Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-10-19
PRESSING THE PORTE.


:. PRESSING THE PORTE.
The United staaea said to he Seeking
Admission Of a Dispatch Boat.
LONDON, October 19.-The Times Con-
stantiRopls nSorrespnndent says It is true
pressing thu EportS for the admission of =
dispatch ,yeseLt
The corre2 Monde mt Of the Daily News At
constanttng9e tesraphs TO his paper as
follows:
ut emsHprobSHie that the entry OF the
United States tes5aship bancroft into the
ief arq NsM Ys was arranged for before she
This corrsepondeht also states that Sec
tetary Olney has photographed to the porte
Dis thenks for dts permission accorded to
armenian women and children whose hHs-
psnds and fathers are In the United States
to proceed to America. - F-'<----'-
The MarbIehead Leaves Smyrna, ;,
The only change that has occurred In the
movements Of the. American feet. rem
dezvoused in the hxrbor Of Smyrna, is the
departure today of the cruiser Marblehead
for home with all the short term men on The
station on board, Word Of her departure
was received at the Navy Department to-
day In a telegram from Admiral Selfridge,
commanding the fleet, saying simply and
briefly that she had sailed for Gibraltar.
She viii take on coal and provisions at
that port and then proceed on ner voyage
across the Atlantic Her movements are in
accord with instructions from Washington
and involve M change In the number of
vessels regularly attached to the European
squanron Her place is taken by the
cruiser Cincinnati which arrived at
smyrna III company with the little battle
ship Bancroft few days ago.
Sensational Stories DlsprOved.
The departure of the Marblehead is Sig
nificant.' however. in that 1t effectually dis
proves the sensational stories current a
short time ago to the effect that the United
States was concentrating Its naval forces at
Smyrna for the purpose Of making hos
tile demonstration against the Turkish gov
ernment, at least to the extent Of assist
ing the Bancroft to force the passage Of
the Dandanelles 1t Is not conceivable that
the lighting strength of the fleet would be
reduced II any warlike movements we're in
contemplation
There are no new developments today
concerning the Bancroft or her mission to
Turkey. 1t is supposed that che is now
quietly taking on coal and provisions at
smyrna preparatory to the execution Of
the special service for which she was sent
to the Levant. There seems to be no doubt
that she Is destia.ed to duty as an Ameri-
can guardship at the Ottoman capital, and
that she will proceed there az soon as I'LL
the necessary arrangements shall have
been made. p.
Force Was Never TLou sht OF.
There IT, not now and never was any
purpose of having this miniature warship
ate mpt to force a passage of the Darda-
nelles. and IL she makes the trip to the
Golden Horn 1t may be seeepted as a Ger
tainty that she does SO with the full knowl-
'edge and CONSENT Of the Sublime porte and
me sispatqFY. powers t. The Berlin agree
Minister Terrell has received sattsfac-
tory assurances on this point. 1t is said and
1t Is therefore not improbable that the Ban
croft will start for Constantinople before
many days have passed.
The Strait.
A brief TeFiew Of the situation is suffi-
Client to show the folly Of the report that
vessel of the comparative weakness of
the Bancroft would attempt to force its
way to the Turkish capital The strategic
key to the Turkish empire is the Strait
OF Dardenelles. narrow passage con-
Meeting the Aerean sea and the Sea of Mar
Hcra- The. Eity Of ConstantiHep.e lies at
Its eastern end. 1t Is about forty-five
miles long and varies in width, it's great
est breadth being about four miles. With
this narrow fpassase closed. lConstantinople
remains un&pprOac liable from the Mediter-
ranean. .-.----
The Turks, have always realized the STRAIT
L
/ centuries ago took steps to fortify their
position there. -Four castles and line of
coast batteries now defend the entrance to
the strait. The castles Of Kun Kale, on
the Asiatic shore. and Sed-il-Bahr. on the
European shore, were built in 1869 by Ma
homet Nv to protect his empire from the
fleets Of the Venetians. East of them
where the rstrait is but 800 yards wide, stand
on either shore the castles Of Tchanak
Kales and Kale Bahr, with a line Of coast
batteries. This point is, oner of, the most
I historic in Europe. Here Leaader is said
to have swum the strait, the HeIlespont
as IT was then called; here Darius in the
year 500 B. c., joined Europe and Asia by
a pontoon bridge; here Byron SWAN the
strait in 1910 with Lieut.. Eckenhead.
r--ar7 Rights of the Porte.
AS early as 1909 England recognized the
porte's right to exclude warships, but not
until 1s41 did the otheY>great powers join
with her. Fearful q. Russian influence in
the ottssnsr empire. England, France.
Prussia AID Austria began 10 take an ac-
tive interest In the eastern situation, and
the result OF their Intervention was a
treaty between them, Turkey and Russia.
drawn mp Jn 1840. and 1871. All the powers
agreed to observe the right of t41e porte 70
exclude The Dardanelies and the Bos-
phorus the .Yarships .S1a foFefEh nations.
This principfe was reaffirmed by. the treaty
of Paris i4 1855. and has been reafirmed
by the powers In every treaty drawn up
between them since.