THE "TERRIBLE TURK."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11510, 5 October 1915, Page 4

THE "TERRIBLE TURK."

The popular Western conception of the Turkish army is something in the hature of a wild Zouave, marshalled in battalions fired with a fanatical, homicidal mania. But nowhere ill Turkey will you find such a oonception realised. The geat majority of Ottoman regulars are singularly plain, unpietureaque. unpretentious soldiery. On their heads they wear either gray ashlyks, wound tnrbaiiwi.se, or plain fezes of " kalpaks " of a yellowish brown colour corresponding to their German-made uniforms of rough woolle n cloth. Their logs are wound in a bulky way with the same material in a Turkish conception of a puttoe, iind cm their feet either short boots or the soft leather moccasin-like shoes of the Balkans give theln a comfortable agricultural look. Singly or in bulk, there Is nothing at all sin art. about them, bub they look exceedingly equal to the delivery of the goods. Altogether they appear as well able to fade indistinguishably into the landscape as anything human could. Many of them are Anatolians and some are ruddy-faced Kurds from the Caucasus 5 others come tram the Taurus mountains, back of Konia and Aleppo, swarthy Syrians md Arab types. Any one of them will ight. at t In- drop of a hat. Ho will lot have to change anything. There is lothing about him to polish or to be ccpt clean. As ho stands, he sleeps md eats, drills, marches and goes into jattle.—George Maiyi» ir i ".World's