TURCO-ITALIAN WAR.

Mataura Ensign, 13 May 1912, Page 6

TURCO-ITALIAN WAR.

BLOCKADE OF RHODES. TURKISH VESSELS CAPTURED. BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.—COPYRIGHT. PEK UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION. ROME, May 11. Rhodes is blockaded. Six officials, live officers and 116 Turkish soldiers have been captured and sent to Ital.v. An Italian destroyer captured two vessels convey!:!;..'; arms and provisions to Rhodes. Centuries before the Christian era Rhodes was a distributing contre of Levantine trade. This island of 424 square miles had colonies extending along the coast of Asia Minor and others joining it to the Greek communities in the Western Mediterranean. It w r as conquered for a Persian king and submitted to Alexander the Great, but after Alexander's death it acquired a greater power than before. The Rhodians gained great prestige by their wise and vigorous foreign policy, and their coinage and maritime law were widely accepted in the Mediterranean. In its zenith the splendid city of Rhodes was a famous centre of Art and the home of writers and philosophers. It produced one of the wonders of tho Ancient World, the famous Colossus, a statue of the Sun God, which stood 105 feet high. A TRIBAL REVOLT. CONSTANTINOPLE, May 11. Tribes between Ipek and Gussing are in a ferment, and 7000 revolted. A Turkish battalion was ambushed and suffered heavy losses. Reinforcements have been sent from Ushkub. It is feared that other powerful clans will join the insurgents.