Evening star., 1921-09-30
ALBANIA HARD HIT
BY DUAL INVASION
Incidents in Stormy History of
Nation Now Fighting
for Life.

ANY other country would be nom
plussed to awake some fine morning
with two wars on its hands. but such
predicament Is but an episode In
Albania's brief but stormy history"
says a bulletin of the National Geo
graphic Society concerning the skir-
mishes between Albanians and Greeks
in northern Epirus and the reported
attack of Serbians upon Albanian
towns along the River Drin.
'The country was created in 1917
to avert a world war, and when world
war did come the troops of Ave coun-
tries occupied various sections of 1t.
Germans, Austrians and Bulgarians
were in control in the northern dis
tricts, where Serbians now are max
ing attacks, while France, and Italy
| held the south. including the area
| about Koritza, which now forms the
bone of contention with Greece.
Durazzo. chief Albanian port, was
| seized by d'Annunzio.
Remnking of Europe's Map.
Perhaps history will recognize
Koritza as the scene of the first defi-
mite step toward remaking the map
! of Europe. For there in December.
1915. was set up government. gen.
| orally referred to as the Republic or
| koritZa. While most of Albania was
| in Austrian hands this little republic,
under French military protection,
| republic, issued paper money, postage
| stamps, and established national
army with a fighting strength of 600
Before 1914 Albania was the new
| est country of the old world, and 1t
; is peopled by the most ancient race
Of southeast Europe. Edward Gibbon
called it a country within sight of
| Italy which is less known than the
interior of America And more than
| a century after that Characterization,
before the war helped introduce the
Balkans to America, letter ad-
| dressed Albania was sent from Eng
| land to the United States, and was
returned from Albany. N. Y. with
| the notation Not for Albany, try
Europe
Few travellers visit Albania and
information about the present day
aspects of the country is meager.'
First-Hand Impression Quoted.
The bulletin then quotes the first
hand Impressions of Brig. Gen. George
P Scriven, u. S. A.. who was in AL
bania during the war. and wrote to
the National Geographic Society as
follows:
1.-The towns of southern Albania are
few and. though strange and pic
turesque in appearance, are in real
ity poor in comfort. OF cities there
are not any. KOritza, with some 20
900 people, is the largest place. but
it is far from being city. However,
| il the towns are somewhat mean and
squalid. they are interesting to the
eye and have the charm of old-world
quaintness There are but four
worth mentioning: Arjirokastro. so
old, at least in appearance, that its
origin falls back into the mists Of
time; the pleasant village Of Premai,
lying in a fertile valley along the
| River Viosa: Koritza, held by the
I French. and Valona, clean and thriv-
! ing under the Italian army.
'"They are all pleasant places to
| look upon. nesting among the noun
! tains, in the valleys. and by the sea,
with their old gray walls and roofs
| of stone dotted with storks; but they
possess none of the forts or conven-
fences of modern life.
No Modern Conveniences.
"Such matter-of-fact things as
| trans. hotels, or cafes do not exist
wholly out of place. Water is drawn
from the wells. as 1t was 4.00O years
ago. or maybe from some nearby
stream. Inns are represented by the
khan, stone building, half house,
half stable, where caravans and pack
trains stop to rest.
Albania belongs TO a time as far
back as the annals Of the world can
reach ard Is as primitive as if it were
| in central China, almost as difficult to
penetrate as Tibet itself. 1t is land
unfamiliar to the traveller and shun-
| ned by the tourist of today.
Villages Picturesque.
"If the three or four centers Of