Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-01-20
sUEz CANAL CAN
Be APTUREO, IS
TURK 5 OPINION
Military Authorities of Con-
StantinopIe Think Difficulty
of Enterprise Has Been
Greatly Exaggerated,

NAssociated Press Corresp0ndenccl
Iohstantinople. Dec. 1O.--A cam
paigh of Turkish and German forces
against the Suez canal and Epypt
would not be as difficult an enterprise
as the factors involved would seem TO
indicate, according to the opinion held
Dy military authorities here. They say
that those contending that such an nm
dertaking would be next to impossi-
Die are unfamiliar with the means of
communication between Constantine
pie and the canal and overlook that
the food resources of Arabia and
syria are fully sufficient to meet the
needs of large army.
Last May and June, the Associated
Press correspondent Travelled over the
greater part of the route which an
army marching against the Suez canal
would have to use. lie found the fol-
lowing.
from Constantinople to Bosanti in
The Taurus mountains, over the Ana
tolian railroad and its Bagdad con-
nections, would require about forty
eight hours for military trains At
Bosanti the old pass road. through the
lCilician Gate to Tarsus would be used.
The road was then being improved by
thousands of Armenians who had
been drafted into the Ottoman army
for this purpose, and whose work was
being directed by Turkish, German
and Austrian engineer officers. Motor
trucks could make the trip from Be-
santi to Tarsus in from six to eight
hours, especially, if, as Is asserted,
they will be assisted up the sleeper
grades, of which there are three.
In June the tunnels of the Bagdad
railroad near Entity and Karababa,
and large bridge near Rodjo, had
not been completed. The railroad ia
cilities from Tarsus. on the Mersina,
Tarsus and Adana line, ended for this
reason as Osmanie and later at Ma |
mort, points in the Amanus noun |
tains But an excellent road connect !
ed these places with the terminus of |
the Bagdad railroad at Rodjo. Heavy |
traffic might find traversng the |
Giaur Dagh pass at Entity. n severe
strain. but no insurmountable obsta-
Gle. The same is true of the pass near
Rodjo
Railroad Facilities.
From Rodjo the railroad runs TO
Aleppo, then over the Hama and
HONS extension to Ryack. Here a
narrow gauge to Damascus would ne
ressitate transshipping. At Damascus
the Hedjas railroad begins. 1t would
serve the expedition as far as Maan,
Arabia or some point directly east of
Jerusalem. AT the latter point the
railroad through the Hebron valley is
reached. II is this line which the
Turks. under the leadership of Meiss-
ler Pasha, German engineer who
built the Herjas railroad, have ex-
tended into the desert east of the Suez.
eanal. How far the line is complet-
I'd at this date is unknown. Accord
Ing to statement made by Meissner
fasha to the Associated Press CORE
;oondent, at Dera, Arabia, last June, (
he railroad had been surveyed and |
,raded far into the desert and about /
$50 kilometers were ready for traffic.
little il known of the line, beyond the
act that in the Hebron valley 1t runs
)ver a survey made for a French COM
)any. one of the purposes of the
'oad might be to carry water into the !
lesert in case the water supply sys- |
hem established in the vicinity of the ,
anal should prove unable to meet the t
demand. II
New Tunnel Completed. (
Buf Sllltt June MOik Oll wv AZ" n
nori- Rodjo line of the Bagdad rail-
Dad has been pushed as hard as pos ?
,ible Notwithstanding the fast that
he italian workers Of the Entity and /
<arababa tunnels left their posts. Diff i
'iculty in securing rails and bridge i
,trcl were also experienced But last t
July the Entity tunnel about 5000 6
ards long. was broken through, and
he bridge near Rodjo was completed r
n August. The statement made some
inc ago 10 the Associated Press cor"
that trains were running
rom Rodio as far as lslahiah per-
Mite the conclusion that the karapa'
,a tunnel was also finished, either
hat. a track was. laid OYER the pass
which here is rather low. Since then Il
I has been learned that tyack is be- e
ny laid in the Entity tunnel, which S
means that train communication VIII d
;oon exist. or is already established, b
rom Tarsus TO the end of the military .
inc in the desert. Should TINS be the II
'ase then the trip to the Sucz cana
viii have been shortened two days. q
he time given in the above table IN y
luding in all cases the hours lost III =
troops from train 10 foau {
nd vice versa.
But the possibility exists that a fur- E
her improvement has been maze IN
his line of communication. WORN
vas being pushed last June with al,
mercy on the Bagdad line beyonu
3Osanti that is to connect WIN ing
Iersina. Tarsus and Adana rallroau
4 Dorak. OF the seventy tuliheis [,
hree of which are $500, 2'ioo ana r
200 yards long, many were comp'e,- h
cir &