New York Times 100 years ago today, March 31, 1913:
Indiana Expected to be the Next to be Riddled by the Atlantic Fleet.
HELPED WIN AT SANTIAGO
Of Early Types Oregon Is the Only "Spanish War Veteran" Likely to be Saved.
Within a few years all of the first-class battleships that fought in the Spanish-American war, with a single exception, probably will have been destroyed by the shells of the great dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts of the present Atlantic fleet. The Texas, which Commander Philip caused to fight gloriously, has met her doom already in this way, and now there is a well-founded report that the battleship Indiana, which was one of Sampson's first-line ships at Santiago, is to be dismantled of her guns and towed to some convenient spot where she can be used as a target for the newer and mightier ships of the Arkansas, Delaware, Michigan, Florida, and Connecticut types.
For almost two years, off and on, the battleships of the Atlantic Fleet have been firing at the hull of the old Texas until to-day there is little of the Texas that could be made use of as a target, and the officers in charge of the naval target work are looking about for something to take the place of that famous ship of 1898. And it is said that they have about decided that the Indiana, to build and equip which the Government spent $5,983,371, has been tentatively selected as the next ship that will be offered as a sacrifice to show what the gunners of the great Atlantic Fleet can do.
Twenty-two years ago the keel of the Indiana was laid and the newspapers printed long articles descriptive of the mighty offensive and defensive power of the ship that was then dubbed "the coming queen of the seas." Four years later the Indiana was finished and turned over to the Government. The following April, 1896, the Indiana steamed for the first time into the Harbor of New York, and went to the New York Navy Yard, where she was visited by thousands, all of whom "looked, marveled, and admired the wonderful floating-fortress."
Then followed the Massachusetts and the Oregon, the last named being the ship referred to as probably the only one which will not meet the fate of the Texas. All America rejoiced and boasted of their country's possession of what was then believed to be the finest fighting trio on any sea.
But the Indiana has long since become obsolete, and when she goes to her last anchorage to await the bombardment of the ships of the Atlantic Fleet, she probably will go under a name other than Indiana, just as did the Texas, which was riddled under the name of the San Marcos when the name Texas had been given to the mighty superdreadnought Texas, a sister ship of the New York, two vessels which are nearing completion, and either of which is equal in battle efficiency to a dozen vessels of the old Texas type. Indiana undoubtedly will be the name given to one of the superdreadnoughts that will be authorized during the Wilson Administration.
When the Indiana is wrecked beyond use for target purposes no one will be surprised to see the Massachusetts and the Illinois and the Iowa follow her into oblivion via the target route. Like the Indiana, all these ships are obsolete survivors of the battle of Santiago.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
A Greek-Rumanian War.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 31, 1913:
It Breaks Out In a Clubhouse and the Casualties Are Heavy.
The dispute between Bulgaria and Rumania over the question of the location of the border line dividing those two countries was the indirect cause last night of a Greek-Rumanian war in the Rumanian club, the Lupoaica Benefit Society, at 124 West Forty-first Street, near Broadway. It took six patrolmen to end the battle, after which several physicians from the New York Hospital patched up the wounded, mostly Rumanians.
Thirty members were in the clubrooms at 11 o'clock when eight Greeks forced their way in. When the Rumanians arose to resent the intrusion the leader of the Greeks, Demetria Papajwsi, a waiter of 265 West Thirty-ninth Street, assured them that they were on a friendly visit, and thereupon the invaders were invited to refreshments. But a moment later, when the Rumanians started singing their national airs, the Greeks taunted them with favoring Turkey and opposing the Christians by the dispute with Bulgaria.
Some one drew a revolver and fired two shots, which were heard by Sergt. Sheridan and six patrolmen in the vicinity, and when they reached the door of the club every man in the place appeared to be fighting, or throwing bottles, chairs, and other movable articles at the foe. Six wounded men were unconscious on the floor, and near by was a revolver with two empty cartridges in it, but no one had been hit apparently by the bullets, for all the injuries were cuts and bruises. Demetria, leader of the Greeks, accused a Rumanian, who described himself as John Collins, 230 West Forty-fifth Street, as the one who had fired the weapon. He was locked up on the charge of assault, after he had charged his accuser with hitting him on the head with a bottle.
The club manager, Stora Vrana, said they never before had any trouble with the Greeks.
It Breaks Out In a Clubhouse and the Casualties Are Heavy.
The dispute between Bulgaria and Rumania over the question of the location of the border line dividing those two countries was the indirect cause last night of a Greek-Rumanian war in the Rumanian club, the Lupoaica Benefit Society, at 124 West Forty-first Street, near Broadway. It took six patrolmen to end the battle, after which several physicians from the New York Hospital patched up the wounded, mostly Rumanians.
Thirty members were in the clubrooms at 11 o'clock when eight Greeks forced their way in. When the Rumanians arose to resent the intrusion the leader of the Greeks, Demetria Papajwsi, a waiter of 265 West Thirty-ninth Street, assured them that they were on a friendly visit, and thereupon the invaders were invited to refreshments. But a moment later, when the Rumanians started singing their national airs, the Greeks taunted them with favoring Turkey and opposing the Christians by the dispute with Bulgaria.
Some one drew a revolver and fired two shots, which were heard by Sergt. Sheridan and six patrolmen in the vicinity, and when they reached the door of the club every man in the place appeared to be fighting, or throwing bottles, chairs, and other movable articles at the foe. Six wounded men were unconscious on the floor, and near by was a revolver with two empty cartridges in it, but no one had been hit apparently by the bullets, for all the injuries were cuts and bruises. Demetria, leader of the Greeks, accused a Rumanian, who described himself as John Collins, 230 West Forty-fifth Street, as the one who had fired the weapon. He was locked up on the charge of assault, after he had charged his accuser with hitting him on the head with a bottle.
The club manager, Stora Vrana, said they never before had any trouble with the Greeks.
Adrianople Carnage Worst Of The War.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 31, 1913:
Allies Lost 30 Per Cent. of the Troops Engaged in the Final Assault.
POWERS TO ENFORCE DEMAND
Plan Naval Demonstration if Servia Does Not Yield Albania — Montenegro Defiant.
BELGRADE, March 30.— The first trainload of wounded Servians arrived here today from Adrianople. The story told by the men shows that the fighting which preceded the capture of the city was the most terrible of the war. The Turks fought with the courage of despair, but the perseverance of the Servians and the excellent leadership of the commanders resulted in their gaining the day. Some of the men were severely wounded, but the majority are suffering only from slight bullet wounds.
One of the wounded officers said: " The siege of Adrianople was an unbroken chain of suffering for the besiegers, which reached its highest degree during the bitter cold of January and February. The snow lay six feet deep, and the sentries died at their posts. The skin of every soldier was parched by the intense frost, while in the trenches the men had their feet cut by the sharp ice breaking every morning under their steps. They slept in mud and water, covered only by canvas, which was often blown away.
"Some days dozens of men were frozen to death. There were snow plains for twenty miles around. No wood could be found, and even when it was brought fires were forbidden, so as not to betray our positions to the enemy."
All the officers agree regarding the terrible losses sustained during the final attack. The Fourth Battalion of the Ninth Infantry lost 30 per cent. of its men, which was about the average for those regiments which attacked the important forts. The Turkish guns kept up a terrific fire, and the Servians made three attempts against Papa Stepe before they succeeded in taking that position, and then did so only at a tremendous cost of life from the fire of the Turkish machine guns Fort Topyolu was another hard nut to crack. When within 500 yards the Servians, who were accompanied by a Bulgarian regiment, met such a terrible fire, with mines exploding and men falling, that the Bulgars retired, leaving the Servians alone in the position.
Regiment Lost All Officers.
The Servians again advanced at night, creeping like cats and preceded by hand-bomb throwers. The Turks did not discover them until the bomb throwers were upon the trenches. The Bulgarians then came up under command of a Sergeant, having lost all their commissioned officers, but again retired.
After the fort had been taken the Turks repeatedly made counter-attacks, and with their machine guns inflicted heavy losses upon the invading forces.
The press unfavorably discusses Russia's action in joining with the other powers in presenting a note to Servia and Montenegro with regard to Scutari and Albania. It was hoped until the last that Russia would withhold her support of the note.
SOFIA, March 30.— Shukri Pasha, the Turkish commander at Adrianople, said to one of the officials accompanied him to Sofia: "I waited for the assault when we were at the end of our food. On the reduced rations we could have held out for twenty days at the most, according to the number or rations we distributed. I estimate the number of the garrison toward the end at 60,000."
The transportation of the troops from Adrianople to the Tchatalja lines has begun.
LONDON, March 31.— The correspondent of The Times who went to Adrianople after the fall of that city sends the following dispatch:
"Complete order has been restored save in a few spasmodic cases, where fanatics have taken refuge in the house and fire upon the Bulgarians.
"The bombardment, according to an eyewitness, was truly terrific, but the gunners remained at their posts until daylight Wednesday. The sustained and accurate fire forced the Turks to retire, and the fighting became general as soon as the Bulgarians came into the town, owing to the fact that the white flag was not hoisted on Shukri Pasha's headquarters, and the allies entered as captors of the town.
"It is officially stated that 30,000 prisoners were taken and immense stores captured. The Turkish losses are estimated at 10,000. The Bulgarians lost 7,000, of whom 1,000 were killed."
Austria Is Losing Patience.
The stubbornness of Montenegro in continuing the bombardment of Scutari, contrary to the wishes of the powers, and the dilatoriness of Servia in withdrawing her troops beyond the line decided upon as the frontier of the future Albania, will, if not overcome by more peaceful measures, lead to a demonstration and blockade of the Montenegrin coast and the ports of Albania occupied by Servia.
Austria-Hungary is losing patience with her little neighbors, and is urging the powers to take action to enforce the demands contained in their notes to Servia and Montenegro. When the naval measures are taken, it is expected that this duty will be allotted to Great Britain, Italy, and Austria. Russia, although she joined in the collective diplomatic action, will not participate in the coercive steps. Servia has expressed her intention of complying with the powers' demand to evacuate Albania, but has made no movement in that direction, and the Austrian Government complains that instead of doing so she is sending more war material to that territory, probably under the idea that she will not be forced to leave until peace had been concluded.
Austria, however, insists upon the immediate withdrawal of the Servians from the country which, under the powers' decision, cannot be Servia's, no matter what the result of the fighting is.
The powers presented another note to the administration at Cettinje to-day notifying Montenegro of Turkey's consent to the departure of the civilian population from Scutari and announcing that a representative of the powers would take the news to Essad Pasha, the Turkish commander there. The Minister who received the note said that he would have to submit it to the Cabinet, but it is learned from an authoritative source that Montenegro will not agree to the proposal.
A Vienna dispatch to The Daily Mail says: "Austria has three army corps on the Herzegovinan frontier ready to enter Montenegro should the pressure from the powers, which it is intended to repeat and intensify, be ineffectual."
Bulgars Suffer a Repulse.
A Hademkeui dispatch to The Daily Chronicle, describing the fight at Biyuk Chekmedye, says that the Bulgarians hurled 20,000 men against the Turkish advanced position, and during the darkness carried it with the bayonet, the Turks retiring upon their main position. At daylight the Turks bombarded the captured position and prevented the Bulgarians from entrenching. Subsequently the Turks delivered a counter attack, 6,000 infantry storming the position with the bayonet.
After toiling up the muddy slopes the Turks flung themselves upon the Bulgarians and a desperate bayonet fight ensued. The Bulgarians were driven out of the position down the slope on the opposite side.
The Bulgar attack on the west wing near Tchatalja was also repulsed.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 30.— The fall of Adrianople has created a feeling of the deepest dejection in all sections, which lias tended to increase the unpopularity of the Government.
The fall of Adrianople has created a feeling of the deepest dejection in all sections, which has tended to increase the unpopularity of the Government.
The British Vice Consul at Adrianople sends a message that all the Consuls and foreign communities are safe and well. His report says that the Bulgarians took only 15,000 prisoners, the rest of the garrison being in hiding.
Montenegrins Press the Attack.
CETTINJE, March 30.— Since yesterday the Montenegrin artillery on the main front before Scutari has been developing great activity. The Turkish positions in the plain before the town have been heavily bombarded, and the Turks have been driven from their intrenchments near the River Kir by the persistent fire.
ATHENS, March 30.— Immediately after the funeral of the late King George, which will take place on Wednesday, King Constantine will go to Salonika and remain there until peace has been declared. As in the case of King George, King Constantine's presence may be taken as a notification to Bulgaria that Greece intends to hold Salonika as part of her spoils of war.
Allies Lost 30 Per Cent. of the Troops Engaged in the Final Assault.
POWERS TO ENFORCE DEMAND
Plan Naval Demonstration if Servia Does Not Yield Albania — Montenegro Defiant.
BELGRADE, March 30.— The first trainload of wounded Servians arrived here today from Adrianople. The story told by the men shows that the fighting which preceded the capture of the city was the most terrible of the war. The Turks fought with the courage of despair, but the perseverance of the Servians and the excellent leadership of the commanders resulted in their gaining the day. Some of the men were severely wounded, but the majority are suffering only from slight bullet wounds.
One of the wounded officers said: " The siege of Adrianople was an unbroken chain of suffering for the besiegers, which reached its highest degree during the bitter cold of January and February. The snow lay six feet deep, and the sentries died at their posts. The skin of every soldier was parched by the intense frost, while in the trenches the men had their feet cut by the sharp ice breaking every morning under their steps. They slept in mud and water, covered only by canvas, which was often blown away.
"Some days dozens of men were frozen to death. There were snow plains for twenty miles around. No wood could be found, and even when it was brought fires were forbidden, so as not to betray our positions to the enemy."
All the officers agree regarding the terrible losses sustained during the final attack. The Fourth Battalion of the Ninth Infantry lost 30 per cent. of its men, which was about the average for those regiments which attacked the important forts. The Turkish guns kept up a terrific fire, and the Servians made three attempts against Papa Stepe before they succeeded in taking that position, and then did so only at a tremendous cost of life from the fire of the Turkish machine guns Fort Topyolu was another hard nut to crack. When within 500 yards the Servians, who were accompanied by a Bulgarian regiment, met such a terrible fire, with mines exploding and men falling, that the Bulgars retired, leaving the Servians alone in the position.
Regiment Lost All Officers.
The Servians again advanced at night, creeping like cats and preceded by hand-bomb throwers. The Turks did not discover them until the bomb throwers were upon the trenches. The Bulgarians then came up under command of a Sergeant, having lost all their commissioned officers, but again retired.
After the fort had been taken the Turks repeatedly made counter-attacks, and with their machine guns inflicted heavy losses upon the invading forces.
The press unfavorably discusses Russia's action in joining with the other powers in presenting a note to Servia and Montenegro with regard to Scutari and Albania. It was hoped until the last that Russia would withhold her support of the note.
SOFIA, March 30.— Shukri Pasha, the Turkish commander at Adrianople, said to one of the officials accompanied him to Sofia: "I waited for the assault when we were at the end of our food. On the reduced rations we could have held out for twenty days at the most, according to the number or rations we distributed. I estimate the number of the garrison toward the end at 60,000."
The transportation of the troops from Adrianople to the Tchatalja lines has begun.
LONDON, March 31.— The correspondent of The Times who went to Adrianople after the fall of that city sends the following dispatch:
"Complete order has been restored save in a few spasmodic cases, where fanatics have taken refuge in the house and fire upon the Bulgarians.
"The bombardment, according to an eyewitness, was truly terrific, but the gunners remained at their posts until daylight Wednesday. The sustained and accurate fire forced the Turks to retire, and the fighting became general as soon as the Bulgarians came into the town, owing to the fact that the white flag was not hoisted on Shukri Pasha's headquarters, and the allies entered as captors of the town.
"It is officially stated that 30,000 prisoners were taken and immense stores captured. The Turkish losses are estimated at 10,000. The Bulgarians lost 7,000, of whom 1,000 were killed."
Austria Is Losing Patience.
The stubbornness of Montenegro in continuing the bombardment of Scutari, contrary to the wishes of the powers, and the dilatoriness of Servia in withdrawing her troops beyond the line decided upon as the frontier of the future Albania, will, if not overcome by more peaceful measures, lead to a demonstration and blockade of the Montenegrin coast and the ports of Albania occupied by Servia.
Austria-Hungary is losing patience with her little neighbors, and is urging the powers to take action to enforce the demands contained in their notes to Servia and Montenegro. When the naval measures are taken, it is expected that this duty will be allotted to Great Britain, Italy, and Austria. Russia, although she joined in the collective diplomatic action, will not participate in the coercive steps. Servia has expressed her intention of complying with the powers' demand to evacuate Albania, but has made no movement in that direction, and the Austrian Government complains that instead of doing so she is sending more war material to that territory, probably under the idea that she will not be forced to leave until peace had been concluded.
Austria, however, insists upon the immediate withdrawal of the Servians from the country which, under the powers' decision, cannot be Servia's, no matter what the result of the fighting is.
The powers presented another note to the administration at Cettinje to-day notifying Montenegro of Turkey's consent to the departure of the civilian population from Scutari and announcing that a representative of the powers would take the news to Essad Pasha, the Turkish commander there. The Minister who received the note said that he would have to submit it to the Cabinet, but it is learned from an authoritative source that Montenegro will not agree to the proposal.
A Vienna dispatch to The Daily Mail says: "Austria has three army corps on the Herzegovinan frontier ready to enter Montenegro should the pressure from the powers, which it is intended to repeat and intensify, be ineffectual."
Bulgars Suffer a Repulse.
A Hademkeui dispatch to The Daily Chronicle, describing the fight at Biyuk Chekmedye, says that the Bulgarians hurled 20,000 men against the Turkish advanced position, and during the darkness carried it with the bayonet, the Turks retiring upon their main position. At daylight the Turks bombarded the captured position and prevented the Bulgarians from entrenching. Subsequently the Turks delivered a counter attack, 6,000 infantry storming the position with the bayonet.
After toiling up the muddy slopes the Turks flung themselves upon the Bulgarians and a desperate bayonet fight ensued. The Bulgarians were driven out of the position down the slope on the opposite side.
The Bulgar attack on the west wing near Tchatalja was also repulsed.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 30.— The fall of Adrianople has created a feeling of the deepest dejection in all sections, which lias tended to increase the unpopularity of the Government.
The fall of Adrianople has created a feeling of the deepest dejection in all sections, which has tended to increase the unpopularity of the Government.
The British Vice Consul at Adrianople sends a message that all the Consuls and foreign communities are safe and well. His report says that the Bulgarians took only 15,000 prisoners, the rest of the garrison being in hiding.
Montenegrins Press the Attack.
CETTINJE, March 30.— Since yesterday the Montenegrin artillery on the main front before Scutari has been developing great activity. The Turkish positions in the plain before the town have been heavily bombarded, and the Turks have been driven from their intrenchments near the River Kir by the persistent fire.
ATHENS, March 30.— Immediately after the funeral of the late King George, which will take place on Wednesday, King Constantine will go to Salonika and remain there until peace has been declared. As in the case of King George, King Constantine's presence may be taken as a notification to Bulgaria that Greece intends to hold Salonika as part of her spoils of war.
German Army Total Will Be $321,000,000.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 31, 1913:
Gold for the War Chest Is Not Included in $261,250,000 Estimate.
"THE EMPIRE IS IN PERIL"
Kaiser Ready to Go to the Country on That Issue if Socialists Defeat the Bills.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 30.— The German people are dazed by the magnitude of the sacrifices they are asked to make for the purpose of strengthening the army and navy, not only by land and sea, but also by air.
Following the revelation of the increase of the military establishment at a cost of $261,250,000 and the heaping up of the contents of the Spandau war chest to $90,000,000, comes the announcement that $19,750,000 of the army increase will be spent in extending the aerial branch of the military establishment alone. In addition the Admiralty intends to spend $12,500,000 on airships and aeroplanes for the navy.
Including the separate supplementary aerial estimates for the Admiralty of $750,000, the $1,750,000 subscribed for the national flying fund, the aerial programme, which is now engaging the attention of the Kaiser's Government, is based upon the enormous total of $34,750,000, which will cover the period of five years between now and 1918. With maintenance and other costs, it is estimated that the annual expenditures for the combined army and navy air fleet under the new scheme will amount to $7,500,000, or a total of $37,500,000, during the next five years.
The Tagliche Rundschau, the Pan-German military naval organ, which first announced the coming of the aerial navy law, says to-day that the huge estimates are due to the direct intervention of the Kaiser, after urgent repeated representations by the Chief of the General Staff.
No details are as yet supplied regarding the manner in which the army's $19,750,000 is to be spent, but The Times correspondent understands, from a well-informed quarter, that the General Staff's programme contemplates the creation of a fleet of twenty Zeppelin airships, with ten revolving sheds, each to accommodate two vessels, and a complementary fleet of at least 200 aeroplanes. The army air fleet will be distributed along the French and Russian frontiers, with reserve stations at strategic inland points.
Although public opinion had to a degree discounted the immensity of the army increase, nevertheless it is staggered by the sight of the actual numerical details. By 1914 a total of 176,000 men will have been added to the army. In four years the sum of $60,000,000 in gold will have been added to the war chest. This will not, of course, be taken from the $261 ,250,000 to be spent on the army, but will be provided for by a special new issue of silver and paper currency of small denominations.
Commercial quarters are filled with fresh anxiety over this additional unexpected drain on the none-too-adequate supply of gold in the empire. The German people now have to pay a tax of $5 in $1,000 on fortunes, a premium of from 25 cents to $5 in $1,000 on all life insurance over $500, and an additional $40 in $1,000 on incomes over $12,500; a new stamp tax on the transfer of property, and a property increment tax of 30 cents per capita in the Federal States.
Herr von Gwinner of the Deutsche Bank estimates the aggregate German national fortune at $75,000,000,000, which at $5 in the $1,000 will produce $375,000,000. He calculates the total income at $10,000,000,000. He does not think there will be any serious attempt on the part of the propertied classes to evade the new taxation. "Germans," he says, "are not only rich, but also honest." He says there is hardly any doubt that the Kaiser's Government is prepared to dissolve Parliament and appeal to the country on the issue that "the empire is in peril."
If the Socialists, with their 110 votes, can find 89 supporters in the House to provide the necessary majority to defeat the Government's bill, the Liberal and Radical Parties, which are hotly opposing the various features of the taxation scheme, may welcome the opportunity to join hands with the Socialists.
Gold for the War Chest Is Not Included in $261,250,000 Estimate.
"THE EMPIRE IS IN PERIL"
Kaiser Ready to Go to the Country on That Issue if Socialists Defeat the Bills.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 30.— The German people are dazed by the magnitude of the sacrifices they are asked to make for the purpose of strengthening the army and navy, not only by land and sea, but also by air.
Following the revelation of the increase of the military establishment at a cost of $261,250,000 and the heaping up of the contents of the Spandau war chest to $90,000,000, comes the announcement that $19,750,000 of the army increase will be spent in extending the aerial branch of the military establishment alone. In addition the Admiralty intends to spend $12,500,000 on airships and aeroplanes for the navy.
Including the separate supplementary aerial estimates for the Admiralty of $750,000, the $1,750,000 subscribed for the national flying fund, the aerial programme, which is now engaging the attention of the Kaiser's Government, is based upon the enormous total of $34,750,000, which will cover the period of five years between now and 1918. With maintenance and other costs, it is estimated that the annual expenditures for the combined army and navy air fleet under the new scheme will amount to $7,500,000, or a total of $37,500,000, during the next five years.
The Tagliche Rundschau, the Pan-German military naval organ, which first announced the coming of the aerial navy law, says to-day that the huge estimates are due to the direct intervention of the Kaiser, after urgent repeated representations by the Chief of the General Staff.
No details are as yet supplied regarding the manner in which the army's $19,750,000 is to be spent, but The Times correspondent understands, from a well-informed quarter, that the General Staff's programme contemplates the creation of a fleet of twenty Zeppelin airships, with ten revolving sheds, each to accommodate two vessels, and a complementary fleet of at least 200 aeroplanes. The army air fleet will be distributed along the French and Russian frontiers, with reserve stations at strategic inland points.
Although public opinion had to a degree discounted the immensity of the army increase, nevertheless it is staggered by the sight of the actual numerical details. By 1914 a total of 176,000 men will have been added to the army. In four years the sum of $60,000,000 in gold will have been added to the war chest. This will not, of course, be taken from the $261 ,250,000 to be spent on the army, but will be provided for by a special new issue of silver and paper currency of small denominations.
Commercial quarters are filled with fresh anxiety over this additional unexpected drain on the none-too-adequate supply of gold in the empire. The German people now have to pay a tax of $5 in $1,000 on fortunes, a premium of from 25 cents to $5 in $1,000 on all life insurance over $500, and an additional $40 in $1,000 on incomes over $12,500; a new stamp tax on the transfer of property, and a property increment tax of 30 cents per capita in the Federal States.
Herr von Gwinner of the Deutsche Bank estimates the aggregate German national fortune at $75,000,000,000, which at $5 in the $1,000 will produce $375,000,000. He calculates the total income at $10,000,000,000. He does not think there will be any serious attempt on the part of the propertied classes to evade the new taxation. "Germans," he says, "are not only rich, but also honest." He says there is hardly any doubt that the Kaiser's Government is prepared to dissolve Parliament and appeal to the country on the issue that "the empire is in peril."
If the Socialists, with their 110 votes, can find 89 supporters in the House to provide the necessary majority to defeat the Government's bill, the Liberal and Radical Parties, which are hotly opposing the various features of the taxation scheme, may welcome the opportunity to join hands with the Socialists.
Mexico Complains Of Aid To Rebels.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 31, 1913:
Informs Washington Arms and Ammunition Are Passing Across the Border.
ASKS UNITED STATES TO ACT
Huerta's Capital Anxious Because of Rumors That Street Fighting Is to be Renewed.
MEXICO CITY. March 30.— The Mexican Government has made a formal protest to the American Government against the shipping of arms and ammunition from the United States to the rebels, and has requested that greater vigilance be exercised in guarding the frontier. Mexican officials understand that many consignments of war material, including large numbers of machine guns, have been sent across the border, in some cases even at the regular ports of entry, and are in the hands of the rebels.
It is pointed out by the same officials that since the rebels are in control of a large part of the frontier, this country is dependent absolutely for the time being on the efforts of the United States to prevent the rebels from obtaining supplies. That the rebels are procuring quantities of ammunition appears to be a fact.
No notable improvement in the revolutionary situation is apparent. Most of the successes in recent days are credited to the rebels, although severe punishment in minor engagements has been inflicted on the adherents of Col. Carranza, rebel Governor of Coahuila, near Monterey. The report that Carranza and his chief lieutenant, Major Carfias, had been captured has not been confirmed.
The followers of Carranza appear to be less organized than those of Maytorena in Sonora, but many bands are harassing a wide area throughout Coahuila and in part of Nuevo Leon, and the new organization of rebels in the States of Durango and San Luis Potosi are greatly hampering the progress of the Federals.
The Government seems to regard the situation in the Northwest as more delicate than that in Coahuila. Gen. José Mier is on his way to take command of the campaign in that territory. The slow mobilization of forces along the Chihuahua-Sonora line continues. These are to be supplemented by troops sent in transports to the west coast ports of Guaymas and Mazatlan. The Government asserts that it soon will have 10,000 men in that region, including many of Orozco's army, commanded by old officers. Thus far few of the former rebels are engaged in the campaign.
The residents of the capital are nervous because of the continued rumors of friction between President Huerta and Gen. Felix Diaz and of plots and intrigues, even to the fixing of dates when a new battle may be expected in the streets, or the assassination of one or the other of the principals may be perpetrated. On Saturday so keen was the excitement that the President called the newspaper men to the palace after midnight and issued a formal statement that he and Felix Diaz still were friends, and were working in harmony. Huerta's statement was duplicated by Diaz.
Gen. Geronimo Trevino, who resigned recently as Governor of Nuevo Leon because of his' lack of sympathy with the Huerta Administration, arrived in the capital to-day. He was greeted by officials and escorted by troops, and was received in audience by the President, but no statement has been made as to the object in bringing him here.
A dispatch from Cuernavaca says it is reported that Pascual Orozco, Sr., has been executed by Zapata's soldiers, but the report is not confirmed.
That Emiliano Zapata does not intend to recognize the Huerta Government seems to be certain from the fact that he is holding as his prisoners Pascual Orozco, Sr., and four others who accompanied him into the South to negotiate a peace pact with the rebels.
Zapata's terms include the withdrawal of all Federals from the State of Morelos, but these have been sent informally, instead of by means of the Orozco commission, who have been disarmed and are under guard near Cuautla. The reported execution of two of the Commissioners, who were former leaders under Zapata, is not true.
It is understood that the Government will resume its campaign of extermination, and in case his father is held or killed it is likely that Gen. Pascual Orozco and his men will have an important rôle in the campaign. The Commissioners were taken to Zapata, who, according to dispatches from Cuautla, was inclined to liberate them, but was prevented from doing so by his own men. The death of Francisco Madero is regarded in Zapata's camp, these dispatches say, as a treasonable act. Orators among the Zapata forces are making speeches to the rebels in which they characterize a surrender as cowardly.
DURANGO. Mexico. March 30.— Six hundred Federals were defeated recently by a band of rebels 1,000 strong near San Gabriel, thirty-five miles northeast of here. The rebels, according to Federals who are arriving here on foot, captured a trainload of supplies and ammunition. Both sides are said to have suffered heavy losses.
Informs Washington Arms and Ammunition Are Passing Across the Border.
ASKS UNITED STATES TO ACT
Huerta's Capital Anxious Because of Rumors That Street Fighting Is to be Renewed.
MEXICO CITY. March 30.— The Mexican Government has made a formal protest to the American Government against the shipping of arms and ammunition from the United States to the rebels, and has requested that greater vigilance be exercised in guarding the frontier. Mexican officials understand that many consignments of war material, including large numbers of machine guns, have been sent across the border, in some cases even at the regular ports of entry, and are in the hands of the rebels.
It is pointed out by the same officials that since the rebels are in control of a large part of the frontier, this country is dependent absolutely for the time being on the efforts of the United States to prevent the rebels from obtaining supplies. That the rebels are procuring quantities of ammunition appears to be a fact.
No notable improvement in the revolutionary situation is apparent. Most of the successes in recent days are credited to the rebels, although severe punishment in minor engagements has been inflicted on the adherents of Col. Carranza, rebel Governor of Coahuila, near Monterey. The report that Carranza and his chief lieutenant, Major Carfias, had been captured has not been confirmed.
The followers of Carranza appear to be less organized than those of Maytorena in Sonora, but many bands are harassing a wide area throughout Coahuila and in part of Nuevo Leon, and the new organization of rebels in the States of Durango and San Luis Potosi are greatly hampering the progress of the Federals.
The Government seems to regard the situation in the Northwest as more delicate than that in Coahuila. Gen. José Mier is on his way to take command of the campaign in that territory. The slow mobilization of forces along the Chihuahua-Sonora line continues. These are to be supplemented by troops sent in transports to the west coast ports of Guaymas and Mazatlan. The Government asserts that it soon will have 10,000 men in that region, including many of Orozco's army, commanded by old officers. Thus far few of the former rebels are engaged in the campaign.
The residents of the capital are nervous because of the continued rumors of friction between President Huerta and Gen. Felix Diaz and of plots and intrigues, even to the fixing of dates when a new battle may be expected in the streets, or the assassination of one or the other of the principals may be perpetrated. On Saturday so keen was the excitement that the President called the newspaper men to the palace after midnight and issued a formal statement that he and Felix Diaz still were friends, and were working in harmony. Huerta's statement was duplicated by Diaz.
Gen. Geronimo Trevino, who resigned recently as Governor of Nuevo Leon because of his' lack of sympathy with the Huerta Administration, arrived in the capital to-day. He was greeted by officials and escorted by troops, and was received in audience by the President, but no statement has been made as to the object in bringing him here.
A dispatch from Cuernavaca says it is reported that Pascual Orozco, Sr., has been executed by Zapata's soldiers, but the report is not confirmed.
That Emiliano Zapata does not intend to recognize the Huerta Government seems to be certain from the fact that he is holding as his prisoners Pascual Orozco, Sr., and four others who accompanied him into the South to negotiate a peace pact with the rebels.
Zapata's terms include the withdrawal of all Federals from the State of Morelos, but these have been sent informally, instead of by means of the Orozco commission, who have been disarmed and are under guard near Cuautla. The reported execution of two of the Commissioners, who were former leaders under Zapata, is not true.
It is understood that the Government will resume its campaign of extermination, and in case his father is held or killed it is likely that Gen. Pascual Orozco and his men will have an important rôle in the campaign. The Commissioners were taken to Zapata, who, according to dispatches from Cuautla, was inclined to liberate them, but was prevented from doing so by his own men. The death of Francisco Madero is regarded in Zapata's camp, these dispatches say, as a treasonable act. Orators among the Zapata forces are making speeches to the rebels in which they characterize a surrender as cowardly.
DURANGO. Mexico. March 30.— Six hundred Federals were defeated recently by a band of rebels 1,000 strong near San Gabriel, thirty-five miles northeast of here. The rebels, according to Federals who are arriving here on foot, captured a trainload of supplies and ammunition. Both sides are said to have suffered heavy losses.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Two Big Coming Stations At Panama.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
Together They Will Have Capacity for Nearly Half a Million Tons — One at Cristobal.
WAR SUPPLY UNDER WATER
This Always to be Kept in Reserve — Specifications for Plants Make Time Saving a First Consideration.
A most elaborate system of ship coaling plants, to be established at the Atlantic and Pacific entrances to the Panama Canal, is described by the Canal Commission in a recent issue of The Consular and Trade Reports. Specifications for the necessary machinery, the first aim of which is speed in handling the coal with the least possible amount of breakage, have been completed, and advertisements will shortly be published for bids.
It is planned, the Canal Commission explains, to have a coal storage basin at Cristobal with a capacity of 290,000 tons, and one at Balboa with a capacity of 160,000 tons. In each place the storage will be within a large basin made of reinforced concrete, in which approximately half the coal will be stored under water for use in time of war, and the other half above water to be added to and taken from continually for the ordinary uses of commercial and Government vessels.
"It is also planned," continues the commission's statement, "if the policy should be approved, to be able to lease parts of the storage basin to such private coaling companies as may wish to maintain their own coal stores on the Isthmus; but in such cases all of the handling will be done by the Government plant, a suitable charge being made for the service.
"The specifications are not hard and fast, but merely establish certain general methods and standards, leaving it to manufacturers to devise suitable machines. One of the limiting conditions is that the Government shall build the substructure or storage bin and place upon the walls such tracks as cranes and other movable machines may require. This substructure will cost more than the coal-handling plant. The details will not be decided upon until the bids for the handling plant have been canvassed, because each plan will require its own special substructure, and one of the points, considered in awarding the contract will be the cost of the substructure required under each plan.
"In general, however, the specifications call for cranes that will unload coal from ships; a conveying system that will transfer it to bridges that will span the storage basin and dump it at any place desired; and such a system of buckets operating upon these bridges as will make it possible to lift coal from the storage basin, and by means of conveyors raise it to loading machines that will dump it into colliers or lighters. The Cristobal plant must be capable of unloading 1,000 tons and loading 2,000 tons of coal each hour, end the Balboa plant 500 and 1,000 tons.
"In the ordinary operations of each of the plants vessels requiring bunker coal will not go alongside the wharves of the plants to receive such coal, but will be coaled while lying in the stream from barges laid alongside, these barges having been loaded by means of the reloaders forming part of the specified handling machinery for each plant. The plants are to be capable, however, of rapidly loading colliers laid alongside the wharves by means of the reloaders mentioned, the high capacities specified for outward-bound coal being fixed with a view to requiring colliers to remain at the plants for the shortest time practicable.
Layouts of the Plants.
"The coaling plant at the Atlantic entrance will be situated on the north end of the island formed by the old French canal, the American canal, and the Mindi River. It will be reached from the mainland by means of a bridge to be built by the Panama Railroad over the French canal south of the drydock shops. The storage basin will be opposite dock No. 13 at Mount Hope, and it will be 1,000 feet long and 250 feet wide. The bottom of the basin will be nineteen feet below mean tide, and the elevation of the decks of the wharves ten feet above mean tide. There will be forty-one feet depth of water alongside the wharves. The wharves will be founded upon steel cylinders filled with reinforced concrete resting upon hard rock. The maximum tidal oscillation in Limon Bay is 2.65 feet.
"For this type of storage basin, at least two layouts of coaling plant are feasible; the first being that in which the loading and unloading wharves occupy opposite sides of the basin parallel with one another with the coal piles between them, and the second that in which the unloading wharf will be at right angles to the loading wharf. The normal capacity will be 240,000 tons, capable of increase to 290,000 tons by piling coal to ten feet additional height.
"The coaling plant at the Pacific entrance will be on the quay wall south of the entrance to the large dry dock. The size of the basin will be 500 feet long and 250 feet wide for one design of plant, and the same length and 340 feet wide for a second design. The extreme tidal difference here is 21.8 feet. As at the Atlantic entrance, the loading wharf will be founded upon concrete cylinders resting upon hard rock; the unloading wharf will be gravity section concrete wall resting on rock. The normal capacity of the Balboa plant will be 135,000 tons, capable of increase to 160,000 tons, by piling coal ten feet above normal height.
The layout is somewhat different from that at the Atlantic entrance, although the method of handling the coal will be similar. The unloading wharf will be situated at the outer end of the dry dock slip, while the line of the loading wharf makes an angle of about 45 degrees with that of the unloading wharf, runing out toward the canal prism from the end of the unloading wharf.
"In the first plan a basin 500 feet long and 250 feet wide is provided for, with bottom at eighteen feet below mean tide and top of wharf at sixteen and a half feet above mean tide. The capacity of this plant must not be less than 500 tons of coal an hour to be unloaded and 1,000 tons per hour to be loaded aboard colliers or barges. Two unloaders will be required with conveyors, and two single stocking reclaiming bridges. Two reloaders will also be required. The operation of this plant is essentially the same as that for the Atlantic entrance.
Great Unloading Towers.
"An alternate plan for the Balboa plant provides for the same location of the wharves, but for a basin 500 feet long and 340 feet wide. Tho unloaders are the same as in other plans, but instead of dumping into conveyers they will discharge by means of the cantilever end directly into the basin, and large cantilever cranes will then pick up the coal and deposit it at any desired point in the storage basin. For reclaiming, these same cranes will pick up the coal and trolley it into their towers, where it will be dumped into cars or other conveyers, whence it will be carried away from the basin along the front of the reloading wharf to the reloaders.
"The purpose of this second plan is to make use of four cranes now used in the placing of concrete at Miraflores locks and thus save the expense of the stocking and reclaiming bridges. Whether they will be used depends upon the cost and general desirability of this plant compared with one having entirely new handling machinery."
The commission has this to say more particularly about the Cristobal plant:
"The unloading operation will consist of taking coal from a collier and depositing it at any desired place in the bin or basin. For this purpose unloading towers, a conveying system that will carry the coal lengthwise of the storage bin along the wharf, bridges spanning the basin, and a conveying system upon these bridges, which will take the coal from the first conveyers and dump it wherever required, are specified.
"Four unloading towers of not less than 250 tons capacity per hour each making a total capacity of 1,000 tons an hour, form the first unit of the unloading system. These towers must be capable of mining coal from a vessel depositing it into a hopper built within the tower, whence it may be delivered by chutes to the conveying system, or to Panama Railroad cars running on a track beneath the tower: or of depositing it by the bucket or shovel into the storage pile behind the tower; and of mining coal from storage pile behind the tower and depositing it in the hopper in the tower.
"Each tower will travel on two parallel pairs of rails between which, at the level of the wharf deck, there shall run a railroad track so located that cars may be run beneath the unloading tower and receive coal from its hopper. The speed of travel in either direction must be not less than fifty feet per minute against a wind pressure of ten pounds per square foot. The track travel must be by motors or engines within each tower, and cable drive will not be acceptable.
"The bucket or shovel by means of the colliers will have a capacity of 100 cubic feet, liquid full. Larger buckets may be offered, however, provided small buckets are also supplied and a rapid means of making the change from one to the other is provided.
"Each tower will be. fitted with a lifting or folding boom on the water side and with a cantilever on the storage basin side. The cantilever may be movable if necessary to permit the passage of the reclaiming bridges. In any case the track for the trolley of the bucket shall be horizontal and continuous, between the extreme ends of boom and cantilever, when both are in a horizontal position, and the passage of the trolley over the hinge joints shall be made easily and without shock. Suitable buffers will be fitted at each end of the trolley runway. The distances through which the trolley or bucket will be capable of operation are as follows: Maximum height above wharf level, Balboa and Cristobal, 60 feet; maximum depth for reclaiming coal from ships below wharf level, Cristobal, 30 feet; Balboa, 45 feet; maximum horizontal travel of bucket on water side beyond centre line of tower legs next to water, Cristobal and Balboa, 60 feet; maximum horizontal travel of bucket on land side, beyond nearest wall of coal basin, Cristobal and Balboa, 35 feet; maximum depth below wharf level for reclaiming coal from storage on land side at Cristobal, 20 feet; maximum depth below wharf level for reclaiming coal from storage on land side at Balboa 34 1/2 feet.
"In addition to these operations the towers will be able to dredge the bottom of the slip in front of the unloading wharf 51 feet below wharf level at Cristobal and 61 1/2 feet at Balboa."
Together They Will Have Capacity for Nearly Half a Million Tons — One at Cristobal.
WAR SUPPLY UNDER WATER
This Always to be Kept in Reserve — Specifications for Plants Make Time Saving a First Consideration.
A most elaborate system of ship coaling plants, to be established at the Atlantic and Pacific entrances to the Panama Canal, is described by the Canal Commission in a recent issue of The Consular and Trade Reports. Specifications for the necessary machinery, the first aim of which is speed in handling the coal with the least possible amount of breakage, have been completed, and advertisements will shortly be published for bids.
It is planned, the Canal Commission explains, to have a coal storage basin at Cristobal with a capacity of 290,000 tons, and one at Balboa with a capacity of 160,000 tons. In each place the storage will be within a large basin made of reinforced concrete, in which approximately half the coal will be stored under water for use in time of war, and the other half above water to be added to and taken from continually for the ordinary uses of commercial and Government vessels.
"It is also planned," continues the commission's statement, "if the policy should be approved, to be able to lease parts of the storage basin to such private coaling companies as may wish to maintain their own coal stores on the Isthmus; but in such cases all of the handling will be done by the Government plant, a suitable charge being made for the service.
"The specifications are not hard and fast, but merely establish certain general methods and standards, leaving it to manufacturers to devise suitable machines. One of the limiting conditions is that the Government shall build the substructure or storage bin and place upon the walls such tracks as cranes and other movable machines may require. This substructure will cost more than the coal-handling plant. The details will not be decided upon until the bids for the handling plant have been canvassed, because each plan will require its own special substructure, and one of the points, considered in awarding the contract will be the cost of the substructure required under each plan.
"In general, however, the specifications call for cranes that will unload coal from ships; a conveying system that will transfer it to bridges that will span the storage basin and dump it at any place desired; and such a system of buckets operating upon these bridges as will make it possible to lift coal from the storage basin, and by means of conveyors raise it to loading machines that will dump it into colliers or lighters. The Cristobal plant must be capable of unloading 1,000 tons and loading 2,000 tons of coal each hour, end the Balboa plant 500 and 1,000 tons.
"In the ordinary operations of each of the plants vessels requiring bunker coal will not go alongside the wharves of the plants to receive such coal, but will be coaled while lying in the stream from barges laid alongside, these barges having been loaded by means of the reloaders forming part of the specified handling machinery for each plant. The plants are to be capable, however, of rapidly loading colliers laid alongside the wharves by means of the reloaders mentioned, the high capacities specified for outward-bound coal being fixed with a view to requiring colliers to remain at the plants for the shortest time practicable.
Layouts of the Plants.
"The coaling plant at the Atlantic entrance will be situated on the north end of the island formed by the old French canal, the American canal, and the Mindi River. It will be reached from the mainland by means of a bridge to be built by the Panama Railroad over the French canal south of the drydock shops. The storage basin will be opposite dock No. 13 at Mount Hope, and it will be 1,000 feet long and 250 feet wide. The bottom of the basin will be nineteen feet below mean tide, and the elevation of the decks of the wharves ten feet above mean tide. There will be forty-one feet depth of water alongside the wharves. The wharves will be founded upon steel cylinders filled with reinforced concrete resting upon hard rock. The maximum tidal oscillation in Limon Bay is 2.65 feet.
"For this type of storage basin, at least two layouts of coaling plant are feasible; the first being that in which the loading and unloading wharves occupy opposite sides of the basin parallel with one another with the coal piles between them, and the second that in which the unloading wharf will be at right angles to the loading wharf. The normal capacity will be 240,000 tons, capable of increase to 290,000 tons by piling coal to ten feet additional height.
"The coaling plant at the Pacific entrance will be on the quay wall south of the entrance to the large dry dock. The size of the basin will be 500 feet long and 250 feet wide for one design of plant, and the same length and 340 feet wide for a second design. The extreme tidal difference here is 21.8 feet. As at the Atlantic entrance, the loading wharf will be founded upon concrete cylinders resting upon hard rock; the unloading wharf will be gravity section concrete wall resting on rock. The normal capacity of the Balboa plant will be 135,000 tons, capable of increase to 160,000 tons, by piling coal ten feet above normal height.
The layout is somewhat different from that at the Atlantic entrance, although the method of handling the coal will be similar. The unloading wharf will be situated at the outer end of the dry dock slip, while the line of the loading wharf makes an angle of about 45 degrees with that of the unloading wharf, runing out toward the canal prism from the end of the unloading wharf.
"In the first plan a basin 500 feet long and 250 feet wide is provided for, with bottom at eighteen feet below mean tide and top of wharf at sixteen and a half feet above mean tide. The capacity of this plant must not be less than 500 tons of coal an hour to be unloaded and 1,000 tons per hour to be loaded aboard colliers or barges. Two unloaders will be required with conveyors, and two single stocking reclaiming bridges. Two reloaders will also be required. The operation of this plant is essentially the same as that for the Atlantic entrance.
Great Unloading Towers.
"An alternate plan for the Balboa plant provides for the same location of the wharves, but for a basin 500 feet long and 340 feet wide. Tho unloaders are the same as in other plans, but instead of dumping into conveyers they will discharge by means of the cantilever end directly into the basin, and large cantilever cranes will then pick up the coal and deposit it at any desired point in the storage basin. For reclaiming, these same cranes will pick up the coal and trolley it into their towers, where it will be dumped into cars or other conveyers, whence it will be carried away from the basin along the front of the reloading wharf to the reloaders.
"The purpose of this second plan is to make use of four cranes now used in the placing of concrete at Miraflores locks and thus save the expense of the stocking and reclaiming bridges. Whether they will be used depends upon the cost and general desirability of this plant compared with one having entirely new handling machinery."
The commission has this to say more particularly about the Cristobal plant:
"The unloading operation will consist of taking coal from a collier and depositing it at any desired place in the bin or basin. For this purpose unloading towers, a conveying system that will carry the coal lengthwise of the storage bin along the wharf, bridges spanning the basin, and a conveying system upon these bridges, which will take the coal from the first conveyers and dump it wherever required, are specified.
"Four unloading towers of not less than 250 tons capacity per hour each making a total capacity of 1,000 tons an hour, form the first unit of the unloading system. These towers must be capable of mining coal from a vessel depositing it into a hopper built within the tower, whence it may be delivered by chutes to the conveying system, or to Panama Railroad cars running on a track beneath the tower: or of depositing it by the bucket or shovel into the storage pile behind the tower; and of mining coal from storage pile behind the tower and depositing it in the hopper in the tower.
"Each tower will travel on two parallel pairs of rails between which, at the level of the wharf deck, there shall run a railroad track so located that cars may be run beneath the unloading tower and receive coal from its hopper. The speed of travel in either direction must be not less than fifty feet per minute against a wind pressure of ten pounds per square foot. The track travel must be by motors or engines within each tower, and cable drive will not be acceptable.
"The bucket or shovel by means of the colliers will have a capacity of 100 cubic feet, liquid full. Larger buckets may be offered, however, provided small buckets are also supplied and a rapid means of making the change from one to the other is provided.
"Each tower will be. fitted with a lifting or folding boom on the water side and with a cantilever on the storage basin side. The cantilever may be movable if necessary to permit the passage of the reclaiming bridges. In any case the track for the trolley of the bucket shall be horizontal and continuous, between the extreme ends of boom and cantilever, when both are in a horizontal position, and the passage of the trolley over the hinge joints shall be made easily and without shock. Suitable buffers will be fitted at each end of the trolley runway. The distances through which the trolley or bucket will be capable of operation are as follows: Maximum height above wharf level, Balboa and Cristobal, 60 feet; maximum depth for reclaiming coal from ships below wharf level, Cristobal, 30 feet; Balboa, 45 feet; maximum horizontal travel of bucket on water side beyond centre line of tower legs next to water, Cristobal and Balboa, 60 feet; maximum horizontal travel of bucket on land side, beyond nearest wall of coal basin, Cristobal and Balboa, 35 feet; maximum depth below wharf level for reclaiming coal from storage on land side at Cristobal, 20 feet; maximum depth below wharf level for reclaiming coal from storage on land side at Balboa 34 1/2 feet.
"In addition to these operations the towers will be able to dredge the bottom of the slip in front of the unloading wharf 51 feet below wharf level at Cristobal and 61 1/2 feet at Balboa."
What Kiamil, Great Turkish Leader, Told A Tourist.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
Statesman Who Recently Was Exiled to Egypt Gave a Cordial Reception to an American Who Visited Him When He Was in Power, and Spoke Frankly About Turkish Affairs.By Grant Hugh Browne.
For more than forty years the world expected a Balkan conflagration. Then, at last, the Balkan allies declared war against Turkey and the status quo promised by English Premiers since Disraeli became nil.
I was anxious to see the stage setting of what might be the greatest tragedy Europe had ever seen. So early last November I decided to get over there and secure a good seat, as it were. No sooner thought of than I proceeded to put the plan into execution.
I arrived shortly afterward in London, and was told by the American Embassy that no regular passports were being issued for Turkey. But, fortunately for me, the same staff of clerks and assistants are in charge at the Embassy that were there during the American-Spanish war, when they were all kept busy by myself and others purchasing transports, colliers, and munitions of war for the use of Uncle Sam.
To me it was like an old reunion. I remembered the days and nights of activity under Ambassador John Hay and Naval Attache William S. Sims, when we were all kept on the jump at fever heat, and I soon found that these same men were willing and anxious to recognize my enthusiasm for my trip. They immediately proceeded to do everything in their power to expedite and make possible the securing of a passport, and they did it to such good effect that the next day I was starting from Charing Cross Station with an emergency passport in my pocket viséd by both the Turkish and Rumanian Consuls.
Traveling on the Orient Express via Vienna, Budapest, and Bucharest, I reached Kontenje, where I embarked on the Black Sea, this being the only approach to Constantinople that was open. The front door through the Dardanelles was, of course, closed, and the railway through Servia and Bulgaria in the bands of the allies. I soon discovered that I was making fine headway in getting into Turkey, but what about getting out? The nearer I got to the city of mosques the more I heard about cholera. Was I to be quarantined? This bridge, however, I decided to cross when I came to it.
My friend Emil Hecht, a merchant of Constantinople, who had volunteered to come all the way to Budapest to meet me, and I were practically the only passengers on the Black Sea steamer outside of twenty-five or thirty Red Cross nurses, all from Holland excepting two Japanese, all of whom were on their way to care for the wounded in the trenches at Tchatalja. These nurses were only an advance guard of a great stream of Red Cross workers — Japanese, Hollanders, Germans, Swiss, French, and English — on their way to care for wounded Mohammedans of an Oriental army, in an Oriental country, in Oriental trenches. These brave women talked earnestly of the work awaiting them. No one flinched at the thought of contact with the dreaded cholera; they feared seasickness far more. They walked the deck, impatient to reach those unfortunates who so sorely needed them.
After a stormy night on the turbulent Black Sea we arrived the next day at 2 o'clock in the Bosphorus.
No longer are there seven wonders of the world to me. There is but one. Who can ever forget the passage through the Bosphorus, with those marvelous palaces and gardens on either side, through the most wonderful stretch of water of its kind in the world, to the anchorage in the Golden Horn alongside the Galata Bridge? I thought to myself, "Who would not be a Pasha and live all his days in the Orient?"
We landed on the Galata side of the Golden Horn and, securing a carriage, commenced the long climb up the hill to Pera and the Pera Palace Hotel. This part of Constantinople is almost like a portion of some French city — shops all French, prices in francs, owners French or German.
The morning after my arrival I told my friend that I should go immediately to the Sublime Porte and present my letter to that Turkish patriarch, the Grand Vizier Kiamil Pasha. I was told that it would be impossible to see Kiamil on the same day, that it would take several days to arrange for an audience. I had no wish for delays, and the greater the number of obstacles presented to me the more anxious was I to see this wonderful old man. In all Turkish history of the last two generations no one name stands out like that of Kiamil Pasha, the man to whom, throughout the reign of Abdul Hamid, the powers of Europe looked for the maintenance of peace and the controlling of the turbulent leaders of the Orient.
We crossed the Stamboul Bridge and climbed the hills to the Government House, known as the Sublime Porte. I bore with me a letter to Kiamil from Sir Hamilton Lang, who for thirty-eight years represented the English Government in the Orient, and who passed many of these years working out, with the aid of Kiamil Pasha, those difficult problems that always arise where Western civilization is continuously bumping into Orientalism.
Sir Hamilton had graciously referred to me in his letter as an American, "therefore a man of the world." It was probably this description that proved my "open sesame," for I was ushered immediately into the audience room, overawed by that mystery that always hovers about the Westerner in the East.
Kiamil Pasha came in — an old man with a kindly face set on narrow shoulders.
"Your Excellency," I said, "I have come 7,000 miles to shake the hand of the greatest diplomat in Europe."
He pulled me down on a seat alongside of him and said: "I am so pleased you came."
I was anxious to get all that I could from the Turkish magnate about the future of Turkey and its people, its progress under the constitution of 1908, the outlook of the war, the possibility of its early cessation, and so forth. Before I was able to ask him any questions, he very quietly began to interrogate me:
"On what ship did you come from America, Mr. Browne?"
"The Kronprinz Wilhelm."
"How many days were you on the ocean?"
"Six."
"Only six?" he said, surprised. I suggested that he visit America, but he shook his head.
"No, I am too old," he objected, and then:
"How big is New York City?"
"Greater New York has 5,000,000 of people."
"How you Americans have grown!"
Then the old man sat quietly a long while with his eyes closed, and I knew that his mind was again dwelling on his own cares and worries.
"Will your Excellency," I ventured, "tell me the cause of the war?"
"The powers did not maintain the status quo which we have always been promised since the Crimean war. England was always by our side, but now whatever policy they have in England seems to be to aid the Muscovite." "Did you know of the secret alliance of the four Kings — the Balkan League?"
"Yes, our Government knew, although I was not in power at the time. I am told that the Turkish Government protested to the powers that there was a secret alliance of the Balkan States, that they were arming and getting ready to attack us and bringing ordnance and ammunition into the Balkans as early as last March. The reply of the powers was that we should not be alarmed, that the status quo would be maintained. The Balkan States were impatient concerning our acceding to their demands. We thought we were doing very well in modernizing our institutions, with our constitutional form of Government barely three years old. Our constitution granted equal rights to all religions, political equality to all races, no discrimination in Government office, no discrimination in military service. And yet they wanted these reforms to work out perfectly in so short a time.
"I understand that the Ministers in charge at that time applied for funds with which to arm ourselves to meet the threatened invasion, but our requests were refused. It is probable that our Government did not pursue the matter very earnestly, relying upon the implied promise of the powers that no armed campaign would be tolerated.
"We now have before the representatives of the powers, as we have had for some time, a request to increase our import duties from 11 per cent. to 15 per cent. This would give us almost 40 per cent. more revenue, but up to the present the powers have not granted us permission so to do."
"But why ask the powers?" I asked.
"Don't you know, Mr. Browne, that Turkey is the only Government in Europe that cannot spend its own money?" answered the old man. "Every piastre of its revenue is only collected by permission of the powers."
"And why would they not permit you to raise these duties to 15 per cent?"
"Their reply always is: 'We do not know what you or your Pashas may do with the money.' Your American manufacturers and exporters are exporting to Turkey goods that come into this country at 11 per cent. duty, while they would be obliged to pay 40 per cent. or 45 per cent. in Greece and the other Balkan States. The different Ambassadors object to this or that suggestion on our part whenever they think it may possibly prohibit or curtail their own country's exports into Turkey. And it is very necessary for us always to maintain peace with the powers."
"Does it not seem unfair," I said to him, "that our exports are assessed these very high tariffs in all these other countries, and only pay 11 per cent. into Turkey?"
With a pause between each word, he replied:
"You must remember we cannot object, Mr. Browne. Our religion is founded upon humanity and peace between all men, but your Christian religion sometimes seems different to me, or, rather, I would say, the people who strive for the Christian nations are better traders, or more successful in forcing upon us their financial conditions than we Mohammedans are in objecting to them."
To appreciate the impressiveness of these words one must bear in mind the old man's slowness of speech, his careful weighing of words, his frequent long pauses. It was to him a solemn thing thus to unburden himself.
I shortly afterward withdrew after he had told me he would gladly extend any courtesy within his power to make my visit in Constantinople a pleasant one.
I spent the next few days sightseeing, interviewing, and trying to learn Constantinople. I purchased some books of English-Turkish conversational phrases. I thought perhaps I could do as I had done in other countries — learn enough of the language in a few days to ask my way about, or, at least, bargrain with a cabman. But I gave it up. I was obliged to fall back upon my friend, Mr. Hecht.
The Bazaar of Stamboul is said to have 500 streets. After wandering about one whole afternoon, I thought that there were a million, all under one roof. You can buy camels and rugs from the East, cash registers, typewriters, and sewing machines from the West. The merchants sit in long rows, each man in a little niche or arch of his own, or on a small platform in front of his arch. No foreigner ever gets by them without being importuned to buy their wares.
I was, however, surprised to see how little dickering there was. I tried to buy a gold chain. The old Turk, with a beard almost to his feet, weighed it and charged me about $16 an ounce. I offered him about $15 an ounce. With great dignity, he placed the chain back in its receptacle and crawled back into his niche without vouchsafing a reply.
Every time I went back and forth from Stamboul to Galata or Galata to Stamboul it was necessary to go across the stone bridge. Probably more people cross this bridge in a day than any other bridge of its size in the world. The stream of Turks in carriages and on foot, soldiers, infantry and cavalry, black men, white men, yellow and brown, Nubians, Abyssinians, Afghanese, Beluchistanese, Persians, Assyrians, Kurds, Hindus, Tartars, Jews, and Christians, make up the most marvelous mass of humanity imaginable. Thousands of porters trudging with their great packs, pigmy horses and donkeys — it is an incessant stream from daylight to darkness.
I stood there for hours watching. Why make this East West? Why change the Oriental Constantinople into a Western Constantinople? Will it be more attractive if its mosques and minarets are changed to churches, if you no longer hear the muezzin calling to prayers, nor the faithful bathing their feet at the fountains? Will it be better for the world to change all this into a Chicago, with the clang of the trolley car, with the taxicab — to make the bazaar give way to department stores?
The native Turk is an industrious man. The laborers are not intelligent, neither do they take easily to modern methods of labor. But such work as they have known for generations, or to which they are born, they do as well at as any other race, and better than many.
The mass of the people are not curious. This I especially noted in respect to the war. Notwithstanding the continuous procession of soldiers, the thousands of ox teams with covered wagons, in which the refugees from Thrace and Macedonia were trekking back to the lands of their fathers — Turkey in Asia — no one seemed to pay much attention. The people of Constantinople went on about their business or occupation very much as if there was no war.
Fighting was going on continuously at the Tchatalja fortifications, some fifteen miles away, to which last line of defense the Bulgars had pushed the Turks. The wounded and sick were being brought in by trainloads every night and sent up Pera Hill to the hospitals, when these became full, the mosques were turned into temporary hospitals.
I am certain the authorities did everything within their power to care for the sick and wounded. They did not foresee the cholera. But they quickly arose to the situation. Every newspaper in the city published a set of general rules of prevention and methods of caring for those stricken with this plague. Naturally all foreigners were careful as to food and exposure.
The nights were doleful. The electric light company went out of commission, owing to lack of coal, so the city was practically in darkness, except a few flickering gas flames. At sundown most people locked themselves in for the night. But I was always a prowler if there was anything to be seen, and found myself night after night watching the long lines of soldiers going and coming.
And now I come to my last day in Constantinople and my last audience with Kiamil Pasha. The armistice had been signed on Dec. 3, and envoys were being selected to go to London to the peace conference, so I thought London would be an interesting place for me. I quickly arranged for an early departure.
I hurried over to the Sublime Porte on a Saturday morning about 10 o'clock and sent my card in, and was immediately ushered into the presence of Kiamil.
"I am going home to-day," I said. Again he pulled me down alongside of him and for some minutes said nothing. Then, in his slow, almost voiceless voice:
"I am sorry to see the friends of Turkey always going away. They have nearly all gone, and I seem so alone. I wish to send my greetings out from Turkey to two old friends — one, Sir Hamilton Lang in London and one Mr. Oscar Straus in New York."
"Were you successful in securing your armistice?" I asked.
"Yes, I appealed to the powers for an armistice, but fifteen days went by without reply. The Christian powers of Europe entirely ignored a request which I made to avoid further bloodshed. On the sixteenth day I appealed directly to Czar Ferdinand, and he immediately granted my request."
"Do you think Turkey has irretrievably lost Thrace and Macedonia?"
"I fear we have lost Monastir and Salonica. I think we can save Adrianople."
He then bade me good-bye. I immediately went to my steamer to return across the Black Sea. I was fumigated, at Kontendji, escaped quarantine, and in a few days was back in London, where the Peace Commissioners were at work.
This was in December. Kiamil was soon after exiled to Egypt, and Nazim Pasha, the Minister of War, assassinated.
"When I told prominent men in England on my return from Turkey that I hoped they would secure to Turkey its individuality, and that my sympathies were with Turkey in her troubles, a British statesman said to me:
"Browne, Kiamil hypnotized you."
Perhaps he did.
Statesman Who Recently Was Exiled to Egypt Gave a Cordial Reception to an American Who Visited Him When He Was in Power, and Spoke Frankly About Turkish Affairs.By Grant Hugh Browne.
For more than forty years the world expected a Balkan conflagration. Then, at last, the Balkan allies declared war against Turkey and the status quo promised by English Premiers since Disraeli became nil.
I was anxious to see the stage setting of what might be the greatest tragedy Europe had ever seen. So early last November I decided to get over there and secure a good seat, as it were. No sooner thought of than I proceeded to put the plan into execution.
I arrived shortly afterward in London, and was told by the American Embassy that no regular passports were being issued for Turkey. But, fortunately for me, the same staff of clerks and assistants are in charge at the Embassy that were there during the American-Spanish war, when they were all kept busy by myself and others purchasing transports, colliers, and munitions of war for the use of Uncle Sam.
To me it was like an old reunion. I remembered the days and nights of activity under Ambassador John Hay and Naval Attache William S. Sims, when we were all kept on the jump at fever heat, and I soon found that these same men were willing and anxious to recognize my enthusiasm for my trip. They immediately proceeded to do everything in their power to expedite and make possible the securing of a passport, and they did it to such good effect that the next day I was starting from Charing Cross Station with an emergency passport in my pocket viséd by both the Turkish and Rumanian Consuls.
Traveling on the Orient Express via Vienna, Budapest, and Bucharest, I reached Kontenje, where I embarked on the Black Sea, this being the only approach to Constantinople that was open. The front door through the Dardanelles was, of course, closed, and the railway through Servia and Bulgaria in the bands of the allies. I soon discovered that I was making fine headway in getting into Turkey, but what about getting out? The nearer I got to the city of mosques the more I heard about cholera. Was I to be quarantined? This bridge, however, I decided to cross when I came to it.
My friend Emil Hecht, a merchant of Constantinople, who had volunteered to come all the way to Budapest to meet me, and I were practically the only passengers on the Black Sea steamer outside of twenty-five or thirty Red Cross nurses, all from Holland excepting two Japanese, all of whom were on their way to care for the wounded in the trenches at Tchatalja. These nurses were only an advance guard of a great stream of Red Cross workers — Japanese, Hollanders, Germans, Swiss, French, and English — on their way to care for wounded Mohammedans of an Oriental army, in an Oriental country, in Oriental trenches. These brave women talked earnestly of the work awaiting them. No one flinched at the thought of contact with the dreaded cholera; they feared seasickness far more. They walked the deck, impatient to reach those unfortunates who so sorely needed them.
After a stormy night on the turbulent Black Sea we arrived the next day at 2 o'clock in the Bosphorus.
No longer are there seven wonders of the world to me. There is but one. Who can ever forget the passage through the Bosphorus, with those marvelous palaces and gardens on either side, through the most wonderful stretch of water of its kind in the world, to the anchorage in the Golden Horn alongside the Galata Bridge? I thought to myself, "Who would not be a Pasha and live all his days in the Orient?"
We landed on the Galata side of the Golden Horn and, securing a carriage, commenced the long climb up the hill to Pera and the Pera Palace Hotel. This part of Constantinople is almost like a portion of some French city — shops all French, prices in francs, owners French or German.
The morning after my arrival I told my friend that I should go immediately to the Sublime Porte and present my letter to that Turkish patriarch, the Grand Vizier Kiamil Pasha. I was told that it would be impossible to see Kiamil on the same day, that it would take several days to arrange for an audience. I had no wish for delays, and the greater the number of obstacles presented to me the more anxious was I to see this wonderful old man. In all Turkish history of the last two generations no one name stands out like that of Kiamil Pasha, the man to whom, throughout the reign of Abdul Hamid, the powers of Europe looked for the maintenance of peace and the controlling of the turbulent leaders of the Orient.
We crossed the Stamboul Bridge and climbed the hills to the Government House, known as the Sublime Porte. I bore with me a letter to Kiamil from Sir Hamilton Lang, who for thirty-eight years represented the English Government in the Orient, and who passed many of these years working out, with the aid of Kiamil Pasha, those difficult problems that always arise where Western civilization is continuously bumping into Orientalism.
Sir Hamilton had graciously referred to me in his letter as an American, "therefore a man of the world." It was probably this description that proved my "open sesame," for I was ushered immediately into the audience room, overawed by that mystery that always hovers about the Westerner in the East.
Kiamil Pasha came in — an old man with a kindly face set on narrow shoulders.
"Your Excellency," I said, "I have come 7,000 miles to shake the hand of the greatest diplomat in Europe."
He pulled me down on a seat alongside of him and said: "I am so pleased you came."
I was anxious to get all that I could from the Turkish magnate about the future of Turkey and its people, its progress under the constitution of 1908, the outlook of the war, the possibility of its early cessation, and so forth. Before I was able to ask him any questions, he very quietly began to interrogate me:
"On what ship did you come from America, Mr. Browne?"
"The Kronprinz Wilhelm."
"How many days were you on the ocean?"
"Six."
"Only six?" he said, surprised. I suggested that he visit America, but he shook his head.
"No, I am too old," he objected, and then:
"How big is New York City?"
"Greater New York has 5,000,000 of people."
"How you Americans have grown!"
Then the old man sat quietly a long while with his eyes closed, and I knew that his mind was again dwelling on his own cares and worries.
"Will your Excellency," I ventured, "tell me the cause of the war?"
"The powers did not maintain the status quo which we have always been promised since the Crimean war. England was always by our side, but now whatever policy they have in England seems to be to aid the Muscovite." "Did you know of the secret alliance of the four Kings — the Balkan League?"
"Yes, our Government knew, although I was not in power at the time. I am told that the Turkish Government protested to the powers that there was a secret alliance of the Balkan States, that they were arming and getting ready to attack us and bringing ordnance and ammunition into the Balkans as early as last March. The reply of the powers was that we should not be alarmed, that the status quo would be maintained. The Balkan States were impatient concerning our acceding to their demands. We thought we were doing very well in modernizing our institutions, with our constitutional form of Government barely three years old. Our constitution granted equal rights to all religions, political equality to all races, no discrimination in Government office, no discrimination in military service. And yet they wanted these reforms to work out perfectly in so short a time.
"I understand that the Ministers in charge at that time applied for funds with which to arm ourselves to meet the threatened invasion, but our requests were refused. It is probable that our Government did not pursue the matter very earnestly, relying upon the implied promise of the powers that no armed campaign would be tolerated.
"We now have before the representatives of the powers, as we have had for some time, a request to increase our import duties from 11 per cent. to 15 per cent. This would give us almost 40 per cent. more revenue, but up to the present the powers have not granted us permission so to do."
"But why ask the powers?" I asked.
"Don't you know, Mr. Browne, that Turkey is the only Government in Europe that cannot spend its own money?" answered the old man. "Every piastre of its revenue is only collected by permission of the powers."
"And why would they not permit you to raise these duties to 15 per cent?"
"Their reply always is: 'We do not know what you or your Pashas may do with the money.' Your American manufacturers and exporters are exporting to Turkey goods that come into this country at 11 per cent. duty, while they would be obliged to pay 40 per cent. or 45 per cent. in Greece and the other Balkan States. The different Ambassadors object to this or that suggestion on our part whenever they think it may possibly prohibit or curtail their own country's exports into Turkey. And it is very necessary for us always to maintain peace with the powers."
"Does it not seem unfair," I said to him, "that our exports are assessed these very high tariffs in all these other countries, and only pay 11 per cent. into Turkey?"
With a pause between each word, he replied:
"You must remember we cannot object, Mr. Browne. Our religion is founded upon humanity and peace between all men, but your Christian religion sometimes seems different to me, or, rather, I would say, the people who strive for the Christian nations are better traders, or more successful in forcing upon us their financial conditions than we Mohammedans are in objecting to them."
To appreciate the impressiveness of these words one must bear in mind the old man's slowness of speech, his careful weighing of words, his frequent long pauses. It was to him a solemn thing thus to unburden himself.
I shortly afterward withdrew after he had told me he would gladly extend any courtesy within his power to make my visit in Constantinople a pleasant one.
I spent the next few days sightseeing, interviewing, and trying to learn Constantinople. I purchased some books of English-Turkish conversational phrases. I thought perhaps I could do as I had done in other countries — learn enough of the language in a few days to ask my way about, or, at least, bargrain with a cabman. But I gave it up. I was obliged to fall back upon my friend, Mr. Hecht.
The Bazaar of Stamboul is said to have 500 streets. After wandering about one whole afternoon, I thought that there were a million, all under one roof. You can buy camels and rugs from the East, cash registers, typewriters, and sewing machines from the West. The merchants sit in long rows, each man in a little niche or arch of his own, or on a small platform in front of his arch. No foreigner ever gets by them without being importuned to buy their wares.
I was, however, surprised to see how little dickering there was. I tried to buy a gold chain. The old Turk, with a beard almost to his feet, weighed it and charged me about $16 an ounce. I offered him about $15 an ounce. With great dignity, he placed the chain back in its receptacle and crawled back into his niche without vouchsafing a reply.
Every time I went back and forth from Stamboul to Galata or Galata to Stamboul it was necessary to go across the stone bridge. Probably more people cross this bridge in a day than any other bridge of its size in the world. The stream of Turks in carriages and on foot, soldiers, infantry and cavalry, black men, white men, yellow and brown, Nubians, Abyssinians, Afghanese, Beluchistanese, Persians, Assyrians, Kurds, Hindus, Tartars, Jews, and Christians, make up the most marvelous mass of humanity imaginable. Thousands of porters trudging with their great packs, pigmy horses and donkeys — it is an incessant stream from daylight to darkness.
I stood there for hours watching. Why make this East West? Why change the Oriental Constantinople into a Western Constantinople? Will it be more attractive if its mosques and minarets are changed to churches, if you no longer hear the muezzin calling to prayers, nor the faithful bathing their feet at the fountains? Will it be better for the world to change all this into a Chicago, with the clang of the trolley car, with the taxicab — to make the bazaar give way to department stores?
The native Turk is an industrious man. The laborers are not intelligent, neither do they take easily to modern methods of labor. But such work as they have known for generations, or to which they are born, they do as well at as any other race, and better than many.
The mass of the people are not curious. This I especially noted in respect to the war. Notwithstanding the continuous procession of soldiers, the thousands of ox teams with covered wagons, in which the refugees from Thrace and Macedonia were trekking back to the lands of their fathers — Turkey in Asia — no one seemed to pay much attention. The people of Constantinople went on about their business or occupation very much as if there was no war.
Fighting was going on continuously at the Tchatalja fortifications, some fifteen miles away, to which last line of defense the Bulgars had pushed the Turks. The wounded and sick were being brought in by trainloads every night and sent up Pera Hill to the hospitals, when these became full, the mosques were turned into temporary hospitals.
I am certain the authorities did everything within their power to care for the sick and wounded. They did not foresee the cholera. But they quickly arose to the situation. Every newspaper in the city published a set of general rules of prevention and methods of caring for those stricken with this plague. Naturally all foreigners were careful as to food and exposure.
The nights were doleful. The electric light company went out of commission, owing to lack of coal, so the city was practically in darkness, except a few flickering gas flames. At sundown most people locked themselves in for the night. But I was always a prowler if there was anything to be seen, and found myself night after night watching the long lines of soldiers going and coming.
And now I come to my last day in Constantinople and my last audience with Kiamil Pasha. The armistice had been signed on Dec. 3, and envoys were being selected to go to London to the peace conference, so I thought London would be an interesting place for me. I quickly arranged for an early departure.
I hurried over to the Sublime Porte on a Saturday morning about 10 o'clock and sent my card in, and was immediately ushered into the presence of Kiamil.
"I am going home to-day," I said. Again he pulled me down alongside of him and for some minutes said nothing. Then, in his slow, almost voiceless voice:
"I am sorry to see the friends of Turkey always going away. They have nearly all gone, and I seem so alone. I wish to send my greetings out from Turkey to two old friends — one, Sir Hamilton Lang in London and one Mr. Oscar Straus in New York."
"Were you successful in securing your armistice?" I asked.
"Yes, I appealed to the powers for an armistice, but fifteen days went by without reply. The Christian powers of Europe entirely ignored a request which I made to avoid further bloodshed. On the sixteenth day I appealed directly to Czar Ferdinand, and he immediately granted my request."
"Do you think Turkey has irretrievably lost Thrace and Macedonia?"
"I fear we have lost Monastir and Salonica. I think we can save Adrianople."
He then bade me good-bye. I immediately went to my steamer to return across the Black Sea. I was fumigated, at Kontendji, escaped quarantine, and in a few days was back in London, where the Peace Commissioners were at work.
This was in December. Kiamil was soon after exiled to Egypt, and Nazim Pasha, the Minister of War, assassinated.
"When I told prominent men in England on my return from Turkey that I hoped they would secure to Turkey its individuality, and that my sympathies were with Turkey in her troubles, a British statesman said to me:
"Browne, Kiamil hypnotized you."
Perhaps he did.
60,000 Turks Are Prisoners.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
SOFIA, March 29.— According to the first information from headquarters the Bulgarian losses in the fighting on March 24, 25, and 26, which ended in the capture of Adrianople, were 11,000 killed and wounded. The Servian losses were 500.
The Turkish prisoners numbered 60,000, including 833 officers, of whom thirteen were Generals.
The trophies included 650 guns of different calibres, fifty-eight machine guns, ten flags, one balloon, and a considerable quantity of rifles, munitions, and vehicles.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 29.— It is officially reported that a detachment of the enemy, which had taken an advanced position west of Biyuk Chekmedye, has been driven back with considerable loss and the position recaptured.
A German military aviator, named Scherf, accompanied by a Turkish officer, flew over the Bulgarian lines before Tchatalja to-day in a biplane. The officer reported that the Bulgarians were concentrating in strong force on the Sea of Marmora.
The flying man maintained a comparatively low level throughout his flight and although frequently under fire the biplane was not struck by any shots.
SOFIA, March 29.— According to the first information from headquarters the Bulgarian losses in the fighting on March 24, 25, and 26, which ended in the capture of Adrianople, were 11,000 killed and wounded. The Servian losses were 500.
The Turkish prisoners numbered 60,000, including 833 officers, of whom thirteen were Generals.
The trophies included 650 guns of different calibres, fifty-eight machine guns, ten flags, one balloon, and a considerable quantity of rifles, munitions, and vehicles.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 29.— It is officially reported that a detachment of the enemy, which had taken an advanced position west of Biyuk Chekmedye, has been driven back with considerable loss and the position recaptured.
A German military aviator, named Scherf, accompanied by a Turkish officer, flew over the Bulgarian lines before Tchatalja to-day in a biplane. The officer reported that the Bulgarians were concentrating in strong force on the Sea of Marmora.
The flying man maintained a comparatively low level throughout his flight and although frequently under fire the biplane was not struck by any shots.
Servians Claim Capture of Shukri.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
BELGRADE, March 29.— The honor of capturing Shukri Pasha, the Turkish Commander in Chief of Adrianople, with his headquarters staff, belongs to the Twentieth Servian Regiment of Infantry.
An official statement, issued here today, said that Shukri Pasha, two other Turkish Generals, 22 field officers, and 150 junior officers were in Hadurluk fort, northwest of the city, when the Servian regiment stormed and captured it. On the following day Shukri Pasha was handed over by the Servians to Gen. Nikola Ivanoff, the Bulgarian Commander in Chief. Seventeen thousand Ottoman troops also surrendered to the Servians, and the quantity of war material captured by them in the taking of the city was enormous.
The Bulgarian, headquarters staff has been informed that Servian co-operation with the Bulgarian troops is no longer necessary in the opinion of Servia, and the withdrawal of the Servian forces from the vicinity of Adrianople will begin to-day.
BELGRADE, March 29.— The honor of capturing Shukri Pasha, the Turkish Commander in Chief of Adrianople, with his headquarters staff, belongs to the Twentieth Servian Regiment of Infantry.
An official statement, issued here today, said that Shukri Pasha, two other Turkish Generals, 22 field officers, and 150 junior officers were in Hadurluk fort, northwest of the city, when the Servian regiment stormed and captured it. On the following day Shukri Pasha was handed over by the Servians to Gen. Nikola Ivanoff, the Bulgarian Commander in Chief. Seventeen thousand Ottoman troops also surrendered to the Servians, and the quantity of war material captured by them in the taking of the city was enormous.
The Bulgarian, headquarters staff has been informed that Servian co-operation with the Bulgarian troops is no longer necessary in the opinion of Servia, and the withdrawal of the Servian forces from the vicinity of Adrianople will begin to-day.
Allies Piercing Tchatalja Lines.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
Defiant of Powers, They Push On and May Dictate Peace at Constantinople.
ADRIANOPLE SPOILS HUGE
Turkish Prisoners Numbered 60,000 and a Great Quantity of War Material Was Captured.
LONDON, March 29.— Although a report from Sofia that the Bulgarian troops have pierced the Tchatalja lines in the neighborhood of Lake Derkos, on the Black Sea, is not yet confirmed, it is evident that fighting is going on there in the face of the orders of the great powers that the Balkan war shall cease.
The allies have accepted the powers' peace terms as "a basis of negotiations," but cling to their determination to exact an indemnity and refuse to muzzle their guns until the Turks accept their terms. Their experience of the last armistice, they say, was that Turkey used it merely to gain time.
The Bulgarian Army therefore continues to batter at the Tchatalja lines, and it seems entirely possible that the allies may march into Constantinople before peace is signed.
The spectacle of the six great powers working in harmony on the Balkan question is matched by the equally strange spectacle of the Balkan States defying them. The concert of the powers remains only as strong as its weakest link, and, as Russia cannot be expected to use her army and navy against her Slav brethren to loosen their grip on the Turk, the proceedings have been reduced to a diplomatic debate.
The Montenegrins are protesting through the diplomats and the press and by every means against the powers' decision to include Scutari in the new State of Albania. Their argument is:
"Why should Europe deprive Montenegro of a city, necessary for its prosperity, to create a new and artificial State?"
The entire Bulgarian Cabinet is proceeding to Adrianople to-morrow with King Ferdinand and will celebrate a Te Deum in the ancient Turkish capital, while the gallant Simkri Pasha and his Generals are prisoners of war in Sofia.
Defiant of Powers, They Push On and May Dictate Peace at Constantinople.
ADRIANOPLE SPOILS HUGE
Turkish Prisoners Numbered 60,000 and a Great Quantity of War Material Was Captured.
LONDON, March 29.— Although a report from Sofia that the Bulgarian troops have pierced the Tchatalja lines in the neighborhood of Lake Derkos, on the Black Sea, is not yet confirmed, it is evident that fighting is going on there in the face of the orders of the great powers that the Balkan war shall cease.
The allies have accepted the powers' peace terms as "a basis of negotiations," but cling to their determination to exact an indemnity and refuse to muzzle their guns until the Turks accept their terms. Their experience of the last armistice, they say, was that Turkey used it merely to gain time.
The Bulgarian Army therefore continues to batter at the Tchatalja lines, and it seems entirely possible that the allies may march into Constantinople before peace is signed.
The spectacle of the six great powers working in harmony on the Balkan question is matched by the equally strange spectacle of the Balkan States defying them. The concert of the powers remains only as strong as its weakest link, and, as Russia cannot be expected to use her army and navy against her Slav brethren to loosen their grip on the Turk, the proceedings have been reduced to a diplomatic debate.
The Montenegrins are protesting through the diplomats and the press and by every means against the powers' decision to include Scutari in the new State of Albania. Their argument is:
"Why should Europe deprive Montenegro of a city, necessary for its prosperity, to create a new and artificial State?"
The entire Bulgarian Cabinet is proceeding to Adrianople to-morrow with King Ferdinand and will celebrate a Te Deum in the ancient Turkish capital, while the gallant Simkri Pasha and his Generals are prisoners of war in Sofia.
Wales May Try German Airship.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, March 29.— The Prince of Wales will, it is expected, make an ascent on Monday in the new military Zeppelin dirigible, which successfully completed its trial trips over Lake Constance to-day.
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, March 29.— The Prince of Wales will, it is expected, make an ascent on Monday in the new military Zeppelin dirigible, which successfully completed its trial trips over Lake Constance to-day.
German Air Fleets To Cost $37,500,000.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
Proposed Expenditures for Airships for the Army and Navy Astonish the Fatherland.
ARMY BILL CERTAIN TO PASS
But the Tax Bills, Designed to Pay the Expense, Will Be Attacked on All Sides.
BERLIN, March 29.— Plans of the Admiralty for the establishment of a big aerial navy were published officially this afternoon. The fleet of airships and aeroplanes is to cost $12,500,000, which is to be spread over five years. The fleet is to be entirely apart from that connected with the army, on which nearly $25,000,000 is to be spent.
A bill providing for the appropriation of $750,000 as the first outlay on the Admiralty's aerial fleet was introduced into the Imperial Parliament to-day. It calls for ten naval dirigible balloons of the largest size, of which eight are to compose the active fleet and two to be held in reserve. Fifty-four double revolving balloon halls into which the dirigibles will be able to enter, regardless of the weather, are to be erected, and another two to be kept as a reserve. A total of fifty aeroplanes, of which thirty-six are to form the active fleet and fourteen the reserve, are also to be built, and these are to be manned by a special corps of 1,452 officers and men.
The appropriations for this fleet to be spread over the years 1914 to 1918, comprise $8,750,000 for dirigibles and $2,250,000 for aeroplanes, while $1,500,000 is asked for the pay and maintenance of the crews.
The life of the new airships is estimated at only four years each.
The proposed increase of the army will evidently be voted by the Reichstag practically without opposition except from the Socialists, who will resist as a matter of form. But the Government's financial proposals to cover the necessary expenditure, on which the Federal Council agreed only with difficulty, will be subjected to the most severe criticism.
The imperial Parliament, it is argued by the newspapers, will demand radical modifications of the new tax proposals, rejecting some and demanding the substitution of others, which will weigh more heavily on the well-to-do classes.
After the passage of the Army bill the land forces of Germany on a peace footing will comprise 33,800 officers, 119,000 non-commissioned officers, 661,176 privates, and 15,000 one-year volunteers. The rest of the 870,000 will include medical, veterinary and pay officers, artificers, the Hospital Corps, and other non-combatants.
A total of $52,500,000 is assigned for the construction of new fortresses. Foreigners, domiciled in Germany, are to be subjected to the war contribution, on the same basis as German subjects.
Dr. Otto Wiemer, leader of the Progressives in the Reichstag, expresses the opinion that the debate on the military measures will not be finished before the Summer recess.
Proposed Expenditures for Airships for the Army and Navy Astonish the Fatherland.
ARMY BILL CERTAIN TO PASS
But the Tax Bills, Designed to Pay the Expense, Will Be Attacked on All Sides.
BERLIN, March 29.— Plans of the Admiralty for the establishment of a big aerial navy were published officially this afternoon. The fleet of airships and aeroplanes is to cost $12,500,000, which is to be spread over five years. The fleet is to be entirely apart from that connected with the army, on which nearly $25,000,000 is to be spent.
A bill providing for the appropriation of $750,000 as the first outlay on the Admiralty's aerial fleet was introduced into the Imperial Parliament to-day. It calls for ten naval dirigible balloons of the largest size, of which eight are to compose the active fleet and two to be held in reserve. Fifty-four double revolving balloon halls into which the dirigibles will be able to enter, regardless of the weather, are to be erected, and another two to be kept as a reserve. A total of fifty aeroplanes, of which thirty-six are to form the active fleet and fourteen the reserve, are also to be built, and these are to be manned by a special corps of 1,452 officers and men.
The appropriations for this fleet to be spread over the years 1914 to 1918, comprise $8,750,000 for dirigibles and $2,250,000 for aeroplanes, while $1,500,000 is asked for the pay and maintenance of the crews.
The life of the new airships is estimated at only four years each.
The proposed increase of the army will evidently be voted by the Reichstag practically without opposition except from the Socialists, who will resist as a matter of form. But the Government's financial proposals to cover the necessary expenditure, on which the Federal Council agreed only with difficulty, will be subjected to the most severe criticism.
The imperial Parliament, it is argued by the newspapers, will demand radical modifications of the new tax proposals, rejecting some and demanding the substitution of others, which will weigh more heavily on the well-to-do classes.
After the passage of the Army bill the land forces of Germany on a peace footing will comprise 33,800 officers, 119,000 non-commissioned officers, 661,176 privates, and 15,000 one-year volunteers. The rest of the 870,000 will include medical, veterinary and pay officers, artificers, the Hospital Corps, and other non-combatants.
A total of $52,500,000 is assigned for the construction of new fortresses. Foreigners, domiciled in Germany, are to be subjected to the war contribution, on the same basis as German subjects.
Dr. Otto Wiemer, leader of the Progressives in the Reichstag, expresses the opinion that the debate on the military measures will not be finished before the Summer recess.
Wireless Causes Disease.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 30, 1913:
German Physicians Find Operators Contract a Form of Anaemia.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 29.— To the list of adjuncts of modern life that bring new diseases is now added radiotelegraphy.
The German physicians who have just discovered the disease call it wireless sickness. It consists of anaemia with a marked diminution in the number of red corpuscles in the blood. The doctors ascribe it partly to the unhygienic surroundings of wireless operators who generally work in tiny rooms, and partly to the overetherization of the air they breathe by reason of the alternating currents used to generate the waves.
German Physicians Find Operators Contract a Form of Anaemia.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 29.— To the list of adjuncts of modern life that bring new diseases is now added radiotelegraphy.
The German physicians who have just discovered the disease call it wireless sickness. It consists of anaemia with a marked diminution in the number of red corpuscles in the blood. The doctors ascribe it partly to the unhygienic surroundings of wireless operators who generally work in tiny rooms, and partly to the overetherization of the air they breathe by reason of the alternating currents used to generate the waves.
Friday, March 29, 2013
A Naval Reform.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 29, 1913:
There is a vague hint of the influence of personal animosities in certain changes just made by Secretary Daniels in the management of the Navy Department. With these the public has little or nothing to do. There is always a great deal of idle talk in both army and navy circles in Washington of personal jealousies. Their influence is generally exaggerated. The broad general rule laid down by the new Secretary of the Navy that promotions shall not be made hereafter when the candidates have not had sufficient sea service in the grade to which they belong is admirable, and will receive public approval. No hard and fast rule as to the amount of sea service is to be enforced. The sole idea is that the higher positions in the navy shall always be filled by men who have shown themselves fit in actual service at sea.
The rule of bureaucrats, so far as it has prevailed, is to be ended, and men are to be rewarded by promotion in the navy who are actually fitted for active naval service. The House of Representatives has frequently considered legislation providing for a minimum of sea service before promotion from the various ranks. The fixing of any minimum might not always be just. Strict enforcement of the Secretary's new rule will serve every purpose.
There is a vague hint of the influence of personal animosities in certain changes just made by Secretary Daniels in the management of the Navy Department. With these the public has little or nothing to do. There is always a great deal of idle talk in both army and navy circles in Washington of personal jealousies. Their influence is generally exaggerated. The broad general rule laid down by the new Secretary of the Navy that promotions shall not be made hereafter when the candidates have not had sufficient sea service in the grade to which they belong is admirable, and will receive public approval. No hard and fast rule as to the amount of sea service is to be enforced. The sole idea is that the higher positions in the navy shall always be filled by men who have shown themselves fit in actual service at sea.
The rule of bureaucrats, so far as it has prevailed, is to be ended, and men are to be rewarded by promotion in the navy who are actually fitted for active naval service. The House of Representatives has frequently considered legislation providing for a minimum of sea service before promotion from the various ranks. The fixing of any minimum might not always be just. Strict enforcement of the Secretary's new rule will serve every purpose.
Proposing A Halt.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 29, 1913:
"Evil and insensate folly," "wasteful, purposeless, and futile folly," "one of the most stupid and unnatural chapters in the history of European civilization" — these are the stinging words in which Mr. Churchill, Naval Minister in the Asquith Government, describes the "present acute rivalry in armaments." And he proposes to suspend the increase of the British Navy for a year if the rivals of Great Britain will do likewise.
We address this proposal to all nations and to no nation with more profound sincerity than to our great neighbor over the North Sea.
The first impression that this remarkable proposal must naturally make is that of a confession of weakness. The Germans of the type of Bernhardi will naturally so regard it. They will link it up with the equally remarkable statement by Mr. Churchill a year ago that whatever Germany did in building warships England would do twice as much and would go on doing it indefinitely. And they will say that Britain is weary of that unlimited task, feels unable to carry it out, and is begging her rival to give her a chance to rest from it. But this interpretation is by no means the only one — is, in all probability, not the right one. A year ago Mr. Churchill put a vital truth in a striking, in almost a brutal, fashion. It was generally expected that Germany would hotly resent it. Germany — that is, the responsible statesmen of Germany — did nothing of the sort. On the contrary, before a year had passed the chief naval authority of the German Navy announced that, for the present at least, the ratio of six German vessels to ten British was satisfactory. And both in the Reichstag and in the House of Commons the respective Governments have recognized cordially the great improvement that has taken place in the relations of the two Powers. It is not probable, but it is not at all impossible, that Mr. Churchill's frank words may be followed by an understanding between the two Governments.
It is not to be denied that what Mr. Churchill says is in reality true, unless the two Governments are resolved on war. In a sense there is no excuse for war. Each nation professes to be acting strictly on the defensive and solely in view of possible aggression on the part of the other. If this profession is sincere and each can be convinced that the other does not intend aggression the need of further preparation ceases. The possibility of reducing armaments approaches. Surely this ought not to be a hopeless achievement for the leading statesmen of the two countries. It is made more practicable, by the experience of the last six months, when the two governments have found themselves working patiently and candidly together against a common peril and for the general good.
"Evil and insensate folly," "wasteful, purposeless, and futile folly," "one of the most stupid and unnatural chapters in the history of European civilization" — these are the stinging words in which Mr. Churchill, Naval Minister in the Asquith Government, describes the "present acute rivalry in armaments." And he proposes to suspend the increase of the British Navy for a year if the rivals of Great Britain will do likewise.
We address this proposal to all nations and to no nation with more profound sincerity than to our great neighbor over the North Sea.
The first impression that this remarkable proposal must naturally make is that of a confession of weakness. The Germans of the type of Bernhardi will naturally so regard it. They will link it up with the equally remarkable statement by Mr. Churchill a year ago that whatever Germany did in building warships England would do twice as much and would go on doing it indefinitely. And they will say that Britain is weary of that unlimited task, feels unable to carry it out, and is begging her rival to give her a chance to rest from it. But this interpretation is by no means the only one — is, in all probability, not the right one. A year ago Mr. Churchill put a vital truth in a striking, in almost a brutal, fashion. It was generally expected that Germany would hotly resent it. Germany — that is, the responsible statesmen of Germany — did nothing of the sort. On the contrary, before a year had passed the chief naval authority of the German Navy announced that, for the present at least, the ratio of six German vessels to ten British was satisfactory. And both in the Reichstag and in the House of Commons the respective Governments have recognized cordially the great improvement that has taken place in the relations of the two Powers. It is not probable, but it is not at all impossible, that Mr. Churchill's frank words may be followed by an understanding between the two Governments.
It is not to be denied that what Mr. Churchill says is in reality true, unless the two Governments are resolved on war. In a sense there is no excuse for war. Each nation professes to be acting strictly on the defensive and solely in view of possible aggression on the part of the other. If this profession is sincere and each can be convinced that the other does not intend aggression the need of further preparation ceases. The possibility of reducing armaments approaches. Surely this ought not to be a hopeless achievement for the leading statesmen of the two countries. It is made more practicable, by the experience of the last six months, when the two governments have found themselves working patiently and candidly together against a common peril and for the general good.
The Latest Mexican Murder.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 29, 1913:
Civilization performs its work slowly in Mexico. The Spanish conquerors were only a little less cruel than the races they never quite conquered but managed to hold in a state of partial subjection. The founders of the republic, after the murder of Iturbide, were not at all less bloodthirsty than the Spaniards they ousted. For thirty years, however, after a long period of turmoil, Mexico enjoyed peace and its benefits under the firm rule of Porfirio Diaz. Murder for revenge became rare; public officers were not permitted to use their power to punish their personal enemies. Industries grew and thrived, foreign capital was freely invested in Mexican enterprises. Public schools were established and a middle class, interested in the arts of peace, was developed in the centres of population. It is true that the indolent peon remained unchanged, and the wealthy landowners, the hacendados, because of the blindness of the Government in keeping their lands untaxed, lived on in their old baronial way, doing nothing to upbuild the country. The courts were inefficient and corrupt, and as commerce and industry thrived well-founded suspicion of dishonesty in high places was general.
A change was inevitable, but it was brought about in the worst possible way. An incompetent visionary whom circumstances made the leader of a revolt endeavored to reform the Government, but succeeded only in reawakening the spirit of revolution which had slumbered under the effective rule of Diaz and arousing the old murderous instinct. The killing of Hernandez by the drunken and drug-crazy temporary Governor of the Federal District, Zepeda, is one of a series of incidents in recent Mexican history which have shocked the whole world. It is no worse than a hundred crimes the outlaw Zapata and his men have been committing. But from every point of view it is atrocious. It will inevitably strengthen the doubts that have existed from the first of the stability and good intentions of the Provisional Government, which, however, has acted promptly in arresting the assassin and depriving him of his official power.
It is no news that the condition of public affairs in Mexico is uncertain, that peril threatens on every hand, and the outcome is dubious. But business is better protected than it has been since November, 1910; Americans resident in Mexico feel that their lives and property are safer, many small rebellions have been suppressed, and the new uprisings in the North have not become formidable. In the circumstances there is nothing for the Government at Washington to do but be watchful and withhold its recognition of the Huerta Government until it seems to be deserved. The people of this country have abundant troubles of their own, and they will do well neither to condemn all Mexico for the crime of Zepeda and similar crimes, nor to expect of a nation whose history is full of bloodshed a sudden cessation of political murders. We must all keep our eyes open and hope for the best.
Civilization performs its work slowly in Mexico. The Spanish conquerors were only a little less cruel than the races they never quite conquered but managed to hold in a state of partial subjection. The founders of the republic, after the murder of Iturbide, were not at all less bloodthirsty than the Spaniards they ousted. For thirty years, however, after a long period of turmoil, Mexico enjoyed peace and its benefits under the firm rule of Porfirio Diaz. Murder for revenge became rare; public officers were not permitted to use their power to punish their personal enemies. Industries grew and thrived, foreign capital was freely invested in Mexican enterprises. Public schools were established and a middle class, interested in the arts of peace, was developed in the centres of population. It is true that the indolent peon remained unchanged, and the wealthy landowners, the hacendados, because of the blindness of the Government in keeping their lands untaxed, lived on in their old baronial way, doing nothing to upbuild the country. The courts were inefficient and corrupt, and as commerce and industry thrived well-founded suspicion of dishonesty in high places was general.
A change was inevitable, but it was brought about in the worst possible way. An incompetent visionary whom circumstances made the leader of a revolt endeavored to reform the Government, but succeeded only in reawakening the spirit of revolution which had slumbered under the effective rule of Diaz and arousing the old murderous instinct. The killing of Hernandez by the drunken and drug-crazy temporary Governor of the Federal District, Zepeda, is one of a series of incidents in recent Mexican history which have shocked the whole world. It is no worse than a hundred crimes the outlaw Zapata and his men have been committing. But from every point of view it is atrocious. It will inevitably strengthen the doubts that have existed from the first of the stability and good intentions of the Provisional Government, which, however, has acted promptly in arresting the assassin and depriving him of his official power.
It is no news that the condition of public affairs in Mexico is uncertain, that peril threatens on every hand, and the outcome is dubious. But business is better protected than it has been since November, 1910; Americans resident in Mexico feel that their lives and property are safer, many small rebellions have been suppressed, and the new uprisings in the North have not become formidable. In the circumstances there is nothing for the Government at Washington to do but be watchful and withhold its recognition of the Huerta Government until it seems to be deserved. The people of this country have abundant troubles of their own, and they will do well neither to condemn all Mexico for the crime of Zepeda and similar crimes, nor to expect of a nation whose history is full of bloodshed a sudden cessation of political murders. We must all keep our eyes open and hope for the best.
Ferdinand Enters Turk Holy City.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 29, 1913:
Adrianople's Inhabitants Not Destitute — War Supplies Destroyed.
ALLIES' CONFLICTING CLAIMS
Albania the Chief Obstacle to Settlement by the Powers — Nicholas Is Stubborn.
LONDON, March 28.— King Ferdinand of Bulgaria to-day entered the fortress of Adrianople. He drove through almost endless lines of Turkish prisoners and pro-ceded to the Military Club, where Shukri Pasha, the Turkish Commander in Chief, handed him his sword. King Ferdinand returned the weapon with a few complimentary words. Soon afterward, accompanied by his two sons and Gen. Michael Savoff, Nikola Ivanoff and Racho Petroff, his Majesty reviewed his victorious troops.
Railway and telegraphic communication with Adrianople is being restored rapidly, and some idea of the condition of the city is beginning to reach the outside world.
According to reports from Sofia, the condition of the population of Adrianople is not so desperate as it has been depicted. While the Turks set fire to the grain stores they overlooked the flour depot, the contents of which are being distributed among the poor. These reports assert that only a few buildings were damaged by the bombardment. Nothing is said in them concerning the damage done by the fires which the Turks themselves started before the city fell.
In the last dispatch Shukri Pasha sent to Constantinople he said he was destroying the great National religious buildings "to prevent them from being profaned by impure feet." That he succeeded to a large extent in carrying out his intentions was evident from the flames which rose as the invaders approached the town.
Many of the Turks, before the enemy arrived, took time to spoil their rifles, render useless a number of siege guns, destroy all the ammunition depots, and even to kill their horses, in order to prevent them from being of use to the conquerors. The wireless telegraph station and the searchlights were blown up by order of Shukri Pasha, who on the whole seems to have made a pretty complete job of his work of destruction.
The railway is being utilized to take supplies into the city.
Jealousy between the Bulgarians and Servians is breaking out in official circles. Gen. Ivanoff, the Bulgarian commander, claims all the credit for the capture of Adrianople. He describes the Servian operations as "purely demonstrative." On the other hand, the Servian official account of the fall of the city gives credit to the Servian artillery, cavalry, and infantry, which, it says, made possible the capture of the eastern section of the fortress by the Bulgarians. All accounts reaching here agree that the Turks have suffered a severe defeat at Tchatalja. Some of the correspondents place the Turkish losses as high as 2,600 killed and 7,500 wounded. These figures, however, are probably exaggerated, as only a few wounded men have reached Constantinople.
The Sultan wept bitterly when informed of the general situation, and it is reported that the Turkish Embassies abroad have been ordered to appeal to the powers to hasten mediation. The objection of the allies to the Thracian frontier, as proposed by the powers, and the veto by the powers of the allies' claims to indemnity must, however, cause a delay in mediation.
Dr. Daneff, who headed the recent Bulgarian peace delegation in London, and several other Balkan delegates, are expected to arrive in London next week to discuss the question of mediation with the Ambassadorial conference. The Ambassadors, who met to-day to discuss the southern limits of autonomous Albania, found some complications which will cause a delay in their reaching an agreement. The claims of the Greeks with reference to some of the places occupied by the Hellenic troops and the status of part of the mainland facing the island of Corfu, gave rise to differences of opinion among the Ambassadors. Some of them thought that these places should belong to the Greeks because of their proximity to Greece, while the Austrian and Italian Ambassadors urged that the mainland, especially that opposite Corfu, be incorporated in the new Albania.
The diversity of opinion, however, did not interfere with the decision of the Ambassador with regard to Scutari remaining Albanian and concerning the northern limits of Albania, a note embodying which was presented to Montenegro to-day by the Ministers of the Powers at Cettinje.
Another of the difficulties regarding Scutari has been removed by the decision of Turkey to advise the commander of her forces there to permit the free exit of civilians from the city, in accordance with the demands of Austria.
The stubbornness of King Nicholas in continuing his attack upon Scutari, in spite of the promise of the Powers to assist in the financial development of Montenegro if he desists, is now the only bar to an agreement which would result in the cessation of hostilities in the besieged city.
M. Ramadanovics, Political Director of the Montenegrin Foreign Office, telegraphed from Cettinje to-day an appeal to the world against the peace proposals of the European powers. He definitely declares that Montenegro cannot accept the decision of Europe, and that she will continue hostilities until she has signed peace with Turkey.
M. Ramadanovics complains bitterly of the "attempt to rob Montenegro of Scutari for the artificial vitality of a newborn State incapable of maintaining itself by its own strength." and adds: "To create Albania Montenegro is to be killed."
The Pall Mall Gazette says that the European powers have agreed to establish a naval blockade of the Montenegrin coast in case of a refusal by King Nicholas to accept their terms. The same newspaper says that Russia has warned Bulgaria not to advance beyond the Tchatalja lines, and that the Bulgarian threats to march on Constantinople are "bluff."
CETTINJE, March 28.— The Ministers of the Powers to-day made collective representations to Montenegro regarding the decision of the Powers on the question of the frontier of future Albania and the raising of the siege of Scutaria. Similar representations were made by the Ministers at Belgrade.
The reply of the Montenegrin Government has not been made public.
VIENNA, March 28.— A dispatch from Sofia to the Politische Correspondenz says the Balkan Allies have agreed to accept the terms offered by the European powers "as a basis for peace negotiations." The dispatch adds that the Balkan Allies are prepared to cease military operations before an agreement with Turkey has been reached, as they sincerely desire a speedy re-establishment of peace.
BELGRADE, March 28.— The Montenegrin army opened a fierce attack on all sides of the fortress of Scutari to-day by order of King Nicholas.
USKUB, March 28.— A sharp battle lasting five hours, between the Servians and the Turks to the south of El Basson in Albania to-day, ended in the rout of the Ottoman troops, of whom eight officers and 320 men were taken prisoners. The Servians lost two officers and sixty men.
Adrianople's Inhabitants Not Destitute — War Supplies Destroyed.
ALLIES' CONFLICTING CLAIMS
Albania the Chief Obstacle to Settlement by the Powers — Nicholas Is Stubborn.
LONDON, March 28.— King Ferdinand of Bulgaria to-day entered the fortress of Adrianople. He drove through almost endless lines of Turkish prisoners and pro-ceded to the Military Club, where Shukri Pasha, the Turkish Commander in Chief, handed him his sword. King Ferdinand returned the weapon with a few complimentary words. Soon afterward, accompanied by his two sons and Gen. Michael Savoff, Nikola Ivanoff and Racho Petroff, his Majesty reviewed his victorious troops.
Railway and telegraphic communication with Adrianople is being restored rapidly, and some idea of the condition of the city is beginning to reach the outside world.
According to reports from Sofia, the condition of the population of Adrianople is not so desperate as it has been depicted. While the Turks set fire to the grain stores they overlooked the flour depot, the contents of which are being distributed among the poor. These reports assert that only a few buildings were damaged by the bombardment. Nothing is said in them concerning the damage done by the fires which the Turks themselves started before the city fell.
In the last dispatch Shukri Pasha sent to Constantinople he said he was destroying the great National religious buildings "to prevent them from being profaned by impure feet." That he succeeded to a large extent in carrying out his intentions was evident from the flames which rose as the invaders approached the town.
Many of the Turks, before the enemy arrived, took time to spoil their rifles, render useless a number of siege guns, destroy all the ammunition depots, and even to kill their horses, in order to prevent them from being of use to the conquerors. The wireless telegraph station and the searchlights were blown up by order of Shukri Pasha, who on the whole seems to have made a pretty complete job of his work of destruction.
The railway is being utilized to take supplies into the city.
Jealousy between the Bulgarians and Servians is breaking out in official circles. Gen. Ivanoff, the Bulgarian commander, claims all the credit for the capture of Adrianople. He describes the Servian operations as "purely demonstrative." On the other hand, the Servian official account of the fall of the city gives credit to the Servian artillery, cavalry, and infantry, which, it says, made possible the capture of the eastern section of the fortress by the Bulgarians. All accounts reaching here agree that the Turks have suffered a severe defeat at Tchatalja. Some of the correspondents place the Turkish losses as high as 2,600 killed and 7,500 wounded. These figures, however, are probably exaggerated, as only a few wounded men have reached Constantinople.
The Sultan wept bitterly when informed of the general situation, and it is reported that the Turkish Embassies abroad have been ordered to appeal to the powers to hasten mediation. The objection of the allies to the Thracian frontier, as proposed by the powers, and the veto by the powers of the allies' claims to indemnity must, however, cause a delay in mediation.
Dr. Daneff, who headed the recent Bulgarian peace delegation in London, and several other Balkan delegates, are expected to arrive in London next week to discuss the question of mediation with the Ambassadorial conference. The Ambassadors, who met to-day to discuss the southern limits of autonomous Albania, found some complications which will cause a delay in their reaching an agreement. The claims of the Greeks with reference to some of the places occupied by the Hellenic troops and the status of part of the mainland facing the island of Corfu, gave rise to differences of opinion among the Ambassadors. Some of them thought that these places should belong to the Greeks because of their proximity to Greece, while the Austrian and Italian Ambassadors urged that the mainland, especially that opposite Corfu, be incorporated in the new Albania.
The diversity of opinion, however, did not interfere with the decision of the Ambassador with regard to Scutari remaining Albanian and concerning the northern limits of Albania, a note embodying which was presented to Montenegro to-day by the Ministers of the Powers at Cettinje.
Another of the difficulties regarding Scutari has been removed by the decision of Turkey to advise the commander of her forces there to permit the free exit of civilians from the city, in accordance with the demands of Austria.
The stubbornness of King Nicholas in continuing his attack upon Scutari, in spite of the promise of the Powers to assist in the financial development of Montenegro if he desists, is now the only bar to an agreement which would result in the cessation of hostilities in the besieged city.
M. Ramadanovics, Political Director of the Montenegrin Foreign Office, telegraphed from Cettinje to-day an appeal to the world against the peace proposals of the European powers. He definitely declares that Montenegro cannot accept the decision of Europe, and that she will continue hostilities until she has signed peace with Turkey.
M. Ramadanovics complains bitterly of the "attempt to rob Montenegro of Scutari for the artificial vitality of a newborn State incapable of maintaining itself by its own strength." and adds: "To create Albania Montenegro is to be killed."
The Pall Mall Gazette says that the European powers have agreed to establish a naval blockade of the Montenegrin coast in case of a refusal by King Nicholas to accept their terms. The same newspaper says that Russia has warned Bulgaria not to advance beyond the Tchatalja lines, and that the Bulgarian threats to march on Constantinople are "bluff."
CETTINJE, March 28.— The Ministers of the Powers to-day made collective representations to Montenegro regarding the decision of the Powers on the question of the frontier of future Albania and the raising of the siege of Scutaria. Similar representations were made by the Ministers at Belgrade.
The reply of the Montenegrin Government has not been made public.
VIENNA, March 28.— A dispatch from Sofia to the Politische Correspondenz says the Balkan Allies have agreed to accept the terms offered by the European powers "as a basis for peace negotiations." The dispatch adds that the Balkan Allies are prepared to cease military operations before an agreement with Turkey has been reached, as they sincerely desire a speedy re-establishment of peace.
BELGRADE, March 28.— The Montenegrin army opened a fierce attack on all sides of the fortress of Scutari to-day by order of King Nicholas.
USKUB, March 28.— A sharp battle lasting five hours, between the Servians and the Turks to the south of El Basson in Albania to-day, ended in the rout of the Ottoman troops, of whom eight officers and 320 men were taken prisoners. The Servians lost two officers and sixty men.
Canal Is Nearly Ready.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 29, 1913:
Belief in Washington That It May Be Opened This Year.
Special to The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, March 28.— A brief paragraph in The Canal Record, the official organ of the Panama Canal Commission, has led some officers of the Government to believe that the big waterway may be opened to navigation this year. The paragraph says that all the gates in the west chambers of the locks at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores will be completed by October 1.
The importance of the publication lies in the fact that Col. George W. Goethals, the Chief Engineer of the Canal, said some time ago that the passage of ships would be permitted as soon as one side of these locks could be operated, without waiting for the completion of the east locks. It was not expected, however, that the canal would be opened until October, 1914.
Belief in Washington That It May Be Opened This Year.
Special to The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, March 28.— A brief paragraph in The Canal Record, the official organ of the Panama Canal Commission, has led some officers of the Government to believe that the big waterway may be opened to navigation this year. The paragraph says that all the gates in the west chambers of the locks at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores will be completed by October 1.
The importance of the publication lies in the fact that Col. George W. Goethals, the Chief Engineer of the Canal, said some time ago that the passage of ships would be permitted as soon as one side of these locks could be operated, without waiting for the completion of the east locks. It was not expected, however, that the canal would be opened until October, 1914.
For $90,000,000 War Chest.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 29, 1913:
German Army Fund of $262,500,000 Will Triple Spandau Treasure.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 28.— Details of the German Army's increase are published in an extra edition of the official North German Gazette to-night. The sum of $262,500,000 ($11,250,000 more than the highest figure hitherto mentioned) is to be spent.
The most striking new feature of the project is the scheme to increase the "war chest," which has hitherto consisted of $30,000,000 in gold, by $60,000,000. The present "war chest" is made up of gold which formed part of the French war indemnity. It is kept to enable Germany to mobilize her forces at any moment regardless of existing monetary conditions. The gold, which is stored in the famous Julius Tower at Spandau, will in future amount to $90,000,000 instead of $30,000,000.
The annual cost of maintaining the increased military establishment will be from $45,000,000 to $47,000,000. The gross increase of army personnel in two years will be 136,000 officers and men, and 27,000 horses will be added. The initial cost of the increase will be met by a "defense tax" on all fortunes over $2,500 at the rate of one-half of 1 per cent. There will also be a supplementary tax of 2 per cent, on incomes over $12,500. The recurring expense will be met mainly by increasing the so-called "matricular contributions" of the Federal States to the imperial Treasury at the rate of 30 cents per head of population.
The army increase also provides "fresh means for the development of the aerial fleet," but no details are given.
The reason advanced for the increase of the military establishment is the alteration of the balance of power in Europe in consequence of the Balkan war.
"Germany," says The Gazette, "If war were forced upon her, would have to defend her long frontiers simultaneously against several enemies." The underlying idea of the increase is described as an "extension of the principle of universal military service in accordance with the present status of population." Reigning Princes are to bear the same taxes as subjects.
German Army Fund of $262,500,000 Will Triple Spandau Treasure.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 28.— Details of the German Army's increase are published in an extra edition of the official North German Gazette to-night. The sum of $262,500,000 ($11,250,000 more than the highest figure hitherto mentioned) is to be spent.
The most striking new feature of the project is the scheme to increase the "war chest," which has hitherto consisted of $30,000,000 in gold, by $60,000,000. The present "war chest" is made up of gold which formed part of the French war indemnity. It is kept to enable Germany to mobilize her forces at any moment regardless of existing monetary conditions. The gold, which is stored in the famous Julius Tower at Spandau, will in future amount to $90,000,000 instead of $30,000,000.
The annual cost of maintaining the increased military establishment will be from $45,000,000 to $47,000,000. The gross increase of army personnel in two years will be 136,000 officers and men, and 27,000 horses will be added. The initial cost of the increase will be met by a "defense tax" on all fortunes over $2,500 at the rate of one-half of 1 per cent. There will also be a supplementary tax of 2 per cent, on incomes over $12,500. The recurring expense will be met mainly by increasing the so-called "matricular contributions" of the Federal States to the imperial Treasury at the rate of 30 cents per head of population.
The army increase also provides "fresh means for the development of the aerial fleet," but no details are given.
The reason advanced for the increase of the military establishment is the alteration of the balance of power in Europe in consequence of the Balkan war.
"Germany," says The Gazette, "If war were forced upon her, would have to defend her long frontiers simultaneously against several enemies." The underlying idea of the increase is described as an "extension of the principle of universal military service in accordance with the present status of population." Reigning Princes are to bear the same taxes as subjects.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
King's Body In Athens.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 28, 1913:
Lying In State to Begin To-day — Funeral to be Next Wednesday.
ATHENS, March 27.— Escorted by foreign warships, the royal yacht Amphitrite, bearing the body of King George, arrived at Piraeus shortly before noon to-day.
The coffin was carried ashore by the Princes and placed on a gun carriage, which was drawn by forty-four sailors to the railway station. Dense crowds, displaying emblems of mourning, lined the route.
An escort of troops accompanied the gun carriage, which was followed by the members of the Cabinet and Court officials. The body was brought by special train to Athens, and was transferred to the cathedral, where the foreign diplomats had assembled.
Prayers for the dead were recited and a brief service was conducted. The Dowager Queen Olga was overwhelmed with grief.
The body of the murdered King will lie in state, beginning to-morrow, and the funeral will take place on April 2.
Lying In State to Begin To-day — Funeral to be Next Wednesday.
ATHENS, March 27.— Escorted by foreign warships, the royal yacht Amphitrite, bearing the body of King George, arrived at Piraeus shortly before noon to-day.
The coffin was carried ashore by the Princes and placed on a gun carriage, which was drawn by forty-four sailors to the railway station. Dense crowds, displaying emblems of mourning, lined the route.
An escort of troops accompanied the gun carriage, which was followed by the members of the Cabinet and Court officials. The body was brought by special train to Athens, and was transferred to the cathedral, where the foreign diplomats had assembled.
Prayers for the dead were recited and a brief service was conducted. The Dowager Queen Olga was overwhelmed with grief.
The body of the murdered King will lie in state, beginning to-morrow, and the funeral will take place on April 2.
Aiding Adrianople Jews.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 28, 1913:
Relief Already Sent to Them from Central Association in Berlin.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 27.— The Central Jewish Relief Association, which acts on behalf of Jewish organizations in America, announces that measures have already been taken to ameliorate the plight of the 18,000 Jews who comprise a quarter of the population of Adrianople.
Provisions, fuel, and clothing, representing an outlay of $13,000, had been assembled near the besieged city for weeks and were to-day delivered to representatives of the Jewish inhabitants.
Two Berlin trained nurses and a surgeon equipped with hospital supplies have also been sent to Adrianople from Sofia, where they were detained.
Relief Already Sent to Them from Central Association in Berlin.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
BERLIN, March 27.— The Central Jewish Relief Association, which acts on behalf of Jewish organizations in America, announces that measures have already been taken to ameliorate the plight of the 18,000 Jews who comprise a quarter of the population of Adrianople.
Provisions, fuel, and clothing, representing an outlay of $13,000, had been assembled near the besieged city for weeks and were to-day delivered to representatives of the Jewish inhabitants.
Two Berlin trained nurses and a surgeon equipped with hospital supplies have also been sent to Adrianople from Sofia, where they were detained.
Turks Destroyed Historic Mosque.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 28, 1913:
Troops Blew Up Famous Adrianople Building Before They Surrendered the City.
SERBS SHARED IN VICTORY
Say the Fortress Fell Owing to Their Artillery Fire — Bulgarians Renew the Battle at Tchatalja.
LONDON, Friday, March 28.— A telegram from Sofia to the Exchange Telegraph Company says that before they surrendered Adrianople the Turkish troops blew up the Grand Mosque.
The same company has received unconfirmed wireless reports via Vienna that the Turkish cruiser Hamidieh has again bombarded and almost destroyed the port of San Giovanni di Medua, on the Adriatic Sea.
It is stated that unless peace is speedily concluded the troops which captured Adrianople, with the heavy siege guns used there, will be moved to Tchatalja, behind which the Turks have been driven.
A Belgrade dispatch says that Adrianople fell as the result of the heavy artillery fire of the Servians. The prisoners taken were in a state of exhaustion and had been induced to continue fighting only by the indomitable will of the Turkish commander, Shukri Pasha.
The Servians were, it is added, the first to enter the city, the outer streets of which were deserted. As the soldiers penetrated further the people began to come out. The garrison captured is estimated to number 30,000. Shukri Pasha intended to continue resistance in the northern and western, sections, but the capture of the western front by the Servians made this impossible.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 27. — The Bulgarian Army, which is investing the lines of Tchatalja, began a determined attack at dawn to-day. The main assaults were directed against the Turkish centre and right wing.
The Tanin states that there was serious fighting on the Turkish left wing, where the Ottoman troops encountered superior forces of Bulgarians. Three battalions of infantry who formed the Turkish outposts fought like lions and succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the Bulgarians.
The fighting on the Tchatalja lines ceased at 10 o'clock this morning, after which quiet reigned along the entire front.
A number of wounded arrived here to-day from the Tchatalja lines.
SOFIA, March 27.— The great Bulgarian army operating in front of the Turkish line of defense at Tchatalja received orders to take the offensive simultaneously with the advance against Adrianople by the combined Servian and Bulgarian besieging force.
During three days, beginning Sunday, constant assaults on the Turkish works at various points of the Tchatalja lines were carried out. The Turkish defenders operated against the advance of the Bulgarians with five divisions of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, supported by Ottoman warships at each end of the line.
The result of the fighting was a steady advance by the Bulgarian troops, who re-occupied their old positions in front pf the principal forts along the line, which they had abandoned at the beginning of Winter.
The Bulgarian Council of Ministers has decided to distribute flour and other foodstuffs to the value of $24,000 among the poorer inhabitants of Adrianople without distinction of religion or nationality.
Crowds filled the streets of Sofia throughout last night, rejoicing over the fall of the Turkish stronghold. Thousands of persons demonstrated enthusiastically outside the foreign legations.
BELGRADE, March 27.— The news of the surrender of Djavid Pasha, Commander of the Seventh Turkish Army Corps, with 15,000 Ottoman troops, announced in Cettinje on March 25, was premature.
The negotiations between the Servian and Turkish commanders are not yet ended.
Troops Blew Up Famous Adrianople Building Before They Surrendered the City.
SERBS SHARED IN VICTORY
Say the Fortress Fell Owing to Their Artillery Fire — Bulgarians Renew the Battle at Tchatalja.
LONDON, Friday, March 28.— A telegram from Sofia to the Exchange Telegraph Company says that before they surrendered Adrianople the Turkish troops blew up the Grand Mosque.
The same company has received unconfirmed wireless reports via Vienna that the Turkish cruiser Hamidieh has again bombarded and almost destroyed the port of San Giovanni di Medua, on the Adriatic Sea.
It is stated that unless peace is speedily concluded the troops which captured Adrianople, with the heavy siege guns used there, will be moved to Tchatalja, behind which the Turks have been driven.
A Belgrade dispatch says that Adrianople fell as the result of the heavy artillery fire of the Servians. The prisoners taken were in a state of exhaustion and had been induced to continue fighting only by the indomitable will of the Turkish commander, Shukri Pasha.
The Servians were, it is added, the first to enter the city, the outer streets of which were deserted. As the soldiers penetrated further the people began to come out. The garrison captured is estimated to number 30,000. Shukri Pasha intended to continue resistance in the northern and western, sections, but the capture of the western front by the Servians made this impossible.
CONSTANTINOPLE, March 27. — The Bulgarian Army, which is investing the lines of Tchatalja, began a determined attack at dawn to-day. The main assaults were directed against the Turkish centre and right wing.
The Tanin states that there was serious fighting on the Turkish left wing, where the Ottoman troops encountered superior forces of Bulgarians. Three battalions of infantry who formed the Turkish outposts fought like lions and succeeded in inflicting heavy losses on the Bulgarians.
The fighting on the Tchatalja lines ceased at 10 o'clock this morning, after which quiet reigned along the entire front.
A number of wounded arrived here to-day from the Tchatalja lines.
SOFIA, March 27.— The great Bulgarian army operating in front of the Turkish line of defense at Tchatalja received orders to take the offensive simultaneously with the advance against Adrianople by the combined Servian and Bulgarian besieging force.
During three days, beginning Sunday, constant assaults on the Turkish works at various points of the Tchatalja lines were carried out. The Turkish defenders operated against the advance of the Bulgarians with five divisions of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, supported by Ottoman warships at each end of the line.
The result of the fighting was a steady advance by the Bulgarian troops, who re-occupied their old positions in front pf the principal forts along the line, which they had abandoned at the beginning of Winter.
The Bulgarian Council of Ministers has decided to distribute flour and other foodstuffs to the value of $24,000 among the poorer inhabitants of Adrianople without distinction of religion or nationality.
Crowds filled the streets of Sofia throughout last night, rejoicing over the fall of the Turkish stronghold. Thousands of persons demonstrated enthusiastically outside the foreign legations.
BELGRADE, March 27.— The news of the surrender of Djavid Pasha, Commander of the Seventh Turkish Army Corps, with 15,000 Ottoman troops, announced in Cettinje on March 25, was premature.
The negotiations between the Servian and Turkish commanders are not yet ended.
Garza Predicts Huerta's Fall.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 28, 1913:
Mexican Deputy Who Denounced Him Going Back to Make Trouble.
With a set of Woodrow Wilson's historical writings and a volume of his political speeches in his handbag, Col. Roque Gonzales Garza, a member of the House of Deputies of the Mexican Congress, left here yesterday for Mexico. It is the intention of Col. Garza to visit all of the States over which constitutional Governors rule and stir up sentiment against the Huerta Government by reading to the people extracts from the political philosophy of President Wilson.
Garza fled to the United States shortly after the killing of the two Maderos. He made a fiery speech in the House of Deputies against Gen. Huerta and Felix Diaz, and was escorted by trusted friends to the railway station immediately afterward. He departed for Mexico on receipt of advices from Governors of Northern States that it would be safe for him to come to territory over which they have control.
Col. Garza, who is a thin man with a very black beard, was studying Woodrow Wilson's inaugural address when The Times reporter arrived. Beside him was a Spanish-American dictionary, with the help of which he was translating the speech into Spanish. Two other Mexicans were assisting him.
"Madero and President Wilson Struggled for the same ideal," said Col. Garza, "but what a difference in the outcome in the two countries! I have many letters from Mexico, some from the capital and some from the States. I have watched closely for many weeks, and I freely predict that the Huerta assassins will have to let go of the Government inside of three months.
"One thing I am glad of. President Wilson can be depended upon not to help along any murder plots and not to recognize the Huerta conspirators. I must ask you in all you write about my interview not the use the name 'President' in reference to Huerta. He offends such a designation.
"Now, here is what is stirring in Mexico. At first the people were stupified at the atrocities of Diaz and Huerta. Afterwards they were held under the iron hand of the military. In their hearts they are ablaze with revolt, to-day, but the newspapers are controlled, and the spies of the Government are ruthless. So the people in the capital have to wait a little bit.
"In the States it is not so. Letters inform me that Felix Diaz is aware that the people reject him in their hearts and call for Huerta to take his stained hands out of the public life. They have made a code of assassination. Very well. See where it has led to. Diaz stands to-day in mortal fear that Huerta will assassinate him to get rid of him as a rival for the Presidency, and Huerta stands in mortal fear that Diaz will assassinate him for the same reason.
"That fear is going to free Mexico. Neither Diaz nor Huerta dares to weaken his strength in the capital by sending large forces against the constitutional Governors who are in arms, and so the flame of revolt is free to spread. They cannot check it, and it would be a terrible thing if they could, for they have tried to make a wreck of all the public liberties that were won for us in the movement that carried Madero to the Presidency.
"The people now know what freedom means, and I do not believe they can be pushed back for long from the ground they have won. The same power that made Madero President will unmake Huerta. Porfiro Diaz, who was ousted, conducted a bloody Government, but it was clean compared to the Government of Huerta. Since we cannot openly express ourselves see how we are doing it."
Col. Gonzales held up a sheet of letter paper on which was printed:
"Huerta — Morte de la libertad."
"In pressing forward," he continued, "We are only taking up the logical duty imposed upon us at the outbreak of the revolt of 1910. It is still the same movement, stopped for a time by murder, but irrepressible and supported by nearly all the people.
"The press and the Huerta conspirators try to discredit this approaching popular uprising against them, but they talk nonsense. Brute force and cannon balls cannot keep down the conviction that the people have a right to be freer than they are. Huerta is laughing now at the surface showings of the uprising. He will not laugh much longer."
Mexican Deputy Who Denounced Him Going Back to Make Trouble.
With a set of Woodrow Wilson's historical writings and a volume of his political speeches in his handbag, Col. Roque Gonzales Garza, a member of the House of Deputies of the Mexican Congress, left here yesterday for Mexico. It is the intention of Col. Garza to visit all of the States over which constitutional Governors rule and stir up sentiment against the Huerta Government by reading to the people extracts from the political philosophy of President Wilson.
Garza fled to the United States shortly after the killing of the two Maderos. He made a fiery speech in the House of Deputies against Gen. Huerta and Felix Diaz, and was escorted by trusted friends to the railway station immediately afterward. He departed for Mexico on receipt of advices from Governors of Northern States that it would be safe for him to come to territory over which they have control.
Col. Garza, who is a thin man with a very black beard, was studying Woodrow Wilson's inaugural address when The Times reporter arrived. Beside him was a Spanish-American dictionary, with the help of which he was translating the speech into Spanish. Two other Mexicans were assisting him.
"Madero and President Wilson Struggled for the same ideal," said Col. Garza, "but what a difference in the outcome in the two countries! I have many letters from Mexico, some from the capital and some from the States. I have watched closely for many weeks, and I freely predict that the Huerta assassins will have to let go of the Government inside of three months.
"One thing I am glad of. President Wilson can be depended upon not to help along any murder plots and not to recognize the Huerta conspirators. I must ask you in all you write about my interview not the use the name 'President' in reference to Huerta. He offends such a designation.
"Now, here is what is stirring in Mexico. At first the people were stupified at the atrocities of Diaz and Huerta. Afterwards they were held under the iron hand of the military. In their hearts they are ablaze with revolt, to-day, but the newspapers are controlled, and the spies of the Government are ruthless. So the people in the capital have to wait a little bit.
"In the States it is not so. Letters inform me that Felix Diaz is aware that the people reject him in their hearts and call for Huerta to take his stained hands out of the public life. They have made a code of assassination. Very well. See where it has led to. Diaz stands to-day in mortal fear that Huerta will assassinate him to get rid of him as a rival for the Presidency, and Huerta stands in mortal fear that Diaz will assassinate him for the same reason.
"That fear is going to free Mexico. Neither Diaz nor Huerta dares to weaken his strength in the capital by sending large forces against the constitutional Governors who are in arms, and so the flame of revolt is free to spread. They cannot check it, and it would be a terrible thing if they could, for they have tried to make a wreck of all the public liberties that were won for us in the movement that carried Madero to the Presidency.
"The people now know what freedom means, and I do not believe they can be pushed back for long from the ground they have won. The same power that made Madero President will unmake Huerta. Porfiro Diaz, who was ousted, conducted a bloody Government, but it was clean compared to the Government of Huerta. Since we cannot openly express ourselves see how we are doing it."
Col. Gonzales held up a sheet of letter paper on which was printed:
"Huerta — Morte de la libertad."
"In pressing forward," he continued, "We are only taking up the logical duty imposed upon us at the outbreak of the revolt of 1910. It is still the same movement, stopped for a time by murder, but irrepressible and supported by nearly all the people.
"The press and the Huerta conspirators try to discredit this approaching popular uprising against them, but they talk nonsense. Brute force and cannon balls cannot keep down the conviction that the people have a right to be freer than they are. Huerta is laughing now at the surface showings of the uprising. He will not laugh much longer."
Official Murder Shocks Mexico.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 28, 1913:
Zepeda, Governor of Federal District, Orders Enemy Shot and Burned.
GOVERNMENT ARRESTS HIM
He Is Huerta's Brother-in-Law and Has Been Influential in the Administration.
VICTIM A MADERIST LEADER
Hernandez Killed, the Drunken Zepeda Sought to Slay Governors.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
MEXICO CITY, March 27.— Enrique Zepeda, brother-in-law of President Huerta, at 3:30 o'clock this morning, as Governor of the Federal District, ordered the summary execution ot Gabriel Hernandez, the young ex-Commander of rurales, a former Maderista, who was held under arrest for abusing his authority.
Zepeda, who has been on a protracted debauch since he assumed the Governorship in face of popular opposition, last night began smoking cannabis indica (hasheesh) and, crazed by the weed, started out to find Hernandez. He went to the penitentiary and ordered Warden Liciaga to release Hernandez, as he wished to shoot him. The Warden told him that Hernandez was in the Belem district jail. Zepeda thereupon ordered the arrest of Liciaga. Meantime Alberto Garcia Granados, the Minister of the Interior; President Huerta, Gens. Mondragon and Blanquet and others were notified. Granados dressed hurriedly and went to the Belem jail in time to find the body of Hernandez. Petroleum had been poured upon it, and it had been half consumed by fire.
Granados at once ordered the arrest of Zepeda, who was found some hours later in a drunken stupor, from which he could not be roused. He was carried to the National Palace, where he was confined in the room formerly occupied by ex-President Madero.
The wardens say that Zepeda came to them acting like a crazy man, accompanied by several civilians and a force of mounted police. He ordered the warden to release Hernandez and prepare a shooting squad. When the prison authorities refused to obey. He caused them to be arrested and himself prepared the firing squad of police. While he was waiting to find the keys of the cell he stood outside and taunted Hernandez, who was crying to his fellow-prisoners: "They are going to shoot me!"
Zepeda stuck his head through the bars, crying: "You are going to die now, you murderer!" and other insults and threats.
He caused Hernandez to be dragged from his cell, kicking him as he was taken to the courtyard.
Major Hernandez, who was still suffering from a wound in the head received during the fighting in the capital, when the firing squad was formed, confronted it bravery and died at the first volley.
Zepeda then ordered petroleum poured upon the body and caused it to be burned. Then he started for the penitentiary, where he demanded that Rafael Cepeda, Antonio Hidaigo, and Alberto Fuentes D. former Governors, Respectively, of Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, and Tlaxcala, be handed over to him to kill. When his demands were refused he went to a house of ill repute, where he was arrested.
The affair was discussed at a Cabinet meeting this morning, and it was decided to take drastic action by turning the case over to the Attorney General of the republic.
Zepeda is wealthy, having made a good deal of money out of contracts to supply the army with clothes and food. He is the man who carried the news of Madero's arrest to the American Embassy. It is generally believed here that he arranged for Madero's arrest. He has had considerable influence with President Huerta.
Not only is Zepeda a relative of the President, but for many years he has been closely associated with him in business.
The news of the execution was suppressed during the greater part of the day. Zepeda, while drinking with friends last night, remarked that there had not been enough summary executions.
"The administration," he said, "is not out of danger yet; we must kill more people."
Recalling the emphasis Zepeda placed on his remarks, his friends are not so completely surprised by the tragedy.
Prominent Mexicans said to-day that they feared the prestige of Mexico would be irreparably destroyed abroad unless summary action were taken, and that even then it would be difficult to restore it.
The general opinion here is that Zepeda should be shot without further action, as the case was evidently one of cold-blooded murder. Society was highly indignant at his appointment, as the man's record was known, and he was recently expelled from the Mexico Country Club for various misdemeanors. His wife, the daughter of an Englishman, has been neglected for months and is generally pitied by society.
Minister Granados said to-night that his influence would be exercised to have the full penalty of the law applied and an example made of Zepeda.
Hernandez, at the age of 22, took arms at Pachuca in the Madero revolt. He was considered a good fighter, but rather inclined to take summary action in the way of the execution of prisoners. It was for an offense of this sort that he was a prisoner. It was reported some months ago that he was responsible for the execution of a man supposed to have been a friend of Zepeda. Hernandez rendered excellent services in the Oaxaca campaign, and later in other parts of Mexico. He was known and feared by the rebels against Madero's authority, as he always went into action at the head of his troops.
It was believed at one time that he would take the field against Madero on account of slights which he had received but he remained loyal, fighting with a few men. When his force had been wiped out by the Diaz machine guns, he fell, shot through the head, and was believed to be dying. He was taken to the hospital and later recovered. He was generally liked by Americans and other foreigners, particularly in Pachuca.
Zepeda, Governor of Federal District, Orders Enemy Shot and Burned.
GOVERNMENT ARRESTS HIM
He Is Huerta's Brother-in-Law and Has Been Influential in the Administration.
VICTIM A MADERIST LEADER
Hernandez Killed, the Drunken Zepeda Sought to Slay Governors.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
MEXICO CITY, March 27.— Enrique Zepeda, brother-in-law of President Huerta, at 3:30 o'clock this morning, as Governor of the Federal District, ordered the summary execution ot Gabriel Hernandez, the young ex-Commander of rurales, a former Maderista, who was held under arrest for abusing his authority.
Zepeda, who has been on a protracted debauch since he assumed the Governorship in face of popular opposition, last night began smoking cannabis indica (hasheesh) and, crazed by the weed, started out to find Hernandez. He went to the penitentiary and ordered Warden Liciaga to release Hernandez, as he wished to shoot him. The Warden told him that Hernandez was in the Belem district jail. Zepeda thereupon ordered the arrest of Liciaga. Meantime Alberto Garcia Granados, the Minister of the Interior; President Huerta, Gens. Mondragon and Blanquet and others were notified. Granados dressed hurriedly and went to the Belem jail in time to find the body of Hernandez. Petroleum had been poured upon it, and it had been half consumed by fire.
Granados at once ordered the arrest of Zepeda, who was found some hours later in a drunken stupor, from which he could not be roused. He was carried to the National Palace, where he was confined in the room formerly occupied by ex-President Madero.
The wardens say that Zepeda came to them acting like a crazy man, accompanied by several civilians and a force of mounted police. He ordered the warden to release Hernandez and prepare a shooting squad. When the prison authorities refused to obey. He caused them to be arrested and himself prepared the firing squad of police. While he was waiting to find the keys of the cell he stood outside and taunted Hernandez, who was crying to his fellow-prisoners: "They are going to shoot me!"
Zepeda stuck his head through the bars, crying: "You are going to die now, you murderer!" and other insults and threats.
He caused Hernandez to be dragged from his cell, kicking him as he was taken to the courtyard.
Major Hernandez, who was still suffering from a wound in the head received during the fighting in the capital, when the firing squad was formed, confronted it bravery and died at the first volley.
Zepeda then ordered petroleum poured upon the body and caused it to be burned. Then he started for the penitentiary, where he demanded that Rafael Cepeda, Antonio Hidaigo, and Alberto Fuentes D. former Governors, Respectively, of Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, and Tlaxcala, be handed over to him to kill. When his demands were refused he went to a house of ill repute, where he was arrested.
The affair was discussed at a Cabinet meeting this morning, and it was decided to take drastic action by turning the case over to the Attorney General of the republic.
Zepeda is wealthy, having made a good deal of money out of contracts to supply the army with clothes and food. He is the man who carried the news of Madero's arrest to the American Embassy. It is generally believed here that he arranged for Madero's arrest. He has had considerable influence with President Huerta.
Not only is Zepeda a relative of the President, but for many years he has been closely associated with him in business.
The news of the execution was suppressed during the greater part of the day. Zepeda, while drinking with friends last night, remarked that there had not been enough summary executions.
"The administration," he said, "is not out of danger yet; we must kill more people."
Recalling the emphasis Zepeda placed on his remarks, his friends are not so completely surprised by the tragedy.
Prominent Mexicans said to-day that they feared the prestige of Mexico would be irreparably destroyed abroad unless summary action were taken, and that even then it would be difficult to restore it.
The general opinion here is that Zepeda should be shot without further action, as the case was evidently one of cold-blooded murder. Society was highly indignant at his appointment, as the man's record was known, and he was recently expelled from the Mexico Country Club for various misdemeanors. His wife, the daughter of an Englishman, has been neglected for months and is generally pitied by society.
Minister Granados said to-night that his influence would be exercised to have the full penalty of the law applied and an example made of Zepeda.
Hernandez, at the age of 22, took arms at Pachuca in the Madero revolt. He was considered a good fighter, but rather inclined to take summary action in the way of the execution of prisoners. It was for an offense of this sort that he was a prisoner. It was reported some months ago that he was responsible for the execution of a man supposed to have been a friend of Zepeda. Hernandez rendered excellent services in the Oaxaca campaign, and later in other parts of Mexico. He was known and feared by the rebels against Madero's authority, as he always went into action at the head of his troops.
It was believed at one time that he would take the field against Madero on account of slights which he had received but he remained loyal, fighting with a few men. When his force had been wiped out by the Diaz machine guns, he fell, shot through the head, and was believed to be dying. He was taken to the hospital and later recovered. He was generally liked by Americans and other foreigners, particularly in Pachuca.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Fall Of Adrianople.
New York Times 100 years ago today, March 27, 1913:
The fall of Adrianople brings peace in the Balkans within sight. While it will tend to stiffen the necks of the Bulgarians, it will leave the control of the situation more definitely in the hands of the European Powers, with whom the Balkan Allies will now have directly to deal.
The speech of Sir Edward Grey in the House of Commons, with the equally firm and confident statement of the British Premier, shows the spirit in which the task will be met.
The Balkan Allies may persist in the demand for an indemnity. It will hardly be conceded. For one reason, because there is no precedent for a defeated Government giving an indemnity and surrounding territory not yet conquered. And, for a second reason, because the holdings of French and English and German banks in the Turkish debt would practically be wiped out by the addition of an indemnity.
With a settlement in the Balkans, general peace may be regarded as reasonably secure. The chief difficulty, of course, is the peculiar situation and the peculiar temper of the ruling class of Germany. No doubt it seems to the German Government that the vital interests of the nation are gravely menaced by the changes of the last six months. There has grown up in the Balkans a serious military power the future affiliations of which it is impossible to predict. It is possible — some German publicists think it certain — that this power will act with Russia, and that, with or without Greece, there will be formed a strong Slav alliance which will complete the circle of probably hostile nations with which Germany will have to fight for its very existence. Against such a combination the Triple Alliance would be weakened in Austria-Hungary by the large and more or less discontented Slav element in its population. It might be further weakened by the indifference of Italy, with its new empire on the south coast of the Mediterranean to defend, to the larger needs of the Alliance. In such a situation Germany would be left with far the heaviest burden on her own shoulders, with the Triple Entente arrayed against her and with her partners crippled, or worse. This is the reason for the desperate measures of preparation for war on which Germany is embarking.
But reasoning of much the same sort was frequently used a month ago as to the course of Russia and Austria. It was said that the interests of Austria were so deeply involved in preventing the Balkan Allies, and especially Servia, from gaining a foothold on the Adriatic, that she would fight to gain that end, and that as soon as Austria took up arms Russia was bound to do the same. Nothing of the sort has happened. Servia has withdrawn her claims under the advice and even pressure of Russia. The two great Powers have halted on the very brink of a conflict that threatened a general war. It is not unreasonable to hope that Germany and Russia and Great Britain and France will find a means for a like understanding. And the nearer Europe gets to actual fighting the more likely it seems that an agreement of some workable sort will be reached.
The fall of Adrianople brings peace in the Balkans within sight. While it will tend to stiffen the necks of the Bulgarians, it will leave the control of the situation more definitely in the hands of the European Powers, with whom the Balkan Allies will now have directly to deal.
The speech of Sir Edward Grey in the House of Commons, with the equally firm and confident statement of the British Premier, shows the spirit in which the task will be met.
The Balkan Allies may persist in the demand for an indemnity. It will hardly be conceded. For one reason, because there is no precedent for a defeated Government giving an indemnity and surrounding territory not yet conquered. And, for a second reason, because the holdings of French and English and German banks in the Turkish debt would practically be wiped out by the addition of an indemnity.
With a settlement in the Balkans, general peace may be regarded as reasonably secure. The chief difficulty, of course, is the peculiar situation and the peculiar temper of the ruling class of Germany. No doubt it seems to the German Government that the vital interests of the nation are gravely menaced by the changes of the last six months. There has grown up in the Balkans a serious military power the future affiliations of which it is impossible to predict. It is possible — some German publicists think it certain — that this power will act with Russia, and that, with or without Greece, there will be formed a strong Slav alliance which will complete the circle of probably hostile nations with which Germany will have to fight for its very existence. Against such a combination the Triple Alliance would be weakened in Austria-Hungary by the large and more or less discontented Slav element in its population. It might be further weakened by the indifference of Italy, with its new empire on the south coast of the Mediterranean to defend, to the larger needs of the Alliance. In such a situation Germany would be left with far the heaviest burden on her own shoulders, with the Triple Entente arrayed against her and with her partners crippled, or worse. This is the reason for the desperate measures of preparation for war on which Germany is embarking.
But reasoning of much the same sort was frequently used a month ago as to the course of Russia and Austria. It was said that the interests of Austria were so deeply involved in preventing the Balkan Allies, and especially Servia, from gaining a foothold on the Adriatic, that she would fight to gain that end, and that as soon as Austria took up arms Russia was bound to do the same. Nothing of the sort has happened. Servia has withdrawn her claims under the advice and even pressure of Russia. The two great Powers have halted on the very brink of a conflict that threatened a general war. It is not unreasonable to hope that Germany and Russia and Great Britain and France will find a means for a like understanding. And the nearer Europe gets to actual fighting the more likely it seems that an agreement of some workable sort will be reached.
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