GREEKS AT SALONIKA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 200, 13 January 1913, Page 8

GREEKS AT SALONIKA.

The Times' correspondent writing* from Salonika on jNctyenrhi-r H, tliu3j : (It? i liti's - ■'-1 : li'(?':; iir '.to f- : :4;. J Si. ; :^:'«i-S S!:l£'S "ri-lii'lSi';!s K' Salonika, ami tnc e\ces>fs which have since occurred ■■ j "To-day. as ytaft'gslsi !:::: nilgavof'BiliuiiiJdr^s^'qpj^i, -;Viiut ! il they were alivp with (ireek enthusiasts on their way to greet the victors. [1 "wiis wiiir'lnta Sil~lffenu I f|hrougli the stjeffs^j^'gayirni'ijJjjilll := population of tin l Macedonian capital iheri opportunity to 'demonstrate.' The :SlSr§?it^ ami white of (Ireece. and fair damsel.-, showcred roses upon the warriors ,; ; li !ili 1 1 ' til ey wer-'cii rHellenic army wasi returning to its native Athens ~from a successful campaign abroad. It seemed incomparable 1 lint a Turkish defeat could thus) W rdebraled in a Turkish town, ,Tn. .effect it w;if, more than {he c did) rati on of martial victory, it was the <lelivcr[ince" oti the Ijrcek pppujat mil from th- bondage, ol Turkish rule. "The Kind's ent.ry with the. T'loval Princes and the Princes- Alice (who has worked' heroically with the Greek Ked tVosuj throughout the campion) wa> eumprtttltiVe'i.V tSme. The drcnchiu,' rain was sufficient to damp the most ardent sppafatetism. Apart from this. Iho show .was badly. sUige-maiiagc.d .T.he.ro. w;us. ay. .md oppfflfit unity of impressing the Oriental mind was tbrown away. Albiet the Kins and his M.ns were affectionately welcomed. Kv<m the Bulgufifins, who after days of forced ! spent i ; the town for *24 hours by the Oeeks, tnatiaged'things better." At least they had a band, dirty and weather-worn, it is ; true'j and a torn banner to add a touch of military color to iiie proceedings, and a* the vouii" Princes Jioris and Cyril « : --ar-^^^iHiKiit m of- , 'ibusinosß«iiife cavalry, and Iftd in thl'fte Momenta of j muddied soldiets. \f6 "felETftilt victorious troops had really arrived. On the day's showing the Unbars had the best of'it. ■ The demonstration would have iheen TOOre effective and the cause, oE the allies would have been better served, j; more rtei lIMM'X: ioi r^.^®^M^yY^vllFoceM i onfl - As it was. this very day was sown the discord between the Creeks ar.d Ruk'as ians.

DISARMAMENT OF THE TURKS, "It is regrettable that one cannot so highly comp'.iroent the GVeeks'upon tneir occupation as upon their conquest of •Salonika. Admittedly the HelleiieSi'Were. set a difficult task, but they might have accomplished it mora creditably, Wlule the Turkish flag still floated over the kounk the inhabitants of Salonika, Christian and Moslem, enjoyed perfect safety: ' I have'been 1 unable "to 11 teict? -a single 1 instance of any attempt on life of property, Now, unfortunately, £1 this has changed, SO changed that a complete record, of all the—wounding, pillage, ftnd looting of the last few' days would fill .pages of the Times. T have seen numbers ,of "Moslems robbed, of their watches, purses, and similar objects of value. Any attempt at resistance was met by persona*, violence, I Saw one bahMieaded'Mnstahffa* culled and kicked, bis fez torn from hi? ' head" and" trampled in he protested 1 against the Heterminaiiori of a Greek soldier, to relieve him of, a pocket ,kn)fa,. ■wort'lvnat most,, ,a few piastres. On another occasion thrM Greek soldiers and a civilian .were .violently attempting to ,ro> a Turkish soldier of his ass, when a;Bulgarian'Officer, rode upjind wielded his riding, Whip ,i« "suchipu"ectivo" fashion that lie "sent tie ©reeks whining away and took the Turk with him to a safer sphere. Every fez* capped passer-by 'of'obviously lowly "W*fch was similarly arrested, and the civilian Greek could* always count upon armed assistance in the case of' difficulty with his victim. Greek officers were eye-wit-nesses of .these incidents..and raisedjiot a hand to curb the seal of their .men. ori three occasions only did I see Bulgarians soldiers molest a Turk, and it may have been, and doubtless was, a coincident, hut in every ,chse a' passing Bulgarian officer sent the would-be, thief sprawling in t-he mud, with a we'd-diree.tei, blow for his pains. "!t is a disagreeable duty to have to record such actions' on the "part of « aimv which has fought valiantly and well", and in the ranks 1 of which I eo'imt many close friends. "Robbing thC"ibpaten Turk of the few piastres on which he must exist till the war is ended, and he. is translated to his Anatolian 1 home, outraging the" 'religious" suseep'tifoilvffiSß of a defenceless, Mohammedan-by chalking n cross upon his fez'am not acts which one expects from Christian At night full the so'.diers of the two, arm, ies have given themselves up to whole„a!e looting. There are. hundreds of wellauthenticated instances, Houses have been looted, and _»hDps_jmsni:ked jind the privacy of the home ha* gone, absolutely uni'espected. A rich •Domrneh Tm'k, from whem £T2I!(KI w.is remanded ni the point 'of the 'bayonet by, Greek soldiers, handed Over his wife's jiiwei'lefy in lieu of cash, and amongst "others the house of the T(litis)i Consul was sacked, and objects to the vii'.ue of Ul'W stolen. The-customary- procedure has- been_fmsuitatole houses to be indicated by the tower class Greek* of the town, who subsequently shared in the plunder. "The pmicipal snlferers have been the , Jews. Inaugurated by the local Greek 1 press a crusade of anfi-semitism has sp'read over the armies, with the result that the unfortunate Israelites have '■been"pillaged" anrt-mcreilessly-ilHrcatcd,-The lJulgariaiis. perhaps not witliont reason, throw the whole responsibility upon the Greeks, on the logical grounds that the Hellenic army, being the army of occupation, is-responsible for the safety of public life and property. The existing condition of the town is intolerable." OKI'TCTAL !)KNTALOirEXCESSESr~ The Greek Government at Adieus, indignantly deliiesi that Greek troops have been guilty of ewesses against the Jews at Salonika. It -believes that the reports to this effect were circulated by the same persons who spread the false rumor of the poisoning of TCvzones. The grand rabbi and M.-Constaniiiiiw; president, of the Israelite ctimmunities in, Greece, with wlumrlhe Times col'WßpOii-' dent has spoken, tisk hliti to mIV'. 1 that theyi are convinced , itluit fh'e,'iVpurtfj, have no foundation in fact, and must he insinuations by inlercted persons, who desire to sow di«cord between Jews", 1 awl Greeks, They believe the army incap"able Tir eoiTiTn'i t fm g~t I fe" CTcl i sse ; rnt IT i h II ; " ted to it.