Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-18
ADRIAN0PLE Is REAL CRUx
Future Possession Of Fortress Held to
Be Vital Danger Point.
sERv1A IN C0NCIL1AToRY MOOD
Intimates Willingness to Leave Mat
ter of Outlet on Adriatic
Sea to Big Powers.

LONDON, December 1S-The peace
plenipotentiaries of the Balkan allies
came together in informal meetings today
to decide on their plan of action in. the
eventuality of Turkey declining to raise
her boycott Of the Hellenic delegates
unless Greece signs the armistice.
The allies in the course Of yesterday g
meeting of the peace conference at st.
James Palace made it quite clear that
they would not enter into negotiations
without Greece being allowed to partici-
pate, and DR.. S. Daneff. the leader Of the
Bulgarian delegation. is quoted as saying:
If Thursday the reply Of the Ottoman
delegates is not satisfactory We will
break off negotiations and meet again at
the Tchatalja lines. That will be the end
of Turkey in Europe
Adrianople Real Danger Point.
The consensus Of opinion here. however,
Is that the present obstacle will be sur
mounted by the delegates and that the
real danger point will be over the future
possession OF the fortress of Adrianople.
AS far as can be seen at present only
mediation by an outside power can solve
this problem.
incidentally. under the alphabetical ar
rangement of the presiding officers of the
peace conference tomorrow's chairma n
should be the leader Of the Greek mission
1t is assumed that a substitute will be
chosen pending the settlement Of the
controversy.
Servia in Conciliatory Mood.
Servia took an important step in the
direction of peace today by intimating
her willingness to leave the matter Of an
outlet on the Adriatic sea entirely in the
hands Of the great European powers.
In announcing the decision of the Serv-
ian government to take this step the
head of the Servian peace delegation
added that Servias attitude was a per-
fectly moderate one. and that relying on
the justice of her claim and the sympa-
thies OF the European governments she
had decided to take the course indicated.
In regard to the tension between Aus
ria-Hungary and Servia. it is generally
expected that direct negotiations be-
tween those two nations will begin i'm
mediately. These will take the form of
conferences between the Austrian foreign
appointed Servian minister ct Vienna. and
the object aimed at will be the realiza-
ton OF the mutual desire of the two
countries for the clearing up of the sit.
uation and the removal of misunderstand-
ings. -.-.-.-
The Turkish cruiser Messudieh was
badly damaged in the Sedil-Bahr naval
engagement. according to Constanti-
nople dispatch to the Daily Telegraph.
Turks Win Naval Battle.
SEDIL-BAHR. Dardanelles, December
1S.-Another naval battle was begun be-
tween the Turkish and Greek fleets yes
terday morning outside the entrance to
the Dardanelles straits. The firing was
very heavy.
After the battle the Turkish warships
returned with flags flying and bands
playing. amid the enthusiastic applause
of the crowds lining the shore,
Russia Has No Selfish Designs.
ST PETERSBURG, December 49,
There is no ground for suspecting Rus
sia of selfish designs in the Balkans
was the statement of Premier Kokovsoff
in the duma today in the course of q
speech on the policy Of the Russian gov