THE BALKANS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue XLIX, 5 January 1916, Page 5

THE BALKANS

RUSH TO ALBAM ENEMY HOPES TO .SECURE VALONA AND DTXRAZZO. ITALIANS NOT YET IN CONTACT ! WITH THE AUSTRIANS. LONDON. Jan. 3. •Captain Beaumont, -writing from. Milan, says Bulgarian' troops are rushing forward from Oelirida to Albania in. the centre and-the south, whilst an Aus- ■ tro-German column is seeking to penetrate from the north. .■ Owing to the impossibility of conveying- heavy artillery, the Austrians are sending'-mountain guns. ~ The Bulg-arian. objective is Valona, and that of the .Austrians DDurazzo. Only- a few Bulgarian troops mil he. left" to : guard against an. Anglo-French ..attack. ■Meanwhile the Austrian is held in check .by the -Montenegrins at' ganjak, and has been repulsed at Yucino and • ■Batcova. v The Italians are not yet in contactwith the Austrians in Albania. - - \ ITALIANS IN ALBiNiA | CONSTRUCTING ROADS AND I , BRIDGES. j (Rec. Jan. 5, 1 p.m.) ROME, Jan. 4. The Italians occupied fifteen l days in advancing from Valona to Durazzo. hav- i ing to c&nstruct roads and- biiild bridges - over the flooded rivers. j THEfIDHTATfC i. ' : i DESPERATE STRUGGLE FOR I CATTARO. i ■ ' » [ ■ , ROJME, Jan. 3. A desperate struggle for the mastery of the Adriatic has ib'eexi raging for a - week. Since the commencement of the- ' war Austria has maintained near CatI taro a- naval base for operations in the j . Adriatic, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean. . . ; jCattaro is only, vulnerable from the ! Montenegrin position of Mount Lowgen, i "Whichvthe Austrians are attacking. ! • Tf • Montenegrins, >vith the Allies, ican_ hold Mount -Lowgen they can force the Austrians to aban»**a»*ro. BOMBARDMENT OF VARNA

. GERMAN SUBMARINES SUNK. AMSTERDAM, Jan. 4. ■ The crew .of a German submarine which was recently sunk at Varna were buried' with the utmost secrecy. It is reported during- tie Russian liom•bardment & destroyer pursued another submarine. • The latter struck a. jjdine. ' and panic. I : . I--, ' ESS AD PASHA. DECLARATION OF WAR. AGAINST • AUSTRIA. v , TitENS, Jan. 4. i It is officially announced: tliht- Essad ; Pasha lias declared war against Austria. NORWEGIAN CONSUL ARRESTED. ATHENS, Jan. 4. The Norwegian Consul was the neutral who .was arrested at Salonika.. THOUSAND ENEMY SUBJECTS ARESTED. A GERMAN REPORT. (Rec. J;rn. 5, 8.20 a.m.) Jan. 4. A Get-man semi-official message from Athens says the Allies on. Sunday arrested one thousand enemy subjects at Salonika. FRENCH AIR BOMBARDMENT OF GHEBVGEU. ATHENS, Jan., 4. "French aeroplanes successfully bombarded Austrian camps at Glievgeli. THE ROUMANIAN FRONTIER AUSTRO-GERMAN CONCENTRATION. ; ROME, Jan. 4. v The "Corriere . d'lt-alia's" Petrograd correspondent reports that there are half a million Austro-Germans near the Roumanian frontla*.

. SERBIANS IN ALBANIA TERRIBLE SI J Xo>. (Rec. -Tan. 5, 1 p.m.) LONDON. Jane 4. A correspondent of Hie "Venice Ga-.zett-e" gives la terrible tale of the sufferings of the Serbians in. v Albania. Two regiments crossed and wore massacred iby. semi-savage Albanian tribes. Dead bodies littered tlie dreadful path of the exodue. (Dr. Zupanic thus ■explains the present Austro-German policy in the Balkans :■—■ Germany and Austria-Hungary have, in the course of 15 months of warfare, succeeded not only in preserving their lerritorial integrity oil the Continent of Europe, hut also in conquering nearly the whole of industrial Belgium, a substantial part of the most industrial regions of France —Lille 1 is the j-rench Manchester—and a- large peri:on of Russia, with Poland. .Poland is Russia » Lancashire. The Belgialn, French., and Kussian territories liekl by Germany and Austria- Hn n g-a r y are approximately as large as the whole of the TJni,t>ed Kingdom, and they contain about 30,000,000 people. The present wav is largely an industrial war. It is fought- by machinery. By seizing the most volnable industrial districts on the Continent- Germany's manufacturing power has- -'been very considerably in-creased. That is averv serious matter. We must- look at both profit and loss. While the Ger-man-Austrian combination has gained vast stretches of territory! dotted with coal mines and covered with enormous factories of every kind, it lias lost millions of men, and , the, blockade by the British Fleet lias produced a- scarcity of food -and of certain raw materials. ■Germany and Austria-Hungary are in dire need of men. -and of certain raw material, especially metals, and of food. Turkey, on the other hand, _ has an abundance of men, of raw materials, and. of food; but she lacks manufactures, arms and- ammunition, and organisation. Bulgaria, which separates Turkey from Austria-Hungary, has been drawn into tlie. German Alliance, but Germany could create an organic connection! -between Austria-Hungary an-d Turkey only by way of Roumania or of Servia. So far R-oiunania lias steadfastly refused to allow- German war materials to be passed through her territory. Hence the Germans have thrown themselves upon Ser--ciji which provides the most commodious route towards Constantinople.)