The Washington herald., 1918-11-07

danelles as the section best adapted
to defense. Our boat was now ap
preaching what was perhaps the mos
commanding point in the whole strait
1.-The city Of Tchanak. or. to give 81
its modern European name, Of Oar
danelles. In normal times this wal
a thriving port Of 1900 people. ia
houses built Of wood. the hesdouar-
tiers OF a considerable trade IN WOO
and other products. and for Centuries
IL had been an important military
station. Now, excepting for the SOL
diers II was deserted, the large
civilian population having been moved
into Anatolio. The British fleet, We
were told, had bombarded this city;
yet this statement seemed hardly
probable. for ! saw only a single
house that had been hit. evidently by
stray shell which had been aimed
at the nearby fortihcations.
Torpedo Criminal
| DjevHd Pasha. the Turkish COM
mander-in-chief at the Dardsnelles,
met US and escorted our party "a
headquarters Djevsd was a man Of
culture and of pleasing and cordial
manners: as be spoke excellent Ger
man had no need OF an interpreter.
was much impressed by the defer
ence with which the German officers
treated him: that he was the com
mander-in-chief in this theater Of
war. and that the generals Of the<
Kaiser were his subordtnates, was
made plainly apparent As we passed
into his ofHce. Djevad stopped IN
front Of a piece OF q torpedo, mount
ed in the middle Of the hall evident
/ ly as a souvenir.
There is the great criminal he
said. calling my attention 10 the relic
About this time the newspapers
were hsiling the exploit Of an Eng
lish submarine, which had sailed
from England to the Dardsnelles.
passed under the mine field. and tor
pedoed the Turkish wsrship Mesudis.
That's the torpedo that did st."
said Djevad. You'll see the wreck
Of the ship when you go down"
The first fertilization ! visited WAS
that Of Anadolu Handle Uhst is.
Asiatic Hamidie) located on the
waters edge just outside Of Tchanak.
Ny first impression was that ] was
in Germany. The officers were prac-
tically all Germans and everywhere
Germans were building buttresses
with sacks and sand and in other
ways Strengthening the emplsce-
ments. Here German. not Turkish
was the language heard on every
side Col Wehrle, who conducted
me over these batteries, took the
greatest delight in showing themy
He had the simple pride OF the artist
in his work. and told me Of the hap
piness that had come into his DAYS
when Germany had at last found
herself at war. All his life he said.
he had spent in military practices.
and, likS most Germans. he had be-
come fred Of maneuvers, sham hat
ties and other forms OF mimic hos
tilities. Yet he was approaching n.
he had become a colonel and he Was
fearful that his career would close
without actual military experience
and then the splendid thing had hap
pened and here he was. fighting a real
English enemy. firing from real guns
and shells, There was nothing brutal
about Wehrle's manners. he was a
"Eemutlich" gentleman from Baden.
and thoroughly likable: yet he was
all aglOw with the spirit OF --F--r
Tag" His attitude was simply that
Of a man who had spent his life
time learning a trade and who now
rejoiced at the chance o. exercising
il. But he furnished an illuminating
light on the German military char
scter and the forces that had really
caused the war
Feeling myself so completely in
German country. 7 asked Col Wehrls
why there were so few Turks on this
side Of the straits You won't ask
me that question this afternoon he
said, smiling. when you so over TO
the other side"
The location Of Anadolu Hamidie)
seemed ideal It stands right at the
waters edge, and consists-or IL did
then-of ten guns, every one COM
pletely sweeUinE the Dardanelles.
Walking upon the parapet. ] had a
clear view OF the strait. and KUN
Eale. at the entrance. about fifteen
miles away stored out ConspicUously.
No warship could enter these waters
without Immediately coming within
complete sight Of her Eunners. Yet
the fortress itself. TO an unDrofes-
sional eye like my own. was not par
tiCularly impressive. The parapet
and traverses were merely mounds
Of earth. and stand today IRA 0tiCHlly
as they were finished by their French
constructors in 1897. There is n gem
eraI belief that the Germans had
completely modernized the DsrdH-
nelles defenses. hut this was not true
Fort Anadolu Hamidie were mora
than thirty years old. all being the
Erupp model Of 1885. and the rustrd
exteriors Of some Of them gave evl-
: dences OF their age. Their extreme
range was only about nine miles,
while the range OF the hettleshlDs op-
posing them was about ten miles and
that Of the Queen Elizabeth was not
far from>eleven. The figures which
II have given for AnadoIu Har1tdie
apply also TO practically all the guns
at the other effective foTtifCauouS.
So far as the ADVANTAGE Of range was
concerned. therefore. the allied fleet
had a decided superiority. the Queen
I Elizabet alone having them all prac-
tically at her mercy. Nor did the
fortifications contain very considers
BILE supplies Of ammunition. At that
time the European and American pa
pers were printing stories that train
loads OF shells and guns were coming
by way of Rumania from GERMANY
to the Dsrdanelles. From facts which
I learned on this trip and subsequent
" I am convinced that these reports
were pure fiction. A small number
Of red heads"-that is. uonarmor-
pieTcing projectiles useful only f0r
fighting landing parties-had boon
brought from Adrisnople and were
reposing m Hamidie at the time ~
my visit. but these were small I'm
quantity and Of no value in fChtinE
ships. ] lay this stress upon Hamidie
because this was the most important
fortifcation in the nardanclles.
Throughout the whole boUha rdmeut