The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-01

pace as 1t ran like train of gunpowder
along the sheer nights above. For the
second half of the journey the road climbs;
by this time the sun had gone down, and
under the shadow of the mountain side
even the white baggage horse was no more
than patch of ghostly gray. But at the
top we came out into the moonlight-full
moon, as bright as a London winter sun
and there was no doubt about it. On
the nights blazed signal fires, and the
plain replied to them. on the horizon,
near Milouna, blazed a blockhouse-where
1t was impossible to say. And the ripple
of musketry all round the influenced plain
of Elassona was deepened more and more
often by the voice of cannon. 1t was
war all along the line. and it was war in
force. Tomorrow we should fight over
fifty miles of frontier, with over 5000
men.
To-day came. I woke in my breeches,
and was out before daybreak. Not for
one moment in the night-so 1 was told
had the peoples and the booms ceased.
Now the sun had come out clear in the
blue Easter Sunday sky; Olympus had
even taken his cloud-cap off for the great
day. l rode off. chidishly happy, to lind
the marshal and his staff; was l not going
to see the biggest fight since Plevna?
THE marshal was just moving down to
the front. With him were the long lines
and dancing rifles of five Albanian bat
talions-the reserve. the best men in the
army, perhaps almost the best soldiers
In the world. They roared with deep
bass of delight, and a little ferocity, as
they swung down a little hill and across
the fallows and the fields of young corn
Some way behind black centipede wound
over the plain-the cavalry coming up
from their quarters, five miles in the rear
With the marshal went the staff-bearded
veterans of the Servian, Montenegro and
Russian wars, and spruce young aide-de-
camps from the Yildz. We marched to-
ward the thick line Of choking smoke that
lay at the foot of the hills.
We marched till we drew up
on the road to the col Of Mlouna
"a name by now immortalized by many
correspondents. Then we drew up In face
OF row of low but steep and bare hills;
three bloekhouses, their chimneys peaked
impudently into the sky line, marked
equal intervals along the summit; lofty
nights at each side marked the limits Of
the field Of the main fight On either side
Of us stood fields OF the same green bar
ley, but in them three batteries of six
guns apiece thrust out their grimly i'm
pertinent nozzles shifting at the wreaths
OF smoke on the hills. The teams to work
them squatted round Ia the attitude of
humble alteration proper to the artillery
man In presence of his gun; the red fez-
yes only appeared like peoples above the
green Here all dismounted and set them
selves to watch the battle of Milouna.
And the battle? Il was the battle OF
karya over again on a larger scale. I will
give strategical and tacital exposition of
II some other day, when / am not so
sleepy and have learned something about
strategy and tactics. Al the beginning IL
was exciting. The reserve battaiions NOV
ed slowly. but with an Infinitely rugged
resolution IN the set Of tho mems bodies
toward the firing line. Up above the bu-
giles were bringing out the advance. Be
low the guns began-a deafening bang
the whizz OF rocket. a scream as the
schrapnel passed between the reverborat-
ing nights on each side: a crack, a flash
ana belch OF dirty smoke as the shrap- |
mel burst every time IN the right spot |
two miles and a half away
But presently, II may say so, the bat |
tie or Milouna became bore IL began |
with the time when Charley gave his Ex- |
cellency Field Marshal Edhem Pasha INV |
horse rug TO sit down on. Villagers came |
out ana lined the roadside as II a battle |
We're jubilee procession. Some gray |
bearded sons OF the prophet went 20 far |
as 70 put up sunshadcs. The fighting be- |
came Oriental or Balkan-no attempt 20 |
gain ground and break the enemy. but a |
dogseQ uring behind cover till a man drop