The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-04-07
Baked BY MIRAGE
British Artillery Has Queer Trou'
bic in Arabia.
Evoiutions OF Troops Are obseured-
See Infantry Like Trees Moving
and Think Them . Trans
port Train.

Sheikh Saad. Arabia--The ground
between the Tigris river and the hills
was the scene of the battle of Sheikh
Saad. The land is naliciously and
fanatically sterile Even the agoon
and the kharnoog come to an end. II
was over this rutty ground that the
transport wagons bumped and jolted
with their freight Of wounded on the
evening OF January 7.
1t was evening when our steamer
moored near the battlefield. We went
out to meet them as they streamed in
over the mud-colored fat, and gave
what aid we could. Many were walk
ing very erect, some OF them with the
stiffness of effort. These were the less
serious cases. The stretchers and
transport wagons came in later. One
was struck with the hardness and
stoicism of the British and Indian
alike.
Beg your pardon. sir" says Brit
fsh private: can you tell me where
the ambulance is?" and he deprecates
the support OF my shoulder. though his
calf Is bandaged and it is painful for
him to put his left foot to the ground.
Il am all right. sir; it's nothing s:rt'
GUS"
He lifts up his shirt and points to
puncture in his stomach. His face is
bloody and bandaged.
1T is nothing" he explains; took
OF bit Of my gums"
He will not rest, but moves on to-
wards the distant Red Cross flag and
the tunnels of the steamer on the riV'
err Here at least should be rest. warm
tea and comforts for his wounds. But
In Mesopotamia it is far cry to the
smooth motor ambulances OF France.
the rapid transit to the hospital. where
an hour or two after he has received
first aid doctors and nurses are ready
with every saving device that science
can provide.
We have heard the guns overnight
and again in the morning as our pad
die steamer with its attendant light
ers forged up stream. The first shell
disturbed a flight of sand grouse which
came wheeling across the river in such
myriads that We who were watching
from the roof of the bridge forgot the
shells and turned our glasses on the
birds-a skein Of plumase half mile
long tying itself up in loops In the
most complicated evolutions. the van
suddenly wheeling around, while the
rear, an opposite point, then converged
I'm . hoop. They were dark at one
turn, silvery the next. as the sun
caught their underwings through the
black smoke Of Z monitor.
The evolutions OF our troops on
land we're obscured by the mirage. We
saw infantry like trees moving, and
thought them a transport train. Other
masses, which could be nothing but
artillery. crossed the pontoon bridge
ahead Of US from the right bank to the
left. The mirage does not affect the
atmosphere at the height OF bursting
shell; we could see the shrapnel smoke
unfolding two or three miles from the
bank, and wondered II it were Turkish
artillery or our own. Smelling their
advance posts" was the general YER
dict. 1t was not until later that we
realized that the whole force was at
grips with the enemy: and 1t was not
until We moored and met the converg-
ing stream coming in from the
trenches that we realized how costly
the day had been. The guns we had
heard had played but small part in
the action, for the mirage had made
artillery preparation for our advance
Intellectual, and the bulk Of our casual
ties on both banks of the stream had
occurred in frontal attacks on the en-
emy's position.
As write we are moving on to At
tack q new position. and it is not the
moment yet for detailed account of
the action.