The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-10-07
EDITORIAL NOTES

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 The first great defeat suffered by Turkey. which then threatened to be- come the dominating power of Eu- rope, wes in the battle of Lepanto, near Corinth fought. on this date, Oct -,7th, in the year 1571- The feet of the Mediterranean powers Spains Ven1ce' Genoa, Malta, and Plus w., command ed byRDon John of Austria, brother Of Philip IT. Of Spain, encountered the whole maritime forces of the Turks, and completely checked their progress. This was one of the most important naval battles in history, since it put an end to Turkish domination of the Mediterranean, to the great advantage of civdIization- The Turks appeared in Armenia in the eighth century, con- Quered tha&.country and also Asia Mi nor and Palestine in the eleventh cen tury, and in 12Ss founded the Ottoman Empire. They penetrated into Thrace and took Adrianople in 1861, annexed Macedonia in 1430, and a few years later captured CoustantinOple. In the fifteenth century they brought Greece into Subjection, took OtrantOs and diff fused terror throughout Europe Sy- ria, the islands Of the ArchipelagO, Egypt Belgrade and Rhodes fell be- fore the onslaughts ofsthe TUmkzsfn the early part of the sixteenth century, and Cyrpus had just been taken from \ the Venetians when the Mediterranean powers combined and defeated the Turkish fleet From thatsday the power of Turkey has gradually waned-
 A year ago today the Bulgarian, Ser vian and H6ntenegrin frontiers echoed to the tramp of armed hosts The peo- pie of the Balkan States, convulsed by hatred of their ancient enemy, aroused to wild enthusiasm by patriotic fervor and religious devotion, were preparing to carry the Cross into battle against the Crescent Europe trembled, fear ing that the storm might spread and drench the continent with blood. On the eighth of October the fiery old king of little Montenegro declared war against Turkey, and a day later cap tured a strong Turkish position on the frontier Bulgaria, Servia and Greece followed with declarations and inEa- sions of Turkish territory
 In the year thas has passed since the outbreak of war, the Balkan States have gained a hard-won victory over the Turks; they have fought among themselves over the division of the conquered territory, and have com mitted atrocities that would shame the Moslems: they haHe4ost by diplomacy a large part of the spoiks of battles they have left their fields uncultivat- ed, and their blows to.rust in the fur= a q ter of starvation and famine; they have covered the conquered country with. graves. in (which die their noblest and best sons- they have transformed every household into an abode of mourning, and given every family its cripple; they have. mortgaged the fu- ture for a hundred years in order to get money to carrys on the struggle, and they have. exchanged old hatreds for now ones which must again and again flame forth intoe war The folly and fufility of war have never been better demonstrated than in the Bai- kan States during the last year.
 It is estimated that the aI1ieSA sent 600 GOO troops into the field last OctO- Der, representing practically the entire male population of over sixteen years of age in the four countries Of these, no less than 100, 900, or one in every eight, are now. corpses, either killed in battle or dead Of disease The money cost of the war and the subsequent battles between the allies has been not less than S400, 900, 900.
 For this appalling outlay of blood and treasure, the Balkan States have Eained-what?
 Montenegro, which commenced the struggle, gets a narrow strip of all but worthless country along its eastern border Soutari. for which the old king sacrificed the lives of a majority of his abIe-bodied male subjects, was de- nied him
 Bulgaria has gained a coast line and a stretch of country of no great value AdrianopIe, for which Bulgarians fought so long and at so great a cost, has been given back to Turkey
 Servia, which spent all she had in money and men. got the fertile Vardar valley, and a guarantee from Greece of access to the sea-a right for which she may have to fight again.
 Greece fared the best of all the aI- lies, as she gained the important port of Salonika, and a rich country along the Aegean
 Roumania, although not a partici- pant in the war, forced Bulgaria to give up a section of country bordering on the Black Sea, which she long has coveted.
 carved out of the conquered territory, and has already become a scene of strife and bloodshed-
 The war, so tremendous in its cost, so terrible in its after effects, has not solved the Balkan question, but has Aly made it a graver source of dan gs to the remainder of Europe.
 Prof. Charles Frederick Marvin, who recently succeeded Prof. Willis Moore as Uncle Sam's chief weather sharp, is a native of Putnam, O., where he was born hfty-hve years ago today. fDr Marvin assumed the direction of the United States Weather Bureau last July, and the very f1rst thing he did was to turn on a temperature of 703 in the shade. On the second day he gave Washington another sample of what he could do by staging the great est electrical display witnessed in Washington in thirty years. He followed this with regular 9r7Ilw vxasfer" and if is un-