WAR NEWS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 194, 17 August 1877, Page 4

WAR NEWS.

■ 10u 8h we are in receipt of much later WteJ-gence by cable, the iollowing details by the Sail Francisco Mail up to July 18 will »3 found of considerable interest:— •nr^ 6 Admira *% have strengthened the Mediterranean squadron by the addition of the Shannon and Temeraire. The latter is the mpst formidable sea-going ironclad in the service, carrying four 25-ton. guns. The Admiralty also seem to intend to despatch either the Thunderer or the Dreadnought should the hydraulic gear for loading the guns of these vessels prove satisfactory. The Daily Aews states that the British fleet in Bessica Bay, with the additions ordered by the Admiralty, will present an aggregate of twenty-tour vessels, with 150 guns and 7000 or 8000 men. A correspondent says the Turks in Bosnia are committing shocking atrocities, murdering inoffensive villagers in several places, and carrying off their heads as trophies. A correspondent declares that he has seen the bodies of persons so maltreated. The Wteser Zeitung, of Bremen, which is not unfriendly to liussia, says:— '• On the eve oi war it was discovered that only 30 per cent of the Russian navy was seaworthy." The Russians are scouring the country up to the foot of the Balkaus, and their force is making some demonstration at Biela, where they -came .upon -the Turks in force much sooner 5 than they expected, and suffered severely. Several hundred wounded reached Bucharest from this engagement. The Turks devastated;^ large portion of Bulgaria, for the purpose of preventing the Russians from provisioning their army. The harvest was carried off, the fruit trees were felled, and the. torch has been applied to the large grass plains. Everything that would be of any use to an invading army has been left in utter destitution. The utmost consternation prevails amongst the unfortunate people, who see no prospect befo c them but famine and pestilence, added to the horrors of the war. The want of a commissariat was seriously felt by the Russians, who proposed to construct a railway from Sistova to Tirnova; to convey p visions for the supply of the troops and the starving inhabitants. The Russian army in the Dobrudscha fouud that a section had been utterly devastated by the retreating Turks, and they were detained by the necessity of creating supply depots. From Sistova the Russians advanced as far as Monastir, about 25 miles south-west of Rustchuk. A detachment marched upon Selva ai l Plevna, and burned four villages between these points. Turkish accounts charge the Russians with reckless devastations in Bulgaria, and with murders and outrages against the Mussulmans. The Russians make similar charges against the Turks with reference to Bulgarian Christians. Complete anarchy prevails beyond the lines of the contending armies. Bulgarians, Circassians, and Tartars are murdering each other indiscrim'nately. Ex-Colonel Valentine Baker accompanies Raouf Pasha to Adrianople. A despatch lrom Plymouth says the new gun vessel Condor will be fitted with torpedo apparatus and sent to the Danube with her sister vessel the Flamingo, under orders of the British Ambassadors at Constantinople and Vienna, for the protection of British interests. A special from Asia states that in the Ardanudsch district on June 28 the Russians pillaged eleven villages, and killed fifty people on the pretext that they had fought against them. Wouuded are daily arriving at Bucharest from Simuitza. An American surgeon who is inspecting tha hospital arrangements at Bucharest pronounces them everything that could be desired. He expresses surprise at finding all modem improvements. Accounts from the Turkish side show that the Turkish arrangements at Rustchuck are shockingly mismannged. The Ragsblatt of Vienna publishes shocking accounts of the atrocities committed by Circassians and BashiBazouks after the regulars had evacuated the Dobrudscha. At Kores every Christian house was pillaged. Many persons were wounded, including soma clergymen. At another place tiie mayor of a German colony named Balzer was killed before the eyes of his wife and child. Several other German Protestants were killed, and the murderers sacked the Protestant Church. Three colonies are entirely deserted. Tbe Turkish quadrilateral remains intact, and threatening to the 120,000 Kuasit-ns eaid to be across the Danube at Sistova. General Zimmerman crossed at Ibrail and swept tbe Dobrudscha. His 30,000 were opposed by the garrisons at Silistri*., Vurni., and Kustendje, numbering respectively 22,000, 20,000, aod 10,000. Kuatcl.uk was actively bombarded up to June 28. Seven hundred persons iv the town, including women and children, were killed. The Russians attempted storming and were repulsed. A Russiau garrison at Bayazid made a gallant resistance a»ainer. 13,000 Kurds who besieged tbe towu and bombarded it. After a brave defence the garrison was re'ieved by General Targkassoff. He found (he garrison ia a feailui condition, almost starved to death, and eufleriug lrom lot-tboomt. diseases incidental io camp t« cump lite. The Turkish cannon had made

sad havoc with the original forces, and many dead bodies were lying uuburied in a confused aod horrible mass. The stench arising from the bodies was awful. The dead and wounded number 500. The garrison had lived on horseflesh for a long time, and vermin tormented them. Bad water had a debilitating effect upon them, and the blazing sunshine aided •to place them in a pitiful slate of weakness ani inefficiency. The Russian victory was of srort duration, fresh arrivals of Turkish troops caused General Targkassoff to evacuate ; and in doing so he had a sharp engagement with the enemy, and lost 200 men and a heavy ambulance train. The Crescent ouce more floats over Bayazid. Au official despatch announces that Eyoub Pasha attuckad the Russians, under the Grand Duke Nicholas, north of Tirnova, and defeated thorn, with a loss of 1200. The Turkish inoui.orß destroyed a bridge at Sistova. One monitor was subsequently sunk by torpedoes. The Porte officially declares that the Russians have burned alive some of the inhabitants of Jonis, near Tirnova. who had taken refuge in a mosque.