PEACE AT LIST

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 210, 24 January 1913, Page 5

PEACE AT LIST

TURKEY COMPLAISANT. 115 THE HANDS OF THE POWERS. By Cable —rrcss Association —Copyright. Received 23. 5.5 p.m. Constantinople. January 22. The Grand Council almost unanimousl;r assented to the Government's proposal to frankly accept the Powers' advice. Accordingly, Turkey places herself in the hands of the Powers, and agrees tc their proposals .regarding Adrianoplc and the Islands.

A TEESS CRITICISM.' Received 23, 5.5 p.m. . Berlin. January 22. A majority of the new>papers attribute the Porte's decision to Russia's threats to invade Asiatic dominions. The T:';;lische Rundschau states that the entente of the Powers stillened the backs of the iialkan States, ami the Triple Alliance weakly .illowed itself to be taken into tow. The Porte considers that Germany and Austria have been cru-hed to the wall by the triple entente Powers.

A TUI'KISII DEFEAT. Received "ill, 5.5 p.m. Constantinople, January 22. Forty Turks were killed and 1(!4 wounded at Teneils on Saturday. Two of the warships were badly damaged. A shell killed or wounded everyone inside one of the Torqutrei's turrets.

THE POWERS' NOTE. TURKEY'S FORMAL ACCEPTANCE. Received 23. 7.1 o p.m. Constantinople, January 23. The Sultan received the (.irand Council collectively., inel ndiiifr the Grand Vizier. Sheik Hul Islnni and Kiamil Pasha. The presiding members were grouped in order according to IJieir professions —soldiers, civil officials, senators, ulemas and district groups. After the Power.-,' Note had been read, Nazim Pasha detailed the military .situation, and the Minister of Finance the financial situation. The Foreign Minister officially announced that the Grand Council approved of the Government's standpoint, and had confidence in the Powers' sentiments and equity. It desired to sec the promises and proposed assistance efl'ectivelv realised.

THE TENSION RELIEVED. THE POWERS' NOTE. IXTERESTING DETAILS. Received 23, 11.10 p.m. London, January 23. The English newspapers are relieved at Turkev's decision.

The Balkan delegates point out that the indemnity and Ottoman debt questions must be settled before there is any signature of the peace contract. Constantinople, January 23.

Eighty wore present at the Council's declaration. .Shevket Pasha and Ilakki Pasha were the only ones invited who vi re absent. Xazim Pasha declared that the army was willing, able and eager to continue the war. There was even a possible hope of a incisure of success, although there was little chance of recovering Salonika and Monastir, or relieving Adriauople.

A member of the Council asked whether they were ready to resume fighting

Xazim Pasha referred the ipicstion to the Minister of Finance, who said: "Turkey has no money. - She is dependent upon foreign markets.'' Noraduiighian Pasha explained that (here was little hope or advantage, derivable from European complications, and added that Russia had twice warned the Porte that a continuance of hostilities might compel her to depart from her ncutralitv.

Sheik 11 nl Islam energetically favored the acceptance of the Powers' Note, particularly as there Were no discontents.

The Grand Council asked the Government to exert its utmost efforts to ensure the future safety of the country and the development of economic interests.

Kaimil Pasha states that the Sultan will issue a manifesto to the nation. Tin.' PorLe is concerned lest the Cliaialdja troops, believing that they are invincible under Envcr Ali and Fchti 15cv will march on Stamboul.

••TIIK MEN ARE SPLENDID." A correspondent forwards to the London Chronicle the enclosed extracts from a letter she has received from Dr. Caroline Matthews, a lady doctor who is nursing the wounded soldiers in Montenegro: — After many difficulties I have at last reached .Miss Durham at Podgoritza. T was very anxious to get forward to the fighting line, but the need for medical help here is so great that I feel I Oil 11not leave. We, Miss Durham and S, have charge of one ward of the native military hospital—lls patients, all seriously. and most of them dangerously wounded. Miss Durham is an ideal colleague. She is adored by the natives, who treat her as a little queen, and yet she is content to act as my nurse and assistant. Me have to work terribly hard: the days are so short, and the want of adequate lighting arrangements makes our work more difficult. The men are splendid—so brave, so patient and so grateful for all that is done. "I'd ]alb ei aon did him lirst —he's worse than me," they say. and wait patiently while a comrade's wound is dressed and he is made comfortable, while thev are suffering agony themselves. THE 'WORST YET TO COME,

AYe can hardly get dressings or cotton wool, or supplies of any sort—even by lim ing them. .Miss Durham has collected a little money for the sutlerers. and we have to use that, as the hospital has not nearly enough supplies for all. She says tl at the worst (time will come for

them when the war is over. People |hi meless, foodless, villages destroyed, | widows and orphans to be cared for. All the able men have gone to the war, and of those who return many will be maimer! for life. The men are all so anxious to get back to the front. One old hero, over 70 years of age, is under our care. He has been in many wars, and his breast is covered with medals. His leg is terribly hurt, and he must be suffering agonies, but he always greets one with a cheery smile. None of them esn speak English, and I cannot speak their language. Fortunately Miss Durham is here to interpret when necessary, but most of our conversation consists of nods and smiles and grateful pats on the back as I pass up and down the. ward. I had an unpleasant experience the other night. I was nearly shot in mistake for an escaping prisoner. It was an awful night—pitch dark and snowing, a perfect blizzard. I was hurrying to my quarters, when I was suddenly by two soldiers. I was not armed. I ran. They followed. Looking back I saw their arms levelled at me! I yelled: "Inglese doctor." Still they took aim. Suddenly, with a happy inspiration, I cried: "Miss Dooram" (as they call Miss Durham). It was enough! The name acted like magic, and they saw me safely home. It seems that I had been mistaken for an escaping prisoner. One old man of 80 years was refused for the war as too old. Nevertheless lie followed the regiment. His son, who was standard-bearer, fell wounded, and the father ran forward, caught up the flag, and took his place! WRECKS OP HUMANITY. Foreign observers in Constantinople are daily roused either to condemnation or admiration of the Turks by some peculiar display of characteristics different from and opposed to those of the West. Their indifference to the sufferings of their fellow-men, and their wanton waste of life, are shown in the most horrible manner in the wrecks of humanity who are to Be seen walking through the streets of Stamboul and Pera, unheeded by their countrymen, and in the pile of dead in the cholera camps, in which no efforts are made at first to stay the "ppalliiig death-roll. In striking contract to this apparent lack of moral vigor are the courage and daring of the officers- of the cruiser Hamidieh. which was recently holed by Bulgarian torpedo boats off Varna, after a typical want of precaution on the Turks' side. Fuad Hey, the captain of the Mamidieh. at once set his course straight across the open sea for the Golden Horn. He arrived with his decks ISin above water, and the ship practically sank at the entrance to the dock, the engineers l being apparently unable to move her one way or the other. He was asked by a. European naval officer v.'liy he did not hug the shore, where, if the worst came to the worst, he might at least have beached his ship and have been certain of saving the lives of his men and himself. He at once replied that if he had steamed along the coast he would not have been sure of his men standing to their stations in an obviously sinking "hip when in sight of land. They might have mutinied and insisted on his running ashore. ITe therefore took the chance of the vessel, sinking, and kept out to sea.

INDIFFERENCE TO FATE. All these incidents are in remarkable contract with the present-day passion of the West for saving life. It is inconceivable to many of the foreigners how the Turks can stand and listen unaffected to the groans and watch the agonies of the wounded and the cholerastricken. It is a rare thing to see any attempt on the part of a Turk to alleviilte the distress of the sufferers, and there is no doubt that those same sufferers would certainly not give any aid to others were they well and strong. This stoical quality; while admirable in a sense, is costing the nation a terrible price in soldiers. It is impossible to pass through the streets of Pera, Stamboul and Scutari without encountering long lines of broken men, sometimes in scattered groups, sometimes in large bodies of a thousand or more, lame, disabled, or almost dropping from exhaustion, in all kinds ol ragged uniforms, in all degrees of filth. To keep clean is a religious duty for the Mussulman, but indifference to fate is also a tenet of the Mohammedan belief, and this creates conditions which make cleanliness impossible. These companies of decrepit ' meii' are the wrecks of the Turkish armv.