The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-11-10
MONASTIR is
UNDER BULCAR
COMMANDMENT
Wreck and Ruin in Once
Prosperous Serbian City
, Worse Than Verdun.

martyred city of the Serbs under con-
tinuous bombardment from the Buzz
gar batteries only two miles away, was
visited for the first time today by a
civilian, on orders issued by General
Grosetti, Commander-in-chie on the
Monastir front of the Army of the
Orient. 1t is seldom that a press dis
patch goes from Serbia these days,
for practically the whole country has
been swept clean by the Austro.Bul
gar hordes, and only this little corner
in the southwest, retaken last Novem-
Der is holding out against the terrific
bonn bardment.
cit is worse than Verdun," said
Lieutenant Colonel Dosse Of the staff,
who was on General (Petain's staff at
Verduu during the worst days. d
Monastir lies in a cup-like hollow,
and by reason of its being on Serbian
soil it is the center of the bitterest
strife between Serb and Bulgar. tt
was one of the last points abandoned
by the Serbs in their exodus before
the rush of the Austrians in 1915.
The Bulgars held 1t last year through
August. Then the new Serbian army,
reorganized, gave their first attention
to getting back this city. But their
newness was against them and they
were repulsed. But in October the
Serbs got their revenge, making a
mass attack with the French and Rus
sian divisions.
This fight Of Serb against Bulgar
was one Of the bloodtest. or the war.
The Serb took the strategic key of
Mount Reconsideration, which today
marks the burying place of 10000
Bulgars. Monastir was again taken,
but the Austro-Bulgars still held on
only three miles north and west Of
the city. General Grosetti cleared
them from the northern hills in a
brilliant attack last March, when the
famous Hill 1,248 was taken. But
they chung to the western hills, and
there they are today raining down
their shells on the old Serbian town.
It used to have $4,000 population;
now it has 5000 living in cellars.
Entering the city, by the street
through the poor quarter, there were
signs of life, despite the rumble Of the
guns. Little girls ran along the i'm
street with Jars Of water on their
heads, carrying fresh water tor the
people imprisoned in the cellars. All
the shops were closed or abandoned.
Many of the front walls were ripped
out, and the abandoned stock scat
tered about. Almost every third house
was down. mass of debris. Those
between were; askew, with a cornice
or wing blown off, or the upper story
torn out, or huge round hole in
front showing where a shot had cut
through before exploding. A turnbled
down cafe showed several men at the
tables. '"They take chancesI' said
Col. Dosse, but when an explosion
comes they scuttle to the cellars
The business section had lost all
semblance to streets with houses. 1t
was one long stretch Of blackened
heaps of debris, with a Jagged wall or
chimney sticking up here and there.
Besides the destruction, the killed,
scattered through the past summer,
runs into the hundreds. She1l-fire
and falling walls have not been alone
in running up the death list, for the
Bulgars send a wave Of asphyxiating
gas every time the wind is favorable.
The run from Army headquarters
to Monastir gave the opportunity of
seeing the vast military preparation
on this front. Four American aInbu-
lance cars also were passed bringing
sick and wounded from the Monastir
front.
The camp of equipment and engin-
eering supplies stretches for four
miles along the route, with vast stores
of munitions and stores, trench and
railway material. Soldiers. prisoners,
horses, mules and camels were send
ing up great clouds Of dust, and the
nearby cornfields had turned grey
with the. dust of this legion Of work
ers who keep pushing the supplies up
to tho fighting front. The approach
Of winter is evident, for winter bar
racks are being constructed Of wood
and corrugated iron. and great stacks
Of fuel are being laid in.
Everything on the Monastir front
indicates that the Entente forces are
here to stay. There is no evidence of
withdrawal, and every evidence of
holding what they already have and
pushing further forward. Monastir
| itself has been freed of Bu1gars but
the city is still under the fire of their
guns and the task still remains of
clearing them from this output Of the
Serbs the last they left and the first
| they recovered.