Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-14
BANDIT LIFE IN THE BALKANS
New Story Of the Reasoning Of Miss
Stone.
MONEY PAID OVER IN SMALL SUMS
Ruse Of the Missionaries 20 outwit
the Turkish sOldiers-FiEht Put
Up by q British Colonel
Against BriERnds.

Against BriERnds.
LONDON. May 2S-In the British Blue
Book. published last week, Respecting the
Affairs OF Southeastern Europe" there is
a paper the like of which seldom lightens
the pages of those usually dull govern
ment publications. &c. s. Elliot, colonel,
British staff officer has the honor to
report In detail how, seized by Mace
DOMAIN ~brigands, he struggled free. emptied
his revolver upon them, putting bullets
into five and made his escape into the
arms OF Turkish rescuers.
1 am sorry I cannot give the account at
length in Colonel Elliot's own words, but 1
feel 1 must retain space for some glimpses
Of the brigands which he neglects and l
am able to add. This was the adventure:
In the course Of a tour through the dis
trict of Drama, which is under the super
vision OF the British contingent of the for
eign officers reorganizing the Turkish gem
darmerie, Colonel Elliot spent a night at
qurejik, a little Christian village, built
largely, as 1 remember, of mud bricks,
whitewashed. with roofs Of red tile and
crowns Of storks' nests on the chimneys.
The place lies in a narrow valley running
east and west. on the north side the hill
slopes are fairly open, while on the south
a thick growth Of woods comes down to
the primitive, scanty gardens Of opium,
corn and tobacco.
Stationed in the village was at this time
a detachment of twenty-five Turkish sol
diers, and in the house In which Colonel
Elliott stayed were quartered also two
Turkish gendarmes accompanying him on
his journey and serving as an escort. In
the village, waiting for the British officer,
was a band Of probably forty Macedonian
insurgents, Christians whom the villagers
harbored from fear and also from a GER
tain sympathy.
The morning after Colonel Elliot arrived
he went out early, alone, for a stroll.
Passing down a narrow, deserted street,
he was suddenly seized from behind by
three typical Macedonian fighting men.
who began to hurry him along toward the
fields and the woods beyond.
The British officer, 1 am told, is a short
man, no taller than the stocky Bulgarians
in whose grip he now was. While he car
ried only a revolver, the brtgands-bearded
fellows all, dressed in rough khaki, with
native sandals and sheepskin caps-were
armed with Mannlicher carbines, to which
were fixed bayonets, and each OF them car
ried at his waist in wooden ~hand-knitted
socks one or two dynamite bombs about the
size Of large oranges. Other insurgents,
similarly equipped, came out Of houses all
about n posted themselves at corners
along the route, preparing to cover the
escape of the captors and their prisoner.
The insurgents evidently expected the
Englishman to go with them willingly. but
he struggled and yelled until they produced
q cord and started to bind his elbows to-
gether behind his back. At this Colonel
Elliot tscitly agreed to proceed, in order
to have his hands free that he might use
his revolver when an o%pportune moment
arrived.
Before they reached the fields firing be-
gan. The colonel's two gendarmes, having
been informed by q woman Of his predica-
ment, followed to his rescue without a
moments delay. and the SOUND of rifle
shots brought out the garrison.
As captors and captive left the last
houses and entered a small meadow the
bullets from the Turks fell all about them
ard a brisk return Of shots passed ovel
their heads from a line of insurgents some
distance In advance, retreating up toward
the forest and covering the escape Of thu
trio. and their escort bringing the prisoner
Suddenly a new fire broke out across thu
path Of the little party. 1t was from Col
onel Elliot's two ~gendarmes, who, coming
by another route. hal headed them off.
To escape this fire the insurgents threw
themselves to the ground and tried t.
drag the colonel down with them, but h,
fought desperately to keep his feet. anC
managing at the same time to free hi
arms, drew his revolver and dealt a bulle
to each OF the men in charge OF him. TheI
dashing back toward the village, trailing
the cord still tied to one arm, he shot
fourth man who was taking aim at tn,
gendarmes, and a fifth who lay in tn,
grass wounded, though the offic er did no
know OF his distress at the time. As h
ram a bullet caught the colonel in the hip
and before the Bulgarians retir ed one o
his brave gendarmes was seriously wounde,
in the abdomen.
An interesting moral point in this affai
is the evident belief of the insurgents tina
a British officer would be a party to thei
little scheme. When they laid hold o.
: Colonel Elliot they told him in Turkish
t which he understands. that, they woul
treat him we'll and that they only wante,
money from the Sultan.
l This seems to be a delusion among Ger
z tain ranks of Macedonian rebels. The
! think that because Englishmen sympathiz
! with the Macedonian peasants they wi
also be willing to aid the cause of tn
! committees in this perhaps INSCRIPTION
name
The late Chief Boris Saraoff once mad
: such a proposition to me. Fortunatel
: 1 had the option OF declining. for we wer
in Bulgaria at the time, where the LAY
is too strong for the insurgents to ply thi
trade. Some of them like to pretend ths
Miss Ellen Stone. the American missionary
shared in her ransom of 1880, but c
course this is absurd.
. 1 once met the notorious sandansky, III
4 man who captured Miss Stone. He wa
lying in a little country hospital at Dur
}, nitza, just inside the Bulgarian bordeI
= having come over the border mountains
week before.
d The thin little man was still pale an
weak from loss Of blood, for he had &c
l his wound some distance from the friendl
frontier and had to come by slow stages
lodging the Turks. who had Offered q bi
e reward for his head. A wounded compa
e ion had died on the way. Neverth eles
at this time his spirits and his sense {
IS humor we're running high.
s He asked fondly after Miss Stone. an
e said that he was most grateful TO the Amer
can people for their large donation to II
g. -