The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-25
Fierce Battle Is Waged Before White Flag Is Run Up, But the Ternls ofSurrender are With held---Several Thou- sand Persons Are Killed in Action.
Forces of Young Turks March Triumphantly Into Turkish Capital and Are Received With Joy by the People Decision as to Future of Ruler Still in Doubt.

Constantinople. April 24.-The Con- situtional forces are in complete con trol of the capital tonight The sul- tan is practically a prisonef in the yildfz palace. His formal ssubmission has not yet been given. but he and the troops with him are at the mercy Of the army of occupation.
 Mahmoud Schefkst Pasha, the com ..mander-in- -chief of the invading forces. desires to finish the work without fur- ther bloodshed He is negotiating with the Sultan's representatives and. has extended the period of grace with in which the sultan must make his 6nal decision.
 Z The Yiidiz Kiosk may be Iseizsd dur-5 ing the night. for some 5000 infantry are within 8 mile and half of the place.
 What disposition will be made or the ruler of the Empire when he is in The hands of the constitutionalists Is unknown to the embassies. although the opinion is held in authoritative quarters that he will continue as the. nominal constitutional executive. re- sponsibie with the oficials of-~saisl household. to the cabinet. who in turn win be responsible to Pariia-i nent.
 City. Is Tranauil
 Complete. tranquility prevails in the; city at the present moment, but anx- ious looks are east in the direction Of the Yildiz. the refusal of part of It's garrison to suhmit hefns fhsl serlcas featpre of the situation. General schefket is concentrating . large fofce neat shgh point zxo6ps haysl been pouring in since noon and sey-s erai batteries have been planted on the neighboring heights. but 1t is feared the task of composing the ll-gaarded strong hold may be ex- tremely difficuit owing to its excellent defensive position and the thorough preparedness of the garrison.
 The other positions already captured by the investing army were not pro- vided with artillery, which gave the assailants an immense advantage. since they were able to shell the barracks without reply from artillery. The Yil- dig garrison not only possesses artii- E lery, but 1t is believed the neighbor- hood is mined. Apparently, General Schefket and the other leaders of the Y Saloniki troops are anxious to avoid further bloodshed, hence their desirs to give the Sultan and his advisers ann pie time for consideration.
 The sending forward of the advance posts of the Saloniki army yesterday afternoon to within two and A half miles of the palace. foreshadowed the attack upon the city. which began at o'clock this morning. The bridres had been picketed and small parties oI cavalry had reconnoitered the ground. After desultory firing fust be- Tore dawn, strong advance was made m the southwest part of Pera. The at- iecking forces spread out in a lone
 ne Snd nAoe an assault upon the naschAa sI ana Taseh barracks. south of the palace, where they were met viii a stubborn resistance.
 Baptism of Fire. The invaders continued to advanoa t.. their columns with the utmost orecis- cision and occupied all the points oe vantage. The volunteers from Chew geli received their baptism of Are fro,,, Matchka, but they stood their ground well, and replied with steady volleys The strength of the volunteers xa q overwhelming and the Matchka Rarri son soon surrendered.
 Almost immediately, the loyal sol dfers tn the Tasch Kischla barracks. on the opposite hill, opened with d deadly ire, but notwithstanding that many of them fell the Saloniki troops did not hesitate in their advance. blit moved slowly and cautiously bringing up their machine guns. which event ualiy resulted in silencing the garri- son. There were heavy losses on both sides.
 While this attack Was proceeding. another corps of Saloniki infantry en- countered sudden attack from the | artilIerymen in the Taxirn barracks, but these were only supplied with ri- fies. Mukstar Bey, commander of the Salonikf forces, fell dead, and many were killed or wounded on the first as- sauit.
 The fighting in the Stamboul quar- ter occurred at the Porte. where the garrison refused to surrender. but af- ter sharp fusilade they were obliged to hoist the white flag. There was d stiff light at the Iplik Haneh barracks. where the mutinous artillerymen, who recently arrived from Tchatalja, were quartered.
 Perhaps the most remarkable feat ure of the attack upon the city was the great number of people of differ ent nationalities. including many Eu- ropeans, who thronged the streets fm- mediatelY outside of the zone of the firing. Everybody showed that confi- denee had been inspired by the disci- pline, yalor and friendly courtesy Of the invading troops. particularly the gendarmes of Saloniki
 Thousands of CasualtleR.
 The number of casualties probably will never be known, but 1t Is estimat- ed as far into the thousands. Around the Taxim barracks. it is estimated that 1000 or more men fell. Private houses within the line of fire suffered greatly.
 One of the heaviest losses to the par liamentary forces occurred through the misuse of the white flag by the be- sieged Tasch Kischla barracks For more than an hour the. machine guns of the attacking party poured a hail of shots into the garrison and then