A NOTORIOUS BRIGAND

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 173, 20 January 1912, Page 8

A NOTORIOUS BRIGAND

FALLS IN BATTLE. .Cables from Constantinople recently announced that Tchakirdji, the famous Albanian was killed in a con'flict with his pursuers. • He turned with characteristic fiercenesß upon the Turkish troops, but his favorite methods failed him at last. He had captured a Turk, Osman Bey, for whom he was demanding £2500 ransom. He killed his prisoner a few hours before he himself was cut down.

Tcharkirdji is credited with having fulfilled a vow to kill 1700 men.

"One who knew Tchakirdji," has written for the readers of Lloyd's News a graphic account' of the career of the intrepid outlaw. ' I had accompanied a friend of mine, he writes, a Turkish Government surveyor, to the mountains lying at the back of Smyrna, and one evening as we sat outside his tent sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes, a young man came in, saluted us, sat down cross-legged on the ground, took a cigarette offered him, and joined us in our conversation. I: thought he was a local notability paying my friend the official surveyor a call, and treated him as such.

He looked to me in his early thirties, spoke frankly and in a gantle manner, had an open expression ana manly bearing—in fact, he comported himself like the better educated people in Levantine countries. When he left us my host, Yousef Ali Bey, asked if I knew who that was. I should never have guessed. It was Tcharkirdji. Tchakirdji was a brigand, a philanthropist and a humorist. Though he was an Albanian,' he had, no connection with the political revolt in that province which nearly shook the foundation of the Turkish Empire. Unlike Kaisuli, the Moorish bandit, whose head was demanded iby our John Hay, Tchakirdji had no political ambitions whatever. For the past twelve years he, with his band of desperadoes, has given the Turks as much trouble as the Yemenese, Macedonians and Armenians put together.

The .peculiar feature of Tchakirdji's avocation is that ihe inherited ijb from his father, whose capture and slaughter by the Turks he swore to avenge, and in his short lifetime—he has/fallen at thirtytwo—ihe succeeded, it is said, in fulfilling his oath by accounting for no fewer than 1700 Turkish soldiers. STOLE SLEEPING GENERAL'S SWORD. On one occasion Tcharkirdji, pursued by 1500 Turkish soldiers into the fastnesses of arid high lands, made his way, with a few companions, into the enemy's encampments, and found them asleep. •He crept into the commander-in-chief's (Edham 1 Bey's) tent, carried away his sword ,andi gathered together the arms of the whole military force, which he ordered his men to carry off. He coolly, however, left a note behind him addressed to the slumbering generalissimo to the following effect:— "I had you in my power, as-you will observe when you wake up. What I have done, to-night is but a small punishmeant inflicted upon you for the unmilitary conduct of your forces." The soldiers went back to Smyrna disarmed and disgraced.

Karma is a small Christian village in Albania, the inhabitants being very poor shepherds and small agriculturalists. Their ancient parish church, through age and the elements, collapsed, and they had no means to replace it. Hearing of their plight Tchakirdji sent a note to a rich cattle man, requesting that he should: send him a few dozen sheep, and in the meantime he despatched another note to a rich landowner, asking if he would oblige ihim with a sum of £6OO. Both requests were complied with. With the sheep and money he made his way to Karma, and turned both over to the inhabitants;, the money for the rebuilding of their church and sheep to help them along. .MASTERFUL BRIDGE BUILDER. On another occasion a poor community was in sore need of a bridge to span a small river which, swollen by rain, stopped all their activities. One of the people sent a note to Tchakirdji, begging him to come to their aid. There was a very rich man not many leagues away to whom our friend sent a note requesting £ISOO. Three times the-mes-sage was repeated without effect; the rich Turk was one evening with all the men of his village in the mosque for prayers when he felt the touch of .a man's hand on liis shoulder. It was that of Tchakirdji, Who had quietly entered the sanctuary. The man, tsartled, was about to jump to his feet when Tchakirdji nodded to. him to follow him quietly, and pointed to his men, armed to the teeth, in the entrance. In a few moments the unwilling public benefactor was on horseback on his way to some unknown region, from whence he returned a few weeks after much thinner, and after his friends had parted with two thousands pounds to the brigand instead of the sum he had originally requested.

Presently a gang of workmen appeared under the leadership of a young Greek contractor to build the much-needed, bridge. Unfortunately for the young' master-builder, he was arrested as an accomplice of the brigand, and thrust into the insanitary gaol at Thera. Three days only elapsed when the alarm of a, furious fire at a village three miles away was given, and the garrison was despatched thither to put it out. They had not gone more than halfway, however, when another fire started in a village in the opposite direction, to which place the rest of the troops were ordered. Tchakirdji dropped into the deserted town of Thera with his handful of men, slew the few remaining sentries, released the Greek builder, and carried him away, together with the governor and commander of the garrison, to his native fastnesses,> where all were kept until a guarantee was given by the Government for the completion of the bridge. On another occasion Niel, Commander-in-Chief of the military district, a recent arrival, happened to be a block-headed Turk, who belittled the Albanian bandit and sent only a few companies of soldiers in pursuit of him in the winter season. Hearing this, Tchakirdji came on the Turks asleep, took,, their weapons and soundly thrashed them for bivouacking without a sentry. One thing is certain, he never oppressed the poor people. The whole province of Smyrna stood in awe of him, but he was dearly beloved by the peasants, amongst whom he set himself up as a court of final appeal, adjudicating their differences, punishing culprits, and woe to those who attempted to upset his decisions. Robin Hood was a novice compared with Tchakirdji.