Salt Lake Tribune | 1916-07-15 | Page 6 | New War Enigma

NEW WAR ENIGMA. A few days ago a dispatch from Pe-trograd Pe-trograd informed the world that British marines had arrived at Archangel with armored motor cars and would proceed to tho Russian front. Tho dispatch seemed to convey something iu the nature na-ture of a puzzle. "Why should England send re-enforcements to Russia, which has more fighting men than it can put in the field? And why send marines to do the work of soldiers? Are tho Russians Rus-sians so inexpert in handling armored motor cars that marines can teach them? Or are the marines out just for a lark at the front after having transported trans-ported the cars by sea from England to Archangel'? These questions may be answered at least in part by the information which the correspondent of the New York Times just home from Russia, brings with him. He says: ''There is yet to be estimated the importance im-portance or the future results of the expedition ex-pedition of some 12,000 British troops which recently landed at Archangel en route to Tiflis, the headquarters of the Caucasian armies. They were well supplied sup-plied with tank motor cars for supplying supply-ing water in largo quantities and the object of the expedition is reported to be a dash from Tiflis across the sandy wastes either through Persia or Armenia Arme-nia with a view to effecting a junction with the British columns now operating in Mesopotamia. ' ' Evidently England has sent not merely mere-ly a few marines, but an army of 12,000 to Russia. But even the correspondent's correspond-ent's information seems a trifle unconvincing. uncon-vincing. Why send an English army around by way of Archangel and Russia to get into Mesopotamia? If the object is to get in behind the Turks it is the most gigantic conception of a movement move-ment to cut the enemy's communications communica-tions ever conceived by man. From the British positions on the Tigris to the rear of the Turkish positions, even if a wide detour were made, it is only a few miles. But to get in the rear of the Moslems, if we are to credit the correspondent, corre-spondent, English soldiers have been sent half round the world, through Arctic Arc-tic waters, through coldest and hottest Russia to the torrid clime of Mesopotamia. Mesopo-tamia. It is a flight of the imagination which only the mightiest of wars, a world war, could give wings to.