NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE Russians appear to be succeeding in Asia. They attacked Ardahan on 17th May, stormed it, and drove out the Turks, who fled, leaving eighty-one guns, many of them, it is stated, of Krupp's manufacture. The attacking force numbered 17,000 men and the besieged 8,000, and in the judgment of the Turkish War Office the defence was a poor one, for the Governor is to be tried for deserting his post too soon. The occupation of the fortress enables another column to advance in safety towards Erzeroum, the object of all the Russian operations, which, we may add, are clearly not interrupted by the much-spoken-of 4' rising" of the Circassians. They appear to have risen in places, but not in force sufficient to interrupt communi- cations carefully guarded both by troops and by the more faithful tribes. According, indeed, to a telegram of Wednesday from Erzeroum to the Daily Telegraph—the most emphatically pro-Turkish journal in Europe—some further disaster must have happened to the Ottoman arms. The Generals in command have abandoned Erzeroum, and fled ninety miles down the western branch of the Euphrates to Erzingan, where they are throwing up earth- works for defence. The military critic of that journal, a competent authority, evidentlybelieves the statement, and thinks "the defence of Armenia has collapsed," and the correspondent at Erzeroum -uses words which suggest that he wishes to imply more than it is safe to commit to the wires. Indeed, the only reason for doubt- ing his message is the difficulty of understanding why the Turks forwarded it.
