THE ADVANCE ON JERUSALEM.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLII, Issue 11446, 28 January 1918, Page 8

THE ADVANCE ON JERUSALEM.

(GENERAL ALLENOY'S DISPATCH. A DIFFICULT OPERATION. Received Jan .28, uoou. London, Jan. 27. ' The Gazette publishes General Allenby’s dispatch, covering operations from 28th June, 1917, to the i’all of Jerusalem. It emphasises transport difficulties and water .shortage. Routes for transport •were extremely limited and practically the whole available transport, including thirty thousand camels, 3iad to be allotted to one portion of the Eastern forces. The dispatch tells how before the •fall of ;Gaza the enemy, who were strongly entrenched, kept guessing aa to the whereabouts of the main attack, namely, Hareira and Sheri a. Therefore a large scale of operations againfct Gaza ?was prepared. The dispatch shows that it was the most rapid .consolidation of British guns in the Passes of the Judea > Hills before rtihe Turks could rally that insured the surrender of Jerusalem. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles, -■on November 14th, had a smart engagement at Aj-aukara, six miles south of Jaffa. The Turks counterattacked determinedly • and got within fifteen yards &f our line, but a bayonet attack drove them back with heavy loss. -Onr infantry commenced the advance against Jerusalem on November 19th, one portion advancing on the main road towards TTHrir.etelnab, with the Australian Mounters protesting on the right flank. Ksarkotelaiab was captured ont he 20tlj. . The • enemy’s attack on the 29 penetrated our outpost line north-east of Jaffa, l)ut they were driven out. The dispatch mentions General Chauvel, commander of the Mountods, as being invariably successful in attack and pursuit and his cooperation in other aims was always ready and loyal, which contributed ; greatly to victory.

THE CHANCELLOR’ s SPEECH. GERMAN OPINION. The Times. "Received Jan. 28, 3 p.m. Amsterdam, Jan. 27. The Vorwaerts comments that Herlling’s speech has increased the enemy’s distrust. We are surfeited with such ambiguous masterpieces, which trifle with Germany’s desire for peace. The Leipzeigor Yolks Zeitung says thatjn August, 11)14, Hoilweg solemnly promised to repair the wrong done Belgium. The Government now rejects the promise. Doubtless the Government is not willing to reinstate Belgium's political innepeddouce, requiring conquests in the West as in East under the veil of hypocrisy. Other democratic oragns complain of the absence of a clear declaration concerning Belgium, which was moved the obstacle to belief of the sincerity of Germany’s peace efforts. GONE BACK TO YODKA. United Service. Petrograd, Jan. 27. The sudden'metamorphosis of the temperate orderly.-Rnssian masses to lawless pillaging and murdering mobs is due to*the unlimited manufacture of vodka. The revolution swept aside the Czar’s decree, and distilleries have started everywhere.