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'Summary of correspondence relative to the administration of the Port of Basrah and measures for the control of the shipping traffic in Mesopotamia.' [‎23r] (45/134)

The record is made up of 1 volume (66 folios). It was created in 16 Sep 1916. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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41
and the attending circumstances whicli culminated in a valuable portion of tue
materials being taken back to Bombay in the same steamer.
The " Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. " left Bombay on the 5th February and arrived here on the
15th February. On the morning of the 16th Captain Lakin went on board and
was told by the Chief Officer that our gear was in No. 2 hold under some S. and
T. clothing and would be discharged immediately after the clothing.
I interviewed the 0. C. Mahailas on the IGth February and was informed
that the discharging of the vessel was a duty of this department and that he would
make all necessary arrangements for the delivery of our equipment.
The boats and sampans, which were carried on deck were delivered on the
17th February two days after the " Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. arrived.
After waiting several days for the discharge of the equipment and having,
from personal observation, come to the conclusion that there was no serious effort
being made to discharge the steamer, I reported the matter to the D. A. Q. M. G.
On the 28th February, 13 days after the " Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. " arrived here, the first of
our cases came to light, but not before boilers, boosa, timber, steel piles and other
heavy cargo had been discharged in addition to the clothing first mentioned.
The actual discharge of the equipment did not begin until 10 a.m . on the 29th
February, the day on which the " Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. " sailed and a considerable number of
cases and'packages were only obtained by literally excavating amongst the timber
and rails which the steamer is reported to have carried back to Bombay as un
discharged cargo. During the time the gear was being discharged we had a clerk
on board for our own satisfaction : this man on his own initiative searched
amongst the undischarged cargo and it is largely due to his resourcefulness that
we obtained so many of our cases and packages. The clerk reported that case
No. 155 which has gone back to Bombay was found so rigidly embedded in the
timber cargo that it could not be removed by hand and on drawing the Chief
Officer's attention to it was informed that it would be removed by and by. It
was while thus employed in the hold that the steamer got up anchor and sailed,
and it is probable that if clerk had not been called up he would also have gone back
to Bombay as he got ashore on the last Mahaila dropping away from the ship's
side. The " Ha\ ildar " sailed at 2 p.m . on the 29th February or 4 hours after she
began to discharge our equipment, having then been in port 14 days.
The M. L. 0. informed me on enquiry that he understood the " Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. " had
sailed with rails undischarged but knew nothing about our cases.
The articles returned to Bombay are detailed below and their loss although
possibly only temporary will occasion serious delay to all our work. The misssing
articles include two sounding lines mounted on reels. These lines are of stranded
wire with a hemp core and are marked off in regular distances and cannot be re-
placedl ocally. These losses make the river survey staff and equipment inopera
tive, and as river surveys are an essential preliminary to all the works contemplated
serious delay to river works will ensue as a consequence.
There is also a case missing which contained the drawing office equipment,
such as drawing paper and tracing cloth, level books and in addition plans of
wharves and landing stages which you specially asked me to bring. V. ithout this
portion of the equipment, the draftsmen and surveyors cannot plot their surveys
or prepare drawing, until the articles are returned or replaced no progress can be
made. Tide gauges have also been returned to Bombay and can ol y be leplaceu
after considerable labour.
1 have only commented on the more important items missing, but would point
out that every item of a carefully selected survey equipment is of value, and we
can no more carry on without these things than a machine can work minus of its
componenet parts.
List of missing articles of survey equipment.
The articles returned to Bombay are as detailed below :—
Case No. 155. Containing (1) all the drawing paper, tracing cloth, level books,
etc., required for the equipment of the drawing office.
S687(w)AD

About this item

Content

This secret summary was compiled by the Army Department, War Section Case and printed in Simla in September 1919. It contains letters and telegrams sent from 11 December 1915 to 14 August 1916 between the officers of the Government of India and the Director-General of Port Administration and River Conservancy on the administration of the Port of Basrah [Basra].

The summary also contains 'Report of Major-General G F MacMunn's Committee on the Organization of the River Service in Mesopotamia' (folios 58-66), with recommendations for the Royal India Marine Services, on the method of employing existing and forthcoming vessels, and measures for the control of the shipping traffic on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Extent and format
1 volume (66 folios)
Physical characteristics

The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

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English in Latin script
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'Summary of correspondence relative to the administration of the Port of Basrah and measures for the control of the shipping traffic in Mesopotamia.' [‎23r] (45/134), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/131, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023544987.0x00002e> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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