Importance Of Gallipoli.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 6, 1913:
    LONDON, Thursday, Feb. 6.— The Bulgarians are devoting their chief attention to the bombardment of Adrianople. and an attempt to capture the Gallipoli peninsula, and so take the forts defending Constantinople in the rear.
    An official dispatch issued at Constantinople indicates that the Bulgarians have been successful in their first operations in the latter quarter, and, according to a Sofia dispatch, the capture of Gallipoli is the chief object of the Bulgarian ambitions for the time being, and no serious attempt will be made to force the Tchatalja lines.
    The same dispatch says that the Bulgarian attack on Gallipoli is supported by the Greek Navy in the Gulf of Saros. Fifty thousand Bulgarians were landed along this coast last November, and it may be presumed that during the armistice this force was strengthened by artillery.
    Should the Bulgars capture the Turkish forts there is nothing to prevent the Greek fleet from entering the Dardanelles, where, in the opinion of naval officers, it could easily defeat the inferior Turkish fleet, in which case Constantinople would be at the mercy of the allies.
    In a sortie by the Turkish troops from Adrianople yesterday 1,000 of them were taken prisoners by the Bulgarian besiegers, according to a news agency dispatch from Sofia, of which, however, there is no confirmation.
    The Constantinople correspondent of The Standard sends a strange story, reporting that the remnant of the Turkish Army of Monastir, which has never been precisely accounted for, is still operating in that district, and has captured the important town of Koritza, less than fifty miles from Monastir.
    The statement attributed to the Greek Premier, M. Venizelos, that peace will speedily be concluded, tends to confirm reports current in European capitals in recent days to the same effect, although there has been no evidence in the shape of fresh diplomatic movements to support it. The Turkish Government, however, is evidently in dire straits for money, is  even attempting to dispose of the Crown jewels, and is making despairing attempts to place treasury bonds in Turkey, Egypt, and among the Moslems in India. The Ottoman Consul at Bombay asserts that he has applications for bonds amounting to $5,000,000.

Turkish People's Misery.
    The Daily Telegraph publishes a long, uncensored dispatch from its correspondent, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, at Constantinople, in which he says that the Turkish people are in such a state of misery and destitution as a result of the war that they are completely indifferent as to the fate of Adrianople,
    "The Cabinet is in a quandary," he says. "It knows that it will be compelled to cede Adrianople, and is only seeking some means to save its face. It is said that the coup d'état was only intended to occur after Kiamil Pasha surrendered Adrianople, but was precipitated by some mistake. Hence the difficulty the Ministry now is in.
    "There is not a cent in the treasury, and there are no means of getting money until peace is concluded, and meanwhile the country is drifting to ruin and bankruptcy.
    "A great anti-war demonstration occurred on Sunday in front of the War Office, at which the Young Turks were publicly denounced as murderers and thieves. Mahmud Shefket Pasha appeared on the balcony and tried to make a speech, but was greeted with opprobrious epithets.
    "The misery in the Turkish camps is indescribable. It has been bitterly cold, with heavy snow. The soldiers are ill-fed and badly sheltered. Smallpox, enteric fever, dysentery, and pneumonia have replaced Asiatic cholera.
    "It is understood that the forces at Tchatalja have been reduced to 120,000, which is considered ample to defend the lines. Large reinforcements have been sent to Gallipoli, where there are now 70,000 men. There is talk of landing a force in the neighborhood of Rodosto to outflank the Bulgarians, but such a scheme is impracticable. In the present state of the Turkish organization the army would starve the moment it attempted to leave the coast.
    "From a military and economic standpoint Turkey's position is helpless. Nothing can prevent even worse misfortunes except immediate acceptance of the inevitable."
    An Athens dispatch to The Daily Telegraph says that three prominent citizens of Yanina, who escaped to the Greek lines, assert that there are 10,000 wounded in the town, which would have surrendered but for the influence of the Austrian Consul.
    A Constantinople dispatch says that the Bulgarians have retired from Tchatalja and have made their headquarters at Tcherkesskeui.