The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-04-08
CRITICAL DAY IN GREECE
TODAY is INDEPENDENCE DAY
AND ENTHUSIASM WILL RUN
VERY HIGH.
an OUTBREAK IS NOT UNLIKELY
Both Greek and Turkish Officers
Have Taken Every PrecautiOn to
Meet Any Contingency That
Is Likely to Arise.

-
Athens, April 5.-The preparations for
the celebration tomorrow of the anniver-
sary of Greek independence in 1912 have
been completed. A public meeting will
be held here to protest against the action
of the powers towards Greece and pledge
support to the Greek government if it
sees fit The decorations have been COM
pleted. At night Athens will be bril-
liantly illuminated In this connection
there has been belief that the celebra-
ton tomorrow will be followed by dec
laration of war against Turkey. This
feeling, however, is not general. Tues
day in Greece is regarded as an unlucky
day to enter upon anything of Importance,
and for this matter, more than any other
reasons politically is based hope that
the independence celebration will pass off
without the frontier incidents which are
likely to preciptate the struggle for
which Greece has been preparing for the
past three months.
AS this week is likely to be fateful
one for Greece, the orders OF Prince Con-
stantine, the crown prince and command
err in chef of the Greek forces in Thes-
sally, are strict that anything in the shape
of demonstration in the direction of the
| Turkish frontier must be suppressed.
The soldiers and armed peasants, how
ever, are in no mood to be curbed and
nobody would be astonished to hear of
an aggressive movement, at least upon
| the part of the Greek irregulars.
| The Turkish commander in chief, Ed
hem Pasha, is fully alive to the difficulty
and dangers of the situation, and has
already strengthened the frontier out
posts, besides taking other means to meet
any contingency which may arise. Fifty
thousand Turkish troops at few hours
notice can be sent across the Greek from
tier, and according to unbiased military
experts the Turkish flag might be flying
over Larssa few days later. The
Greeks, while animated by fierce enthu-
siasm and desire for war, are not nearly
so well disciplined as the Turkish troops,
and the German officers assisting Edhem
Pasha in the campaign preparations an,
ticipate little difficulty in winning the
first battle.
1t is stated that the queen of Greece
has decided to start Immediately fol-
Thessaly to superintend, with her
daughter-in-law the Crown Princess So
phia, the field nurses attached to the
Greek ambulance corps.
The next actual step anticipated in the
eastern game is the proclamation of the
admirals of the foreign fleets to blockade
the gulf of Athens. This was to have
occurred today, but a hitch has occurred
at the last moment Nobody here seems
of Athens will be followed, if not pre-
coded, by a declaration of war agains
Turkey. Numbers of correspondents Of
English papers have arrived here and a
Salonica and others are ut Larissa OF
at ElassOna. These are men whose ad
vent on any scene naturally means thai
the outbreak of war is regarded as al
most certain. Certain correspondents
who landed at SalOnica were provided
bury's secretary, and while they have
been accorded every courtesy, they have
not been allowed to inspect the Turkish
Notifications.
A dispatch from the representative Of
the Associated Press at Elassonia, thu
Turkish headquarters says that the re
port that the Greeks intended to noun
twenty cannon on the unOccupied poin
of the disputed territory of Miesnia
caused Edhem Pasha to order the Turk
ish officers in that vicinity to fire ON tn,
Greeks at the first sign of such an at
tempt.
On another occasion an explosion Of
dynamite caused party of Greek en-
gineers who were blasting rocks to make
a road to become SO excited that Turk
ish officer sent message warning fht
Greeks of the extreme danger of sucl
proceedings and pointing out that i
might be impossible to restrain the Turk
ish troops. Later advices from the
frontier say that Edhem Pasha has or
dered all the Turkish troops ON the from
tier to be under arms all day tomorrow
dhe anniversary of the declaration of in
dependence of Greece.