The Washington times., 1901-11-10

possible for any number Of troops. less
| than an army, to catch band.
| In the instance referred to above. every
shepherd was caught and put out of the
| wav as a preliminary. and then the sol
diers were biiIeted on the villages, whilst
| any viIIager who was suspected of ac-
d,raiutance with the fugitives was like
wise arrested, and questioned in the ap-
proysd methods The bSnd was at last
| reduced to The greatest straits for food,
i and was finally tracked to its lair by
| weli-knowu hunter. who himself has often
| related 10 me the whole tale. The cap
J ture would scarcely have been so easy, II
| practicable at all had the briGands not
| been too worn out to keep their usual
watch. or to continue on the move. Oniy
| the captain and one companion, VINO mao
| left the rest of the band previously, were
able 10 save their skins, ANA nave, 10
| the best of my knowledge. not since peeh
heard of The Pacha and troops we're so
| eXasperated at the long chase, and 50 Keen
| on discovering where the money which
had been paid as ransom was hidden
that, between thrashing for punishment
| and torturing to eNtort confession, 1t IS
said that none of the captives survived
their arrest more than a day or two.
| Most of the cash was found a short dis-
tance from the scene OF the battle, buried
| in the ground.
The grresome end of this band appears
to have put stop To all brigandaEe Tor
the present near the capital; but nothing
| except the fear of reprisals need stop any
| desperate ruffians from making another
coup at any moment. There Is so nllch
| wild mountain country in the close neigh
| horhood of the city ana SO many reCk-
| less characters abroad, that il Is mat
ter for congratulation that cases of bri-
| gandage are not more frequent. Ever
| since the Bronzeau case most. oil the
| worst districts on both sides Of the Cur
| of Ismidt are strongly patrolied by
mounted police. each party of whom visit
eight or ten villages, and cover some FOR
| ty kilometres day. in all weathers.
| Even this precaution, admirable and ef1-
cacious as il is TO some degree, could not
hinder any determined raid, cieverly
! planned. 1t is easy enough for dozen
| hardy fellows. born and bred in the noun
| tains, without any encumbraRces, TO es-
| cape the pursuit. often not too hard
| pressed, of score or two OF local gem
| darrnes, or even n battalion of troops.
| This fact should be borne in mind be-
fore blaming the Turkish or Bulgarian
| Government too severely for permitting
an act of brigandage, or failing at once
| to bring the offenders to justice. The
prevalent idea seems to be that it is, or
| ought to be, as simple to catch party of
| brigandS in the mountains as to recap
ture an escaped convict from Dartmoor.
In reality more difficult job can hard
| ly be conceived; This is usually proved
| by the pursuit being abandoned after
| short while, and by the terms proposed
! being accepted, subject to taking up the
| chase later on when there is nothing to
prevent the employment of measures
| which cannot be resorted to while the
| robbers have prisoners In their hands
| Having personally made the acquaintance
| of a good many brigands. either after
reformation or while still in an unregen-
crate state. l have very little hesitation
| in stating that to hunt them In their
stronghoIds affords the senderest chance
| Of success. as long s they have hostages
| The only sensible method is to come to
terms, Straightforwardly and honorably
and after the victims have been released
to follow the band up relentlessly. This
is usually an understood condition or the
contract and the brigands only ask for
few hours grace. or start. Since, how
ever, the foreign Governments have taken
to holding the Porte responsible for the
reimbursement of ransoms. the latter has
considered the matter much more seri-
ously, and has dealt most mercilessly
with any bands it has caught.
In Bulgaria brigandage was most ef-
fectually STAMPED ont in his time by
Stambouloff, VINO from having lived the
life of an outlaw during the struggle for
bulgarian independence. knew exactly the
conditions under which they subsisted.
and was able to act accordingly. Being in
the principality at that time. and wish
ing 10 gather some notion of brigand's
life, L once obtained a letter from NJ.
Stambouloff to the headman of village
in the heart OF the worst district, on one
of the spurs of the RhodOpe. and request
cd him to put me In the way of exploring
the mountain of Avret Alan. 1t took two
days before the chief of the brigands
could he communicated with. and he then
only consented TO meet at "A spot sCme
hours distaLt from the village.
An ancient man, at least seventy years
old, but as active as chamols, led me
TO the place, and after short but salts
factory Interview II was agreed that he
was to take me there again next morning.
without any other escort. On arriving at
the rendezvous / found five other Wild
looking fellows waiting me with pony,
and without moments delay started
straight up the mountain. After three
four hours climbing the pony was sent
back and We went on, on foot I spent
three days in the company Of these lords
of the hills, and though the life was a
little rough as far as comforts went /
had no other cause of complaint. OF
course we slept in the open, without any
sort OF shelter and our meals were of
the most frugal description possible. Ev-
cry man was armed to the teeth with
guns or rifles, revoivers. and knives one
of them had Mannlit aer rifle which had
only just been served out to the German
army.
1t was the first cne I had ever seen.
and / was extremely surprised to come
across II in such hands The owner knew
how 10 use il, too and every evening we
had target practice. in which the Mann
licher always came out first both for
accuracy and penetration. A more care
less and Jolly crew | seldom came across,
and | think the regret was mutual when
they accompanied me back TO the start
ing place, whence only the old villain
Netko, went with me to the village. to
receive the present / had promised. name
ly. the price Of two or three skins of |
wine During the whole time / was with
them We did not see a single other hu-
man being, and ii was forcibly borne in
upon me how difficult il would have been
for any regular authorities 10 come up
with US when once we We're fairly on our |
observation-disclosures Correspondence IN
the London Standard.
THE SITUATION IN TURKEY.