THE BALKANS

Evening Star, Issue 16198, 21 August 1916, Page 6

THE BALKANS

BULGARIA MAKES A MOVE

GREECE INVADED,

PROGRESS ON THE SOMME

ZEPPELINS.

[By Ciuticus.]

| Fd'om the Balkans come, vague and contradictory reports of fighting. The BulKariar.fi and Germans claim the capture of Norma /which lies due south oi Monastir, a tew miks inside the Greek border), and -■tat© that their counter-attacks to the -.ttjst and south of Fiorina continue, to be ■successful. It is claimed by tho Allies-, on tho other hand, that the Bulgarian attacks were checked four miles from Fiorina railway station, but the reports omit to •kite whether to tho north or tho south of the station, and it. depends unon that who holds Fiorina. Apparently -the Bulgarians have ...i-u:.-fi.d the- 'Greek 'bowler and have entered Greece. This should bo rather a good thing than otherwise for the Aihes, as tho news will tend to rouec tho hereditary hatred of the Greeks for the Bulgarians, and thus toil in ortr favor at the elections ; and in spite of demonstrations and constant small affairs, it is improbable that our big advance in tho Ba-1-Uar.i> will come until after the Gre»'k «lctioiio have been decided. Later cables adnit the capture of Fiorina, and indicate tliat tho Bulgarians are taking the offensive both on tho -Monastir front and in the vardar; while other reports allege that they are approaching Kuvala, furtl er eesl Iho laet that the elections are not to be neld -until September 25, instead of at th-' ■Jintot July, as wo were originally informed has both advantages and disadvantages rom tne strategical point of view. On the one hand, it will give ns more lime to develop our plans and win some substantial successes, which will influence Greek rol'i--'cians and also enable ««. bv mutin- additional procure upon the Austro-Gcnnans to ensure that tliev shall not be abl- to *md aid to Buigana. On the ether hand, t throws back our future Balkan campaign well toward* the winter, and Balkan winters are very Luring tho 'last co) „ a A Yv'- Gcncral rionr3i ° k ' f t - ..COO men around } us tamp fircs 011<J „ ing irozen to death during the night If Veiwze h» loses it will probably mc!ui that our attack upon Bulgaria wilf b 0 delved until next spring, with tho result" of fcngohemug the w a r by many month* ; but it Wzolos Wln3 t . horc , , ' &hj, J \ J' 1 "? 1 ' m 'lave been •ought, and fou-ht successfully, in the Balkans before this, and prompt action would triable us to do the business b£re .ho worst ot the weather came on W>'n "'. £ Rln ;V ofli ,' iaiJ - v iM ]:( "-°l' e o" Uccemof I l n i T't UIUS I,ave thc m««lis ot n.tob?-r mid November in which to -flower Bulgaria before the winter in. that would mean campaign in.- i„ yV weather p.oia'blv. •>'d it would be better than waitin >• -dl ;f r i. °% trncp are o.ly "C" lk n ; c , m Jlil - a-nrt with ordinary hu-k wenneht cover that distance in about ' v b'i'ungh!. m spite of tlic- weal her. r, fi,A librarians would he too eomp<^>! T 'Vnf~ numbered to be much of an oW.VIe v too, King Constantino and his preset M)m.ter s will probably manceuve ~ for further delay. ., Wn {f Venezelns win- ,!>." t-.eetions. B„ fc j„ U ,a( , aw f]lo Mk : - ]* in a portion to inform the Kim- tint, ■t l:iey are compelled to send in ;>nv m-ther demand,, the next one wll » i<* >. abdication. They ha', 'Ken cautions ,n interfering in th!- l;!at i„ r <>; the elections themselves Jest they .shoal■ antagonize the Greek electors. A HINT. ProbaUv few people now are under anv illusion about the puroos* of *li« Son,,? . n one of to-days cables : "Paris militaw anthont.es aro satisfied with recent even, on the homnie. . . The offens ; ve „,^ not hreak the hue, but it will have. &, Mutant ellect of tying the man, encmv .■us in France Preti.-ely. In the ve.V tht. ncx.o of the opening of the Somme ohensivo it wa= declared here that it wnot our mam stroke, but mc-relv a diver' sion. tacitly admitted ; but the of tbc.cv demonstrations i* tba* ni order tonvc them vcri« ra ilitude and im].ose upon the enemy it is necessary to pro- ■ aim wuh a, loud voice from the housetops &, tl ""T 1 i !g - t! V n S hns come at lait! hen the truth leaks out the public are ap, to feel disappointed and disillusioned ict we have uenuine reuse to be we]! MtKhed u-ith the results of tho &mme ottensivo. It has stopped Germanv'-s -ttack upon Verdun in the very nick of'time, and has rendered powerful aid tn the R»s-

MOIU? FORWARD (RTEPS. Wo must not expect any very c ticmal rosalts there, out .su.eessiyo' ,V. ward steps wrll be made until tho timo is ripe for our real big strokes in the north and jn Onampagne. Our method will W to mark out a. suitable ecctor of the enemys front and concentrate nu ovcrw.mning bombardment upon it, Tlien it will be rushed and captured. In this way a sticceosion of forward steps will h>> niitdo without excessive losses, and, vl Vl t with the bombardment and costly connt-r----aa-acks, the cnemy'e losses will he as h^ x ,. as our own. The work of attrition willVo steaotiy on, and the cuemv will he. compelled to maintain huge forces on tinbomrrie to tho detriment'of their operations elewliere. Our la.Uvt forward stops ■,!'.> mstniico? of this. We have readied iW captured the outskirts of the viih*o of (-■.uiUemont. and advanced our lin- halfvvny to Oinchv. The ridge which overlook, lluepva.l from the south-east has also be"ii captured, thus rendering the German pod. Uon m and the village still more dangerously salient. The French have progressed between Maurepas and the fenime (Tcrinan reiiorts are of tho visual character but thov admit the abandonment of the salient between Ouillemont and Mpurepos "according to plans." The French have also completed the conquest of tire village of hletuw. on the east bank of the Mouse, and haw gained pome .successes in the vic-i.ity of the Foit Vaux road. KTAOE ARMIES.

Correspondents at Lsmberg describe the Austrian troop? and population as frantic with joy in welcoming tho Turkish rol<kers_ and sailors. A few days ago the Turkish, army sent to Lemberg'was'put at 150.000. Rome reports that .several Turkish battalions have been sent to reinforce th'i Austrians northward and eastward of Gorizia. So, although tho Turks cannot hold their ground in the Caucasus, ihev can alt V.rd. nevorthelow, to send hrjo forces to the assistance of the Austdans m Galicia and on the Italian front. Most probably, however, these are mereiv etage armies which exist chiefly in the imaginations of the correspondents, though 'Turks mav bo on exhibition for moral effect. It is a queer shuffling of troops with which the correspondents credit the enemy. Larue. Aimtro-Germnn forces have been sent to Turkey, while large' Turkish forces have been sent to help the Austro-Go-rmans. Bulgarian forces have been sent to the Caucasus, to Galicia, to the Italian front, a.'-d even to the western front. In the meantime Bulgaria is so badly in need of help at home that AnstroGerrnan forces havo to lx> maintained hi the Balkans to assist her. "TT IS REPORTED." How implicitly the reports of the correspondents may bo trusted is shown by the following examples :—London, August 18 : "It is reported that the Deutechiand has .been sighted off Newfoundland." While Geneva announces on the same day : " It is reported from Berlin that the Deutschland has arrived at Bremen." And again : " It is reported from Cologne that the Central Powers have decided riot to commit themselves to anv statement regarding the future of Poland owing to the intricate war situation." Amsterdam is better informed, however: "A Berlin telegram states that Von Beslier, Gover-nor-General of Warsaw, has announced that Austria and Germany havo agreed to recognise Polish autonomy." Mere coffee-

I babble, of course, sent out as news. If elaborate descriptions come along- presently of the large Turkish, and Bulgarian armies .fighting with, the Austrians we need not take them very seriously. OUR " ZEPPELINS." The naval correspondent of the ' Daily I Express' describes the "new British | Zeppelins as beautifully designed—a finer model than the Germans, and with amaz- | ing sJmxxL" On the other hand, the ' Evening News' declares that our new "Zeppelins" are merely •coastal airships, only half the size of the German vessels. Why "Zeppelins"? Surely it is possible Co' use a name with less dubious associations. We have a number of very useful airships, though probably none to match with the Zeppelins in size. Like the German craft they-are chiefly used in scouting and for purposes of observation. For this work they have the great advantage over the aeroplane that they can remain in the air for long periods of time, and can also hover almost stationary over any particular spot. But they have no fight.iig valuo. A certain school of naval .bought parades the value of the Zeppelins for scouting as if we did not possess any useful airships; but that is not correct. LZ. 77. 'A few days ago it was stated in the "otav in reply to a correspondent that no information in regard to the horsepower of the latest Zeppelins was availible. bmeo then some particulars have ourned up. An article in -The Times' „'ives some details of the Zeppelin LZ 77 ■vhich was brought down at Ecvki-v ani reconstructed by the French authorities. Ihe l'rencn expert who wrote the article, U. Georges ln.de, infers from its number that the airship was one of the later vypes. 1„ «-a S provided with five motors oi the Maybach type "of 180-2 CO horsepower, with six vertical cylinders of 160 ■x 1/U, water cooled, weighim: 448 kilogrammes, and consuming about 9'o pimmes of petrol per horse-hour ami .wo kilogrammes SCO of oil per hour, and per motor. lhe framework, which was iumlo of a new alloy of aluminium toughened by a slight addition of Copland zinc, was too much twisted to be reconstructed properly; but it seems to have been of about 30,000 cubic metre capacity with a length of about 160 metres, or 024 feet, It was of the stream lino type, wh,ch means that it was shaped ~,u,t !,k« ~ lisk-thickest near the head and tapering awav somcv , h;lt owards the Unl, to minimi air reglance Older types of Zeppelins were ot symetneal shape, bein.T ,'f lhl , „.„„ table sUw,, the dimensions oi the various types compared :

Cubic Loiicth.-Draidre Tyre 1912 .... J p5 m 1 4 r "S lype 191a ... 22.0:0 156 14 80 l.vpo -1914 ... 27.030 153 ifiln Type 1915 ... 00,000 160