Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-02-04

deck-a very. dignifed but affable man
of about as, and the very beau ideal
of naval officer. From him the Asso-
ciated Press correspondent learned
what part the Austrian monitor fleet
had played in the crossing of the Dan
ube by the troops of the Central Pow
ers. The heavier guns and mortars
had been assigned to reducing several
Serb artillery positions near Belgrade,
while the machine guns had been
trained upon some infantry positions
close to the banks. The monitors had
succeeded in enfilading several Serb
positions. The result was rout, said
the division chief. One of the roles
of the monitors had been to draw the
fire of the Serb and British artillery
along the river, and. monitors being
thoroughly detested by the Serbs, the
ruse had worked, although ordinary
field artillery could do no more than
blister the paint on the monitors ar
NOR, as an inspection of the ship
showed.
The Sava had been very lucky, eX-
planned the division commander,
though her sister ship, the Temes,
whose original namebearer still rusts
and rots in the Save river west of
Gypsy Island, had not been so FORUM
ate. A heavy shell struck her deck,
penetrated a hatch into the crews
quarters, and killed and wounded six.
But otherwise the Temes did not suffer
and, as If to prove the remarks or the
commander, the monitor at just that
moment made a bend in the river,
heading another large convoy OF
barges.
With patrolboat in tow, the Sava
nosed her way through the liquid
mud, past low-lying banks, submerged
islands, marked only by tree tops,
miserable Serb and Rumanian villages,
and the houseboat watermills peculiar
to the Danube. Scenically trip on
the Danube in the late Fall is not un-
interesting. This is especially true in
the hill region close to the famous
Iron Gates" The yellow and gray
foliage of the willow trees is effective
! " contrasted by the blue of the hills
in the background. Where the hills
come close to the river, their sides
form q crazy-quilt of all shades of the
reds and tans of autumn foliage ana
the somber green of the coniters.
The correspondent talked to an Aus
trian official who on the previous day
had been in Turn-Severin (Rumania)
| for the purpose of inducing the Serb
poplation of Kladowa, who mad ned
there to return to their homes. Every
guaranty was offered but it seemed
that the Austrian had to compete with
a Russian agent who also made offers
The Austrian lost out, despite the fact
that Kladowa already had Serb
burgomaster and a civilian admins
tration.
Mill Race of Mud
There has been little fighting in the
| Kladowa region. The fort or citadel,
an ancient Turkish structure, recently
reinforced by some modern redoubts
was abandoned by the Serbs. Cattle
ard sheep grazed On the glacls ana IN
the moats. Anciently, the fort COM
mandud the western limits and Kazan
little but fractured masonry.
The channe. of the Iron Gates was
mill race of turbulent mud. Though
the Sava pulled hard against the
treacherous current. she needed eigh-
teen minutes to set into quieter water.
A turn brought the ship within sight
of Orsowa and Ada Kale, the latter,
up to 1913, the last outpost of Turkey
in Europe Fearing that Serbia might
annex the island, the Austro- -Hungar-
ian government took possession nomi-
nally, though leaving to the Turkish
population every right and preroga-
tive it had ever enjoyed, including the
privilege of carrying on smuggling in
tobacco with whosoever 1t pleased.
At Orsowa some of the Central
Power troops crossed the river. The
town itself showed signs of the recent
and former artillery fire of the Serbs
from the opposite bank. How the
Austrians and Germans succeeded in
scaling the cliff-like elevations on the
Serbian shore is hard to understand.
Dislodging an enemy entrenched on
top of the Hudson Palisades looks less
difficult But many man tumbled
and more were drowned before they
set foot on Serbian soil. Nevertheless
the attack was successfully carried
through and will probably remain one
of the monuments of the great war.
II Americans Revive Road
l Orsowa lies on historic ground.
Hero the Iron Gates end and the
! [Continued on Opposite Page.1