The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-04-20
The Bloody Fight Which is Now
Going On
Between Greek and Turkish
Forces at the Pass.
AWFUL SCENEOFBLOOD
Hand to Hand Struggle With
Steel and Shot.
Turks Shelled the Hills and
Greeks Retreat.

New York, April 2O.-The Journal this
morning publishes a dispatch sent by
the special correspondent of the London
Daily Mail to his paper from N1ilOuna
Pass, Thessaly, describing the Greek
Turkish battle The dispatch follows:
MIouna Pas, Thessaly, April 1S--9
p. m.-The bloody fight at this Pass be
gan last evening at five o'clock and is
still in progress. The battle has for its
scene a series of hills, varying in height
some of them densely covered with
brush wood and others comparatively
bare.
The morning broke delightfully."- fine,
the sky cloudless and the sun pouring
down, perhaps, too genial heat. At the
base of the opposing hills, stretched
away into the distance were two long
lines of smoke, showing where GAe fight
was in progress. The wind was not
strong enough to scatter this smoke,
which from where I stood at the head
of the Pass seemed at every moment
to grow denser and heavier. The din
of the firing was almost deafening. The
fight became intensified as the day
grew and the clearer light enabled the
antagonistic positions TO be more clear
ly discerned-
Very cary in the morning the Greeks
>
Turks and took possession of the hill
tops stretching below the peaks and
the Turks. recovering from their NOM
entarv check and cheered on by their
officers, who led their men magnificent
". charged the Greeks with the cold
steel. An awful scene of blOOdShed and
carnage ensued. Through my glasses
could see struggling masses of men, the
CLINT of steel as the bayOnetS swept
through the air, the flash of revolvers
and the raised butte ends of rifles doing
their dreadful clubbing work. The
struggle was brief though appallingly
deadly The Greeks, fighting to the
last, were swept back by the impetuOus
onslaught of the Turks and the hilltOps
were again in possession Of the invad-
er.
Toward o'clock in the morning Ed
hem Pasha advanced towards the fight
ing line with five battalions of the re-
serve. A strong force of cavalry cover
ed the flanks of the infantry, who
marched over the yellow fields with
shouts of enthusiast. Marshal Edhem
PaSha took up his post face to face with
the line OF hills to the left of Milo Una,
which was where the Greeks were in
strongest force.
1 cannot omit mentioning that the
marshal sat down on the ground Turk
ish fashion, looking as cool and uncOn-
cerned as the most diSintereSted of the
spectators. The Greeks still fought
hard and the Turks pressed them Wig
orously.
The arid slopes of the hills were whit
ened with puffs of smoke as the duel
proceeded. About 5 o'clock when the
day to my mind seemed to have lasted
whole week, the Turkish field artillery
came into action under command of
Riaz Pasha.
owing to the difficult nature of the
ground Riaz could not approach the
hills. which the Greeks were holding
nearer than two miles and a half, but
at this great range shells were dropped
he nj nlaCRS
where the Greeks were strongest.
For the time being all interest was
concentrated upon the work of Riaz
Pasha's guns. AS shell after shell
Bhrieked its way through the air to the
hills three miles off, the effect of the
Shelling was evident
The Greek rife fire diminished, and
noticed as evidence of the tremendous
destruction and decentralization wrought
by the shells that at many places in the
Greek position there was an absolute
cessation of firing.
After a shell or two had dropped. the
shells had either killed the Greeks or
driven them panic stricken away
At half past o'clock the principal
positions from the Greek side had been
either taken by storm or evacuated.
One important hilltop alone remain
ed in possession of the Greeks. At 5
o'clock Edhem Fasha had practically
taken the pass after heavy fighting.
with toward the end however
sJrickened intensity on the Greek side.
The Turkish army did tremendous eX-
ecutlon during the latter stages of the
battle, firing with marvellous precision
and the most deadly effect. The Greeks /
persistently and with splendid courage
attacked three Turkish block houses
around which the battle centered. but
were on each occasion steadily re
pulsed.
The Turkish rife fire was very deadly.
At length the Greeks desisted from
their attack on the block houses and
fell back Sullenly to their enfreDched
positions There they practically re-
commenced the fight pouring q hail of
bullets upon the Turkish positions
However, this renewal of the battle did
not last very long and by degrees the
fusilade from both sides diminished
The Turkish troops are half dead with
fatigue, having neither eaten nor silent
for a hours The reserve are lying
about on the bare ground, the maiori-
1y of them fast asleep.
The losses on both sides are unknown
but have reason to believe that the
Turkish losses are not very heavy. con-
sidering the long and stubborn battle
that had been fought. The losses of the
Greeks must be very severe I myself
saw prone, inert forms on the hillsides
an numbers that told their own tale of
terrible slaughter.
Kenan Bey, an officer who fought in
she enga cement at Karya, states that
the defeated Greeks lost about / 600
killed, while he puts the Turkish loss
at 200
Reinforcements of infantry, artillery
ana cavalry have reached here from
Elassona. The fighting is extending
the whole length of the frontier
At Z o'clock this evening the Greek
block houses and earth works were