WAR IN THE NEAR EAST.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11774, 29 October 1912, Page 4

WAR IN THE NEAR EAST.

TURKS .MEET REVERSES.

[By Electkic Telegu.u-u—CoprniGHT.'J

Received Oetobfcr..2B, at 11.2.0 p.m..: ■London,-" October 28. ''The Daily Telegraph's Sofia .corrc-. spondeut reportsthat the armament at. Kirk-Kllisse was six and ojeven-ineh guns, altogether a hundred pieces. i The. fortress was reputed to be .impregnable except by mining and the major forms of surrounding redoubts and The Bulgarians were.-not*possessed..or a 1 single", siege gun, and their victory, is something miraculous. . • ' '■■- Dimitrieff's four divisions formed an immense flying-, column., providedwith, four days' rations arid au extra supply of ammunition. '."''' ~ Assault followed assault..:: • : : :• .. The Turkish gunnery failed to dislodge any of the attackers of the :Position. . The bayonet attacks were, made at .night time, the. Bulgarians stealthily advancing on : tlie -"redoubts, and they must have filled the entrenchments with their corpses. v , : • :. ; j < ,li\ Th;y sacrificed everything to rapidity. • j The ladders swayed and tottered'until placed in position,- enabling the>;:ber seigers to scale the modern forts. Hand grenades were used. ■ •--■..'• The forts were without searchlights, and the rain, and darkness facilitated ths approach. • . - A Bulgarian aviator in. the daytime perceived a Turkish division, hurrying from Adrionopl?. Subsequently on; his report the Turks were ambushed, decimated and dispersed. They abandoned ! their artillery. ' The garrison consisted of forty thousand. .'. , . !. REGIMENT ANNIHILATED. Two hours before the. yerowning .bayonet charges two regimehrs of Kurdish cavalry made a sortie towards ,the Bulgarian line with a- view of opening the road for the infantry and to protect the withdrawal. Tlie . Bulgarian; cavalry caught. them on the flank, leading to an inextricable sanguinary ■enlacement of horses and

(l'a Pkess Association.)

STORMING OF KiRK-KILISSE

The Kurds, fled,- and the Bulgarians immediately annihilated a regiment of infantrv. in the vicinity, .1 , : :, . ' The Turks, seized with panic, ffle'd;,! Renter's Sofui correspondent, reports that the Turks left 5000 dead-at-Kirk • Kilisse. ... . .

The Turks at Kirk-Kilisse., imagining the Bulgarians intended purely defeh-' sive tactics behind the. Balkans, assumed the offensive with - inadequate, forces. j .Three army corps, making a reconnaissance, wore drawn into the; general! engagement, whence it was difficult to extricate units. , ~-•,: One impetuous division became, sepa- ' rated from the third'coi'ps aiid sufferedheavilv, and was obliged to'ietij-e,:com-pelling the whole line to return. HORRIBLE SLAUGHTER. Tho Bulgarians followed) up their success With'a general onslaught On. Kirk-' "Kilisse with maxims. The Telegraph's Sofia correspondent mentions terrible. Bulgarian losses in( the taking of Kirk-Kilisse. According to private accounts. there were twentv thousand victims. Mr. Bennett Burleigh mentions that one estimate is:that , there were 16,000 j Turks killed "aiid,injurcd. The Turks killed and injured. Constantinople. October 28. - Eighty per cent, of the Turkish officers at Kirk-Kilisse. were killed or wounded.

Received October 29. at 8.5 a.m. Sofia, October 28. Dimiti-ieff reporting, the capture of Kirk-Kilisso savs the division, made.a sortie by night. .The Bulgarians, stormers feigned to retreat aiid drew the. Turks within range of tho machine guns, which practically a undulated them. After that Miikhtar Pasha quitted the town. Mukhtar's baggage was captured- and it contained the'whole plan of campaign A wounded Bulgarian officer reports that for four hours the Bulgarians made a series of bayonet assaults, during which all the more important positions were taken. One storming party undern. cross-fire suffered severely, nevertheless it persisted and captured two Kirk-, Kilesseh redoubts at the point of'the havonet. The charges were .so rapid that the defenders had Ho time to fix bavonets before, meeting the shock. Constantinople, October 28. Fighting is proceeding at Bunakinsar.

Received October 28, at 3 p.m. Sofia, Octol>e.r 28., The Bulgarians have captured Babcst:ii and occupied Saljustator audi Ermitie, both seven miles south-west and south of Adriaiiople. Belgrade, October 28. The Crown Prince's army during Saturday's march to TJstaub found 30 abandoned guns, and ho is now hotly pursuing the retreating '.eneiny. Constantinople, October 28.The commanders of other divisions were unaware on the night of the'22nd that the first army corps had suddenly been launched against Dcmetrieff's lelt wing between Tundja "and Kirk Kilesseh. The attack failed, and tho men streamed back into other Turks who mistook them for 'Bulgarians, and assailed them. The two Turkish sections fired into other and the Bulgarians fired into both.

Received October 29. at 8.5 a.m. -Belgrade, October 28: Owing to the*historical; associations 'of the place the capture of Uskuh; has appealed" more to the popular imagination than had all the hard-won.-victories. King 'Peter has issued a proclamation liberating and repatriating air. prisoners, both Turks and Albanians. Three division's:of Turks ; were routed southwards of Kumahovo and retreated in disorder. - ,-.,.,. The Times' Sofia, correspondent- says tho moral effect of the capture of Uskub will probably exceed that of the taking of Kirk Kilesseh.

Received October 29. n.t 9.15 a,ni. Constantinople. October 28. .- Owing to the Turkish commanders impatience to take the offensive, the advance was authorised for the aughu o'f the 21st. A column of "w;uitry. cavalry,' and volunteers under Mukntar Pasha* and Prince••.Aziz moved; wards of Kirk Kilessen with, the intention of surprising the. Bulgarians. The night was extremely stormy... and ct - ~ • t , • . i ■' " ' , - The column; was divided into, two sec'tions, following different paths. , The vanguard came into-tiohtact with the' Bulgarians at dawn, ..the Bulgarians being in overwhelming strength. a. mistake arose, -both;-Turkish Sections firiii"- at one- another, and heavy loss was Inflicted before the error was discovered. .... 7 X The Turkish cavalry attempted: to charge, but- were severely, punnsihecl. Tlie.y fled and created panic among the retiring infantry, more especially among the volunteers, who precipitately, bolted, throwing the reserves mw> confusion. . . ; ' Ultimatelv the second dipsioii of the Constantinople Army : Corps - ;stenlmed the Tout. ■•'•;• ' Details of the Jesses are unknown, but it is believed that one division was decimated.. •- ,-' : .--' '■■'::''.':■.. The commander at Adiriarib'ple has issued a proclamation that the soldiers, having heroically- done their duty out-' side the town. . must now - defend the town as their .-.fathers: defended!. Plevnn. : The miEtary authorities that Adianople is impfegnable. 'TlieTiirks, with! frequent sallies,- a.ro inflicting heavy loss on, the "Bulgarians. RECALCITRANT OFFICERS. . Vienna, October 28. It is semi-officially reports at Constantinople that a number of Turkish officers have refused to proceed, to their posts. Nazim Pasha'threatens them with the severest penalties. AMONG THE GREEKS'. KEEN PATRIOTISM. Athens, October 28. Thre3 hundred volunteers from the 'JEgean Islands have arrived. King George welcomed them with entlru-c-iasm. They proceeded to Serfidze with the allies. • Torrential rain and boggy roads have impeded the advance. Queen Elsanora, in the dress of a Red Cross nurse spends many hours daily in the military hospitals at Plulbpopoh's assisting in dressing tie grounds.

Tito Greeks have occupied the pass <if Peiitefaeghadia-. Received October 2!l, at 8.45 a.m. London, October 28. The Greek Committees in England hava. raised £15,000 to Tulievw the Epirus refugees. THE RED CROSS. St. Petersburg Qctobei 28 The Red Cioss Society has voted £IOO 000 for tlio caro of the sick in the Balkans Belgrade, October 28 Tlie Turks left then -Bounded on tite battlefield, and the} .rre now being treated at Bulgarian hospitals, which are ovetfloning uith wounded Turkish officers and men. ALB \NIAN THREAT London, October 28. The DuiK TeJegiaph's Constantinople correspondent s.ns. the Albanians have thieatened "tint unless guaranteed peace and hbeity thej HOI seek Austria's help. SWAPPING HORSES Constantinople, October 28 It is icnorced" that Kiamil Pasha luit, been offefed the Gi.uid' Vizierafre The Sultan urgently desned him to pioceed I to tlie front and eucouiage the troops SHOT AS SPIES. ; " Sofia Octobei 28 A Bulganan's divoiced wife couit-niartialled foi espionage and shot ■ wiuh two Macedonian spies on proof i of her complicity. TURKISH EVERYWHERE INVESTED Received October 29, at 0.45 a.m. Cettiiije, October 28. , Scutari has been subjected to a cross fire from the batteries north-west, '; south and the islandiotVianjinra in the ' lake, whence King Nicholas is watch- • ing. .-. '-* I'He 'garrison is threatened with fahvinc. . , ~ •General V.ukovitch has captured, the \ stronghold and fortified lieights of Rojaz, dominating the approach to Ipek, , and cohtimied his advance thereon. The Turks at tJskub were seized with a panic and retired in disorder before the Crown Prince's array. The prisoners report that their comrades have been foodloss for two days. '; The Turks are "retiiM'ng-towards Veles. According to private aSvices the Czar . congratulated King Peter on' the cap- ' tiireof TJskiib. . 'The Albanians are surrendering as the Servians-advance. ; . .. _ When - Rrishtiha wcis occupied a. Servian "sentinel, was ordered to guard the Sultkii Muiiad's tomb. ' ' The Servians have occupied' Ferrzovitch, a strategic position commanding Kotchanik Pass. - - : •" '"

Sofia, October 28.

The Bulgarians found the.Kochaaushtis i bad 'littered 'with 'discarded Turkish clothing.,,.

TURKISH ATROCITIES.

MASSACRE AND PILLAGE. ■:•-■■■: -■ Atheiis, : October 28. TJio l>u:ki : slr;arniy'at; Epi'iiis, cliaini'njr thorn together,. massacred 25 young villager's, tortured'the women and children, and bupned and pillaged several villages. . A wounded Turkish soldier lying m tho hospital stabbed a Greek Red Cross petty officer,

Belgrade, October 28. The Turkish prisoners at "Kumanovo arc in a pitiable condition, many being bootless: A 1 witness of the massacre describes the finding of eleven people in one bouse with their, throats cut, including a woman. ,

Fugitives f rom Ylahu, 28 miles southward of the border, report that the Turks, before retiring, when the Bulgarians approached, massacred 100 inhabitants. .

The corpses of Bulgarian soldiers captured by the Turks wercifound with their noses and oars'cut off and hearing deep knife marks. ~ 'Received October 28. at 3 pjn.

Belgrade, October 28. The Turks before leaving Kumauovo massacred a. number of' women and children.

Received October 29, at 9.10 a.m. London, October 28. General DimitriefF will advance along the line from Kenidge to Babalski Simultaneously tho_ western column will move towards Havia. AWFUL TRAIN WRECK. ...

The Smyrna train carried 700 soldiers, of whom half were- killed. -Many peasants rendering first aid were massacred by soldiers, who suspected that thev caused tho accident. Renter states that the Servians have captured Moravitza.

Received October 29, at 11 a.m. Vienna, October 28. A bridge over the Chorlu River has been blown up, cutting off cummumcation between Constintmople and Luluburgas. :.- .$ . ..,.., A portion of the A'dnanople garrison has retreated to DHnotika.

. Sofia, October 28. Tlio Bulgarians'have occupied Burnarhessar. „ , „, . ~ Alter the capture of Baba kski, the Bulgarians seized a military train laden with Turkish troops and supplies bound *or Adrianople. BULGARIA'S TERMS.

M. Gueshoff, the Bulgarian.. Premier, interviewed, stated that Bulgaria was Teady to aceept the intervention of the .Powers, but ir tho Turks did not agree Bulgaria would dictate' terms at the gates of Constantinople. Belgrade, October 28. Fifteen nuns were taken akMitravitza. and 113 at Uskub. . . . 340 GUNS CAPTURED.

During the campaign, the allies have captured' 340 guns. When tho Servians approached Uskub the -Turkish -authorities and' the -police' fled. The Bashi-Bazouks commenced.to pillage, ana the Consuls thereupon invitedtlie enter the city. The latter seized COO waggons 'of supplies. . . . - Tlie : neighboring towns are surrender- .."'' Athens, October 28. ; Tho Greek objective, Salonika, is now within 40 miles. October 28.

Precautious have been taken to render Roumanian mobilisation effective within a fortnight if it is needed.

THE STATUS QUO

St. Petersburg, October 28. The newspapers are practically unanimous in asserting that it .is impossible to restore tho status quo. The ; Novpe \ 7 rernya •says-'that it is impossible to muzzle tho Slavs. The Bulgarian representative at bt. Petersburg isT purchasing aeroplanes and engaging aviators. Servia is also purchasing, aeroplanes. .'Several of tho best Russiah airmen, are starting south. ■ Berlin, October 28. The Berliner Tageblatt's Vienna correspondent states''that if the Towers., programme in reference to the status quo is not maintained Austria, will .consider herseJf free to follow ; her'"own. policy. '