New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-21
THE FALL OF MONASTIR
Nv GORDON CORDON-SMITH

half an hour in the pitiless rain till one Of
the men came back with the welcome INTEL
igence that in default of bridge he had
found a ford This we reached quarter OF
an hour later and found ourselves on the
route to Kenali, the village where the Bull
defending Monastir.
One might have imagined ones self back on
the western front in France. Trenches, line
upon line far as the eye could reach, gun
pits and barbed wire covered the landscape.
The village itself was a mass of backened
ruins, not a single house having escaped de-
structon. But what most struck me was the
enormous quantity of unexploded Bulgarian
shells. They were lying around literally by
thousands. In the gathering darkness
threaded my way gingerly among them, for
an unexploded she'll is an excellent thing for
a horse not to kick The route from Kenaii
to Monastir is unsdulterated desolation. The
muddy, sloppy road, churned for months past
by thousands OF wheels into a slough Of
despond, winds its way through miles Of
swamp. II was clear to the meanest intell-
gence that if the Serbans had not secured
the mountain positions dominating the plain
the Bulgarians might have defended the
swamps till the crack of doom.
Monastir Fallen
1t was a firing ride, as the horses sank up
to the fetocks in the clayey mud Monastir
seemed irrtatingly near, yet we rode hour
after hour without seeming to get any closer.
AS we approached the city we became in
volycd i'm the endless crush Of army service
wagons. horse drawn and motor, pouring in
either direction. Pitch darkness had fallen
when at The end Of eight weary hours /
reached the main street of the city. Hardly
a soul was in the streets and black obscurity
reigred. By good luck I met Serbian SOL
der Il had lost ny companions in a press
OF traffic at a broken bridge half an hour
previously who was able TO guide me TO one
Of the rare hotels that we're open. Here It
was possible to get an unsatisfactory meal
without bread, which was unobtsinsble, and
quite a satisfactory bed. The hotel was in
semi darkness, as petroleum was practically
unobtainable, the limited supply on hand
being sold at twenty francs per quart. The
coffee was characterized by want Of sugar
as the latter costs twenty francs per kilo-
gramme. The city had been without soap for
six weeks, and wine and cognac could not be
had for love or money. The Bugarians, a
few days before they evacuated the town.
made clean sweep Of everything They
even carried off the furniture from the better
class houses.
But apart from the scarcity OF food the
city did not appear to have suffered very
much. This was only natural as far As the
Serbs were concerned as they would avoid
as far as possible bombarding town belong.
ing to themselves. | was surprised. however,
that the Bulgarians had not done more dam
age than they had. imagine the explsns-
tion is that they had, at the last, to evacuate
the city 80 hurriedly that they had no time
to undertake systematic damage.
Teutonic Shell Humor
The city was, however, still under she'll fire
from heavy gun which the garrison were
unable to locate. The shells, however, all
fell on very restricted area in the northern
part Of the town. Either the enemy had no
point from which they could observe the ef-
feet Of their fire or else it was the extreme
range of the gun, as they seemed to make no
attempt 10 spread the fire over wider area
During the night they found it humorous 10
ire she'll exactly every thirty minutes.
This is an excellent method for producing in.
somnis, as after each shot one naturally re.
mains on the qui vive awaiting the next ex.
plosion. II therefore caused the maximum
amount Of irritation with a minimum amount
o. harm. 1t is on al fours with the German
idea OF humor at Pont-a- Mousson eight
months ago, when they used every light TO an
nounce midnight BY pitching twelve nine-inch
shells into the unfortunate town. They knew
that for half sn hour before midnight the
unfortunate Inhabitants lay covering in their
houses awaiting the daily visitation.
The Serbs are wonderfully prompt IN get
ting the evi, administration Of the city to
work. The project, the sub-prefect and the
Mayor took up their duties at once. Postal
officials arrived to organize the post and
railway employees began to prepare the work
ing Of the Salonica .Monastir line. This will
start az soon as the interruption caused by
the destruction Of the ysduet between Soro-
witch and UTbeni has been repaired