The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-08-30

unless absolutely cornered. so Apostol
ana his men, still half clothed. gath
cred themselves together. and deter.
mined to break through the ring. 1t
is probable that the traitor who os 81
Greek. hated the Turks only Ilttl.
ieSs than the Bulgars. had minimized
the number of the band. and that tho
turks thought they had only Il band
ol ordinary size TO deal with of from,
ni'een 10 twenty men. At any rate
ApOstol and his men had no ditticrlt,.
III walking through the circ,e ,rho,.
retreated quickly up the pass tbrougb
winch the river runs until tbev conI1
20 no further. Behind them the bluTs
descended abruptly into the yardnr.
Oh one side rose cliffs. OH fho othsr
oeloW them. RAN the river q vvido
swift stream just then. for the sno,cs
Werc melting. Before them the rocl.,.
ground descended toward the viIIoge
IRON military point of view If wos
an IDEAL position for defense-and
death for no escape was possible.
Day was dawning then. as tbo
Dahdsmen hastily throw up three lines
OF trenches with loose rocks ord
Doulders that had once tumbled down
from the heights above them As
soon as the Turks were able TO
locate their positions by the growing
lIsht they spread out in fan formation
neioW, and began TO fire. The bonds-
men numbered just thlrty-eigbt for in
inc hurry there had not been time IA
gather in the two men who wara II,
'he nut with the ammunition. As
was found later they continued sleen.
ing undisturbed. for the turks had
not considered the hut worthy of
search' and there the ammunition and
ils Two guards remained in safety dur.
ing the whole day. The first line Of
trenches in the pass was defended Inv
save Mlchaeon and eleven men.
Fifty yards beyond and higher M
htteen men were stationed. and still
hlgher up were Apostol Gad twelve
men.
Meanwhile the firing had begun TO
attract TO the spot the yultures of tho
turkish army. the bashl-bazouks.
These are a dlsorganized, irresponsible.
rabble, who seldom fight but are nj
lays on hand to share the plunder
On occasions. they will sometimes sun
port the troops in a charge. for they
are well armed. These began TO gather
IN great numbers now. and took IN
positions with the regulars. When the
hSht was two hours old a Greek band
oi thirty men. commanded by an officer
III the uniform OF the Greek army. an
peared and joined the Turks
Evidently the Turkish officer in COM
mand had recognized the strength Of
Aposto's position. for hitherto he had
ordered no attack. Meanwhile it had
been telegraphed to Salonica. two
hours away. by train. that Apostol
was cornered and more troops were
needed. But. anxious to gain the big
reward on Aposto's head. the Turk.
lsh officer determined to get him
before his superiors arrived. En-
forced by the bashi-bazouks. the Al
banlanS and the Greeks he ordered
a general charge The bandsmen al
lowed the charging throng to come
halfway up. Thes four hand gren-
AIDES were thrown and as many volleys
dred. They also rolled down huge
boulders into the panic-strlckeu Turks.
The destruction by the bombs was ter.
rifle, for even the Turkish regulars.
!ierce fighters as they are, poured down
In scrambllng retreat.
Having lost heavily. the Turks made
no further efforts then to storm Apos-
tols position But in three hours the
rcinforcements from Salonica began TO
arrive. BY noon twenty-five carloads
| had come, two thousand soldiers in all
| Meanwhile the bashi-bazouks had
streamed steadily in from the sur
! rounding villages to the number of
| Ave thousand, some reports say. That
Is probably an exaggeration. and then
too, as far as actual lighting was con
cerned, most Of these fellows prob.
ably took up the passive attitude OF
expectant spectators.
Upon the arrival OF the general office,
in command from Salonica. he i'm.
patiently ordered a general attack at
once. The soldiers made wild M,
ward scramble, but again the bombs
were blasting up the loose lava among
them. That attack failed. as had tn,
hrst. Two more equally desperate at
taeks had q similar result soon after
Then the Turks withdrew and begaI
70 open up heavy fire on the rock
above, depending on rock spIlnters Il
destroy tile insurgents behind thell
positions. These tactics. although
costly for Apostol and his men wer,
slowly pot shooting individual officers
| wherever ylslble-were more success
full BY seven that evening. at iifteei
O'Clock by Turkish time. the insur
gents lad been much reduced. Another
attack was ordered, before dark shoulC
give The few survivors possibl,
chance TO escape. In the FIRST trenci
only Mlchaeloff and three men wer
alive, and they all wounded. In tn
other two lines Of trenches were eigh
men unwounded.
As this last general attack begaI
the ammunito Oh Of the bandsmen CAV,
out iu few last yolleys. Thel
Mlchaeloff ana his three men in th
first trench rose, deliberately smashe,
their rifles oycr the rocks, destroye,
their watches in similar name