The somewhat clumsy reopening of the Bagdad Railway campaign by the German Press is at least evidence that negotiations between the concessionaires and the British Government are again contemplated or are already on foot. The question of funds and of British co-operation being thus revived, it will not be uninstructive to examine tho remarkable progress of railway construction in Asiatic Turkey during the last two decades. That we have reason to follow this development with attention the recent Turkish encroachment on the Sinai Peninsula is sufficient proof, for this undoubtedly had its contributory cause iu the rapid construction of the Damascus-Hedjaz Railway.

The first railway laid in Asiatic Turkey was the Smyrna-Aidin line, built in U 56 by an English company. Between that year and 1883 three other concessions were obtained, all by British firms, namely the Smyrna-Kassaba, which subsequently fell into French hands, the Mudania- Broussa, also now a French line, and the Mersina Adana. In all there ware only 240 miles of railroads in Asiatic Turkey before 1885. In 1882 came the German military mission, for the reformation of the Turkish Army ; and from that year Germanophil and Anglophobe counsels prevailed at Constant!- nople, greatly facilitated by the British oc- cupation of Egypt and by our subsequent unsympathetic policy towards the Porte It was at this period that an ambitious railway programme was initiated by the Sultan, at the instigation of his German advisers, and various concessions were accorded to various con- cession-hunters. shield surprise nobody to learn that only one English railway project is to be found among all these, namely, the Haifa Damas ms concession, the promoters of which went into bankruptcy, the line being constructed eventually by the Turkish Govern- ment itself. This ii a poor record for British enterprise in one of the richest areas of the earth, and the following tables of constructed and projected lines speak eloquently of our rooted objection to lend our diplomacy to the encouragement of British capital.

PROJECTED RAILROADS.

We thus find that more than two thousand miles of railway have been built in the last twenty years, while the second table shows how important from a strategic point of view are the lines not yet commenced. The German share of the spoils represents nearly cne thousand miles of constructed, and nearly two thousand miles of projected lines. British enterprise is conspicuous by its absence. Most of the Levant lines which have gone into French hands are dependent for revenue : on traffic returns alone, and are practically commercial railways only. The German con-, cassions, on tin other hand, are mainly strategical, and carry with them a Turkish kilometric guarantee. Failing the sufficiency of the provincial tithes through which these German lines run, the varions 'projects have had to wait upon new Turkish sources of revenue, which in their turn are dependent upon international consent. Meanwhile the Porte has hurried on with its own pet project, the Damascus-Hedjez Railway, and has linked this with the Syrian coast at Haifa, where a German syndicate is about- to construct im portant harbour works. Haifa is practically a German colony. The Damascus-Hedjez line, as we might have expected from a knowledge of the condition of the .Turkish Treasury, is a narrow gauge line, and has been almost entirely dependent for its construction upon the Sultan's civil list. It is shortly to be linked ap, by way of Baalbek and Hamah, with Aleppo and a point on the projected Bagdad Railway, probably at Tel Habesh. This unfinished link, which would give uninterrupted railway com- munication between the Hedjaz and the Bos- phorus at Haidar Pacha, is being constructed by the Société Anonyme da Chemin de Fer Damas, llama, et Prolongements, on broad- gauge lines, but with a third inner rail to admit the rolling stock of the Hedjaz Rail- way. The German-constructed and projected lines are all broad gauge—thus de-raining between the Bosphorus and the Hedjaz must occur at the point where the Hedjaz and Bagdad projects eventually meet. The port of Alexandretta, which must ultimately become un important outlet for the varied produce cf the rich provinces traversed by the great railroads running north, east, and south, will be linked with both systems.

If the reader will consult a good map of Asiatic Turkey he will see at a glance that every additional mile of rails laid on the projec- ted Bagdad Railway, from Eregli eastwards, means so much gain in the strategical consoli- dation of Turkish military power—and this apart from the immense commercial potentiali- ties of the provinces to he traversed. It is admitted that the country to the west, north, and east of the Syrian Desert has in its day been the garden of the world. Turkish and German anxiety, therefore, to proceed with the Bagdad project is perfectly praiseworthy. It is, however, a far cry from Eregli to the Persian Gulf, and the distance will, metaphorically speaking, prove much greater if Great Britain continues to refuse to assist the Turkish Treasury in its quest of the kilometric guarantee necessary to the German promoters. This is the course we have adopted until now, bat it should not be beyond the power of diplomacy to find a basis for Anglo-German co-operation in the railroad development of Asiatic Turkey.

("Morning Post").

On the 6th June next, Brevet-Colonel S.G. Bird, D.S.O, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, kill vacate the command of the 1st Battalion at Alexandria to the regret of all ranks. Colonel Bird got his first commission in the old 102nd Royal Ma i as Fusiliers now the 1st Battalion of the gallant "Dabs"—in 1874, was promoted captain in 1881, major in 1892, and lieutenant- colonel in Jane, 1902. He was adjutant of a militia battalion from 1886 to 1888 and also of the Ceylon Volunteer Light Infantry from 1889 till 1894. He was with the Dublins in the South African War, including the opening action of the campaign at Talana Hill ; Lom- bard's Kop ; the operations in the Orange Free State; operations in the Transvaal, west of Pretoria ; and for some time he was Com- mandant at Krugersdorp (mentioned twice in despatches. D.S.O., Queen's medal with four clasps, Ring's medal with two clasps). It is anticipated that Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel A. W. Gordon, second in command of the 2nd Battalion, Buttevant, will get the step; Major A. H. Rutherford will become second in command of the let Battalion, and the majority will go to Captain R. A. Booth, 2nd Battalion.

Captain E.B. Hankey, Worcestershire Regi- ment; has been formally seconded for service as side-de-camp to Sir F. G. D. Bedford, Governor of Western Anstralia.

Over one hundred second lieutenants have been posted to .varions regiments, chiefly subalterns of the auxiliary forces who passed at the recent competitive examination. Amongst them are the following appointments to regi- ments having battalions in Egypt—Lancashire Fusiliers, Second Lieutenant M. T Kearney, from the 6th Battalion ; Royal luniskilling -Fusiliers, Second Lieutenant J.R. Geoghegam, from the Wicklow R. Q. A. Militia.

Lieutenant H. M. Greaves, 14th Battery Royal Field Artillery, Dundalk, bas been selected for service with the Egyptian Army, and proceeds to Cairo forthwith. Lieutenant Greaves has been a gunner since May, 1900.

Lieutenant B.G. Bromhead, of the Royal Berks, has been detailed for a coarse of ins- truction at the Orduance College, Woolwich, where he joined this week.

Major General F. S. F. Stokes has been appointed to the command at Malta, and not at Gibraltar, as was at first intimated. He will leave England about the 15th June to take up his appointment.

Captain C. H. Unwin, Lancashire Fusiliers, who recently returned from Nairobi, East Africa, where he was employed with the 1st Battalion King's African Rifles, has been posted to a company in the 2nd Battalion at Fermoy, on absorption.

The detachment of the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, at Newry, has been ordered to rejoin headquarters at Belfast on the 30th inst.

The 1st Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment has gone from Dublin to Kilbride Camp for musketry, and is having very indifferent weather.

Rumour again has it that a further reduc- tion of the Mediterranean Fleet is in contemplation, and that a similiar reduction will be made in the Atlantic Fleet. After the Tabah incident, when the presence of a power- ful naval force saved farther unpleasantness surely it is unwise to chop and change, and play to a section of the public on the lines of economy.

Instrument Concerts

Every Night

On the Verandah of the

WINDSOR, HOTEL

Alexandria

From 6 to 12 p.m.

5 O'clock Tea Served on Verandah.

13-11-906