The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-03
The Eastern Mystery.

mystery, and 1t is only by accident APP
parently that we seem to get n glimpse
at what is going On behind the scenes.
The back-door tattle Of the various foreign
offices to which we are occasionally
treated contains nothing that il In
forming and a good deal that Is
misleading, while the light romances In
which n certain class Of correspondents
have been indulging since the cessation OF
active hostilities, have ceased to amuse or
interest. They are of no Importance except
as an index of the intelligence of those who
publish them. A few odd facts such as our
London correspondent gave in our de-
spatches of Tuesday morning may contain
n volume Of information worth columns of
gossip without foundation.
One statement, that the contractor for the
British Government ut The ir9us had been
directed to prepare supplies for forty British
ships of war that were expected to rendez.
vons at Phalerum, told n whole story by it
self, and leads to the anticipation of some.
thing of Importance later on. TIL fact that
the Turks have withdrawn the bulk of
their army from the Othrys Mountains,
with the excuse that they find IA diff.
Guilty in keeping them supplied, is an indica-
ton that there Is to be no march to Athens,
and that the retiring tide may be carrying
them back again before long through the
Milouna detile and over the Vigla pass to
whence they came. 1t would no doubt be
a great blow to the great expectations that
were entertained in some quarters of see
ing EDHEM Pasha's headquarters installed
in the palace ut Athens, and the riches
of the Athens Museum going to swell the
collection at Constantinople under the fos-
tering care of the excellent HAMDI Bey,
the son of AHMED VEFIK Pasha, who had
the honor of closing the Parliament of MID
HAT Pasha, and sending away under escort
the sturdy Mussulman Deputies who pro-
tested against their arbitrary expulsion.
Another glimpse of what is passing behind
the scenes was afforded by n stray report
that the Russian Government was pressing
ON the Porte certain concessions of terri
tory on the coast line between Batoum and
Trebizond on the Black Sea and up the
valley of the Tchoruk Su, by which the
road passes from Batoum to Baibourt on
the road from Trebizond to Erzeroum.
This territory, now said to be demanded by
Russia for equivalents we can only
vaguely guess at, was claimed in great
part by Russia at the close of the
war in 1878, and was only relin-
pushed undo conditions that showed
it would be claimed again on the first
favorable opportunity. The mobilization
of troops in the ErZeroum and birmingham
districts, for which there was no apparent
reason at the time it was reported, Ia now
explained. The occupation of the country
comprised in a line running from a point
between Rich, the port mentioned in the
rumor alluded to, and Trebizond to the
headwaters of the Tchoruk Su would make
Russia master of the road from the coast to
Erzcroum, and practically of the eastern
portion of the tableland of Armenia.
, Lastly, the enterprise of the commander
of a Greek torpedo boat has put us in pos
session of n clue to n most interesting plot,
\ short time ago the capture of n vcsse,
with Turkish soldiers on board, with field
and rapid firing guns under the command
of a Major said to have twenty thousand
3, dollars with him, was reported, and the yes
, sci was taken by the Greeks to the rendez
vous of their eastern squadron at the islanG
: of Skiathos. 1t now turns out that they
had intercepted n small Egyptian cxpedi
, tion going to the island of Thasos, al
4 | ulJ"iitS' VI NV "ihiA VI IL VI
the coast of Thrace, commanding the Gul
I of Kavalla, and a favorite rendezvous o
the British ships of war when cruising IL
t the 4HIgean. The explanation given is tina
the captured expedition was on its way t.
n the island to assert some rights claimed
4 by the Khedive, which are contest
ed by the people of Thasos, and i
q Is further stated that the British Agen
n at Cairo knew no more about its dcpartur
from Egypt than the British Colonial Ofic
+ did about the preparations for the Jameson
l raid, or than NELSON did about the sigma
+ to stop the bombardment of Copenhagen
when he put the telescope to his blind eye
a II happens that there are two point
II about which the Sultan and his friend
g have for Il good many years entertained sus
picions of England's intentions; one is tn
island of Mitylene, near the Dardanelles
and the other Thasos, off the coast G
Thracc. A few years ago a British warshi
took unauthorized possession of the port G
g Sigri, on the west point of Mitylent
IS for several days torpedo-laying prat
'e tice and landing drill. The reports G
re these proceedings, taken to the Go,
d ernor of the island at the capita
he on the east side 10y some fisherman
Vi and telegraphed to Con~stantinople, set a
r the telegraph wires in Europe at work, an
II startled the Yildiz Palace and its occupant
3, out of their propriety. An apology for tn
'e inadvertcnce committed was made by tn
De British Ambassador at Constantinople, bu
it was not forgotten there. On the Who'll,
* we think VIC have shown that there
IS plenty of material for most interesting d,
le ~velopments on the Eastern stage whenevt
TX the managers agree that it is time to rim
H. up the curtain.
N -
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