The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-07

MOsIems Now in Possession of the
Whole Plain of ThessaIy and
Prepared to March South.
END OF THE WAR VERY NEAR
POWERS ARE NOW READY TO STOP
THE ONE-sIDED CONTEST.
Various Accounts of Wednesdays Bat
tie, in Which Many Turks Are
Said to Have Fallen.

LONDON. May Z. = Wednesdays dis
patches from the seat of the Graeco- Turk
ish war all indicated that the Greeks had
won a great victory While the reports
were, in the main, true the Greeks had only
met part of the Turkish army. Reinforce
ments began to pour in to Edhem Pasha's
relief, and by nightfall, when the fighting
was stopped the Moslems were seen to
outnumber the Hellenes three to one. The
Greeks, seeing the hopelessness of attempt
ing to fight such an immense army and
becoming afraid of being surrounded, began
Phersala. This morning Edhem Pasha, the
Turkish commander-in-chief in ThessaIy,
sent the following dispatch to the Turkish
minister of war: THE imperial army while
marching to Phersala, met the enemy in the
villages of soubatthi, souledji, TurcomanH
and Lamia. After a severe engagement
lasting fifteen hours we dislodged them
from their positions and advanced to Pher-
Sald7 which -ne lInpeIlal army mas just VIC
toriously occupied
The Greeks are now concentrated at Don
akas. Evidently it was Edhem Pasha's
ability to cut in between the two Greek
armies which led to the speedy retreats
that are the beginning of the end. The
Greek accounts say that both retreats were
orderly, but such news comes only from Of
fetal sources in Athens, which are motor
iousy unreliable. 1t is just possible that, so
far from being orderly they may both have
ended in a panic as was the case at Laris-
sa. Edhem Pasha will almost certainly fol-
low to prevent General Smolenski from re-
joining the main army In any event, Gen.
Smolenski is now cut off from all chance
of embarkng on the Greek vessels at Volo.
He must either surrender to the Turks or
endeavor to reach Lamia by the difficult
mountain paths, so that everything now in
dicates that Greece will be compelled to
sue for peace in oder to save the remnant
of her army from destruction. The absence
of Greek cavalry at Phersala left the
| Greeks in complete ignorance Of the move
ments of the Turks and it is another illus
tration of the general incompetency of the
| Greek staff. General Smolenski himself has
admitted that long habits of guerrilla war
fare have made the Greek army helpless
against modern military strategy. 1t is
now believed that the end would come much
sooner but for the difficulty the Turks have
experienced in bringing adequate supplies
| of ammunition for magazine rifles and mod
ern artillery over the mountain passes.
According to the special dispatches re-
ceived from Athens last evening the news
of the evacuation of Phersala has caused
unqualified despair at the Greek capital,
and the irritation is finding vent against
the powers for noninterference and threat
ems to become so strong as to compel M.
Ralli, the Greek premier to ask the en-
bassadors to intervene Several dispatches
received from Athens yesterday afternoon
say that Prince Constantine has occupied
an intrenched position at Domokos, domi-
mating the plain. Greece, the dispatch
added is willing to accept an armistice. A
special dispatch asserts that the losses of
the Greeks in the fighting at Velestino and
Phersala Wednesday were certainly one
thousand killed and wounded, while the
Turks lost fully six thousand killed and
wounded
A dispatch received at Constantinople de-
scribing Wednesdays battle at Phersala
says THE Turks, after sharp fighting, cap
tured all the positions in front of Phersala.
and thus gained favorable sites for new
Krupp twelve-centimeter howitzers, which
were stationed at Tatari. They threw
shells with unerring aim right into the
heart of the town. Some fell near the rail-
way station, which was wrecked others
caused fearful damage in the streets and
to dwellings, which it was understood, the
inhabitants had previously abandoned The
Greeks suffered heavy loss. As evening
came on it became clear that their position
was virtually untenable and at the moment
this dispatch is being written Hairi Pasha's
hanking movement has begun to have its
effect, and the Greeks are already shaken.
A dispatch to the Daily Mail from Berlin
says it is reported there that the powers
have decided to land troops at Athens 10
protect the dynasty, Greece having declined
the proffered mediation and Turkey being
willing to negotiate on easy terms if Crete
is evacuated by the Greeks.
The Daily Telegraph prints dispatch