Three Bulgar Columns Near Constantinople.

New York Times 100 years ago today, November 7, 1912:
Sultan Prepares to Flee to Asia Minor — Final Battle Likely to Begin To-day.
SECOND FIGHT DESPERATE
Result Was in Doubt More Than Once, but Bulgars at Length Gained Complete Triumph.
MAY NOT ENTER CAPITAL
Allies May Refrain Because of the Grave Dangers That Would Be Involved.
MONASTIR'S FALL REPORTED
And the Capture of Adrianople Is Believed Imminent — More Turkish Massacres.
AUSTRIAN-SERVIAN DISPUTE
Clash Over Albania Now the Most Alarming Feature of the General European Situation.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    LONDON, Thursday, Nov. 7.— A telegram from Sofia to The Dally News says:
    "News has just reached here that a terribly costly battle has been fought on the Sarai-Istrandja-Tchorlu line.
    "For hours the verdict hung in the balance, the fortunes of the day continually wavering.
    "At times the position was hazardous for our troops, but eventually the Bulgarians were triumphant, the Turks were driven back, and the victorious column is now devoting its energies to an attack on Tchatalja.
    "The battle was even more desperately fought and the losses were heavier than at Lule-Burgas.
    "The Bulgarian division taking part in the Macedonian campaign is now at a point about eighteen miles from Salonika, awaiting a junction with its Greek and Servian allies before making a triumphant entry into the Turkish stronghold."
    A unique race by sea and land, with Constantinople as the goal, is now in progress. Twenty warships of great European powers are steaming at full speed in the hope of reaching the city before the rabble of the defeated Turkish Army, which is now near it.
    Close behind the Turks is the Bulgarian Army, the thunder of whose guns is probably audible in the terrified city.
    Late last night news arrived that the Bulgarians were well in touch with Tchatalja. At best the Turkish resistance cannot be long prolonged, and Constantinople will lie at Gen. Savoff's mercy.
    Curiously enough, reports are becoming current at this eleventh hour that the Allies are hesitating about actually entering Constantinople, considering that, though the triumph would be unparalleled, it might bring grave dangers in its train.
    The position in the Turkish capital, according to various correspondents, could hardly be more critical, and symptoms of panic are becoming apparent. The Government itself, either through motives of policy or because it is really struck with fear, is talking of the flight of the Padishah to Brusa, Asia Minor, and those conversant with Ottoman methods believe that the Sultan will fly rather than remain in his capital if it is in peril of being entered by the triumphant foe.

Goal of Many Ambitions.
    For 2,000 years the City on the Golden Horn has been the goal of the ambitions of world conquerors. Xenophon, Alexander, Constantine, Dandolo, Wallenstein, Napoleon, and the Czars ever since Peter the Great coveted this key to three continents, and now a young nation, whose children in other days, trained into Janissaries, helped to conserve the Turkish Dominion, is about to wrest it out of the hands of those who have held it for the past five centuries.
    Lieut. Wagner's dispatch, cabled on Tuesday to The New York Times, prepared the world for the struggle which is now in progress for the possession of the city which has been called the "Glory of the World." The Bulgarian plan outlined by Lieut. Wagner is apparently being carried out successfully, though possibly not as easily as Gen. Savoff may have expected.
    The retiring Turkish forces have been forced into battle in a district between Sarai and Tchorlu. For two days all the units of his command which Nazim Pasha could collect have been making a stubborn fight on their way to the Tchatalja lines.
    Sofia dispatches admit that the losses in these encounters have been greater than in the Battle of Lule-Burgas, and for a time victory hung in the balance.
    When one remembers the adverse conditions under which the Turks have been making this stand one cannot but feel high admiration for the splendid fighting material wasted by official neglect.
    Ultimately the Bulgarians triumphed in the unequal contest, and time will soon show whether they have been able to carry out Gen. Savoff's plan in its entirety and make good their entry within the Tchatalja lines before fresh resistance can be organized.

Great International Fleet.
    The fleet which the European nations are assembling in Turkish wafers will comprise fourteen battleships, twenty-two cruisers, fifteen destroyers, and auxiliaries.
    Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, Commander in Chief of the British Mediterranean Squadron, will be the senior officer of this international fleet, and will, it is expected, take command should concerted operations become necessary.
    The British Government a month ago ordered a strong squadron for a cruise in the Mediterranean. Hence Admiral Milne will go into Turkish waters with the most powerful battle force which has ever flown the British flag east of Gibraltar.