplying a large number of men for the Reinforcements, it is thought that the Government should allocate some of the work to Lyttelton, to relieve the position. The matter was hrouglit under the notice of Mr W. Radcliffe (Mayor of Lyttelton), vviio communicated with Mr H. Holland {Mayor of Christchurch), asking for his support in an application to the Prime Minister. It was decided to telegraph to Mr Matsev, explaining Lyttelton's position, and asking hm to arran-go that some of the work of fitting out the troopships for the Reinforcements should in future be allocated to Lyttelton. GAVE INSTANT RELIEF.

"My littie daughter Maaid was very bad with croup, and I was quite worn out with loss of sleep," says Mrs Catherine Holland, 456 Adelaide road, Berhampore, N.Z. "A friend ltad eeen Chamberlain's Cough Remedy advertised for the relief of croup, and suggested my trying it. I did sb, and it gave the child instant relief. I have seen dozens of children relieved of croup by Chamberlain's Cough Remedy." Sold every-