Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1877-05-10

to preach, holy war, may compel
the assistance CT England, assist.
ance even more to be desired than
that of the whole Nahometan sect
According to- Messrs. Ubiciui and
Pavet de CnurteiIle, the regular
army should number 100000 men
III 1880, an estimate somewhat
higher than the preceding one.
As to the quality of the Turkish
troops there can be no doubt. They
are men who live upon little, are
amenable to discipline, march
splendidly and fight s'ubbornly
behind walls or under good lead
eis. The defence of Kars. under
Sir William Fenwick Williams,
may be recalled as proof of their
stubborn devotion, while the bat
les before Alexinetz, all of them
soldiers battles" in the fullest
sense OF the word, attest their ea,
gerness under sharp FIRE. Durn.
the late Servian campaign their na-
sivo officers showed good general
| ship; how they would sustain them.
selves against purely Russian
force remains to be seen. The
weak point of the Ottoman service
is its commissariat. Between fraud
and ineff1cieIcy, it the London
| Times is to be believed, the victors
of AlexinatE found themselves the
day after their splendid achieve
ment disordered so utterly as to
| ambulance, commissariat and train
that but for the fortunate armistic
they could not have moved for
| week.
On the Black Sea on the other
hand, The Turks have very much
the whip hand. In December last
the Russian fleet on that important
sea comprised 2 two gun iron'clads,
hesides one in course of construc-
ton; % ships of war, and l build
ing, and four unarmed vessels-a
total of 33 vessels, with 81 guns,
having tonnage of 31,336 and a
power of 1880 horses. Turkey,
on the other hand could pour into
the BLACK Sea nearly the whole of
her fleet of 80 iron. clads ard 76
wooden vessels mounting 46S guns,
carrying ISL men and having IL
horse power of 2S.995. This pre-
ponderance in favor of Turkey
helps her to dispute the passage
of the Danube and enables her to
compel the advance on CONSTANT
nople to be made by land from the
Pruth and the Danube, and with
out any help by sea,
WHERE THEY WILL MEET.
The Eastern army Of Russia may
be dismissed ftom tue calculation at
once. 1t could effect nothing, and ic
it were helped by Persia would
awaken tue jealousy ard provoke the
in erference of England. This, we
think, puts the Persian alliance out
of the way. AS TO the direct adj
vance upon Constantinople, 'there is
| a good deal to be said upon both
sides of the question The blood OF
the Turks is up, they never were
over particular IN these matters and
they may be depended upon to leave
the country as they retreat through it
a smoking waste. They hold the
Black Sea, nor can its control be
wrested from them, and TINS the Rus
slams must depend for alimentation
upon the single line of Roumanian
railroad, connecting with single line
of Russian railway. In 1929 Dieb-
itsch entered Adrianople with the
oh nf
peace that would have done credit to
veteran poker-player reverent of the
powers of bluff. Turkeys fleet had
just been destroyed at Navarino, here
ianissaries had been wiped out, Russia
commanded both seas. and threw 100,,
900 men across the Danube RTaila
held out forty -four days; Varna was
only won by Youssouf Pasha's treas
on; Sillstria fell after long siege in
the second campaign. BY inconceiv-
able negligence the Balkan passes
were not fortified, and Diebitsch.
springing upon these, reached Adria-
nople with 10000 men. Glad" says
Won Moltke, 1.-The Turkish generals
had a lride more resolution and ener-
gy they would have precipitated
Dicbitsch from the heights of victory
and success to the abyss of ruin and
destruction"
According 20 Won Moltke's esti'
mate, 10000 men are wanted for
such a campaign-70,000 to mask
Shumla, Varna and the other fortified
posts, and $4,000 to do the fighting
with. The great strategist's estimate
allows for a Russian feet TO command
the Euxine, land supplies at eligible
points. cover the flank of the army
and assist in the final attack upon
Constantinople. In the actual condi
ton of things Turkey holds the Black
Sea, and not only neutralizes all
these advantages, but keeps open the
food communications of the capital.
Hence, despite the elaborate prepara-
tions of the Russians, we are not
prepared to expect anything but a
financial collapse to precipitate ca
lamity upon the Turks.
WHY DON'T you RE
ND0 Vn