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Show TURKS AND HUNS REFUSE TO FIGHT FOR DAMASCUS along the road others of tbe Flt'th brigade bri-gade opened with machine grins and rifles on the leading portion of tbe col limn. The enemy was absolutely at their mercy, and after a futile half hearted resistance surrendered. Hun Starts Destruction. "It was nightfall. More than 120, 000 enemy had been captured, and still they came. The town had nut yet surrendered sur-rendered probably there was no one there in authority to capitulate, l'.ut the Ilun started on his work if demolition. demo-lition. Suddenly we saw n huge conflagration con-flagration near the wireless station Flames leaped skyward hundreds of feet. Loud explosions sounded from time to time, sending myriads of sparks into the air. It provided (l gorgeous pyrotechnic .display of gargantuan proportions. Ammunition, benzine and stores all fed the fire. It lighted up the city like moonlight. "Then we knew that the Hermans hud decided to surrender. From the east the victorious Arabs swarmed into the city, yelling with triumph, and blazing a veritable feu de jole into the air. Turks and Germans fought in the streets, then iied to the shelter of the gardens and surrendered at dawn. "Back to the Barnda Gorge, the Fifth brigade held the road, and a small proportion was able-to snatch an hour's sleep the first since leaving Kuneitrn 42 hours before. "So fell th? undent city, and as our casualties were very small we called it a bloodless victory, but within a fortnight the Desert Mounted corps had thousands of men down with malaria, ma-laria, and hundreds died right on the eve of peace. That's the pity of it." Secretary Tumulty learned of Fox's action when, receiving delayed Information Infor-mation of the property sale, he wired C. R. Sibbs. tax collector of Riverside county. News of the sale was published pub-lished in newspapers here and read by Fox. Australian Tells of Victory Gained Over Superior Force. ENEMY MORALE SHATTERED Interesting Account of Capture of Ancient An-cient City by Australian Forces Could Have Sustained Siege for Months. Sydney, N. S. W. An interesting if belated account of the capture of Damascus Da-mascus by Australian fotves last fall Is given by a returned Australian soldier sol-dier in the Sydney Morning Herald. The narrative starts with the Australians' Aus-tralians' advance from Tiberias nnd the subsequent encircling operations which resulted In the fall of Damascus Damas-cus itself. "Leaving Tiberias behind the Australian Aus-tralian division pushed on northward to Lake Huleh, where they tried to cross the Jordan, but the enemy had blown up the big stone bridge, and nests of German machine gunners lined the precipitous river banks. Up and down the river the patrols reconnol-tered, reconnol-tered, but always they were met with a burst of fire from the eastern bank. But the old Jordan had to be crossed, so the Tenth Light Horse, under cover of darkness, forced a passage near the lake, while the Fourteenth Light Horse did the same further south. In the morning they converged on the enemy from either flank,, capturing a number of prisoners, a few guns, and many machine guns. The bulk of the enemy rear guard bolted. So once more was continued the great race toward Damascus. Da-mascus. Enemy Rear Guard Routed. "At Kuneitra the rear guard machine ma-chine gunners were again encountered, and once more at Sasa. At the latter place there was stiff fighting, and we had some casualties, but the last obstacle ob-stacle was removed, and we pushed on to the great city. "Away to the eastward we could see clouds of dust rising from the Hedjaa road. It was the remnant of the Fourth Turkish army from Amnn. So, In spite of their long start, we had made a dead-heat of it. Their fate was already sealed. We had been In the saddle all the previous afternoon, aft-ernoon, all night, and all the morning, morn-ing, but there was no chance of a halt. General Hodgson commanding the Australian division pushed the gardens, and reached the Barada : Gorge 6,000 strong, streaming out along the road to Beyrut. In one plat-e a house on the hill overlooks the gorge, where the rail the road awd the river run within a few yard of 'each oflier, and here a party fit 13 nen of the Fourteenth regiment, X. S. "VV., with two officers, opened fire on the big column. col-umn. Turks awd "Gewnarrs 'fled in all directions. "Several 'wre Ml'lefl ind the horsemen horse-men then Tailed lie 'horses and mules In the gun teams . and blocked the road. The oeiTnrnn was cut in two and more than '3,'000 surrendered. A mile further Third Light Horse brigade toward the south of the city, while he sent General Gen-eral Onslow's Fifth brigade on a wide encircling sweep to the west and north of Dumar, with a view to blocking block-ing the escape. "The battle of Damascus, which fallowed fal-lowed will be studied In years to come as the perfect example of the Influence Influ-ence of morale. Napoleon sal1 that morale to material Is as three to one. Here one found It a hundred to one. A few thousand exultnnt horsemen tiem-med tiem-med In and captured an army. The city was surrounded. The roads to northward were held. Having abundance abun-dance of arms and munitions, food and water, and being In such overwhelming numbers, they could have sustained a siege for months, even if they feared to risk battle In the open. But their mornle was shattered. "There was little fight left in fheni. A fringe of machine guns and a few pieces of artillery held off the a1 packers pack-ers for an hour or so. Then the horsemen horse-men broke through. The Third Light Horse brigade captured some tliou-Bands tliou-Bands of the Fourth Turkish army from. Aman. "The Fourlh regiment enterwl the outskirts of the city, found the blglw-racks blglw-racks swarming with Turks and 'Germans. 'Ger-mans. But they wouldn't fight and the Victorians rounded up lO.OiX) nf them and led them away. Another column, several thousand si mug. fleeing flee-ing from the Arabs, tried to escape by the northern mad to Honin. Hut the Third Light Horse brigade started in pursuit, charged the rear guard of German machine gunnel's and captured the whole column. "Meanwhile the Fifth Light Horse brigade which used to he the camel corps broke through the cordon of machine guns, hiding in the northern |
