The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-09 00:00:00

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.
CONSTANTINOPLE, Feb. 1.
Great sa.tisfaction prevails here at the news of the
settlement of the peace preliminaries.
The following are the conditions of the pre-
iminaries

Establishment of a Principality of Bulgaria.

Ihe payment of a war indemnity or a territorial
comp Dilation. Independence of Roumania, Servia,
and Ali,ntenegro, with an increase of territory for each
of the Principalities.
Introduction of reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ulterior understanding between the Sultan and the
Czar on the question of the straits; and lastly,
Evacuation of certain fortresses by the Turks.

The telegram from the Emperor of Russia to the
Sultan is thus worded :—" I desire peace as much as
yourself, but it is necessary for me, and it is necessary
for us, that it should be a solid and durable peace."
A despatch dated the 31st of January, received by
the Porte from Server Pasha, says :—" The armistice
and the preliminaries of peace have been signed at
Adrianople to-day,"

Mr. Layard declares that he has not dissuaded the
Porte from concluding the peace preliminaries.
Mehemet Ali Pasha has been appointed Commander
of Crete' and M. Adassides, a Christian, has been ap-
pointed Governor of the island.
At St. Petersburg on Sunday prayers were offered
up in the churches and salvoes of artillery fired on the
occasion of the signature of the armistica. The town
was decked with flags and in the evening there was a
brilliant illumination.

SPEECH OF TEE CZAR.
ST. PETERSBURG, February 4.
The Emperor of Russia yesterday inspected the
Viburg Regiment, on which occasion his Majesty de-
livered the following speech to the officers and men :

"I congratulate you upon the armistice, the satis-
factory conditions of which are due to our brave
troops, who have proved that for them nothing is im-
possible of accomplishment. We are still, however, far
from the end, and must continue to hold ourselves
prepared until we obtain a durable peace worthy of
Russia. May God aid us in this."

GREEK INVASION OF THESSALY.
ATHENS, Feb. 2.

After a Te Deum, which was celebrated outside the
town of Lamia, at nine o'clock this morning, a corps
of 10,000 Greek troops, and many thousand volunteers,
crossed the frontier in three divisions into TheQsaly.
The mercantile shipping from the Pirus and Syra
is to be anchored at Salamis. Fortifications for its
protection have been hastily thrown up, and torpedoes
have been laid down outside the harbour.
ATHENS, Feb. 2, Evening.

The Greek troops who have entered Thessaly have
orders to avoid any attack upon Turkish troops. It
appears that the Greek Government, being aware of
the despatch from Mr. Layard to the Earl of Derby,
which has been published in one of the blue books,
asserting that in case of an insurrection in bile Greek
provinces of Turkey there would certainly be great
massacres of Christians committed by the Turks, has
decided, after hearing that the insurrection has broken
out in several places, to send troops over the frontier
to prevent any massacres taking place.
This has been announced to the Turkish Minister,
who, it appears, does not consider it a sufficient cause
for a rupture of diplomatic relations, since he is not
making any preparations to leave.
ATHENS, Feb. 3.
M. Delyanni, Minister for Foreign Affairs, yester-
day stated to Photiades Bey, the Turkish Minister
here, that Greece had no intention of declaring war
against Turkey, but solely desired to protect Greek
subjects. M. Delyanni added that acts of pillage
committed by Bashi Bazouks in Thessaly had frequently
been reported to the Turkish Government, but the
Porte had paid no attention to such complaints.
Photiades Bey replied that he would refer the
Minister's declaration to his Government, and would
afterwards communicate their response.
The Greek Government have addressed a Diplo-
matic Note to the Powers assigning their reasons for
the occupation of the Greek provinces of Turkey.
ATHENS, Feb. 4, Evening.

The town of Domoko, in Thessaly, has been taken
by the Greeks at the point of the bayonet. One hun-
dred and fifty Greeks were killed.

(From Wednesday's Times.)
ATHENS, Feb. 5.

The Turkish ironclads and transports are ordered to
convey to Vol() eight or ten thousand troops to oppose
the progress of the insurrection in Thessaly and en-
deavour to cut off the retreat of the Hellenic army of
occupation. Another corps under Mehemet Ali Pasha
is sent to Crete for the purpose of stifling an insurrec-
tion which has spread all over the island, with the
exception of the fortified towns.
Notwithstanding these measures, however, insurrec-
tion is fast gaining ground in the Greek provinces of
European Turkey, and the Hellenic army is continuing
its onward march, the Government having resolved,
since the news of the armistice, not to stop the progress
of the troops unless the Great Powers promise to main-
tain public order in those provinces and secure their
rights in the Conference.
The foreign Ambassadors, according to a telegram
from Athens, have conferred together and agreed to
guarantee the Pirmus against a Turkish bombardment,
providtd it is not fortified.

SUSPENSION OF HOSTILITIES BY SERVIA.
BELGRADE, Monday.

The official announcement of the conclusion of an
armistice and the signing of the preliminaries of peace
arrived to-day. Orders were immediately issued to
suspend hostilities.
The bulk of the Servian army is before Kumanovo
and Pristina.

Assurances have been given by Russia that Servian
interests have been cared for in -the peace preli-
minaries.

REPORTED SURRENDER OF ERZEROU3I.

A Daily News telegram from Kars, dated Monday
afternoon, says :—" The surrender of Erzeroum is
officially announced. The Russian troops will occupy
that fortress to-morrow. • Malignant typhus fever is
ravaging the place. The Turkish garrison and the
lower classes wish to go to the frontier."