maged.

Shortly after the sinking of the Bouvet a British ship was struck on the
deck squarely amidship and compelled to withdraw from the fight. Then
another British vessel was badly damaged, and at 3:45 was seen to retire
under a terrific fire from the Turkish battery. This vessel ran in
toward the shore. For a full hour the Allies tried to protect her with
their guns, but it was apparent that she was destined for destruction.
Eight effective hits showed the hopelessness of the situation for this
vessel. She then withdrew toward the mouth of the Dardanelles, which she
reached in a few minutes under a hail of shells. The forts continued
firing until the Allies were out of range.

This was the first day when the warships attacking the Dardanelles kept
within range of the Turkish guns for any considerable length of time.
The result for them was terrible, owing to the excellent marksmanship
from the Turkish batteries. The Allies fired on this day 2,000 shells
without silencing one shore battery. The result has inspired the Turks
with confidence, and they are looking forward to further engagements
with calm assurance.

ELIMINATION OF MINES.

_The London Times naval correspondent writes, in its issue of March 20:_

The further attack upon the inner forts at the Dardanelles, which was
resumed by the allied squadrons on Thursday, has resulted,
unfortunately, but not altogether unexpectedly, in some loss of ships
and gallant lives.

The clear and candid dispatch in which the operations are described
attributes the loss of the ships to floating mines, which were probably
released to drift down with the current in such large numbers that the
usual method of evading these machines was unavailable. This danger, it
is said, will require special treatment. Presumably the area having been
swept clear of anchored mines, it was not considered necessary to take
other precautions than such as were concerned with the movement of the
battleships themselves.

The satisfactory feature of the operations is that the ships maintained
their superiority over the forts, and succeeded in silencing them after
a few hours' bombardment. The sinking of the battleships occurred later
in the afternoon, and it would seem at a time when a portion of the
naval force was making a further advance to cover the mine-sweeping
operations. There is nothing in the dispatch which indicates anything
but the eventual success of the work, nor that the defense