The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-06-19

MA . hNo 1RASO
about it. With the exception
LA of the leader of the expedi-
ton, not one of US had ever
been in Serbia before; nor, indeed,
had we more than the vaguest no
tions regarding the country and its
people. Some of us, moreover, Xix
myself, had no experience whatever OF
hospital work; so that the whole ad-
venture seemed as underlined and
shadowy as any lover of romance
could desire, writes John w. N. Sui
Ivan in the illustrated London News.
We started at midnight, but none of
US were in bed. The rumor that we
were presently to pass through an
area of floating mines laid by the Ger
mans, combined with the natural *
element of leaving England for an in
definite period, effectrally banished
sleep for the time being. And We were
to have a convoy AS a matter of
fact, the convoy was { very tame af-
fair. We occasionally saw a smudCe
on the horizon which we were in
formed was one of the escorting cruis-
ers, and sometimes two or three vi
cious-looking destpoyerg would come
near enough to be seen; but apart
from these transient appearances the
convoy, from the spectacular point Of
view, might Just as well not have
existed. 1t left us at Gibraltar, and
from there till Malta it was no longer
necessary to have lights out at night.
From Malta to Saloniki the wealth
er was bad, and, except for two days
respite at Athens, the time was spent
in enduring violent internal upheav-
ais succeeded by spells of sad medita-
ton. But from Saloniki it is merely
a days train journey to Skoplje-or
Uskub, as the Turks called it when
1t belonged to them-and at Skoplje
our hospital is situated. .
A Serbian train is never in a hurry.
1t proceeds with leisurely dignity
along its single-track railway, taking
10 hours to travel $50 miles, and thus
affording one plenty of time to study
Serbian scenery. The Vardar, a river
which resembles a tumultuous stream
of pea-soup, accompanies the railway
throughout it's entire length. At in
tervals we crawl cautiously and almost
imperceptibly over high wood bridges,
the Vardar boiling beneath and the
bleak, bare mountains enclosing one
on either side. Stationed at regular
distances along the line we see a
little matched mud hut, and stand
ing beside it a motionless Serbian
sentry, apparently quite alone in the
surrounding d~esolaticr. 1t has a
SOLDERING effect, this Serbian scenery
we gradually lose the holiday feeling;
we become serious and a little de-
pressed.
Arrival at Uskub.
With the fall of dusk we light our
candles, sticking them on projecting
parts of the carriage Il have not got
the grease off my uniform yeti, and
open our bags of provisions. Fortu.
nately it is a warm day, for there
is no heating or lighting apparatus on
the train. We finish our meal, talk
a little, and sleep a little. until pres
emily the train clanks slowly to a
standstill. We have arrived.
Skoplje or Uskub has, as we dis
covered later, more points of interest
than most Serbian towns. 1t is BIZ
sected by the Vardar. one side being
Turkish in population and buildings,
and the other side Serbian. The con-
trast is really very interesting, and
in some ways instructive. But at first
one had no opportunity of seeing the
town; the hospital claimed all ones
attention. After working twelve to
fifteen hours every day, one has little
leisure or inclination for sightseeing
The walk lin high rubber boots)
through the semiliquid streets OF
Uskub from the orderlies' sleeping
quarters to the hospital, and the
view Of the distant mountains from
the hospital windows, was for some
time our sole acquaintance with this
part of Serbia. On the other hand