THE TURKISH PLANS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2252, 29 April 1897, Page 15

THE TURKISH PLANS.

j THIU TURKISH COMMANDER j SUPERSEDED. i J.ONDCW, Apiil 20. I The special oori'ijapoudenfi of the Daily News teJegrapbs that Edhem Pasba in- ' fcended to force ihe Raveni Pass in order to > prevent the Greeka retiring, and then follow up this move by the despatch of a numerous i fores of civalry to s?szo L&rfssa. The I Turk?, however, were baffled and driven The Greeks are gathering in great force in ifco north-east of E/asEona. At tbe opening or the Stock Exchange today Turkish bond* fell £ per cent., Greek bonds 3 par cent., and "British consols £. ] American stocks fell heavily. j April 21. I The Athens correspondent of The Times says tbe scene of the conflict has now been removed to Kontra, south of Damasi, where the Turkish batteries engage tbe Greek artillery, and to Zarkos. Wneu these points have been occupied Edhem Pasha's advance on Larissa will be easy. Considerable uneasiness is felt in England owinfr to the absence of both Lord Salisbury acd Mr Curzon, Parliamentary Secretary to bhe Foreign OfSoe, on the Continent. April 22. The Standard's correspondent telegraphs bhat the oxcitement which arose among the S-reeks and the Turks in Constantinople' on bhe outbreak of war is increasing daily, and it is feared that serious disorder will ensue, j Mr Gladstone, in a letter to the press, makes reference to the incredible sham j md incomparable bungling on the part of the Powers in keeping the Greeks from Urete, which, he says, drove them to Mace3onia. The war has caused the hardening of the English wheat market. Prices are from Is j [o Is Gel higher. The Daily Telegraph's war correspondent wires that a great battle is proceeding at Damassi, north-westerly from Larissa. Constantinople, April 20. The Imperial Ottoman Bank at Constan- ' binople has offered to establish and maintain i hospital at Elassona. April 21. Izzet Bey, one of the principal membera of I ihe Sultan's household, has been degraded 1 for opposing the wag. I

A second Turkish squadron, consisting of three ironclads, five torpedo vessels, and four [ steamers which have converted into anxiliary cruiserß, sailed through the Strait? j of Dardanelles under sealed orders. I April 22. ■ The Sultan has issued an irade instructing the Turkish srquadron, which sailed under . sealed orders, to avoid fighting the Greek , fleet-, and to remain undor the protection o£ the Turkish forts. April 24. The Sultan; irritated at the obstinate defence of Tirnovas by the Greeks, has decided to replace Edhem Pasha in command by Shazi Osmaa Pasha. He has appointed Shaad E'ldin Turkish Commander in Crete to command the troopg acting against Janini in Albania. The Turkish forces on the frontier are to be reinforced by 50,000 redifs, or second reserve, which comr pose the men who have served four years in | the regular army and two years in the first reserve. Izzgfc Bey, who was degraded for resisting thq war, wns the Sultan's chamberlain and second secretary. It now transpires that Edhem Pasha hao nofc been recalled. Osmar/s presence at the front saves the delay of appealing to Constantinople for directions. The discipline of the Tarkish fcroopß Is excellent. They have so far committed no outrage s. They are making a military road to the Ma'.una Pass. N j The prisoners captured by the Turks are . treated kindly. I Washington, April 23. I The Senate has referred the motion exj pressing sympathy with Greece to the i B'oreign Relations Committee. Sydney, April 23. The Bapti&t Union carried a resolution axpresaing appreciation of the heroic efforts o£ the Greeks to safeguard the interests of Cretanand Armenian Christians, and hoped that England wouli do nothing inimical to Greece, but help to thwart the evil designs of the Turks, April 26. Seven Greeks mailed by the mail steamer on Saturday to assist their countrymen against the Turks. Twenty or 30 more join the steamer at Melbourne. Melbourne, April 26. The Greaka in the city have started a patriotic war fund, and L4OO has already been sabiforibed. I 484 8 n arly a3 February last, when the Olympus 1 m i " u ' us R a'i«e« were coated with snow, tha lurks were concentrating their forces at ZotakKon (on tho coast near tha base of Olympus, ami TU'l3'on.i and Mctsova on the west, uot far from .Tanmi). The intcutiou evidently was that, if an attack wa» made, tho Olympus »n<l i-ihsfiona olumns wcro to concentrate on Lins-,a. while the MeUoya force could threaten to turn tlie Creeks' position by seizing tae railway head station at Kalabaka. The Grerkw worn strengthening Larissa, which is the northern terminus of the short railway which runs from the i pore of Volo, in the gulf of fchat name. If the Turks J taice Larissa by storm i«; is anticipated thej' will I a-ivancs to Phareala, where they will probably . halt, ;v« haviu? the railway in their posseasion . they will bo aljle to move on interior lines of communication. They will then be in possession I of .-o»i8 of the licbest and fairest lands of Greece, includin? ?oui« of the famous vine-growinij districts.