New-York tribune., 1915-03-14
NAVAL EXPLOITS I'm DARDANEALES

cidents and for most Of the time the involability
Of the straits has been assured by international
guarantee-a guarantee which has now been made
"only scrap of paper" by Turkeys own act.
The Bahr-Sefed Boghaz as the Turks call the
Hollespont is about forty-seven miles long from
the 1Fgean Sea to the Sea of Marmora; little
shorter than the Panama Canal and much less
tortuous 1t is of great depth, at few points less
than $50 feet, and is traversed by two strong and
swift currents, that on the surface flowing from
the Black Sea to the Egean and that in the depths
from the lEgean into the Black Sea. The forts
which were first bombardcd by the allied fleets
were of course, those at the entrance to the
Dardaneles from the Egan Sea. The chief of
these were Koum Kalesi, or Sand Fort, and Sidd-
ul-B -Bahr Kalesi, or Gate of the Sea Fort third
was battery Cape Ielles, and the fourth
was the Orkhanieh Kalesi, or Fort Of Orkhan,
named for the ancient leader of the Ottoman
tribe.
There we're then left the two chief fortihcations
Of tho strait at the narrows. about midway be
tween the two seas, which soon after
reached bv the feet. These are Kihd Bahr. or
Kew of the Sea, on the European shore, and Cha-
max Kalesi, or Earthenware Fort, on the Asian
shore This is the narrowest part of the entire
HeIIespont the shores being less than a mile
anart Rut in the centre the strait is $50 feet
deep, Swallowing to 80 feet off Chanak kaesi and
40 at the European side. Beyond Chanak IS the
Bay of Dardanus and thereafter the strait ranges
from two 10 four miles in width. It's shores are
dotted with batteries, but there are no really
formidable Notifications after passing the mar
rows at Kid Bahr and Chanak kalesi Sestos
and Abydos are five six miles beyond the mar
rows. and beyond them the Hellespont is nowhere
less than two miles wide
From the earliest times the lIellespont has been,
as it is to-day not only the geographical boundary
between Europe and Asia, but also the line OF
ethnic demarcation and the scene of conflict be-
tween the two civilizations Of West and East
Even in Jason's time the Argonautic expedition
was a part of the dawning conflict between Europe
and Asia. and the Trojan war, near the strait
was a further development of the lmmemorlaI
strife The expeditions OF Nerxes, OF Alexander
and of Sueiman were explicitly conflicts between
Europe and Asia, and the present operations marx
what may well be the final act in the tremendous
drama OF old it was Greek against Persian, and
Bvzantine against Ottoman when Byzantium
in its decadence and the Tribe Of Othman was IN
its pristine and crescent vigor. To-day it is an
alliance of Anglo-Saxon, Frank and Slav, in their
plenitude of mature might, against the morbund
remnant of the Turks, reinforced by Germans who
are renegades against their own civilization.
In one respect the episode is singular, unique
and in striking contrast to all that has gone be-
fore. That is the respect which was unmistakably
suggested by Sir Edward Grey in his recent
speech touching upon the Anglo-Russian alliance,
in which he expressed British sympathy with and
approval of the Russian endeayor to gain front
age upon an always navgable For more than
two hundred years that endeavor has been the
dominant motive of Russian policy. II has been
fundamental, comprehensive, supreme; underlying
all embracing all overtowerng all. Peter the
Great sought at Pctrograd "a window looking
Furcpe": but that window is frozen shut half the
year. Catherine the Great sought access TO the
Mediterranean. and got far ) the Black Sea.
only to find the Darilnclles barred. Alexander
annexed Finland in hope Of one day breaking
across Finnmark TO the North Atlantic but after
= hundred years the hope is still vain. The long