File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎138v] (285/834)

120 —
satisfactory sign of general feeling that no difficulty whatevei is
being met with in raising a native police force. Applicants, able
to offer substantial guarantees for good behaviour, are more
numerous than required. . .
The chief desire of the better class in South Palestine is to
secure increased facilities for external trade, especially with
Egypt. All sorts of contraband methods have been tried, but
with little success, and till the pressure on transport is less,
legitimate traffic can hardly be encouraged further. Internal
trade is looking up, more and more shops being reported
re-opened in the towns.
Good results are being obtained by the Palestine Relief
Fund, now amalgamated, more or less, with the American Red
Cross. But in Jerusalem a severe strain will be put upon it by
the influx from Salt.
All accounts, received from agents in enemy territory, ■
indicate coming scarcity, even when the new harvest shall have
been gathered. Not only will Syria be very short, but also
North Mesopotamia, in both cases owing to lack of labour at the
time of ploughing and seed. Large German purchases during
the winter have aggravated the situation, and starvation, leading
to rioting, is reported from cities of North and Mid-Syria. In
Aleppo there are said to have been, during the winter, from
forty to fifty deaths per day from shortage of food, while the
mortality among all kinds of domestic animals has reached eighty
per cent of the total livestock of the district.
ARABIA.
North-West.
Intelligence.
Northern Area.
After the destruction of the railway south of Amman by
British troops, the Arabs looted the station buildings at Khan
Zebib, Jizeh and Leban, which the Turks had temporarily
abandoned. More recently the Arabs have made several attacks
on the railway north of Maan, but details have not yet been
received. A construction train near Kissir station was attacked
by the Royal Air Force, 800 lbs. of bombs being dropped, and
many falling within effective range of the train. Amman station
was bombed by eight machines on April 3 ; 1,200 lbs. of bombs
were dropped on station buildings and rolling stock, and 2,000
rounds of machine gun ammunition were fired at a train near by.
The British army in Palestine is now in touch by motor
boat to Mezraa with Sherif Feisal’s troops at Kerak.
The railway between Amman and Jizeh, which had been
destioyed by British troops (see p. 110), is reported by our
aeroplanes to have been repaired.