South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-06-10
AMMUNITION IS
GROWING SCARCE
Plenty of Troops in Turkey Says
Military Critic But Supply of
Shot and Shell Grows Less
Each Day.
By Granville Fortcscue.

UHANAK. June 10.-Two thousand
shells per hour fell on Chanak when
+ the British fleet tried 20 force the
narrows OF the Dardanelles. Such IS
the calculation made by a neutral
army officer who was present during
the bombardment
Despite this rain of gigantic pro-
jctctiles the casualties in the forts
were but 26 killed and twice that
number wounded The only gnus
struck in the forts were those i'm oFrt
Hamidieh Thirty-thrce shells all OF
more than siX-inch calibre struck the
traverse. while 20 feet back OF the
gorge. yet but one projectlle struck
in an embrazure. this killing six men
and wounding y, dismantling their
gun.
This is proof enough that the prob
lem Of the ships attacking the land
Notifications even with the most
powerful guns still leaves an insur-
mountable advantage with the forts
/ left our transport at Kila and
crossed the straits at dawn to Chanak
With the coming of the sun the Mus
sulman officers on board faced to-
wards Nicola, removed their shoes and
knelt low in prayer.
Fort Niagara frOwns down on the
straits where Leander swan They
are now half blocked by a stranded
hull and a sunken transport. These
lie right in line where the XerXes
bridge spanned the waters from the
Thracian TO the Asiatic shores.
Batteries Cover Straits
The straits are crowded with bat
teries from which brown barreled
guns menace every yard of the wa
tiers. We rOwed past Maidos, a col
lection of Toofess and shattered
houses whose empty windows stared
down on us like eve sockets Of so
many skulls Chanak is only a shell
Of city. Beyond the white houses
that line the sea front there is moth
ing towards Kilid Bahr from which it
is separated by only a few hundred
yards Of water
When you actually see this narrow
passage swept by more than 90 eight
inch guns, mounted 30 feet above the
water the folly of attempting TO force
it by the old methods is patent
That the allied fleet suffered as
little as il did is a miracle. Here
the channel makes a sharp turn from
the northeast to the northwest ne
cessitating a change Of course for
ships navigating the narows AS
every inch OF the surface of the wa
ters is plotted on the artillery maps
in the forts it needs but a moments
calculation TO get the exact range of
any ships entering the zone.
As the mainland operations are
taking place across on GallipOli pen
insula Chanak is only a base for the
supply of the coast defense troops
stationed on the Asiatic side. Beside
these there is but a comparatively
small force OF infantry holding Kun
kale.
A training camp is established
lower down the coast
Base Seems Small
Perhaps il is because 1 have been
accustomed 10 such bases as Warsaw
and Ostend that Chanak seems SO
small There is plenty Of activity
here and the coming and going Of
transports fills every hour OF the day.
The officers and soldiers lounge in
the streets. A squad of German
marines off duty crowds the bar OF
the SalOniCa hotel drinking COnstan-
tinOple beer and singing fatherland
songs In the Cafe Mouche-so nam
ed on account OF the flies that abide
there-three Turkish officers sit puff
ing at their narghiles. one OF them
has a long wicked Segalez knife
which he won at Kun Kale and
which he shows to me with great
pride. They are very friendly, but
their language is difficult and makes
an extension OF ideas an impOssibility.
The feature OF Chanak is the col
the Lame Camel. They were gather
ed here from destroyed houses by
kind-hearted Turk who feeds them.
Along the banks OF the Kodja-Chai
two battalions of Turkish infantry
are Camped. This section is peppered
with enormous shell holes from the
fire of the Queen Elizabeth. The
armor- piercing noses Of these. 10
inches of solid steel. Cone-s shaped, 10
inches high and eight across the base.
decorate the entrances of both the
German and Turkish headquarters.
Admirals share Command.
Admiral Won UsedOm the German
commander. a gentleman with kindly
eye and courteous manner, wearing
the order OF merit decoration lives in
a well-concealed tent, but daily sea
planes circle around Chanak dropping
spears Of death.
Admiral Melton shares with Ad-
miTal Usedom command OF the zone
and his chief aide is my friend. Prince
Reuss. His mother would not recCg-
nize him wearing a feZ.
He gave me an outline Of the situa-
tion here from his side, but obviously
I cannot write of his condolences.
y ct IT would be no breach TO say
1 that the Germans are supremacy sat
isucd with the outlook so far as the
forts OF the narrOWs are concerned.
The arrival of q German submarine
in Saros is what the Germans are
congratulatlng themselves on today.
They tell me that she torpedoed the
I Triumph, which was struck at 1890
and not a vestge OF the battleship
was seen above the water at O'Clock.
Can see Entrance.
From my quarters IN the house Of
the Whirling DerVish / can make out
the entrance 10 the Dardaneues. 4
low cloud IF smoke hangs over the
water from Sedd-el- Bahr 10 Kun
Kale. The silhOuettes OF two battle
ships stand out against tde gray sea.
From these a line of smoke arches to-
wards the land. This marks the line