Nelso Evening Mail TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1918. CONSTANTINOPLE DURING THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 49, 26 February 1918, Page 4

Nelso Evening Mail TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1918. CONSTANTINOPLE DURING THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN.

A CORNER of the veil of silence that has enveloped Constantinople since the beginning of the war has been lifted by the publication of the diary kept by the American Minister plenipotentiary, Mr Lewis Einstein, whd was the representative of the United States at Constantinople in thd early days of the \Var. Here is a journal of events written down from day to day as they occurred. The writer shows tne intimate doings of himself and of the other members of the "corps diplomatique" at Constantinople during those eventful weeks when the British fleet was battering at the defences of the Dardanelles, and when British, French, and Australasian troops were endeavouring to force the Turkish barriers. He exhibits, among others, Baron von Wagenheim, who was the German Ambassador, and yet was in the habit of spending several hours daily in playing cards at his club. "Cunning and unscrupulous, nervous and mercurial," are some of the epithets applied to von Wagenheim, who told Jiea with graceful fluency. Concerning the Galiipoli campaign, the author writes that "the prospective fall of Constantinople was anticipated by both Germans and Turks, and every preparation was made for the immediate evacuation of the capital, and the transfer of the seat of Government to Eski Chehir, in the interior of Asia Minor. During this period of uncertainty, the Germans were equally apprehensive lest the Turks should make a separate peace. Not one of their promises for the conquest ot Tiflis, Tabrez, and Cairo had been realised, and Turkish participation in the war had led only to disappointment.", Then came the abortive naval attempt by the British and French to force the Straits on >March 18. The author writes that "the damage inflicted by the fleet against the land defences was so trifling that the Turks became confident of the impregnability of the Dardanelles; and_ a change of attitude determined by this conviction was at once noticeable." He adds that "the report that the ammunition of the forts was nearly exhausted after this attack is almost certainly with foundation.' Yet the report has been very persistent. Queer things happen in war—especially at 'Constantinople. The author estimates that before he left the city the Turks had lost 140,000 men in the Caucasus, and 100,000 at the Dardanelles. The hospitals of the city were full of wounded, and the Turkish ladies enjoyed their war work, and "found in it an opportunity for emancipation." But Turkish peculation is apparently not confined to the male sex. This American Minister plenipotentiary writes ungallantly: "Turkish matrons employed at the hospitals _ ' have distinguished themselves by pilfering the delicacies. Tea and sweetmeats were stolen till the soldiers informed charitablyr-dispos-ed people that there was no use bringing them. The example comes from higher up. The Ottoman Bank had organised a luxurious ward of 24 beds—two were soon missing, and when inquiries were made it was found that the chief surgeon had taken them to his own home for his children." How the German submarine that sank the Majestic and the Triumph were able to reach the scene is disclosed by this authority. Hitherto it has been supposed that the submarine steamed all the way from Germany. The 'Minister writes in his diary, under date of May 31, 1915: "I have had some particulars about the submarines. There are four in all, one large one which acts as a floating base, and three smaller ones ' not over 100 ft in length. These were shipped in sections to Pola, and set jap. I suppose the presence oT £ne parent submarine accounts for 'German activity in English waters, and explains the length of time they can keep the sea. It is said that this has not been noticed by the critics, who search for more mysterious reasons and underwater, stores of petrol." On May 23 he chronicles the arrival at Constantinople of the escaped part of the Emden crew, who had travelled from the C'ocos Islands, where the Emden was destroyed by the Sydney. The men were brought over from the Asiatic side of the Bosporus on a destroyer, and were marched in triumph through the streets, preceded by a band and a squad of firemen. Always something doing in Constantinople in those days, and probably still, if one only knew it. One day it . is the public hanging of 20 Armenians outside the War Office. The next it is the Assassination of a few German officers, who are quietly buried in .the gardens of the German Embassy. This distinguished diplomat confirms the story that the war was decided upon by Germany finallv in mid-July, 1914. He writes Garroni (the Italian Ambassador in Constantinople) related to me that on June 15 last the day of his birthday, Wangenheim, who had returned from Berlin the day before, called to congratulate him. He told him that the Emperor, alarmed by the Russian military preparations, had summoned a conference of Ambassadors, Generals, and , leaders of industry. War has been irre- ; vocably decided. The' Archduke's murder was to furnish the pretext. This

confirms the account given the The Times of the Potsdam Conference, which decided upon war. The Emperor s subsequent yatching trip to Norway was an elaborate blind designed to convey the impression in Europe that the assassination of the Archduke was not to have serious consequences. Among other stories that the author recounts is one setting forth that the non-success of the Daidanelles expedition was owing to the circumstance that the plans furnished by the Allies to Venizelos were stolen by certain officers at the instigation of the Queen of Greece, and communicated to Berlin. The names of. the Goeben and Breslau, which have lately been dealt with by British naval forces, recur constantly in this diary. The two ships must have borne charmed lives—until they made their last dash to join the Australian fleet, and were spotted by the British destroyer Lizard.