Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-07-06
Geographic News
Bulletins By the
National Geographic Society
About Karagatch

About Karagatch
"Karagateh, which the Lausanne
! Conference has just turned over to
Turkey, lies in the suburbs of Adj
rianople, is the railway station for
that city of 10000 inhabitants, and
Is so situated that it is the cynosure
of all neighboring Eyes in the south
eastern corner of Europe" say a
bulletin from the Washington, D.
c., headquarters of the National
Geographic Society.
Greece which is shakily holding
on to part of Thrace Is consenting
to give Karagatch to Turky to keep
both Turkey and Bulgaria from TAX
ing more of the Thracian province;
| Turkey hesitated to accept the city
In lieu of the cash indemnities which
+, she wanted and Bulgaria has agoniz.
| ed over the settlement because with
Turkey owning Karagatch and the
Thalweg or channel OF the Martha,
and with Greece owning most of the
territory through which runs the
Observation-Disclosures railroad, the
Bulgarian outlet to the Aegean be-
comes seriously handicapped.
Tied to Adrianople in Past
THE relationship between Kara
Catch and Adrianople has always
been much like that Of the old FASH
Toned husband and wife-where one
went the other went also-and Adj
rianople has for a long time been the
scene of dramatic incidents connect
ed with the various Balkan Wars.
From 1912 to 1915 it was one of the
~centers of the great struggle between
| Bulgars and Turks, the Bulgarsmak-
ing it's surrender to them the sine
qua non of peace and the Turks
fighting to the last ditch for a city
which was dear to their national
and religious sentiments.
1.-THE secret of that relationship has
lain during modern times In fact
that the large railway station of Adj
riaeople is located in Karagatch,
which lies on the opposite side of
! the Martha and Is connected with
the city by a causeway two miles
long. The approaches to the sta
ton of Karagatch are good, the sid
ings are extensive, and it is well
equipped with two military loading
platforms, an engine-house, a freight
shed, a water-tank and a coal-depot.
The Price For Bulgarian Entry to
World War
incidentally this same bit of rail-
road from the Adriatic through
Karagatch to the Bulgarian border,
was the price which Bulgaria exacted
for her entrance in the World War
on the side of the Central Powers.
When she received the whole line
of the railway t~raversing Turkish
territory together with Karagatch,
Demotika, and Ku1eli Burgas, she
was irrevocably pledged to the Cen
trail Powers.
Prior to the beginning of the
World War, Bulgaria owned a long
stretch of sea front on the Aegean
along the Gulf of Enos and the
Bay of Lagos, but this now belongs
to Greece. 1t has been the country's
consistent aim for decades to get
and hold this door to the south
which would eliminate the necessity
of making all shipments through the
Bosporous and Dardanelles or over
alien railways.
'The Martha, one of the largest
rivers touching Bulgaria flows be-
tween Adrianople and Karagatch,
and sometimes when the waters are
high the road leading from the sta
ton to the larger city is flooded. In
Its course of 300 miles from its
source in the Balkans it drains a
basin OF 20,790 u miles in area.
At this particular point, just below
where 1t is Joined by its two main
tributaries. the Trundja and the
Arda, it is obstructed by rocks and
sand-bars, but below Adrianople it is
navigable for small boats"