LADY WAR CORRESPONDENT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1617, 7 December 1912, Page 11

LADY WAR CORRESPONDENT.

AN APPRECIATION. i. _ ' . The cablegrams describing the various operations of the Montenegrin, army against tho Turks which . Miss Durham is sending, have orented a very wide interest not only from the faot that she is the only lady special correspondent at the front, writes C. D. Mackellar in tho "Daily Chronicle" of October 28, but on account of their graphic and picturesque portrayal of tho actual state of affairs.

Miss Durham, however, has peculiar advantages for,, acting as a correspondent in the Near East, I\>r maiiy years she has made herself familiar with various Balkan lands, and more especially with, those wild and rugged Albanian mountains, the home of' fierce warrior clans. Amongst these people, with thoir strange customs unceasing blood feuds, and eternal war-, fare with their relentless master, tho Turk, Miss Durham has passed many days and nights; has sat at their hearths or by their camp fues, and-has frequently had to sleep in their stables for lack of batter accommodation.

Quean of the People's Hearts, At first the young English lady riding in amongst them,, trusting .herself with, utter fearlessness to their hospitality, was a source of unmitigated wonder • to thlem, and sho went fearlessly, where scarcely a, Eurojiean—for Albania hardly seems Europe under Turkish rule—had ever been, and certainly no foreign woman. But these people, whom for convenience. we call Albanians, are a chivalrous race, and Miss Durham was looked upon as sacred whilst amongst them. In the course of years she has grown to be thoir honoured, ; and trusted friend, and often adviser; has participated with them in various historical, episodes, and has frequently nurs«l, doctored, and tended them in times of trouble. '

But for some idea of her life amidst these mountain tribes, upon whoso customs she is now tho first au hority, it is surely sufficient to refer the reader to her very well known books, "High Albania," "The Burden of the Balkans," and "The Land of the Serb," and at this particular time a study of these-works will throw an illuminating ray on many Baljcan happenings which puzzle the outsider. Speaking Serb, and having a.certain acquaint-, ance with tho \tongue of the Albanians, she has been enabled to get nearer these* people, and come to a fuller understanding of their ideas, hopes and ways than anyone else. Her. extraordinary endurance and pluck, her disregard of all dangers and discomforts, has led her into many "a tight, corner" in her wanderings, and: made her a -witness of many stirring events._ Mis 3 Durham,. however, 1 is a lady who is very modest about herself. She has little desire for publicity, and _ is not likely to be pleased ■ at encomiums "on her'work.' , It is,._ perhaps, for brave ministrations In hospitals and in ' tending wounded and refugees: that have most endeared her'to the Montenegrins and the Albanians. Her cleari judgment and indomitable spirit, combined with her sympathy in the many evils.which have befallen the much-tried 'Albanians, have made these people look upon her as a sort of queen—and, indeed, in places they call her Kralitza, the queen.. Hers is a kingdom based on human hearts, and very human, sturdy, and faithful are those hearts; so surely it is a kingdom worth having. - So much of tho history of these. lands has flossed under her eyes, so much of it has she participated in, that on the capitulation of Tuzi, it" was a very natural thinjj she should be invited to be present with the Princes of Montenegro. It was her due.

Last, year . Miss Durham was at Podgoritza tending the wounded in hosnital and mipstering to the thousands of refugee Albanians who had fled into Mdntenegro from, th© Turks. She assisted in distributing, the relief funds which were contributed from England, the "Macedonian Relief ]?nnd" Society having undertaken to raise a' fund for the unfortunate Albanians. ■ ' ■

.Th® Turkish' army lay entrenched, on the frontier, in. sight of Podgoritza, after having ravaged and harried , the lands of their subjects, .burnt- their homes and Tillages, decoyed their, crops, and pre T vented ,Wiling ground, ; which meant famine in tle'coniiDg' yeai\' 'Many Albanians had been massacred.... The eyes of Europe were' fixed upon the imbro?lio betiveen. Prance., and, Germany, over Morocco; but very important things were happening almost unobserved by the generalpublic in the ever-restless "Near East. The Great Powers were aware that any moment might plunge Europe into war, and all their efforts were devoted-to avoiding an imminent conflict.

Probably Averted a Great War'. The chief danger lay with the Montenegrins, who had to feed all these thousands of Albanian Tefugees, armed men while barely being able to afford to keep themselves. ■ They were with difficulty restrained by King Nikola from flying at the Turkish foe, camped on their very frontier, and entering their territory in pursuit of the Albanians, King Nikola, howeyer, loyally kept his promise to the Great Powers and . did restrain his people; but it was .impossible to say at what moment war between Turkey "and Montenegro might not break out. If it aid—then what would the restless, watching Balkan States do? What would Austria do, with her forces waiting on -the frontier :of Novi Bazar? Would • she' march directly on Salonika? The Great Powers brought pressure to bear- on the Montenegrin King. They paid ho must stop feeding those refugees •-with maize. _ He could not let them> 6tarve, he replied; .they, were a trouble and a burden: to him and his people, but if he stopped their food they must either die of starvation or \perish at the hands of the waiting, Turkish army. Much diplomacy was employed on all bands by the emissaries of the various Powers. Finally a promise was exacted from Turkey that she would allow the' Albanians to return to. their own land and desolated homes, but unarmed., She promised them moriey, to build shelters, and that food would be.given them. The Albanians would not trust her promises, and refused to .return' without arms. At the same time they demanded guarantees from the Great Powers. They would listen to no one, and the situation became more and more serious. King. Nikola at last _said that in two days he would stop feeding them; a rumour was also spread that cholera was on the way. The maddened Albanians threatened to turn their arms against Montenegro sooner than go, and Podgoritza lay practically at the mercy of these many thousands of fierce half-starved men.

In this pass, all else having failed, King Nikola sent his serdar to Miss Durham, and' she was at length induced to undertake the task of persuading, the Albanians to return to their own land. So the following day—it must be a memorable day in her life—she addressed those thousands of men, and whero all others had failed she succeeded, but their arms had to be conceded to them, and trusting no words but hers, they would only go on the condition that. she went with them. So the.young Englishwoman led that tattered horde of thousands of wild, half-starved men back into' their own land—and in all probability saved a great European war. . What is happening to-day would probably have happened then—it was only put off far a year; and what id happening today is-the outcome of, the policy' pur-

sued by the Great Powers last year, and has been inevitable. - "That is a Noble Woman." Miss Durham, accompanied by Mr. Nevinson, undertook to see tliat tho Turks kept their promises, and visited on horseback the scattered and destroyed homes of the Albanians, distributing relief. Miss Durham, remained throughout the winter in Scutari, to be in touch with her people, and when, the Turkish Commission this year visited. Scutari in. order to inquire into the grievances of the Albanians and "execute reforms" (that stale old catchpenny). the one and only good thing resulting from it was that they acceded to the request of Miss Durham, and consented that seed corn should be given to the people to 6ave them from impending starvation. After a well-earned rest in Italy, Miss. Durham went to Montenegro to await the making of more history, in which it was inevitable she must play a part. Now, as we 6ee in the intervals of her work as a war correspondent, her idea of rest is cleaning out . a' filthy Turkish hospital with her owii hands, and tending its inmates, and riding to and fro to see that all. is right. That is characteristic of her.

It is nowhere recorded that the Sovereigns of tho Great Powers were so grateful to her for averting a big war that they hung pretty Orders all over Miss Durham, though she had -certainly earned them—but perhaps in their hearts mam- of those Powers wanted war. Well, some are having it —Others may also have

it. ' Meanwhile Miss Durham is doing the work that is to her hand and to her taste, and I daresay sho will be very wroth that anyone should write about her—but to all their guerdon, and hers is one of gold. An American journalist met her last year in, Podgoritza. ■ "That is a noble woman," he wrote to a friend.

An idea. of the difficulties that faced Miss Durham may be gathered from a portion of one of her letters to the "Chronicle." It ran: —" .. . I have decided to follow the army with the Red Cross, so shall be-beyond censor, and you won't be able to hear from me till I get back to base. But'l hope you will agree that it will be better'to get the descriptive stuff late than to get only the same official news as the other papers.' '

"f will ride in with the stuff if not too exhausted, and if it is not too far. As everyone is employed and over-worked, a messenger is impossible. Telegraph people are worked to death, and can hardly get along. : They curse niy messages—but at the same time, are glad that England is getting, well-informed. If I can possibly get permission to use military wire, J shall flourish.) I shall have,to live in

_ an old omnibus with the Red Cros9 men. It will be a- rough job.—Yours in haste, "M. EDITH DURHAM."