The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1912-11-09

Frantic efforts are being made to put
the defences IL. order against the ad-
vance OF the s,raggicts on the capital
THE beaten army arrived at Tcha
taldja utterly dcmoralizcd and ready to
ny even further. bu, the exhausted Bull
garians. happily for the Turks. have
not pressed the pursuit from Tchorlu
with the vlgor which they exhibited In
the earlier phase OF the fight. The rea
son Is probably that the Bulgarians
themselves are badly IN need OF rest and
recuperation after the terrible, sus-
tained lighting.
"The road from Tchorlu to Tcha taldja
IL at best a mud track. 1t has now been
converted by the rain into quagmire
and this quagmrc Is chokcd with all
the flotsam Of beaten rctreatlng army
which has abandoned its transport.
Dead horses and occasionally field guns
may be seen on the way. Many of the
guns, which have sunk to their axles In
the mud. could not 10 extricatcd by the
enfeebled horses and they had to be
abandoned To the enemy.
'Tn Tchorlu the non-combatant fuS!-
tives are hopelessly mixed with the
army. which acCentuatcs the confusion
Of the rout. The road, c: rather the
track, Is too narrow for this mass of
fleeing humanity. |; spread to the sur
rounding country, although keeping
parallel with the main line of retreat.
The stream cf fug.tlves IL arriving
every hour of the day AMI of the night
most OF them frostbitten and blistered
by the wind. in the last stage OF wear!-
ness and hunger. and covered with mud
from head to foot.
"The number OF those who pcrished
In the concluding stage of that terrible
forced march to Tchataldia must have
been enormous.
"Thc usually placid Turkish soldier
has become a dangerous desperate who
has been maddened by starvation.
Every house and hut along the line Of
retreat has beer searched in the hope
Of finding fragmcn. of food Even
q crust of stale bread is a prize. Horses
which were killed or died of exhaustion
are eaten raw by the famshed soldiers.
Many Of the furitives lost all sense of
direction. and ignorant of the lie Of the
country. marched along the railway
with their bcnumbcd senses telling
them that II must lead to somewhere.
"Scores of them dropped exhausted on
the track and the last train from Tchorlu
had to proceed with extreme caution or
1t would have ecapitated many Of those
who had fallen along the lines. The
train was hastily filled with the wounded
; and women and children OF the refugees.
It carried also Abdullah Pasha's staff,
the foreign military attaches and few
wat correspondents The women and
children were packed so closely In the
CARS that many OF them were badly
cphshed and some were actually
aSphyxiated.
rowing to the slow pace at which
the train proceeded any fugitive soldiers
Who had sufficient energy left to ac-
/complish the feat clambered aboard.
This happened every few hundred yards
until every inch was occupied. even the
front of the engine and the footboards
of the cars, to which men clung with
an energy born of despair. Others still
managed to climb to the roofs Of the
cars and some of these were jolted of
as they rounded the curves and were
either killed or badly hurt. Owing to
this clinging mass of fugitives little of
the train itself was visible beyond the
funnel of the locomotive. The average
speed Of the train on this dismal jour-
ney was three miles an hour.
AT one point owing to the funeral
pace fears arose that the train would be
captured by the Bulgarians and a sta n
Ofi1cer got into panic and gave orders
to uncoup!e and abandon the cars in
which tll. wounded were being carried.
Two medical officers who were In
charge of the injured men drew their
revolvers and threatened to shoot the
officer and the driver of the train as
well IL these instructions We're en-
forced. Under the menace of the re-
volvers the officer surrendered, the cars
with the wounded men were recoupled
to the train, which then resumed its
Journey
when any of the wounded died
during the journey their bodies were
removed from the train and laid by
the side of the track, in order to give
additional room for the overcrowded
living on board the cars
ITO the eastward of the Tchataldja
road is an impossible morass. The
Government is hurrying forward sup.
plies and munition. For the moment
the weather is mild and dry. other.
wise none Of Abdullah Pasha's army
could have survived the privation,
through which he has passed.
attempts are being made to weld tn,
disintegrated atoms of what once was al
army. and desperate effufts are being
made to restore discipline into the ranks
The few officers who are available are
working like slaves. but they are con-
fronted with a herculean task.
1.-THE hodjas of Stamboul, accom-
panied by a high parsonage with thu
sacred green flag Of the Prophet, ar'
attempting to revive the spirits Of tn,
troops and restore the military prestige
by preaching a holy war. The soldier,
listened wearily to these exhortations
but It seems impossible to rekinde thei
religious ardor and stimulate them b,
these devices.
"The tagging physical energies OF I
fallen hero have never been more clearl,
demonstrated. Every army fights on III
belly. To the entreaties OF their relis
ious chief to rise and exterminate tn,
infidel invaders, the soldiers Of Abdullal
Pasha invariably answer: Fight
Give us bread
"The haggard, travel worn correspond
ents are troopng in. The majority o
them have lost all their baggage ant
have been without food for several days
hut their sufferings have been less In
tense than that of the broken army"
THOIyCdMDC nv II ICuT