The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-02-27
MOslem Encampments Along
the Shores Are BOmbarded.
FOrtificatiOns at the Entrance
Are Dismantled.
COMMON PEOPLE DON'T KNOW
Only Nobility Of COnstantinOple
Aware Of Danger to City
And They Have Made Immedi-
ate Preparations to Flee.

Athens, Feb. 27.-An allied fleet ag-
Eregating forty warships today pene-
tart and within range of Fort 1ntepe
on the Asiatic side, according to re-
liable information reaching here to-
day.
Fort Intepe was destroyed. Vari-
Gus Turkish encampments also were
bombarded. The ships are now with
in range of Fort Dardanos.
French squadron is cruising un-
der the forts at the entrance to the
straits. which are now entirely dis
mantled.
Attack Made in Earnest.
a fleet of British and French war
ships continues to hammer away to-
day at the door of the Dardanelles,
the straits which close Russia's rich
granary; and the very real necessity
of releasing the huge supply of wheat
on the shores Of the Black sea causes
the general belief that the present
attack on the Dardanelles forts is a
serious undertaking, and not merely
a demonstration.
Official announcement declares that
after the reduction of the four outer
Dardanelles forts mine SWeepers went
to work within the straits under the
protection of the guns of the fleet
while unofficial dispatches from
Athens and Rome assert that at least
one French warship actually has
penetrated the passage.
Land Batteries Destroyed.
Athens, Feb. 27.-Two Turkish
forts inside the Dardane1les are being
heavily shelled by Vice Admiral Car
den's fleet and part of one of the land
batteries has been destroyed, accord
ing to dispatches received here today.
Several vessels in the allied fleet
have suffered slight damage. The
Turkish shells. however. are badly
aimed and despite the short range at
which the engagement is occurring.
the forts have been unable to force
the warships to retire. Dispatches
received here state that the cannonad-
ing continues and is growing more
violent. The two forts under fire are
the Turkish defenses inside the strait,
the outer fort having been demol-
ished.
People Know Nothing.
The people of Constantinople know
nothing of the attempt to force the
Dardanelles, according to advices re-
ceived here. Members of the leading
families and of the nobility have been
informed. however, and have made
all preparations to flee to Asiatic Tur-
key. fearing that the approach of a
Russian army from the north would
cut off their retreat. One dispatch
received here today stated that three
imperial trains. with steam up. are
being held at Haidar Pasha, on the
Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. The
RESIDENT of Princess Islands, in the
Marmora sea. exiled from Constanti-
nople. have been notified to make
ready to flee.
The Turks have assembled a fleet
of about twenty-five warships in the
Naga-a Roads to engage the allies, il
the Anglo-French fleet succeeds In
forcing its way through the narrow
stretch of the Dardanelles Against
these. Vice Admiral Garden will SEND
the battleship cruiser, Inflexible
carrying twelve inch guns, and the
battleships Corvallis. Vengeance
Triumph and Agamemnon. The
French battliships Suffern, Dauloi.
and HOuvet, with auxiliaries, will give
the allies a combined strength of al
least twenty-eight vessels in the firms
line.