The Washington herald., 1918-11-11
TWENTIETH INsTALLNENT.


momentarily imagined that they were
shooting once more at the inndei
English. and the exercise was con-
genial one. Above the shouts OF all
could hear the singsong chant OF
| the leader, intoning the prayer with
which the MosIem has rushed to bat
| tie for thirteen centuries
Hatred for UnbeIIevers.
Allah is great there is but one
| God. and Mohammed is his prophet"
When I looked upon these frenzieo
men. and saw so plainly written in
! their faces their uncontrollable hatred
! OF the unbeliever. ! called to mind
what the Germans had said in the
morning about the wisdom OF not
putting Turkish and German soldiers
together. I am quite sure that, had
this been done. here at least the
Holy War" would have proved
success. and that the Turks would
have vented their hatred Of Chris
tians on those who happened TO be
nearest at hand. for the moment
| overlooking the fact that they were
allies
| ] returned TO Constantinople that
evening. and two days afterward. on
! March IS. the allied fleet made its
greatest attack As all the world
! knows, that attack proved disastrous
10 the allies. The outcome was the
sinking OF the Bouvet. the Ocean and
/ the Irresistible and the serious Grip
! pling OF our other vessels. or the
! sixteen ships engaged in this battle
OF the 18th. seven were thus put tenn
poraIily or permanently out or sction.
| Naturally the Germans and Turks re-
! jOiced over this victory. The police
went around. and ordered each house
holder TO display a prescribed num-
! ber OF flags in honor Of the event
1 The Turkish people have so little
spontaneous patriotism or enthusiasm
OF any kind that they would never
decorate their establishments with
out such definite orders. As a mat
ter OF fact. neither Germans nor
Turks regarded this celebration too
seriously. for they were not YET per
suaded that they had really won a
victory. Most still believed that the
allied fleets would succeed in forcing
their way through. The only Ques-
tion. they said. was whether the en-
Q fenie WAS ready to sacrifice the
necessary number Of ships. Neither
! Wangeuheim nor PsllaviCini believed
that the disastrous experience Of the
18th would end the naval attack and
for days they snKiously waited for
the fleet TO return. The high tension
lasted for days and weeks after the
repulse OF the 18th. We were still
momentarily expecting the renewal
OF the attack. But the great armada
never returned
Might Have Succeeded.
Should it have come hack? Gould
the allied shiEs really have csptursd 4
Constantinople7 am constantly
asked this question. As q layman nv
own opinion can have little value but
have quoted the opinions OF the Ger
man generals and admirsls. and OF
the ks-prRctically all OF whom
except Enver. believed that the enter
prise would succeed. and am halt
inclined to believe that Enver's at
utude was merely g case OF grave
yard whistlinE. In what | now have
10 say on this point therefore ] wish
IL understood that ] am giving not
my own views. but merely those OF
the officials then in Turkey who were
best qualified TO judge
Enver had told me. in our talk or
the deck OF the YUruk. that he had
plenty OF guns-Dlenty OF ammunI.
ton" But this statement was not
true. A glimpse al the map Will
show why Turkey was not receiving
munitions from Germany or Austria
at that time. The fact was that
Turkey WAS just as completely iso-
lated from her allies then as was
Russia. There were two railroad lines
many. One went by way OF RuI.
Earia and Serbia. Bulgaria was then
not an ally. even though she had
winked at the passage OF guns ano
shells. this line could not have been
used. since Serbia, which controlled
the vital link extending from Nish 10
Belgrade. was still intact The Other
railroad line went through Rumania
by way Of Bucharest. This route was
independent OF Serbia. and. had the
Rumsnian government consented. IL
would have formed a clear route from
the hrupps to the DardaneIIes. The
fact that munitions could be sent with
the Ccnnivance OF the Rumanisn gov
eminent perhaps accounts for the sus-
plcIon that guns and shells were 20
ing by that route. Day after day the
French and British ministers pro-
tested at Bucharest against this al.
legged violation OF neutrality. only "a
be met with angry denials that the
Germans were using this line There
is no doubt now that the Rumaniar
government was perfectly honorable
in making these denIals. II is no,
unlikely that the Germans themselves
started all these stories. merely tc
fool the allied fleet into the belief
that their supplies were ineshausti.
Bile.
Forts short Of SHELLS.
Let US suppose that the allies had
returned, say on the morning of tn,
18th. what would have happened
The one overwhelming fact is thai
the fortifications were very short OF
ammunition. They had almost reach.
ed the limit Of their resisting powe,
when the British fleet passed out OF
the afternoon of the 18th. had Sc
cured permission for Mr. George A
Schreiner, the well-known American
correspondent OF the Associated Press
; 70 visit the Dardanelles on this oc
casion. On the night of the 18th. thI,
correspondent discussed the situate,
with Gen. Mertens. who was the chic
technical officer at the straits, Gen
Mertens admitted that the outIooI