THE BALKANS.

Gisborne Times, Volume X, Issue 977, 25 August 1903, Page 2

THE BALKANS.

AWFUL BUTCHERY AND DESOLATION. By, .Telegraph—Press AssociationCopyright. CONSTANTINOPLE, Aug. 23. Turkish reservists forming part, of the garrison at Vodeus deserted owing to the sickness and privations endured by all the Ottoman forces.

Consular advices state that Bulgarian Komitajis, entering Kruslievo, killed twenty officials and ..two

women. The Turks bombarded the place on the 12th and 13th, killing fortyone Greeks., On the 14th the Turks entered the town, pillaged and burned the Greeks’ houses, outraged women, and conveyed one hundred insurgents to Monastir, where they, were released.

Twenty-two Christian villages in Krushevo district have been burned, and eight} thousand people rendered hom,.ess. They are starving.. The Porte is sending relief. Advices from Christian sources in Monastir declare that the Turks killed three hundred, local Albanians after the pillage of Krushevo, and massacred sixty, innocent ..Greeks and Wallachians. Berlin, Aug. 23. The Kolniscke Zeitung stales that Russia being satisfied with the Porte’s reply has withdrawn her fleet. RUSSIAN SQUADRON RECALLED. NARROW ESCAPE OF A TRAIN. PORTE ENJOINS COMMANDERS TO AVOID EXCESSES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright St. Petersburg, Aug. 23. It is officially stated here that the Sultan has ordered the immediate fulfilment of Russia’s demands. The Czar therefore orders the Squadron to return to Sebastopol. Constantinople, Aug. 23. Advices have been received that the Squadron has left. Komitajis defeated a email dotachmont of Turks guarding a bridge between ICupriedi and Zelinoko. They were prepared to dynamite a bridge at the moment a train filled with soldiers was crossing. The driver, suspecting, stopped the train, and the Komitajis threw a bomb, killing four soldiers. Advices from Bucharest assert that the Bulgarians and Greeks residing in Roumania have been recalled to their homes under mobilisation orders.

The Porte has telegraphed strict injunc tions to commanders to avoid excesses.

Constantinople, Aug. 24. The coast villages between Bulgaria and Miada have boen burning for three days. Fourteen insurgents and 300 Turks have been killed fighting in various parts of Vilayst. The insurgents saluted the-Rus-sian warships passing Kuribirum. It is reported at Salonika that 700 insurgents have been killed in tho Fiorma and Okrida districts. Vienna, Aug. 24. Austria interprets tho withdrawal of the fleet as the maintenance of AustroRussian understanding.