The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1915-12-14
HARBOR SCENES
ARE SPECTACULAR
American Flag Shows Up on Several
Bold Boats Carrying War Snp-
plies; Aeroplane Takes
Dive in Deep
BY WILLIAM G. SHEPHERD.
u. p. staff correspondent.


SALONIKA, Nov. 1.-(By mail. y
Here's the World War news center.
At last the stormy little Balkans have
come into the worlds eye.
Correspondents from all corners of
what used to be civilization flock
here to be near the great German
push 400 miles north of US.
There are other lesser correspond
ents hanging around the hotels Of
Salonika. mostly queerly dressed
chaps with queer habits and manners,
newspaper men from European coun-
tries who have spent their lives in the
Balkans trying to get the busy world
interested in their little affairs; men
who have lived in queer Balkan cities
and have dashed madly to the Balkan
telegraph offices in times past with
news items which they themselves
thought tremendously important, but
which were honored with tiny head
lines in the newspapers OF the world.
These Balkan-fan journalists knew
that some day the Balkans would ex-
plode. The day has come. The ex-
plosion has occurred.
AT last the feet OF European armies
are rounding the Balkan highways
European cannon. machine guns and
rifles sound through the Balkan hills
and European spades eat trenches in
the Balkan soil.
In the Olympus Palace Hotel, on
the water front, gathered around the
thy tables in the cafes, are the Off
GERS of the British, French, Russian
and Greek armies, melange of color
and language. And these Balkan jour
English. French and Italian
chatter gaily. wisely OF the great day
which has come at last.
salonika harbor is filled with great
boats, warships, torpedo boats, hos
pital ships, and two or three boats
which have huge American flags
painted on their sides and which are
making small fortunes for their own
ers in running the submarine gaunt-
let with supplies for the Balkan allies.
That busy harbor Of itself is enough
to delight the soul of the Balkan jour
nalist. But last evening, Just at sun
down, came the climax Of his excite
ment. An aeroplane was soaring
over the bay of Salonika. Behind it,
across the harbor. loomed Mount
Olympus, where the old Greek gods
used to live and cut their capers.
Just to see an aeroplane with Olym-
nus. which has been peaceful and
quiet ever since the gods died, as
background, was enough to prove TO
the Balkan experts that the great day
really had come at last.
To top it off, the engine of the aero
plane weakened in lbs stroke, the ma
chine came nearer and nearer TO the
water. 1t had wheels instead of boats
beneath its planes and when its mo-
mentum was gone and it came to the
surface of the bay, it dug its nose fl
teen on twenty feet into the water
pilot and all, and then stood on end
with its tail in the air.
Here was a catastrophe of the
World War right at the foot of Olym-
nus. The Balkan experts watched the
aviators come to the surface, climb
into the half sunken planes and wait
for three tug boats in the harbor TO
rush to the rescue.
Then they went back to the Olym-
pus Palace cafe where the French old
timers in the Balkans ordered absin'
the-whieh one cannot buy in Paris
and the others ordered whiskey and
soda. over which they threshed OUT
the whole problem of the value OF
aeroplanes in Balkan warfare, happy
at last to be able to say:
"The eyes of the world are not on
the French front or on the Russian
front. They are on the Balkans, as
have always said they would be; and
here the World War will be threshec
out"