The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-17
MESOPOTAM|A IS
 |NHOSP|TAB[E AND
 FOR MAKING WAR

Basrah Mesopotanlia, March 16.-(Brit- ish Correspondence of the Associated Press.)-An army in Mesopo- tamia may be immobiized in the rainy season by the mud in the spring by floods, in the summer and early autumn by heat With the exception of october and November there is no month in which an army may move with any cer- tainty of a clear weeks uninterrupted operations.
 For the last 10 days the mud has been holding up carts and pack animals. It has not been safe for a camel to start
 on a days journey lest he splie and die.
 Nevertheless, the army transport, taxed
 to it's limit before, has risen to the new demand By tightening loads, some sort of mobility has been evoked under con- ditions in which the elements conspire to clog all movement. Early regulation, save the unwritten one to ue one's com mon sense, is swept aside for the exi. gencies of the hour.
 But even while the transport depart mept is combating one difficulty it must be anticipating others of a, 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 Meso- potamia is no worse than that of the Punjab, and troops would be as fit on the Tigris al on the Indus if they had the same protection from the heat and a fair proportion of the comforts available in India. Last summer on account of the inadequate river transport. these com pensa tions were not to be had, but now with increased facilities the position is changed.
 This year there will be great inn provement in tentage, with the substitu- ton of the large European pattern, IS feet by 16 feet, for the small single fly expeditionary tents of last year. Prepa- rations are In hand for the provision of ice plants at all the big stations on the lines of communication, soda water fac tories calculated to turn out so much per head per day, frozen meat storehouses and barges, vegetable gardens of 5000 acres each, grass farms to save trans
 port, chicken farms, dairy farms, provi- sion for sterilized milk, a more systema-
 tized arrangement for the purchase of fresh meat and local produce and vari-
 ous labor. and transport saving appara-
 tus.
 More hut shelters with matt roofing will
 be provided. All these things should help
 in maintaining the health and comfort of the troops although, of course, no possible transport arrangements can bring in material to eliminate the toll of the sun. or to make the men as con,for' a ble here as in cantonments. The shade of
 trees and strong shelter of walls and
 roofs to keep out heat must always be
 wanting in country which produced
 neither wood nor stone, and has no build ing material except sun-dried bricks, and that in unsatisfactory quantities and
 qualities. Through all the cycles of it's civilization the country can never have possessed a paved road
 The British army now holds over 300 miles of this inhospitable country. The army is dependent mainly on river trans port 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 Tigris is hard to find. Different types of craft are serviceable at different seasons and in different sections of the river From the end of March to the beginning of July there is flood water, and steamer has to make head against a five-knot cur rent In the autumn the channel Is only five feet deep, and no craft drawing more than four feet six inches 's of use The channel is constantly changing. and its sharp twists and turns complicate navigation.
 At first the use of the Tigris as line of communication was limited to the number of vessels which could be got through the Narrows, where for 40 miles there is no way of vessels passing each other in the low water season. The con gestion here has been removed bv the completion of the railway.