The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-20

and if Mohammed in Albania gathers in
 more proselytes than the meek and lowly
 Galilean, it is not due 10 any predileo- | ton for the tepets of Islamism but rather because Mohammedanism is officially
 recognized, and confers upon its adherents
 a sort of government cachet
 That the ol,-avowed resolve of Albania | to attack Montenegro in the event of a | war between this latter country and | Turkey is no mere idle threat may be | gathered from the attitude of this war | loving people on the occasion of a preyi- ous Turkish Montenegrin difficulty
 The Berlin Congress, in defining the boundaries of the then prlncipaity os Montenegro. ceded Touzi, or Tuzi, south Of Podsoritza, to Prince Nicholas. Tile Turkish troops accordingly withdrew but before the Montenegrins could enter into
 possession the Albanians forestalled
 them, and occupied Tuz They success fully held it, too keeping out the soldiers of the mountain principality, in this respect defying both Montenegro and the
 Great Powers from that day to this. IT the Crescent flag of Turkey flies over I'uzi today, 1t Is because of armed Alban-
 Ian intervention. Indeed, the whole from
 tier question is a thorny one providing abundant material for fresh conflicts If
 the Turks, ignoring the frequent demands Of Cettinje, hesitate to give effect to the findings of the Boundary commission it is not that they seek to avoid doing jus tiee to Montenegrin demands; 1t Is be- cause they fear Albanian reprisaIs were the delimitations recommended to be car 1 ried out. Today the Albanians seemingly
 have forgotten Montenegrin generosity ! and their obligations to the little nation Qn hro al, rl.o tl~
 rebels last year when fleeing from the
 wrath of the Turk.
 A Queer Travelling Party
 At Podgortza, in Montenegro, where the
 adherents of the Cross and the Crescent
 meet. the people live on terms of thinly- yelled hostility The population is over- whelmingy Christian. and the Moslelm
 minority live isolated in the west of the town. They are for the most part rene
 grade Serbs and herein lies the sting. Knowing little or no Turkish, they speak
 the Serbo-Slav language of the Monte negrins. These moslem Serbs are pro- foundly dlstrusted by their Christian fellow-citizens; these latter they desig- nate infides and foreigners while they proclaim themselves Osmanl and true followers of the Prophet. Tn the event
 of war between Montenegro and Turkey
 they would be a source of considerable embarrassment to the government of King Nicholas, for the renegades make
 no secret as to which side would obtain
 their sympathy, if not active support.
 A ramshaclSle diligence conveyed me
 from Podgoritza to Tuzi. and then 10 Helm, or Houm. in Albania at which
 point was told l should find a lake
 steamer plying to Scutara The wheels
 of the vehicle in which had taken pass age during the Journey emitted as many discordant notes as did the funeral car of the late MflSado. Amongst my fellow passengers were a Francsiscan monk Turkish merchant from Podgoritza, and two members of his harem, an Albanian
 returning from Vienna with a young wife, who might have served as model for Sas- soferratos Madonna, and their baby In less than an hour from starting we drew up at the frontier. and descended from | the diligence while the Turkish garrison
 of bockhouse quarter of a mile away l inspected us closely. We shouted our
 names, our professions, and nationality
 across the frontier. using our hands as
 megaphone. The commander of the kula | or bockhouse, called from his forenoon slumbers, appeared presently, buttoning mp his tunic. He, too, subjected us 10 a. long-range inspection, after which we were told we might cross into Turkey. In order to avoid the possibility of any re- grettable frontier incidents we sent the
 
 eiscan and myself followed, and the Albanian husband, wheeling a perambu- iator and escorting his wife with the Madonna-like face. brought up the rear. A few days previously blood had been shed at this same frontier post over q question of reputed violation of territory. 1 so that international relations were still | strained. On their side. the Montenegrin 1 soldiers. fully armed. kept within the
 shelter of their blockhouse. and did not
 unnecessarily expose themselves to the l Turkish sentries 400 yards distant and l whose rifles. we gathered. had a habit
 of going off unexpectedly in the direction
 of Montenegrin territory. narrow causeway spanning a deep spruit con-
 nects the two countries at this point. The | formalities on the Turkish side did not
 take long. and by the time the creaking coach had rumbled across we were free | to proceed on our jourAey.
 The Country of the Malissori l We got under way again, this time accompanied by an escort of Turkish l gcndarmes mounted on fleet-footed,
 shaggy mountain ponies. with girths and stlrrpp-leathcrs fashioned out of odd pieces of rope. Now we were in the
 country of the Malissori passing through l the scene of last years rebellion. Tne i roofless and smoke-blackened shells ot i the tenantiess houses eloduently testified | to the ruthlessness of Turkish repression 1 under Turget Sheiket Pasha The uriyer
 of the diligence, who was inclined 10 he communicative. told me that the goyern-
 ment at constantinople had pnid com | pensation to the homeless Malssori for the destruction of their dwellings, but 1 the recipients had preferred purchasing
 Mauser rifles to applying the money 10
 the rebuilding of their homes
 | After a brief halt at Tuzi. reconduered tf<t, 1.r1t. 1~ | less in cornmenloration of this feat, armed | tribesmen are permitted to swagger about 1 in full view of Turkish troops. We drov. on to Houm. at the head of Lake Scutarf.