Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-05-23
ASIA MINOR.
Description of the Town of Bayazid--
The Main Roads from the Russian
FrOntier---RUSSia'S DESIGNS. .#.
From the New York Tribune,


The town of Bayazid, which the Rus
resistance, is in Turkish Armenia, ada
cent to the frontier. 1t is fifteen miles
from the foot of Mount Ararat, deemed
the second cradle of the human race A
large plain lies between the mountain
and some preci pitous hills behind Bay
aid The Pasha Palace is on the sum-
nit of a crag overlooking the town. This
once splendid building was despoiled dur
ing Russian invasion. The town has A
dilapidated appearance with very bad
bazaars 1t is $50 miles east southeast of
the Turkish fortress of Erizum, 90 miles
srom Kars, and so miles from the Rus
sian town of Erivan. The road to Fri
yum passes over the vast plains of Passia
and Aresh Kerd. 1t is good highway,
and, excepting where the mountains
which separate these great plateaus are
crossed, it is adapted for vehicles The
country is well cultivated and watered.
In the capture of this place the Rus
slams show that the line of operations in
Asia is almost Enthusiastically indicated by
the, teachings of former campaigns and
by the paucity of roads practicable for
an army. The Russian and Turkish
frontiers are conterminOus for a distance
of about 200 miles from point on the
Black Sea few miles south of Fort St.
Nikolaia to Mount Ararat This frontier
is crossed by three main roads. The
most northern is that which runs down
by the shores of the Black Sea, from
POti, the terminus of a railway from
Tihis, and distant twenty miles from the
frontier. This road, after crossing the
Turkish frontier, forks at Batum. One
branch runs along the seacoast direct to
Trebizond, the other mounts the Valley
Of the Joruk. direct to Erzerum. The
second road crosses the frontier close to
the Russian fortress of Akhaltsikh, and
thence to Kars The third is the direct
road from Tifis to Kars, crossing the
Russian fortress at Alexandropol. From
kars the road is open to Erzerum. Be
sides these three roads across the frontier
there is the road from Erivan in
to Armenia. This road across
the Russian frontier to the
east of Ararat, @and therefore
passes for a few miles through Per-
sian territory, but the Persians are not
likely to offer any very violent protests
upon the subject of the violation of their
territory, and as one of the Paskewitch's
columns entered Turkey by this route in
1928, it must be taken into consideration.
In discussing the probable line Of march
OF the Russians upon the European side
OF the Black Sea, one has always to con-
slider Constantinople as the objective OF
OF their journey. This could hardly be
the case on the Asiatic side. The distance
from the Russian frontier to the Bosphor-
Us IS about l, 200 miles, d distance which
could not be traversed by large army in
one campaign.
The object of the Russian campaign,
then, will be the reduction of the Turk
ISL strong places, the defeat of the Turk
ISL army in the field, and the subsequent
acquisition of territory For centuries
Russia has been steadily and surely
pressing forward in this direction. The
great natural boundary Of the Caucasus
has been passed, Circassia has disappear
eel from among nations, Erivan was
Wrested from Persia and Akhaltsikh and
Gunorl--noW Alexandropol-from the
Turks IN the campaign of 1923, and Rus
STA Is now ready for long step forward.
The line of the next frontier appears in