The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-04-20

sena-rr1ers. h<A;Esvlrx that as hs g az the
seaf of var Re j. better prepared Shzn
any ore here to act 70 the best 4tan-
taxe-
TIE nrst sign that the admiral has BE-
gun the disposition o. Z. attle squadron
TO meet the war epoch was the receipt %
8 czbiegrxrs AZ TIE navy department. to-
day announcing the arrival os the rnitsi
States cruiser NInaea polls a. Syra- This
IS an island in the Greek Archipelzxn ly-
irg AZ the foot OF the Aegean seG and
at point almost equally distant from
Crete, where war has been actually going
or FOR weeks Athens and the entrance 20
the DaraaaeIles. 40 thar L. Is admirably
selected in the Judgment os the depart
Taent ofscials as q place ot Observation
and & base CT action IN either direction
where an American wzrsAIp may be
needed
The officials OF both the state and navy
departments. however. have little appre-
hension of iIl-1reztmsat Of Americans in
either Turkey or Greece, which is regard
ed as about the only possible cause az
friction now. Possibly. at 4 later stage
IN the war. tn the eyent that the Turks
are defeated. there may be rsoting NJ Con-
stantinople or al some Of the larger Turk
fsh cities. but that - not feared at present.
II has been suggested that the president
probably viii De called upon 10 issue
proclamation OF neutrality. now that war
is begun between Turkey and Greece The
officials have looked into the preeedents
In such cases. and have concluded that the
conditions at present do rot require the
issue o< such notice. The purpose Of
neutrality proclamation is 10 guard Amer
lean citizens against the consequences Of
infracsiOn of the neutrality imposed upon
nations not party 20 a war. II does not d.
rectly concern either OF the beliigerenrs.
but Is intended To warn American citizens
that II they espouse the cause OF either
combatant they viii absoive their own
country from extending protection in
them. Conditions may arise later on. il
Is said at the state department. warrant
ing the issue OF proclamation. hut the
Americans in Turkey and Greece are so
few in number and are Of such character
as to make 1t unlikely that they will in
volve themselves tn trouble.
The progress of hostiiitses is being
watched with the keenest interest In mill
tary circles here. Already there has been
a great demand for accurate maps of the
scene of the first outbreak. and this has
been responded TO by the military infor-
nation bureau by giving orders for the
preparation OF such map as was issued
during the war between China and Japan.
publication n great value 10 the student
Of war. II may be said that while the
with the Greeks. they fully expect that
the Turks will prevail In the end. il al
lowed TO wage war untrammeled by the
interference Of other powers. and there
are signs TO indicate that such an ar
rangement has been reached By the prIn-
cipal military and naval powers or Eu-
rope will make this possible. The war
department experts say that Turkey. on
paper at least has one of the most for
midable armies in the world and although
il is generally admitted that its strength
may not be anywhere near as large as
thus set out. stiiI there actually exists a
military force beside which that OF Greece
is absolutely Insignificant in numbers.
In addition TO this numerical superiority
the war department experts say that the
Turkish forces for some time have had
the benefit of thorough training by a
number Of German army officers. the best
drill masters in the world At present
the Turkish commander-ln-chief. Edhem
Pasha has at his back one OF the ahlest
strategists I'm all Europe. IN the person OF
Lieut. Gen. Baron Comar Won der Goltz
a German officer loaned" 10 Turkey by
Emperor William. This officer Is said TO
unite in himself all the qualities of a most
fitted scholar and an experienced soldier
He participated in the war with Denmark,
I'm the Franco-Prussian war and In the
Austro-P Prussian war and in addition he
is the author of three military books that
are regarded almost as text books In the
service IL Is reported hero that Baron
Won der Goitz Is really the huthor OF the
plan of campaign under which the Turk
ish army is now aghting-
The war department Is preparing to COL
lect all the technical information that
may be derived from the war. Capt.
Seriven. the military attache OF the Uni
ted States embassy ar Rome has already
fslaxra rhef the dpnartrrput for DeYmEsSinn
10 go TO Turkey 10 watch the progress Of
the war. and the necessary permission
will be given him. II he finds IL desirable
that some one should act IN a like eapac-
ity with the Greek army the department
probably will send Maj. Dorst the United
States military attache at Vienna, TO the
scene.