The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-06-12
Sketch of a Recent Battle.

Sketch of Recent Battle.
A correspondent of the London Times
gives the following sketch Of scenes during
the fighting during the stand made by the
Greeks against the Turks at Velastino:
The men in the first trench. which was
the only one that gave a clear view of all of
the Turkish forces, received US with cheer
ful mods and scraped out a place beside
them and covered the moist earth with
their blankets. They exhibited sort OF
childish pride and satisfaction at being I'M
der fire: and. so far from showing the ner-
yousness and shattered moral which had
been prophesied for them after the rout at
| Larissa, they appeared. on the contrary.
more than content. As the day wore on
| they became evenly languidly bored with 1t
| all, and some sang in low. grooming tone.
and others, in spite OF the incessant rush of
| the shells. dozed in the fun glare Of the
sun. and still others lay bumped and crouch
| ed against the earthworks exclaiming Bit
terly when the projectiles tore up the ram
parts on the hill behind US. But when the
| order came to fire they would scramble to
their knees with alacrity and their eyes
| would brighten. and many of them would
continue firing of their own account care
| fully with intent long after the whistle had
sounded to cease firing. Some of the officers
walked up and down and directed the men
IN the trench at their feet with the air of
| judges or timekeepers at an athletic meet
ing who were observing a tug-of-war. 9th
ers exposed themselves in what looked like
a spirit Of braggadocio, for they moved with
swagger and called upon the men to no.
tice how brave they were. Other officers rose
| only when it was necessary to observe some
| fresh movement upon the part of the enc
my, and they did this without the least
| haste and simply as a part of their work.
| and regarded the bullets that instantly be-
| set them as little as though they were so
many flies.
THE Turks were now about 100 yards dis
tant. behind bushes and impromptu earth
| works. and in consequence what impressed
one most about the fighting was that there
was nothing human in sight at which the
man cold shoot, and that after such an in
tolerable expenditure of cartridges there
should be no obvious result. 1t was impos-
sible to awaken the soldiers to any great
degree OF enthusiasm when they could see
| nothing Of the enemy but drifting whiffs OF
white smoke, or a long black blot on the
green prairie. And 1t was not until ! saw
Turkish officer run forward over a hill
with fez on his head. and with his sword
waving in the air, that the situation became
comprehensive. He least was a man,
not long snakelike column twisting across
the plain. and on account Of him the fight
at once took on the human interest It had
lacked. And a few minutes later the men
seemed to show that the same point Of view
had come to them. A Turkish soldier drag
ging a mule loaded with ammunition had
appeared quarter Of a mile below US. and
at sight Of him the soldiers at once recog-
nized that there was something tangible.
something that could show some sign IL
they hit it. The white smoke they had
aimed at before had foated away, but at
the sight of this individual soldier the en-
tire line ceased firing at the enemy's trench.
and opened at the unhappy Turk and his
donkey, and as the dust spurted up at
points nearer and nearer to where he stood
their excitement increased in proportion.
until when he gave the mule q kick and
ran for his life there was triumphan;
shout all along the line as though Ii has re-
pulsed regiment. That for few minutes
represented to them the entire Turkish
army.
There were many more representatives
of 1t later when the Turks occupied the VII
lage OF Lamelts, at the foot of the hill. and
up to the very base of the slope on which
we stood, until for moment it looked as
though bayonet charge would follow. But
the Greeks opened on the little band below
from the crest of every ridge. and 1t melt |
ed away to set fire to the village. and then |
tramped back across the ploughed fields in |
open order. retreating steadily and with no
undue haste. To cover this advance on |
the village the Turkish batteries were flr- I
ing rapidly, and the air was torn with bull |
lets and shells. not only from the guns on !
the plains, but also from the little mountain |
battery that answered them from the sugar |
loaf hill behind US.
THE 'shrieking shrapner Of which one |
reads in the description Of every battle did
not sound to me so much like shrek as 1t
did like the Earring sound Of telegraph |
wires when some one strikes the pole from
which they hang, and when they passed |
very close the noise was like the rushing
sound that rises between two railroad |
trains when they pass each other In cppo-
site directions and al great speed. After
few hours we learned by observation that
when he heard a shell sound overhead II
had already struck somewhere beyond US,
which was comforting. and which is ex-
planned, Of course by the fact that the
l
the rate at which sound travels. We found
the bullets much more disturbing; they
seemed 10 be less open in their warfare,
and 10 steal up and sneak by leaving no
sign only whispering as they passed. They |
moved under a cloak OF invisibility, and
n; ade one feel as though he were the blind
man in a game OF blind-man's-buff, where
every one tapped him IN passing, leaving
him puzzled and ignorant as 70 whittier
they had gone and from what point htey
would come next The bullets sounded
Ike rustl.ng silk. or ike humning birds on
a warm summers day, or like the wind as
L is initiated on the stage OF theater. |
Any one who has stood behind the scenes
when a storm Is progressing on the stage
Knows the little wheel wound with silk that
brushes against another piece OF six, and
xhich produces the whistling enect OK wind
At Velast:no. when the firing was very
1eavv. {; was exactly as though some one
we're turning one Of these silk wheels. and
% rapidly as to make the whistling con-
inuous.
Towards midday men began TO leave US
Gaming heavily on the arm OF conrade-
They wore a puzzled. grieved look and :
stared wonderngiy down az lin arm or !
i bleeding slash on the breast as though I
hey could not comprehend why out OF 50
many they should have been selected to
urer; aud soon other men were drawn =,
,ack by the legs out OF trench and laid
N the grass with a blanket thrown owe!
hem. or left staring Up with glazed drum ,
zen ewes Al the bot Sun So many Of The
men drew back from time 70 time merely
o stretch their c-anp-d limbs. or 20 smoke
r 20 break piece Of hard biscuit tha; 5
nese others were only d.s;irsuishable By /
ne fact nat they I'D 10; dodge rhsr Q