Norwich bulletin., 1916-12-05
STORIES OF THE WAR
Protecting the Suez Canal.

The building of the roads necessi- tated in the defense work at the Suez Canal has been an ardous process. The earth has been excacated literally by basketfuis Most of the labor has been done by thousands of natives employed at high wages
 Armed with sEovels and baskets, the natives have. made the road6eGs, carrying the sand out on their should CTS. The country where the roads but in numerous instances it has been necessary to make quite deep cuts through the dures.
 For rock ballast stone was brought through the canal from various points and transported by train to the des- ert.
 Along the sweet-water canal. which runs near the ship waterway, a num- Der of big filtration plants and pump ing stations have bcen established and pipe lines have been laid to within a short distance of the extreme outposts The water is syphoned from the plarts which are on the west bank of the canal, under the canal, and is then pumped out to the various stations along the way. From the ends of the lines the water Is carried to the out posts by camels. All told the pipe lines now completed total over hun dred miles.
 In the territory between the out posts and the canal there are many well laid camps for thousands of troops. Everywhere there Is intense but methodical activity.
 Neatly built wooden and steel build ings are located where only the Be- douin's tent has stood before. Whist ling locomotives and tootirg automo- piles go rushing past long strings of heavily laden and low-moving camels and donlzeys. Khaki-c1ad Australian English SnihiaT.S from the West Indies. robed and tur- baned Egyptians. and Indians in their native garb. work together, forming an unusual picture with is desert set ting.
 Health conditions are said to be ex- cellent, the percentage of sickness av- eraging about one and one-half per cent. Few of those in the hospitals are seriously ill. Certainly the sol- diers look exceedingly fit, and the same may be said of the animals.
 One of the precautions taken for the protection Of the canal has been the flooding of considerable tracts of land. Aviators daily scout about the desert and patrol boats continually pass up and down the waterway Fur ther measures have been instituted which cannot be mentioned here
 Of the operations in the west there is little to be said. The work of the British troops who are looking after the Senussi tribesmen now consists largely of patrol duty and there is said to be no trouble of con3equence.
 The maintenance of martial law necessitates the presence of consid- erable numbers Of troops throughout the country for police duty. There appears to be no disposition on the part of General Murray to interfere with the customs and pursuits of the people except where necessary for the welfare of the military operations However, he is a stern discipiinar;an and one thing that he has devoted much attention to has been the stamp ing out of various forms of vice which flourish in Egypt. As 8 result, it is said, that the moral tone of the whole country has been raised to a higher level. Many tributes Of respect for General Murray's work are heard.
 General Murray insists on personal supervision of all his work There is no part of the canal zone that he does not know intimately and he spends days at a time inspecting the opera tons. He has his finger on every de- tail and he is quick in decision on all questions.
 His plans for the remainder of his campaign are matter of much spec ulation, however. Officers and men often look off into the desert and ask one another if the commander ulti- mately will lead them out to battle with the Turks ard reclaim this ter ritory. But when the subject is preached the General merely smiles to say: ''Who can tell what the future may deVeIop?'