THE AVENGER AT THE GATES.

Waikato Times, Volume 88, Issue 13432, 10 March 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE AVENGER AT THE GATES.

MOXASTTR [ T XT)ER THE HEEL OF > THE BULGARS. I CITY OF MAXY RACES. From all present appearances it is . likely that within a little while tho Sorbs will triumphantly enter Mona- ) stir, which will then become a conveni- - em base for the conduct of future opo- . rations (writes Claude Askew, under ; date Salonica, September 21, from the - Headquarters of the Serbian Army). t Monastic, last of Serbian towns to fall i 10 the Bulbars, will enjoy the honor ' of being; the first city to ho reclaimed. Confusion has often arisen, and will doubtless continue to arise, owing; to the fact that Monastic is no longer 1 officially known by that name. When the Serbs assumed possession in 1913 ' they dropped the Turkish appellation and bestowed their own upon it—that - of Bitolj. Monastic and Bitolj are one and the same place. In the same way, ' it is well to note that Uskub is no ' longer Uskub, but Skoplje, Kuprulu is : Yeles. Kalkandelen is Tetovo, and so on with a groat many more places. Monastic may be regarded as the second city of Macedonia, Salonica being, of course, the first. It is of no historical importance, nor does it possess any buildings or monuments of interest to the sightseer. It may be described as a pleasant modern town, essentially Turkish in design and construction, which has grown to importance owing to its geographical position. For the same reason it has become rich—as riches are reckoned in this part of the world. Monastir boasts several millionaire*—in francs—among its population of forty to fifty thousand. A glance at the map will show that it lies at tho junction of several imnortnnt highways, which will accouu* for its prosperity. One of these dates bark to Roman days, or even earlier. The Via Egnntia was founded on an already existing; thoroughfare called the Via Regia, which was prolonged in either direction so as to form a oomnlcto junction between Durazzo and Constantinople. From Durazzo there was connection, by the maritime route of the Adriatic, with the great Annian "ojkl s+retcbed from Brindisi to

that leading to Veles by nay ol Prilip | and the Bahunn, and that going north by Kilehevo and (lostivar 10 I'etovo. and mi to Skoplje. That a ihuii should arise ai such a spot was a ion-pone conclusion. and later, when towards the end oi ilit- nineteenth century il was joined 1111 Willi Salnnica by nii-nn- oi a railway. ii> fuiure proserin was practical I \ assured. 1 (1 > inn know what the roads may ho like that radiate inland iroin Moiiastir. hut I can answer tor it that the old ia Kguatia. in a great part of its course, was last year unfit for th(> traffic of motor-cars. No doubt, lo the railway, it was allowed to fall into decay. A party of four of us ivied to drive a couple of cars from Salomon to Moiiastir, hut alter a highly adventurous journey were eventually forced to abandon the attempt. To-day, however, things are very different. I'he work of tlie Allies has made the road (piite practichle to the further attainable point. Moiiastir is nor a fortified town; the mountains by which it .is surrounded constitute natural fortifications. A\ve know, the Sorbs, by their cent occupation of Kujnincknlnn, a. height dominating the plain which the Hnlgars had been bidden to delend to the last man, are already threatenin;. Monastir from this side. The towi: liofi at the foot of Mount Perister, 800feet, in height. It is traversal by ; small stream called tlie Dragor, wliicl gives its naroe to the chief part of th; town, where are situated the Con : sttlates. all the important offices, anc

the houses of the wealthy. Everywhere else the Turkish type ol city prevails—narrow streets of iow houses and window3e69 shops, where stolid Turks sit and work at their various trades a> their forefathers did before them. As a matter of fact, a large proportion of these people, although they have adopted the ways of the Turks, are not Turkish in reality; the Chris, tian element has always predominated at Monastic as indeed in most towns of Macedonia. Probably it is for this reason that Monastic has always been a centre for the various propaganda which prior to the Servian occupation in 1913 didi so much towards keeping the Balkans in a constant state of ferment. Here were the headquarters of the committees of the Serbs. Bulgars, Creek, and Wallach movements, all, of course, mainly directed l against the Turk, but. at the same time by no means too friendly to each other. In those days it was not safe to venture out alone in the streets; hardly a day passed without its crop of assassinations. ■ It was the idea of Envcr Pasha — Envcr Bey as he then was. aide-de-camp to Hilmi Pasha, Inspector-General of Macedonia —to colonise the whole country with Moslems from Bosnia and Eumriia, and so it. was by means of hi--poliey to promote peace anions the various conflicting Christian elements. Nevertheless, things became somewhat hotter when in 1908 the old disorder Leave way to the regime of the Voting Turk: hut doubtless this would nothave lasted long. It was the outbreak of the Balkan war and the eventual handing over of Monastir to Servian government that had the effect of converting a hotbed of intrigue, mis-govern-ment, and murder into a pleasant and habitable city— raft it was last year, and as it will be again when the invading Bulgars have been swept from it. Those who knew such towns as

Monastir and Skoplje before and after

Sorvian Administration will readily give Sorvia her duo for what f»ho achieved, in difficult circumstances and in a brief oeriod of time. Tt is- no easy

task to pacify and keep in order so mixed a population as that of Monastir. with its: Turks, its Serbs, its Bu!gars>, its Greeks, its Wailachs, and its native Macedonians—yet this is what Servia accomplished. We knew that now, today, tinder the misrule of Bulgarian

comitadjis, who blackmail, rob, and murder at their leisure, a state of

things exists worse tlian lias ever been known; but it will not be for long: the avenger is at the gates.