Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-03-07
SUFFERING AWFUL,
SPIRIT UNDAUNTED
n
Serbia Is Bravely Fighting
Against Great
Odds.
PLANNING OFFENSIVE
People Are Suffering But
Not a Complaint Can
Be Heard.
PLANNING OFFENSIVE

tCorrespondence OF ths Associated PressC
sKOPYLE. Serbia. Feb. 12--Serbla,
once the local point Of the European
war. but later almost lost to view in
1hc maelstrom which swept the
greater powers into the struggle
gives ample evidence Of having borne
her lusT proportion of the sacrlIlces
Gt the nations. Suffering on all sides
IS intense, but the spirit OF the troops
Is undaunted.
Since the recent defeat OF the Aus.
trians freed Serbian soil of invaders,
plans have rapidly gone forward foT
The next move IN the great game OF
war-the offensive. Hundreds or
wounded soldiers In the hospitals
have told the correspondent Of the
Associated Press that they feel their
second life purpose will be lost II
they are unable TO help in the delivs
erance of their kinsmen on Austros
Hungarian territory. The Serbian ole
fenstve will be shared by the Russians
and the hope Is expressed here ana
at Nish that Rumanian troops also
will be In the column hurled across
the Hungarian frontier.
The motto Of the Serbian army Is
osomething TO defend: something to
reclaim" The something TO defend
was the independence OF their king.
dom. The something to reclaim Is
that part Of the ancient Serbian em-
r,re which even after the victories
over the Turks and Bulgars, still lies
outside the limits Of the Serbian king
dom.
Serbs In Austria.
THE traveller ia Serbia Is somewhat
6azed at first 10 discover among the
prisoners of war large percentage
of Serbs OF the purest race and
tongue. Living in Austrian territory
they were forced to serve In that
army until a surrender gave them the
opportunity to serve their own coun-
4ry. Some are helping in the milf
tary hospitals, while others are doing
scout ana picket duty along the AL
banian border,
Lying far beyond the European war
center, Serbia seemed difficult des-
tination for q journey beginning at
New York, but experience proved
easier than anticipation. Belgrade
the front door of the Balkans. was
impossible indeed. but Salonika. the
back door, was found Hospitality
open, In war times back doors and
side alleys are apt to be safe and
quicker means of getting about than
guarded doors and fortified frontiers.
With Paris easily attained, the real
tourney from there TO BrindislS via
Turin and Milan, differed little from
what ii might have been in ordinary
times. The crowds OF uniformed sol-
diers AZ the stations and the remark
able number Of women in mourning,
however, gave evidences OF the
changes Of the past few months
Swift little italian steamers make the
tourney from Brindlsi to Salonika an
ENJOYABLE one, ending always with an
inspiring views OF Mount Olympus,
upon which the Greek peasants still
believe the ancient gods sit in Judg-
ment over the fate of Greece.
Clean, comfortable, first-class cars
take the traveller from Salonka to
Djejelio at the Serbian frontier a
Change OF trains at this point brings
no deterioration In railroad facilities.
These trains are daily crowded with
Serbians Of the better class who left
their homes in the interior during
the Austrian invasion, but are geturns
ing to them, assured 1t Is safe to
do so.
At Djejll the chief Of customs, Mr.
Simitch, invited the correspondent OF
the Associated Press. together with
other foreigners, into his office where
Turkish coffee and cigarets were
served. This courtesy was repeated
by officials at nearly every station
where the train stopped and Is one
with which the traveller meets In all
PARTS Of the Balkans.
A splendid new municipal building
at Diejli was converted into a hospital
soon after the war began, AS soon
as the wounded were able to leave
the overcrowded hospitals at the
front they were sent to such remote
spots as'this. The hospital is scrupu-
lousy clean. In mid-December some
sixty men were lying on iron bed
steads. all looking comfortable and
well cared for. though there were no
nurses number of Austrian pris-
oners of Serbian race were acting as
orderlies to the two doctors in
charge. For prisoners. of the enemy
to he serving as nurses seemed veri-
tably a union OF the lion and the
lamb, until the situation was .ex-
planned.
In one of the smaller rooms Of the
hospital, where the worst cases were
confined, lay child, about 6 years
old, bound in bandages almost from
head to foot The peasant mother
sat by its side. The child, 1t seemed,
bad been struck with the cross of an
Austrian musket and its shoulder had
been pierced by bayonet. The mother
had escaped to the woods with the
wounded child in her arms and had
wandered about for three. or four
. days bemore coming within the Serb
ian lines. This same mother had lost
husband. father and brother In the
carly fighting.
Despite Serbia's many wars. the
present struggle brought for the first
time al invasion OF Serbian soil. 1t
was the first time the women OF the
country had been bi ought in contact
with actual warfare and many of