Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-12-02
Fall of Jerusalem Will Be Hard Blow
to Germany and Ruin Turkish Morale

The capture of Jerusalem will be
as great in It's moral effect as in its
military value is the opinion OF H.
Charles Woods, +. -R. G. s., English
traveller and writer, who is now in
this country to give a series Of lee
lures on war and Diplomacy in the
Balkans" before the Lowell Institute.
Mr.. Woods is the author Of washed
by Four Seas" The Danger Zone of
Europe" and other works. He is well
verscd In affairs In the near east. His
knowledge OF the Turks he gained by
stay of many months on several
Journeys to the Ottoman empire. II
1909 he visited Adana and investl-
gated the massacre OF the Armenians.
ITO understand the movement un-
dcrtaken against jerusalem, and to
appreciate its importance" he said,
zone must go back into recent history.
This done and one will Sc that any
blow against this holy city Is also an
allied blow against Germany. Ever
since the kaiser came to his throne he
has been infatuated with the desire
Of n German drive to the east. an at
tempt to dominate from Hamburg TO
Eagdad. For instance. in 1889 and
again In 1895 he made visits to Tur-
key and really played the part of
royal carpet-bagger. on the second
OF these occasions he even went 80 far
MS to declare himself the friend of the
sultan and of all Moslems who have
In consequence Venerated him always
lie appointed to that country his best
ambassador, Won Bieberstein, who
well carried out the war lords in
trigues until he was brought to Lon
non as Ambassador shortly before his
death. The kaiser lent German Off
GERS to train the Turkish army and
German engineers TO build her rail-
roads
1T Is for these reasons that the in
tcrests of Turkey and Germany are so
closely bound up that defeat of the
Ottoman army Is an actual defeat OF
the German army. II Is also for these
reasons and because of the German
obsession for domination in the near
east that Germany might even make
great sacrifices elsewhere to realize
hcr great penetration scheme across
two continents.
THE Bagdad railroad may be called
the backbone of German power In
Asiatic Turkey. Constructed as a pro-
1ongation of the Anatolian railways,
which We're opened as far az Konia in
1895, the Bngdad railroad has been
gradually constructed. as the result OF
q concession given to Germany in
1903. At the present time It Is pos
travel by train right across the table
land Of Asia Minor, thru the Taurus
mountains, along the plain of Cilicla.
thru the Amanus range across the
Euphrates and at last as far as Helif.
This place lies about two-thirds Of the
way between the Euphrates and the
Tigris. There the facilities for travel
have only been available for the last
few months, for while the Amanus
tunnel was completed in 1915. the
Tauruse tunnels were only pierced last
year. These additional travel ia
cilities are most important as far as
Mesopotamia is concerned, for there
are now at most only two hundred
miles of distance which cannot be
travelled either by train or by boats
floated down the TigIis from Mosul.
I'm regard TO Syria these travel fa
cilities are most important for the
great southern arm of the Bagdad
railroad leaves it near Aleppo and
runs In a southerly direction thru Da-
mascns as far as a point called Dernla
Junction. From this point the He'd iaZ