A MODERN GUERILLA LEADER.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9066, 5 February 1908, Page 2

A MODERN GUERILLA LEADER.

Boris Sarafoff, who was assassinated at Sofia last December, was the hero of the Macedonian insurrections. He joined the agitation when still a young man, at the time when the Bulgarians were setting to work to paralyse the Greek influence in Macedonia. He was the first to organise the “bands,” together with Gigikoff, Platoff, and other daring spirits. Sarafoff’s band_ was the largest, and many Bulgarian officers and students joined it. With his companions, he penetrated into thp interior of Macedonia, and advanced to the very gates of Monastir and Uskub, fighting against the Greek bands and the Turkish soldiers. His last expedition was in 1904, when for several months, he was the terror of the Turkish forces, using dynamite bombs, which were manufactured by the Macedonian students in Geneva, with terrible effect. He returned to Bulgaria with great difficulty, and there continued his propaganda. His career®as guerilla leader has been a most adventurous one. He' had many thrilling escapes, sometimes disguising himself woman. Several ,times his death was announced, but soon after he appeared again on the scene of the struggle with fresh forces. He was a handsome, stoutly-built man, not yet 40 years old, with very dark eyes and hair. When not fighting in Macedonia or conspiring in Sofia he travelled abroad, and he several times visited Geneva, where the Macedonian agitators have their headquarters. In 1908 he visited London, Paris, and Rome, in the endeavour to enlist the sympathies of the western world for the cause of Macedonia. He spoke French well, and at that time approached many influential people in England, in France, and Italy. As a guerilla leader he was very rash and severe with his followers, and many stories are told of Macedonians killed by his order on suspicion of treason. For this reason also, he made many "enemies among his countrymen, and it was at the head of one of these that he died last December in Sofia.