THE BALKAN STATES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1649, 7 October 1903, Page 2

THE BALKAN STATES.

CONSTANTINOPLE, September 28. Documents purloined from the archives of Pasha, Turkish Governor of Macedonia, show that sixty-three Christian villages were destroyed in the Monastir district, and one hundred and fifty in four vilayets. CONSTANTINOPLE, September 29. Bakhstiar Pasha, who was concerned with Adam Aga, commander of the Bashi-Bazouks, in the bombardment without warning and at Krushevo, has been decorated and transferred to Kastoria. The Porte has assured Bulgaria that thirty-two battalions ordered to mobilise in Adianople will remain in Monastir. CONSTANTINOPLE, September 30. The Turkish troops have withdrawn from three points on the Bulgarian frontier. This is taken as a sign of the Sultan’s pacific intentions. Orders to stop military movements have been sent to Salonica Colonel Zontdheff, a revolutionary leader, has ordered twenty bands of insurgents to resume guerilla tactics in Eastern Macedonia. Fifty thousand Turkish recruits have been summoned to complete the strength of the Nizam battalions in Macedonia. CONSTANTINOPLE October 1. A Turkish consignment of four million Mauser cartridges has been landed at Salonica-. CONSTANTINOPLE, October 2. There will shortly be a further mobilisation of Turkish troops in Roumelia. SOFIA, September 29. After a requiem service at- Sofia for Macedonian dead, a procession numbering fifteen thousand stood silent for a moment outside the British Agent’s residence. Subsequently a deputation was sent to. the Premier, General Petroff, to ask whether or not Bulgaria would help Macedonia. * • General Petroff replied that he, as Premier, would continue to act- ill Bulgaria’s best interests. SOFIA, October 1. Reports which have been received here state that the majority of the Christians at Razlog were massacred during the recent guerilla operations there. Forty insurgents, well posted at Pirin, were attacked by Turkish troops. During a fight lasting five hours two hundred Turks were killed and wounded. The insurgents’ casualties were nominal. A Bulgarian battalion of infantry, with eighteen field gun-s, has been sent to the frontier. SOFIA, October 2. Four hundred thousand Bulgarian recruits—the annual contingent)—have been summoned to join the colours on the 15th inst. instead of in January as usual. LONDON, September 28. The “Daily Mail’s” Monastir correspondent says that Turkey has displayed wonderful skill ..in suggesting Western military . aid. She has drawn an iron cordon of 300,000 troops round Bulgaria, while 170,000 are massed in the Salonica district, 50,000 in Monastir, 70,000 with 300 guns in Adrianople, and 10,000 at Kossovo, > LONDON. September 29. “ The Times ” says:—At the instance of Izzet Pasha, who was largely responsible for the Armenian massacres, and who is now at Constantinople, the Sultan has issued an order that all . Bulgarians captured with or without, arms nyitet be shot. ~. The Paris correspondent of “The limes” says that the prospect ;of Austria and Rtjssia proposing to enforce the execution of reforms and an organised European control explains the Shaitan’s overture® for a direct- understanding with Bulgaria. . - LONDON, September 30, !/, Guerilla operations have been resumed at Razlog. Bombs were thrown and terrible damage done to the town. Other districts are also ablaze. . A large meeting held in St. James’s Hall, London, at which Mi* Bryce, a member of the House of Common®, was the chief speaker, and the Bishop of Worcester presided, adopted resolutions in favour of a movement to summon the Power’s to .appoint a European Administration ih Macedonia. V Sir E. B. Malet, late Ambassador to Germany, in a letter published in “The Times,” condemns the efforts ef British sympathisers with the Macedonians to involve Britain and Turkey, Sir Edward says c 1 The. Powers are: euhe to leave Britain, in a position • of splendid isolation involving her in ignominious retreat or a serious war, which would be unjustifiable unless the safety of the Empire were threatened.” LONDON, October Is/ The Macedonian harvest has been rfuined by rain, and a famine is threatened. Relief funds are being raised in England. BELGRADE, October 2. > The Servian General -Staff is superintending road-making operations on 'the frontier. There are fifteen thousand workmen engaged on the operations.- v : CONSTANTINOPLE. October 2. Turkey’s recent sweeping movements have proved a miserable failure. • They were unable to bring the . insurgent band® to action.

The insurgents burned four villages in the Monastir district, carrying off sixty women. CONSTANTINOPLE, October 3. Two thousands insurgent® m the Pirin mountains, armed with bombs and bayonets, attacked six thousand Turkish troops, whilst another band attacked them in the rear. ""'The Turks, who lost many of their officers, fled,, after having sustained heavy losses. VIENNA, October 3. Count Lamsdorff and Count Goluohowski, Russian and ters for- Foreign Affairs respectively, after long conferences, have decided to amplify their schemes for reform Turkey.