The Arizona copper camp., 1919-12-27

ing for the operations that eventually
resulted in the deliverance of the
Holy Land by General Allenby's mod
ern crusaders. At Port Said they
were making ready number of clever
little motor boats for both combat
and patrol duty against the Turks on
numerous inaccessible inland water
ways. One of these boats was as
signed to duty on the Sea Of Galilee,
it's special duty being to patrol the
shore and villages against any organ
ICED Turkish forces.
The boat was a fifty-footer, equip
ped with two Thornycroft engines and
mounting forward a Hotchkiss three
FOUNDER and a machine gun aft.
AS it was going to be a difficult
task to get the boat to the Sea of
Galilee and was going to require the
services of a good man to operate it,
Reed was relieved of his mine-sweep-
ing duties and assigned to the new
task. This, therefore, took him to
Egypt.
Soon after his arrival the formid-
able little motorboat was started on
its journey. It reached Jerusalem by
navigating the Suez canal and thence
! by railway.
Then the fun began, and therein lies
the main point of this narrative. From
Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee is a
vast stretch of dry, barren land, with
no means of transportation save the
backs of donkeys and human bearers
A funny place for a "ra'ring to- go"
motorboat, but not so funny when you
stop to consider the plans that had
been made and which had all been
worked out beforehand.
A naval gun drag and several cater
pillar tractors were there waiting
and incidentally, according to Reed,
the tractors were American-made. The
"prancing" motorboat was soon hoist
ed upon the drag, resting in a cradle
designed for. the special purpose, the
caterpillars started to chug and the
150-mile journey was on, with Reed
standing proudly on the deck of the
motorboat skipper that he was.
The strange procession, the object
of many gawkeyed and curious ma
! tives, soon disappeared within the
famous Jaffa Gate, and slowly but
surely continued its epochal and tri-
umphal march through the streets of
Jerusalem, while more and still more
awed natives lined the route. Old Je-
rusalem never before had dreamed of
such a sight. Reed remained on deck
bowling and waving all the way.
The voyage then continued on to
the Sea of Galilee, where the motor
boat at last came into its own, being
launched with ceremony in the histor-
! ic body of water.
And right here it might be said that
Reed claims the distinction of being
! the first and perhaps the only man to
operate a motorboat on the Sea of
Galilee-at least the only amored mo-
torboat
So, between this and the distinction
of having travelled in a motorboat
through the streets of the Holy City
he has quite a record, to say the
least
Sometimes when I think of it," he
remarked, "I feel that I am guilty OF
desecrating the Holy Land, but then
it was all in the general scheme to
deliver the Holy Land after centuries
Of Turkish domination"
The transporting of the motorboat
over that long, dry stretch was in
I 1918, just before General Allenby's
last advance, Reed explained.
Upon completing his duties in the
Holy Land, Reed saw service in Egypt
and was in Cairo during the riots Of
: April and May this year. His expert
ences in Egypt were similar to his
previous service There he was ir
the motorboat patrol service along the
River Nile.
On an occasion when the disturb
ances became particularly threaten
; ing, he tells of an incident wherein g
, motorboat belonging to General Bick
ett, commander Of the Royal Engi
neers, was Communicated, mounted
! with machine guns and used in patro
service along the Nile. Reed served
as engineer on the boat, similar to the
: service he performed on the Sea O.
! Galilee.
In view of the barren nature of the
{ country and the lack of transporta
J tion, patrolling by this method proved
, quite effective, he said, in suppressins
disturbing elements. The motorboa
| carried quite a good-sized detachmen
of machine gunners.