INCIDENTS OF THE WAR.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2896, 28 May 1878, Page 4

INCIDENTS OF THE WAR.

Phimppopolis, January 14It was possible to describe the general exodus of refugees pouring out of Bulgaria and marching upon Constantinople early in last autumn by a free employment of superlatives. It is not possible by pen or pencil to convey any just or even approximate notion of what is now occurring upon the Bazardjik-Stamboul railway line. At every station two or three long trains are collected laden in a manner which, described to those who have not beheld the sight, would appear incredible j and absurd. Goods waggons, passenger carriages, and trucks are indiscriminately mixed together. All are crammed till every available inch of standing room is occupied by the tightly packed travellers. On the roofs the snow-covered, miserystricken mortals crowd, between, the -carriages, upon the buffers; and across the tops of open trucks boards have been laid to, f provide more space for the still increasing numbers that flock to the line. Stations have become towns, and to the main thoroughfares in Adrianople, , Phillippopolis, and Bazardjik, Fenchurch street on a Saturday morning is as nothing. At Adrianople the sight is, perhaps, the moit extraordinary. As we rolled slowly into the station the carriage steps on either side of the train brushed the piled up masses of luggage, on and amid which the refugees were a warming. To quit the train it was necessary to walk over these impedimenta. In the darkness the extent of the scene could not be calculated ; a vague impression of something vast was all that could be gathered ; "but the following morning proved that this was only* too correct, and it was vast indeed. During the night ten men had died; it might have been ten hundred without making any appreciable difference in the multitude collected there. What is to cope with such calamity? A rich and powerful Government otherwise unoccupied could hardly do so. The Turks, . straining every nerve to carry on a disastrous war against an overwhelming enemy, are utterly powerless to stem the tide of affliction now rolling towards their capital. It_ seems marvellous that the ambition of one man can bring all this about. . At Tirnova-Semenli yesterday a woman killed her three little children rather than lefe them live to suffer in a future which appalled her and she dared not contemplate for them. In Adrianople mothers have several times thrown their infants from carriages or.trucks while laboring under a temporary derangement of reason brought about by the troubles they have undergone. Amid such unprecedented, confusion many accidents must necessarily occur. Frequently men, women, and children roll from the roofs they may have crouched upon for hours, and are either killed or severely injured. Two days ago.a girl and boy, as the train was crossing a bridge between Philippopolis and Adrianople, fell from it into the _ water below, but were both saved by one of the soldiers on guard close by without sustaining further harm than a ducking and a fright.. The most pitiable sight of all, I came across at Philippopolis. Removed a few yaids from the general crush near the line was a small dark heap. I was attracted to it, and for my curiosity I saw a little child, dead in the snow of a winter that could scarce be the fourth since its victim-was born. The tiny feet were hidden; the small white face half covered, and the folds of „ the scanty clothing which had proved so insufficient a protection against the long night's cold were filled with the flakes which had fallen in those dark, bitter hours. With regard to what has occurred since the retreat to Petrovich, the following details have been given to me by an English officer who witnessed the operations :—On the day after the retreat, which occurred on Monday night, De* cember 31, the Turks were undisturbed. On Wednesday, January 2, the Kussians attacked the rear-guard, and there was a good deal of skirmishing. The same night the Turks withdrew from Petrovich and marched towards Metchka, where they arrived the next morning. Here the troops remained for the rest of the day and the ensuing night, moving forward on the following morning for Oltikui. Having collected his forces here, Shakir Pash returned to Metchka to drive out the Busaians who had already occupied' the place. The fortunes of the day vacilliated. At one time the Osmanlis had as they thought secured possession of the village, but the Russians returned with great vigour to the attack, and so completely reversed matters that the Turks- were entirely driven out. Eventually, under Colonel Allin, a successful dash was made and-the cottages were set fire to; they then retired, leaving the enemy to claim a-very barren victory. In Metchka it it was found that all the sick and wounded' left there had been killed and mutilated — whether by Russians or Bulgarians is, of course, not known ; but be it the invading saviour or the prosperous martyr, it ttends to show that savagery is not a Turkish monopoly, and either Bulgarian Christianity is not worth fighting for or (he Russian Christianity is so much in need of reformation at home as to be by no means.a fit champion in the matter. The Turks marched from Oltikui the following night, but when a few miles on the road a despatch arrived from Suleiman Pasha stating that an armistice had been signed, so they returned again to take up their old position. In the course of the day a flag of truce borne by Shakir Bey was sent to the enemy, who declared their ignorance of any armistice and their intention consequently to continue opera-^ tiona. So at nightfall the Turks recommenced their march on Bazardjik, in the neighborhood of which town they still remain.—-Times correspondent.