The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1918-08-06
SAVED BIZ MIRAGE
How British Army Escaped De-
feat in Mesopotamia.
Turssish Commander Saw What He Be-
iteNad Mere Re-enforeements Com
ING p Aid Enemy and Or
dered Retreat

We went on toward nowhere. intend.
Ing to make p vide detour and come
Into, old Basya city by. the Zobeir gate
IN the south wall Eleanor F. Egan
writes in; the Saturday Evening Post.
There was mo; dust, out there; only
hard.packed sand, out Of. which the
fierce hammering sun struck a myriad
giinting, eyes soaring sparks But 1t
was beautiful beyond words to de-
scribe. We spun along at fifty miles
an hour with a cool, clean breeze In
our faces Then just over. q, slight rise
In the sparkling plain I saw my f1rst
mirage. 1t was impossible to believe
1t was q mirage and. not really the
beautiful Jake that 1t seemed--a lake
dotted with wooded islands and
fringed in places with deep green for
eSts. f'
I I have seen mirages In other deserts
In other lands, but have never seen
anything like the Mesepotamian mi
rage. We drove straight on and it
came so close that I was sure 1 could
see a. ripple on its surface. Then sud-
denly it went away off, and where it
had been our .skidproof tires were hum
ming On the .hard-packed sand and I
saw that the wooded islands had been
created out Of nothing but patches Of
camel thorn and that the trees of the
forests. were tufts. Of dry. grass not
more than six inches high.
Off on the far horizon a camel car
AVIAN was, swinging slowly along and
the camels looked, like some mammoth
prehistoric. beasts, while In another
direction what we took to be camels
turned out to be string Of diminutive
donkeys under pack saddles laden with
bales Of the desert grass roots that the
Arabs nses for fuel.
r- The mirage has played an interest.
ing, part. I'm. the Mesopotamian cam
paigns, :, In some places It Is practi-
caily continuous the year round. and 1t
adds greatly to the .difaculties of an
army in action, 1t is seldom mistaken
for anything but what, it Is. Of course.
but It does curious things. to distance
and to objects both. animate and mani
mat, incidentally, It. renders, the. ac-
curate adjustment Of gun ranges al
most aitogether ,imppssible.
One Of the most curious Incidents of
the whole war happened Id connection
with a mirage. and on the very. spot
over which / drove that first day out
In the desert.
The battle OF Shaiba was. one Of the
hardest fought battles In the whole
Mespot campaign and victory for a
while was anybody's. 1t was going
very badly for the British, their losses
being heavier than they could stand
for long. And though the Turks were
In overwhelmingly superior numbers
1t was going very badly for them as
well. This the British officer COM
manding did not realize and he was
just. on the point Of giving an order for
retirement-which would have been
fatal to the Britisb1n Mesopotamia-.
when to his establishment he discov-.
cred that, the Turks were in full re-
treat! What a moment!
The desert was full of mirage and
the Turkish COMMUNICATIVE really
ought to have been more familiar with
local phenomena = saw approaching
from the southeast what looked to him
like heavy re-enforcements. 1t was
nothing but supply and ambulance
train magnified and multiplied by the
deceptive desert atmosphere! When
he ordered an immediate retreat his
already unnerved troops stampeded
and his demoralized rear guard was
bounded and harassed by great bands
Of nomad Arabs all the way to Kha-
nearly ninety miles away.
BE learned the truth few days later
and committed suicide!