Evening star., 1919-03-10
HERO OF PALESTINE
POPULAR WITH ALL
Gen. AIIenby Is Acclaimed by
Moslem, Jew and
Christian.
STREETS NAMED FOR HIM
BY MARION wEINsTEIN.


tThis is the first article received from Miss
a special correspondent She will write q com
plete series on the Holy Land. dealing with its
present and future.1
HAIFA. January % fby maiD Gen
Sir Edmund III. II. Allenby, COM
of occupied Palestine
and Syria, resolved me at his head
quarters hers today. He had just
come from Ciiicia, which military ne
cessity is adding to the enemy terri
tory now under his administration
from the frontiers of Egypt to the
village Of Adana-
Z In a. sunny setting of luxuriant
eyergreens and seashell paths, with
Mount Carmel stretching its verdant
length in she near background. the
commanders house looks toward the
peaceful Bay of Acre. The low, trim
structure of inevitable buff limestone
was the home year ago of a pros
porous German engineer, who fed be-
fore the British advance. His sub
stantial furniture and countless lith-
ographs have been so little disturbed
he might have left his rooms but yes
terday.
His Eyes InscrutabIe.
7 wished to kiss Gen. Allenby's in
teIligenr forehead" an Arab chief
the supreme strategist that wrested
tho Holy Land from the unholy rule
Of the Turk. But 1t Is the command
er's eyes of clearest blue that give
the nSst hint of his master mind.
Their case comes steady and direct
from under shaggy. gray black browa
But they are unreadable eyes, the
eyes OF man who keeps his own
counsel, subject to his own iron will.
Kindness and humor play over his
other strong features, but his eyes
remain ever inscrutable. / am told,
however. they can fash with the CLINT
of cold steel
No one can be with Gen. Allenby
long without noticing. too, his tanned
and muscular hands, eloquent OF use.
They tapped impatientiy once or twice
during lunch. served by an adept
Tommy" but when we withdrew
from his staff for a talk in the library
was struck with their singular re-
pose. The commander-in-ch chief Is evil
dently man of no half measures,
even in ordinary life. He Is either in
tensely in action or inaction.
Streets Named After Him.
Gen. Allenby is continually cover
lag "Oeta." as his occupied enemy
territory administration is abbrevi-
ated here. In tireless trips from his
headquarters at Haifa; for, as in war.
time, he Is no behind the lines ex-
ecutive. Everywhere he is hailed with
enthusiasm. for his powerful figure
commands attention, even when he
would avoid a. triunphal entry. The
Moslems insist his name spelled back
ward means ''the son of Allah" Jews
and Christians speak OF him with the
deepest feeling. Halfa and Jaffa and
other settlements have renamed
streets in his honor.
Because of his intimate knowledge
of the country, l asked Gen. Allenby
his Impressions OF Palestine.
1T is a country with a future he
replied. The terraced hills show that
even they were once cultivated. Our
Australian troops have been SO i'm
pressed with II that many of them
are Interested in obtaining land here"
Have to Fight Fever and Turk.
~And what OF the Jewish colonies?''
/ pressed on For the commander
in-chief is not a man of many words.
He answers without the slightest hesi-
tation, briefly and tersely. He seems
10 Lhink ana aCt ana speak on the
axiom that straight line is the
shortest distance between two points.
In fact. he confessed himself that his
method has always been to decide
what he wanted and to go for IL by
the most direct route.
The Jewish colonies are prosper
ous," he told me, but those who
would develop the country must pre-
pare to spend great deal of money,
| with little return for some time TO
come Just as America did in Pan
| anna. The greatest difficulty is fever
| When we were not fighting the Turk
| here we were fighting fever It is
! widespread. and during the war II
| grew malignant"
what do you think of the Jew
| ish settlers as compared with the
| Arabs"
| They are more progressive, OF
l course"
Jewish Battalions in Action.
Rumors are anoat hero that may
reach the United States that the Jew
ish battalions in Palestine never saw
action These Gen. Allenby denies
The 3sth and a9th Battalions did good
service in tho Jordan valley, he eaid
/ although comparatively untraine<