BRUSH ON THE SALONIKA FRONT.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2689, 8 February 1916, Page 5

BRUSH ON THE SALONIKA FRONT.

(Rec. February 7, 11.35 p.m.) ' Salonika, February 7. The first encounter since, the Allies' retirement occurred on the Doiran front on Sunday, when French patrols encountered Bulgaria us. There were'a few casualties. ' • "NO SERIOUS ATTACK WILL BE MADE" MR. ASHMEAD BARTLETT'S VIEW OF THE SITUATION, By Telesraph.—Press Aesaclattou. Auckland, February 7. Mr. Ashmead Bartlett arrived aboard the Niagara to-day, en route to Sydney. In the course of an interview Mr. ■ ISartlett said: "The Gallipoli campaign was a forlorn-hope from a very early stage. Witli regard to the position taken up b.y the Allies at Salonika, he considered that it was one that could easily he hold against any force the Central Powers were likely to hrinp; against it. "But," ho added, "there is little chance that the Germans will make any serious attack upon either Salonika or Egypt. Their policy is to compel the Allies to concentrate largo forces on the shores of the Aegean and in Egypt in order to weaken the armies on the Western front. I ■ cannot regard the demonstrations against Salonika and Egypt as other than feint attacks. It still remains true that the Western front is the key to the whole situation: the actual result of the fighting in the Balkans matters nothing." SHARP FIGHTING IN ALBANIA ITALIANS AND SERBIANS FALL BACK. Athens, February 6. Sharp fighting with superior Austrian and Bulgarian forces in the vicinity of Alesso compelled the Italians and Serbians to fall back. It is reported that the Bulgarians have occupied El Ba-ssan. It is stated that French detachments have commenced fighting the Bulgarians, but it is not known whether this prefaces an offensive or is merely a reconnaissance. THE SERBIAN RETREAT TO THE SEA HARD PRIVATIONS AND SORE DISAPPOINTMENTS. ("Times" and Sydney "Sun" Services.) (Rec. February 7, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 7. •Mr. Crawford Price -writes: "Despite -weeks of incessant warfare, fatigue, famine, and exposure in .the retreat from snow-clad Albania, the Serbian army has succeeded in bringing half its effectives to the Adriatic. The Serbian story indicates an incoherent system of direction amongst the Allies, and divided responsibility. The Serbs battled against, overwhelming odds, buoyed up by hopes that the Allied army would conic. Their eyes were ever turned southward, and -when they realised the awful truth that they had been abandoned, they lost then' morale, and retreated to the Adriatic, insufficiently clad, half-fed, and suffering repeated disappointments on the journey. There was plenty of food at Briudisi, but not enough hospital ships at Djnrazzo. When I left Corfu there were 134,000 Sorbs at Durazzo awaiting transport. But the. Adriatic was still open to the Austrian'warships. "The whole of the muddle -was due to the fact that there was no directing head, no unity of control —wasting veteran soldiers -while plastering English cities with appeals for recruits. Fortunately there is reason to lielieve that the task has now been property taken' m hand, and an effort is being made to remove the Serbs from Albania before the Aus'tro-Bulgarian hordes descend upon them." MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF TURKISH HEIR-APPARENT a m. hi -if • Athens, February 6. _ A lurk is It Minister has officially announced that Yussuf was found dead m his room in the harem of his palace, having'cut the main artery of his left arm with a razor. ' . Constantinople messages declare that there is great excitement, because it has been learned that Prince Yussuf was assassinated. , The authorities, fearing disorder, ?.re arresting numerous high Turkish personages, who were friends of Prince Yussuf. BETTER WEATHER IN MESOPOTAMIA BRITISH COLUMN ADVANCING. ~ n ~ ~ _ , London, February 6. iur. handler, the British correspondent in Mesopotamia, telegraphing from Jlasru on February 2, says the rains have ccas'ed and the Tigris is falliin'. Clear, colcj weather lias succeeded. The column advancing along the Tigris is in good condition, despite the exposure and the soverity of the weather. The relieving forces are faced " with formidable difficulties iii the Turkish defences and the swampy areas, .which necessitate frontal attacks over a mile of flat ground devoid of cover. The enemy's trenches are generally invisible owing to the mirages. In few campaigns has an army,. British or* Indian, been so hardly tried and so valiantly proved." ALONC THE WALLED-IN RIVER. By working the tides, steamers drawing 25 feet can reach Basra (on the Shat-cI-Arab), and steamers drawing 8 to 10 feet can roach Bagdad, on the Tigris. But tho Tigris ordinarily is a walled-in river. In normal times tlio walls maintain it at a level two or three feet above that of the surrounding country, and thus its waters are undor command of the date-growers, whose palm plantations fringe its banks over a long strip, averaging a mile and a half in width. When the river steamers travel at a high the wash they raise sometimes drives water over the low walls, flooding villages and irrigating date palms that at the moment do not need irrigating. That annoys tho villagers, who retaliate with rifle shots. There are speed limits, but'these are apt to be forgotten when mails are aboard, so tho prejudice of the Tigris riparian owner against the methods of Western civilisation is at least understandable. A serious hindrance to navigation would be caused if the enemy broke the walls, and allowed the waters of the Tigris to wander far and wide. The channel would then be lost to navigators, unless tlie expeditionary authorities had the forethought to mark it, and even then the marks would be liablo to interference. _ By creating navigation difficulties the enemy would strike at the communicatit/ns of a force now hundreds of miles up-river in a- hostile country. The climate is bad, sometimes showing a temperature of Ho to 120 degrees in daytime, followed by frost at night