SECRET SOCIETY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18235, 2 November 1933, Page 2

SECRET SOCIETY

MACEDONIANS’ TROUBLE UNDER JUGOSLAV RULE LONDON, October 20. Watch Macedonia. Though it is superficially quiet, it- is . one of the European storm centres, with elements ioX. upheaval everywhere, says the spqe.ial correspondent»..of- the Daily Mail,, who lias been travelling in Bulgaria with members ot a Macedonian •secret organisation. The Macedonians are determined to rectify their frontier, which is^ the result of the post-war division .bisecting villages, farms and even cemeteries. The Yugoslavs are determined to retain it. T.hc “desperadoes” with whom the •mrespotulent . travelled are decent, humorous, courteous and .hospitable folk, ho says,, but “quick ori the draw.” Their lives are constantly, in danger. Their job is to keep alivo the spirit of independence among Macedonians, living under “Yugoslav rule, where they . are forbidden to own churches aiuL.sphools, and even to uso their own language. - The Macedonians are .continually crossing the frontier to cheer them up and cany messages between divided families. - The emissaries have a- real man’s job. ■ The frontier is heavily guarded behind barbed wire, man-traps,-and pits. -They are forced wo penetrate it where it crosses 50Q0i,t. gorges, the tops of which are covered; wiQt snow,- They -choose the darkest nights, and lie hidden in the daytime, constantly at the risk of . death. The revolutionaries are controlled by. the.“ Secret Three,” whoso identity is. unknown except to their closest associates. Messages .-arc often passed while-the revolutionaries are splashing in communal salt baths which many villages pqssess, owing to the frequency of the mineral springs. The., organisation is financed by a lovy which every Mace doniau willingly -pays; ' -