“MACEDONIAN SUCCESS

“MACEDONIAN SUCCESS

London, July 29. – The correspondent of the Chronicle at Constantinople says: The Macedonians, after a sharp conflict with the Turkish troops, have captured the town of Mendik, southwest of Nevrokop. The victors burned the telegraph station and the Turkish headquarters. The Vienna correspondent of the Chronicle says; According to the statement of the Roumanian minister at Constantinople many of the insurgents arrested in Macedonia were found to be Russian officers. The Porte intends to send the documents found in their possession to the powers as proof that the Macedonian uprising is due to Russian agents and energy. The Chronicle also has an editorial on the above information which regards affairs in the Balkan land as menacing the peace of Europe. ‘We see no way out of the trouble’ the editorial says, ‘except by summoning another congress, failing in which we may expect atrocities in Macedonia and Albania.” THE GALVESTON DAILY NEWS, MONDAY JULY 29, 1895”. As I waited for the team to return, I could hear Tito from a mile away yelling at the top of his lungs. I could not make out what he was saying but he was mad! Something may have gone wrong; perhaps it was too much rakia or perhaps it was the mention of the Russian officers in the article. Could The Galveston Daily News have double crossed Tito and used the above piece for its own purposes? I guess I will never know for sure. Everyone was quiet when they boarded the Delorean. I guess they had to be if they didn’t want to be berated by Tito. “We are going to Brooklyn, to April 22nd, 1897,” barked Tito as he quickly set the time travel dials and pushed the activation button. We were there in seconds and everyone left the time machine in silence. I had no idea what the next mission was going to be until I read the next day’s paper which in part read; “Every friend of Greece will hope that not only the Bulgarians but the Macedonians and the Albanians, will also demand a redress of their grievances and threaten to mobilize their troops unless the Sultan consents to their wishes. The friends of Greece would not be sorry if the Sultan should refuse to do what the Bulgarians and Macedonians and Albanians want and if

there should be a vigorous attack upon the Turkish intruding army from the rear.” (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle – Friday, April 23rd, 1897) Bravo to Tito and his team, they managed to squeeze the words “Macedonian” into the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on Friday April 23rd, 1897 when Tito was only five years old. What an accomplishment! Do you still believe Tito “created” the Macedonians? Tito was in a happier mood as the team returned to the Delorean to go on the next mission. “Next we are going to Washington, Monday August 24th, 1903,” I overheard Tito say in a quiet mellow voice. This was unusual for Tito but it was better than listening to him bark and whine. The team’s next mission was revealed in the Washington Times article the next day which in part read; “An alliance [between Turkey and Greece] such as this would prove more effective than anything else in checking the designs which Russia is credited with having on Constantinople, and would prove of such inestimable advantage to the 8,000,000 Greeks living in the Ottoman Empire, giving them a preferred position over Bulgars, Serbs, Roumanians, Macedonians and Armenians that they may be relied upon to use all their influence to promote the successful conclusion of the negotiations.” (The Washington Times, Tuesday, August 25th, 1903) This was indeed a quick mission and the team in no time was back for another one. I overhead Tito say, “We are going to New York, May 25th, 1903.” Now what was unusual about that date? I could not put my finger on it until I read the next day’s news in the May 26th, 1903 New York Times article which read;

“MACEDONIAN CHIEF’S DEATH

A Greek Spy Betrayed Deltcheff’s Whereabouts to the Turks.

London Times - New York Times Special Telegram.

LONDON, May 26. – Detailed report of the death of Deltcheff, the famous Macedonian chief, says the Sofia correspondent of the Times, shown that he accompanied a band under Voivoda and Kirtchovski, together with the poet Tavaroff, and entered the village of Banitza, near Seres, where his presence was betrayed to the Turks by a Greek spy. A large force surrounded the village, and all the members of the revolutionary band were killed after a long resistance. It is stated that

the inhabitants of the village, to which the Turks set fire, were also killed. Deltcheff was thirty-two years old. He was a schoolmaster, and practically created the present Macedonian organization, which has ramifications in all parts of the country. The Vienna correspondent of the times says persecutions and arrests continue in the vilayete of Andreanople. Numbers of priests and schoolteachers have been taken into custody. Arms have been found in six villages. The male population has fled, and agricultural work is at standstill.” (The New York Times, May 26th, 1903). My heart dropped when I read the sad news that our most revered hero Gotse Delchev had died. Even though this was history, reading the news from a genuine, just published newspaper seemed to me like it happened yesterday and I could not imagine how the Macedonian people of his time, who depended on his wisdom and guidance, must have felt. What a tragedy! Just as I was engrossed in reading the article, I heard rustling in the distance. The team was returning. No one said a word as the time Machine swished its way back to the future. Quietly everyone disappeared and retired for the night. I was left alone in a sad mood and the Delorean was all mine. Sad as I was, I decided to take another random mission of my own. This time I went to Canada, November 1902 where I met an impressionable young man named John, A. Ewan and convinced him to place the following passage in the Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature; “One thing that has to be remembered is that neither Macedonians nor Bulgarians are Greeks. They are mainly Slavs and will put up a stiff fight in the hilly country which will be the scene of operations if an uprising takes place.” (The Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature”, Vol. XX, November 1902 to April 1903 inclusive, by John, A. Ewan, page 479) Still smarting from the sad news of Delchev’s death, especially since it was caused by a Greek spy, I decided to do some more “adventuring” and spun the time dial wildly. I ended up going to Beirut, Syria to March 16th, 1844. There I met a man, a General no less, called Jochmus and convinced him to write a letter to Colonel Churchill which in part read; “I have already told you that I cannot partake in your enthusiastic views in favour of the Greeks. The idea of seeing them one day at Constantinople is preposterous, and there is nothing in the nation which warrants such a supposition.

The modern Greeks possess none of the qualities that make nations great. Their existence is due to the battle of Navarino, for in the autumn of 1827 Greece was unquestionably conquered by the arms of the Grand Visir Reshid Mehmed and by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt and again the “untoward event” of Navarino could only occur at a time when Phil-Hellenism was a sort of social disease, caused by hallucinations and by the illusion of finding in the present mongrel inhabitants of the Morea and Attica the descendents of the ancient Hellenes.” (“The Syrian War and the Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1840 – 1848”, by Baron Augustus Jochmus, Vol. 1, pages 99 and 100) Somewhat satisfied with my last two solo missions, I returned the Delorean to its original place and time and retired for the evening but still wondered what TrueMacedonian meant by “the women”.

Essay 4 – Mischief is my middle name

The next morning I showed up an hour earlier in hopes of meeting TrueMacedonian at the secret place where the Dolorean was parked and to ask him the burning question that kept me up half the night. What did he mean by “the women”? To my surprise TrueMacedonian was already there when I showed up and he too was anxious to discover what the deal was with me. How did I discover the secret place where the Delorean was hidden and how did I know about Tito’s missions? As we greeted each other I wasted no time and asked my questions first. “What did you mean when you said ‘it was the women’ in regards to Tito’s missions?” TrueMacedonian was completely surprised by my question and after a long and loud laugh said, “Don’t you know Tito is a womanizer? He has girlfriends all over the world and all through a span of over 100 years. Do you think he goes around the world and to various dates in time just to turn people into Macedonians and to convince them to write about the Macedonians? No! He goes to see his girlfriends and he gets them to do him ‘favours’, if you know what I mean? He seduces the young ladies and they in turn seduce the ‘lonely’ editors, reporters and authors. And then when Tito needs favours he calls on the girls to collect. That’s how he does it!” Now why didn’t I think of that, I thought to myself, as TrueMacedonian continued to tell me about Tito’s crafty methods and how he uses his charm to seduce young ladies, particularly those in high society. “And what’s your role in this?” I asked TrueMacedonian. “We are his ‘props’ sort of,” he said. “We are there to do what is necessary to make Tito look good and comfortable, except for Doc of course. Doc is his personal doctor who makes sure Tito does not ‘snuff’ himself overindulging.” It was now TrueMacedonian’s turn to question my involvement in all this. Fortunately for me he only had a couple of questions. The first he asked was, “How did you discover the Delorean?” I told him an engineer friend of mine tipped me off in 1985 when the Delorean was outfitted with its engine. I got inside the trunk to have a look at the electronics but then Tito and the others arrived to pick it up. I did not believe time travel was possible and thought the whole thing was a hoax until I saw a young Tito with my own eyes. The second question TrueMacedonian asked was, “Why did you stay with the team and follow it on its missions?” Well that was easy; I was there for the adventure. “Believing” the Greek claims that Tito

actually “created” the Macedonians, I was curious to find out how he did it. Who would have thought that crafty Tito would use young “female socialites” to do his bidding? I had one more question for TrueMacedonian. “How did the Greeks find out Tito ‘created’ the Macedonians? Did they know about his time travels?” I asked. TrueMacedonian had no answer! “Only the Greeks know for sure,” he said as he pushed me down to duck for cover when Tito and the others were coming. Lying comfortably in the Delorean’s trunk I overheard Tito say “dobro utro” to TrueMacedonian as he boarded the time machine and set its dials for another mission. “We are going to …. (unintelligible), to September 22nd, 1911 to see the editor of the Evening Post,” he commanded as he pushed the activation button. I did not hear where we were going so I had no idea where to look the next day as I went through most of the “popular” daily newspapers for September 23rd, 1911. Fortunately I found the following article in the Evening Post;