The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-11-21
TURKEY IN WAR TIMES.

TURKEY IN WAR TIMES.
3 A Picturesque Scene at Constantinople..Th
Turks Becoming Desperate and Resolut
f aid for the Wounded-Suleiman and Hi
Brigadiers.
A Constantinople correspondent Of tn
: New York Tribune writes as follows
, Sunday, shortly after midnight, I wa
awakened by strange noise which wa
: not quite din and yet which dominated
all other sounds. This was the combined
| voice of hundreds of bass drums beatel
: with might and main in the streets o
all Constantinople in honor of the re
pulse of the Russian army from Plevna
The myriads of lamps hung on the nina
| rets by reason of Ramazan had been al
lowed to burn out, but were now re
stored to their pristine brilliance. Tht
} streets, the squares, the coffee-shops
we're full of people discussing with the
; utmost enthusiasm the bulletins JUS
published by the war Office. On every
lip was the word: "It is Gods judg
ment on the proud I" and in fact the
Turkish public was as near being great
ly excited as possible. The night wat
dark, and as I looked off from my hill
upon the great city, partly hidden by 6
white mist which filled the harbor an6
covered the valleys, I could see none o1
the deeper shadows, but only the Lights
on the minarets, which seemed to float
in mid-air above the sea Of mist. Be.
tween the minarets, lamps were so hung
that they formed words in Arabic. just
above the horizon, on the left, blazed
the words: "Bismillah irrahman ire.
him,"-the invocation of the name OF
the Mercful. Over the mosque OF
Noori Osmaniye was "Oh, Gracious
Onel" High over the dome Of the
mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent,
you could read in letters Of tremulous
light: "Mohomet sent of God"; and
far around to the right was written on
the sky, in letters of gold: "Allah Ek-
ber," the old war cry of the armies Of the
prophet. The whole arch Of heaven was
transformed into the dome of vast Ca
thedral, to the minds of the great surg
ing crowd Of Moslems which filed the
streets it's base was inscribed in letters
of fire, with the praises dear to the hearts
of the faithful. And one could not
doubt that this cathedral magnifcence
thrilled the hearts of the joyous multi
tude below as they gazed upon the evi-
dence of the glory Of Islam in the le-
gends written on the sky.
The splendid fighting Of the Turkish
soldiers has astonished every one, be-
cause it is contrasted with the feeble
efforts which they made early in the war.
The change is due to final awakening
to which the entire people have come,
that the question is one of life and death.
This awakening is the work Of the
refugees who have really been in contact
with the Russians. Their tales and
proof of the atrocities committed by the
Bulgarians and Cossacks upon all Mos
lens, have deeply moved the popular
heart. The other day I was crossing the
Bosphorus in caique and passed some
lighters full of refugees who looked so
wretched that I said "Poor crea-
tures." The Turkish boatman burst out
with vehemence which astonished me.
eyes, they are poor creatures, and the
Great God will never bless the Russians
who have made them poor creatures.
May His curse follow them, and may
they get from Him their deserts"
The Turkish successes are partly due
to the advice of some of the best strate-
gists in Europe. It is reported that
Won Moltke, after giving the Russians
plan of campaign, has with laudable i'm
partiality accorded the Turks similar
favor, and watches with peculiar interest
the developments which result. The
feverish activity of the provincial au-
thorities in forwarding the new levies
has also told in the campaign. The rail-
way to Adrianople and Philippopolis has
carried On average of 1000 men per day
to the front during the whole of August.
And, finally, the arms furnished by
American manufacturers have exercised
potent influence in prolonging this
Turkish defense. Their guns have ex-
celled European ones.
The wounded soldiers now here are
about 6, 900, distributed in fifteen hospi-
tails, which are kept in the best of order.
There are only about fifty severe cases
in all this number of wounded.
The severely wounded have died on the
field, except few who are being cared
for Of the Philippopolis and Adrianople |
hospitals. Baron Mundy, of the Red
Gross Society, formerly of the Water
cure at Florence, Massachusetts, is
here, and is about to 60 to the front, to
establish a great hospital OF his own.
The amount of foreign aid now being |
afforded Turkish wounded is very great.
The Turkish people contribute lint,
bandages, clothing, and tobacco, but
money is scarce, and where money ls
needed it comes from abroad.
The contempt of the private soldiers
for their officers is often we'll 1unded.
I have been told that the only reason
why Reouf Pasha, who commanded in
the battle of Jeni Saghra, now lives, is
that in that action he kept 20 far to the
rear as to be out of range OF the bullets
fired at him by his own men. Turkish
soldiers are as ready to obey officers
WnOm tney GILL tIust dS Guooo IL oouoA
armies. The wounded men from Shipka
are unbounded in their praise OF Sulei-
man Pasha. But they give a comical
reason for his successes. If Suleiman
Pasha orders one of his brigadier-gen-
erals to. take n certain position, it has to
be taken. If the man fails, Suleiman
Pasha calls for a guard, and has the gen.
erals uniform stripped off, and some-
times even has him shot on the spot. 81
assure you," said the soldier, "that in
Montenegro Suleiman Pasha had several
brigadier-generals shot for failing to
take positions they had been ordered to
carry. And if he treats brigadier-gen-
erals so, you can imagine what he does
to subalterns who disobey. He has
killed lots of them" OF course the story
of Suleiman Pasha shooting brigadier-
generals off-hand, has not alarge amount
Of foundation. But it shows that his
men have a wholesome fear of him as
A Shower Of Salt.
During recent violent storm gen.
tleman living in North East, Nd, was
returning to that town from Philadel-