peared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital
of a neutral country, is already feeling all the troubles and privations
of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible
heights, as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand combats
are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries for the possession
of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children in their arms are
seen crying and weeping with despair. Many merchants, afraid lest the
government requisition their goods, hasten to have their orders
canceled, the result being that no merchandise of any kind is coming to
Constantinople either from Europe or from Anatolia. Both on account of
the recruiting of their employees, and of shortage of coal, the
companies operating electric tramways of the city have reduced their
service to the minimum, as no power is available for the running of the
cars. Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors of
the various banking establishments, where large posters are to be seen
bearing the inscription 'Closed temporarily by order of the government.'"

Immediately after war was declared between Germany and Russia the Porte
ordered the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to every kind of shipping,
at the same time barring the entrances of these channels with rows of
mines. The first boat to suffer from this measure was a British
merchantman which was sunk outside the Bosporus, while another had a
narrow escape in the Dardanelles. A large number of steamers of every
nationality waited outside the straits for the special pilot boats of
the Turkish Government, in order to pass in safety through the dangerous
mine field. This measure of closing the straits was suggested to Turkey
by Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against Russia, as it
was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way into the Sea of
Marmora and the AEgean.

On August 2d the Turkish Parliament was prorogued, so that all political
power might center around the Imperial throne. A vigorous endeavor was
made to strengthen the Turkish navy. Djemal Pasha was placed at its head
with Arif Bey as chief of the naval staff. Talaat Bey and Halil Bey were
sent to Bucharest to exchange views with Roumanian statesmen, and
representatives of the Greek Government, in regard to the outstanding
Greco-Turkish difficulties.

On September 10th an official announcement from the Sublime Porte was
issued defining in th