The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-03-05

According to the announcements from
Constantinople, Kaiser Wilhelm wants to
send 500, 900, or twelve and one-half
times as many fighting men from the
promised land to Egypt, but he plans to
do it in few months.
According to the thirty-second chapter
of Numbers in the Old Testament, only
two men in the party who left Egypt,
lived to arrive at the end of the journey.
II the kaiser's prospective travellers ar
rived on the banks of Suez in a similar
proportion, there would be exactly
twenty-five men on that eventful day
when they shall meet the forces of the
allies and attempt to destroy the canal,
wrest Egypt from the crown of Great
Britain and weaken British control in
India-the three things which it is
hoped will "congeal the fighting blood
of the leaders of England and compel
them, not through force, but through
fear, to loosen their strangle hold on the
throat of Germany"
But, presumably, the majority of the
company with Moses were pedestrians,
although there is some mention of Off
Gals riding on white donkeys and it is
not beyond reason to suspect that there
may have been camels in the party, for
camels were probably in Egypt at this
time, although the monuments make no
mention of them, which is explained by
the scientists who believe that such men.
ton was forbidden. For many Centu-
ries, at least, camels have been tire mos:
desirable motive power in this region,
as they are today. The Sinai peninsula,
lying between FL Ma AN, where the Ger
man emperor purposes to mass his
troops, and the suez canal, is place prar-
tically without water. Even camels
must drink and carry water for travellers
to drink, but they are able to go without
it for a great length of time. They
thrive where horses and donkeys die, but
the rather optimistic announcement of
the Germans does not suggest the pos
sibility Of mounting 100000 men on
camels. Great armOred motor cars are
suggested as a solution to the problem
of providing water, and presumably of
looking out for the food supply of this
vast army, where there is practically no
food and no means of providing even
the most essential substitutes for what
we consider food. Arabian desert Bed
ouins live and thrive on a small guam
tity of lentils and sour cakes of green
wheat roasted in camel dung. But this
diet would not suffice for 100000 fight
ing men from Europe and Asia Minor
me leutonlc-I urklSh plan, IL is an
nounced. is to form the basis of this su-
preme attack upon Suez at Aleppo. A
part of the distance from Constantinople
doubtless may be covered in a compare
lively short time. Aleppo is situated in
the midst of the great recruiting fields
of Asia Minor. Where there are no rail-
roads, thousands of laborers have been
crushing stone and paving the way for
the horde that is expected to pass that
way. Over much of this distance, great
engineering works have been going on
for many years, and while we have no
certain knowledge, it is likely that the
way to Damascus has been made COM
paratively easy.
From Damascus to Medina, one of the
holy cities of Arabia, runs the Hejaz or
pilgrims railroad. II is privately
owned and privately operated road for
the convenience of pilgrims on their way
to the tomb OF the Prophet and to Mecca,
many days beyond, distance that must
be covered by camel. Many writer's, ap-
parently English sympathizers, feel GER
tain that the rolling-stock OF this little
line will not be sufficient to provide
transportation for the hundreds Of thou