The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-12-03
war REGARDED
, AS GREAT SPohT
Compartment Of Dedeagatc1 o.,
British Fleet "PicniC fool
the Men,"

~ 4xhalted game OF sport is empha-
"a british officers description
s'@eu III >apsat OF Dedeagatch
i 'ne oomoafN -aHssiDed in a
~ lHe brltish meet, letter
letter published here. His "a
bristlcs with such phrases as at ".
q grand picnic for the men," "The
ships companies enjoyed themselves
immensely" "The harbor-master's of
fice burned splendidly," THE de-
stroyers were able to creep in and
plug all manner of things"
The officer began his letter by re-
marking that he was playing piquet
with the captain when the orders
came to lift anchor and attack Ded-
eagatch. and he regretfully chroni-
Giles that "the exigencies of the SER
vice made me sacrifice hand con-
tanning fourteen aces" There were
some grewsome preparations for the
=. ~ ---."in's cabir
sspettIo III .u~ .eY~-- - wBIrn
.14.d been turned into All operating
theater. No deed arose for using IL,
howseeY, as no defense Of the port
was attempted by the BIigarians.
The description of the actual bonn
bardment Is in part as follows:
"At about a quarter past one in the
afternoon we loosed off at the big
barracks. Our first shot brought
the soldiers tearing out of the build
ings, and we eased up bit and let
them get clear. Then we banged
and battered away at about ASSOC
yards, making enormous holes and
smashing in the great areas of walls.
Unless someone was killed inside the
building, l think we did not hurt
any one. German accounts Of the
battle declare that several hundred
soldiers were killed in these bar
racks.)
1--WE were only out for destruction
and damage, not slaughter, as the
thrifty Bulgar hates to have his pro-
perty knocked about, but care very
little If his neighbour even him
self--is laid out.
After a bit we went for the har-
bor-very tricky work, 'as the bulk
OF the caiques which we had orders
to shoot at were just beyond low
outer breakwater, and with trajec-
tory from the ship, the least alterna-
ton in the elevation of the gun made
o big difference. The difficulty was
largely settled when our shells set
the masts and sails afire, and the
flames spreading downward to the
ships.
The destroyers and monitors drew
much less water than our larger
ships and we're able to creep in on
the lead. the charts of Dedeagatch
being inaccurate. and they plugged all
manner of things. Fortunately the
population of the town had all gone
away. and the troops stayed behind
in the hills, so don't thing anyone
was hurt. We killed sitting en-
CINE which tried to hide itself in
capped alright. Two of the destroy
ers inspired it to still greater efforts
with their four inch gun.
"When we realized that there was
no one to hurt,it just became bonfire
of Trafalgar Day fireworks-it being
the 10th anniversary of the battle of
Trafalgar. We set all manner of
things on fire. Common shell was
effective but lyddte was better. We
burned n vast mountain of coal many
railway vans and trucks, ships and
two oil storehouses.
But the best blazcs were ware
houses behind the caique harbor and
an immense factory stuffed with high
~ inGammable goods. II was six
stories high, ten windows square, and
had two anneXes each of four stories.
With a roaring wind to help us. and
no fire brigade TO spoil the fun il was
a most gorgeous fare-up. and the
flames were bright enought to cast a
shadow six miles away.
The railway cars burned merrily, |
the fire jumping along from one TO
the other and even eating away to
windward, and the storehouses burn
ed solidly and well. section after sec
tion catching. They had great glass
syklights which were shattered by
the shells and ventilating the fire
nicely.
1.-The great thing about il was that
nobody tried to put the fires out, and
IL one got smoky, shell frightened
things up a bit and improved the
ventilation, so l don't suppose ! shall
ever see a finer blaze than Dedea-