Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-02-20
NUMBER IA.
DARDANELLEs.
Miss Martineau's Story Of Their En-.
trance by the English in 1909.

trance hy the English in 1905.
l The following is an extract from M
Martineau's Introduction to the H
tory Of the Peace" "Before the end
1906 Russia had driven Selim into d
arms of France and Alexander was fill
with alarm. He besought the British
undertake another of those diversio
which began to sound 80 disagreeably
the ears of Englishmen, to send feet
theirs which was cruising in the Eves
sea up to Constantinople and to conn
Selim to relinquish his allegiance wit
France and make terms with Russia IN
England. The Grenville cabinet wei
rather glad of an opportunity of oblipiu
Alexande- to whom they had refuse
both money and soldiers, and who,
friendship il was rather important to n
1seasn. andks4hey gave asdsrs to .Sn. .xoh
Duckworth, then cruising off Ferrol. /
Join Admiral Louis at the mouth of th
Dardanelles. Mr.. Arbuthnot, the BIRTHS
ambassador at the Porte, offered the fins
terms to the two courts of Selim as 500
as he heard Of the junction of the tw
squadrons off Tenedos, on tn
26th of January, 1907. The,
were declined, and from certaiii
threats about making hostages, Mr.. Ar
buthnot feared for his own safety anc
that of all the English in the place. III
arranged with the captain of the Endy
mion, which lay at hand, to invite all The
English merchants and the whole lepa
tion to dinner on board his ship on thu
10Th of January. They went, wholly
unaware that they were not to lanc
again. When sitting in their Dime,
dress, they were told that their wives
children and merchandise must be left to
the mercy of the Turks and the gen.
erosity of Sebastian. They had little
appetite left for the dinner before them,
No communication with the shore was.
however. allowed, and by eight in the
evening, when it was very dark, the
Endymioa vas under way. The Turks
did not find it out, nor molest her pas
sage down the nardanelles, and she arriy-
ed in safety at the rendezvous at Tenedos.
The strong and rapid current makes the
passage comparatively easy that way.
The difficulty is in passing the other way
up to Constantinople. A strong south or
southwest wind is necessary for this, and
the fleet had to wait for this until the
10th of February. A terrible fire
had destroyed the Ajax, of seventy
TOUR guns, in the interval, with the
loss of two hundred and fifty
lives. Ssyen line-of battle ships re-
NAMED, and followed each other at inter-
Vals into the mouth of the strait. Meth
sr the strenuous efforts of Sebastian nor
the explosion of the Ajax, nor any other
warming that the English were coming.
had reused the Turks to make the slight.
st preparation. The ships sailed proudly
Up the strait, undelayed by the fire Of
he forts at the narrowest part of the
and belching out flames and
'annon balls as they went. They took
md burned some Turkish ships and ap-
'eared before Constantinople to the hor-
or of the whole population, who were
Ibsolutely without the means of defense.
The divan would have yielded at once,
'ut Sebastian would have prevented it,
nd instigated a negotiation which
'r0ved a fatal snare to Sir John Duck
Torth, Notwithstanding express warn
ngs and instructions from Lord Colling-
rood. He was unwilling to destroy the |
ity and shoot down the defenseless in |
abitants, and he allowed himself to be |
rawn on from day to day, exchanging
otes and receiving promises, instead Of
lltlling bis threats. Meantime not q |
loment was lost by the Turks. Women
nd childfen worked day and night at
ne defenses, and in a few days the whole
oast was bristling with artillery, and
ne chance was over. The British officers
ad seen through their glasses the
lacing of the cannon the arrival
the ammunitica, the lining of the
oast with spirited troops, and the lodg-
tent OF garrisons in the towers, and they
hated under the intolerable disgrace Of |
neir inaction. But Sir John Duckworth
ad been negotiating during the whole of
nat fatal week. at the end of which
here was nothing to be done but to get
way as safely as they best might. The
ind had not changed, and it did not
hange till the 1st of March, and the
lrther delay thus caused gave time for
harging the forts at the Dardanelles
ith men and ammunition. For thirty
tiles, reckoning the windings of the
nannel, the ships ran the gauntlet of an
lcessant fire, and such q fire as was
ever seen before. Stone balls weighing
wen or eight hundred pounds broke
own the masts, crushed in the decks.
tapped the rigging and dismayed the
carts of the sailors. The hills smoked
ON end to end, and the roar Of the
rtillery rolled from side to side. In q
~ more days Sir John Duckworth de-
ared in his dispatch any return would
ave been impossible. The news Of this
ngular affair spread fast over Europe"