Norwich bulletin., 1917-03-21

mals- It has not bean safe for a camel to start on a days journey lest he split and die. Nsvertheiess. the army transport taxed to its limit be- fore. has risen to the new demand. By tightening loads. some sort of mobility has been evoked under con- ditions in which the elements con- spire to clog all movement. Every use oneis common sense, is swept aside for the exigsncies of the hour. But even while the transport de- partment is eomhatting one diniculty different kind While everything is sodden and mud-logged. it must look ahead to the season of floods and to the burning months Of May. June. July, August and September.
 Things will go better during the hot season this year. The climate of Mesopotamfa is no worse than that of the Punja'b, and troops would be as fit on the Tigris as on the Indus if they had the same protection from the heat and a fair proportion of the com forts available in India. Last sum- mer, on account of the inadequate river transport, these compensations were not to be had, but now with in creased facilities the position is changed.
 This year there will be a great inn proyement in tentage, with the subeti- tuition of the large European pattern,
 
 fly expeditionary tents of last year. Preparations are in hand for the pro- vision of ice-plants at all the big sta tions on the lines of communication, soda-water factories calculated to turn out so much per head per day. frozen meat storehouses and barges, vegetables gardens of 5000 acres each grass farms to save transport, chicken farms. dairy farms. provision for ster- ilized milk, a more systematiZed ar rangement for the purchase of fresh meat and local produce. and various labor and transport saving apparatus.
 More hut shelters with matt roof ing will be provided. All these things and comfort of the troops, although of course no possible transport arrange ments can bring in material to elim- mate the toll of the sun, or to make the men as comfortable here as in cantonments. The shade of trees and strong shelter of walls and roofs to keep out heat must always be want ing in a country which produced building material except dried bricks. and that in unsatisfactory quantities and qualities. Through all the cycles of it's civilizations the coun- try can never have possessed paved road.
 The British army now holds over three hundred miles of, this inhospi- table country. The army is depend ent mainly on river transport The number of steamers available has been increased. but the difficulties are still great The vessel which can be adapted to all the vagaries of the Ti- gris is hard to find. Different types of craft are serviceable at different seasons andh in different sections of the river. Prom the end of March to the beginning of July there is flood water, and a steamer has to make head against a five-knot current. In the autumn the channel is only five feet deep, and no craft drawing more than four feet six inches is of use. The channel is constantly changing, and it's sharp twists and turns complicate navigation.
 At first, the use of the Tigris as a line of communication was limited to the number of vessels which could be got through the Narrows, where for forty miles there is no way of Ves sels passing each other in the low water A,ason- The congestion here has been removed by the completion of the railway.