The American Red Cross Bulletin (Vol. IV, No. 4)

VOL. IV. OCTOBER, 1909. No. 4.

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THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

Officers

President,
HON. WILLIAM H. TAFT.

Vice-President,
ROBERT W. de FOREST.

Secretary,
CHARLES L. MAGEE.

Treasurer,
HON. CHAS. D. NORTON.

Counselor,
HON. LLOYD W. BOWERS.

Chairman of Central Committee,
MAJOR-GENERAL GEO. W. DAVIS, U. S. A. (Ret.)

National Director,
ERNEST P. BICKNELL.

Board of Consultation

BRIGADIER-GENERAL GEORGE H. TORNEY,
Surgeon-General, U. S. Army.

REAR ADMIRAL PRESLEY M. RIXEY,
Surgeon-General, U. S. Navy.

SURGEON-GENERAL WALTER WYMAN,
U. S. Public Health and Marine Hospital Service.

Central Committee 1908-1909

Major-General George W. Davis, U. S. A. (ret.), Chairman.

Brigadier-General George H. Torney, Surgeon-General, U. S. Army, War Department, Washington, D. C.

Hon. Huntington Wilson, Assistant Secretary of State, Department of State, Washington, D. C.

Hon. Charles D. Norton, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, U. S. Treasury Dept., Washington, D. C.

Medical Director John C. Wise, U. S. N., Navy Department, Washington, D. C.

Hon. Lloyd W. Bowers, Solicitor-General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.

President Benjamin Ide Wheeler, University of California.

Mr. John M. Glenn, 105 East 22d street, New York, N. Y.

Miss Mabel T. Boardman, Washington, D. C.

Hon. James R. Garfield.

Hon. A. C. Kaufman, Charleston, S. C.

Hon. H. Kirke Porter, 1600 I street, Washington, D. C.

General Charles Bird, U. S. A., Wilmington, Del.

Col. William Cary Sanger, Sangerfield, N. Y.

Judge Lambert Tree, 70 La Salle street, Chicago, Ill.

Hon. James Tanner, Washington, D. C.

Mr. W. W. Farnam, New Haven, Conn.

One vacancy.

CONTENTS

Entered at the Post Office, Washington, D. C., as second-class matter.

DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN QUARTER IN ADANA

WILLIAM H. TAFT.

PREFACE

With the October number of 1909 the Red Cross Bulletin brings its fourth volume to a close. Those who recall the dry little report which constituted the first Bulletin, issued in January, 1906, will find a strong proof of the growth of the American Red Cross by contrasting the former with the Bulletins issued during the last year. The Red Cross is fast becoming a very vital force throughout the world, a force that is bringing the nations closer together in the bonds of human sympathy, brotherhood, and peace.

During 1909 our people, by means of the American Red Cross, have been able to express their sympathy and give their help to thousands of their fellowmen who have suffered from earthquakes in Italy and Portugal, from massacres in Turkey, and, just as this Bulletin goes to press, from floods in Mexico. In San Francisco the Relief Home and the thousands of little cottages built after the fire are monuments beside the Golden Gate to our Red Cross. Again, in sunny Italy the American Red Cross Orphanage and hundreds of little cottages are witnesses of its zeal and its sympathy. A picture in this Bulletin shows some of the cottages it has helped to build in Portugal, and the Red Cross Day Camps that are beginning to dot the country over show its unforgetfulness of those who are victims of the “Great White Plague.” The transport that carried to China the generous cargo of food supplies provided by the Christian Herald floated the Red Cross flag; the relief ship Bayern, sent out by the American Relief Committee in Rome under the American Red Cross flew again that wonderful emblem, and from Beirut comes the news that the steamer on which our Red Cross committee there shipped relief supplies to the sufferers from the Armenian massacres sailed under the Red Cross flag. The ferryboat given by Miss Mary Harriman to the Brooklyn Red Cross for its tuberculosis work is another ship in what has been called “The Red Cross Navy.” So the water as well as the land has seen the beneficence of its labors.

ROBERT W. DE FOREST.
Copyright, Harris-Ewing, ’08.

Our American Red Cross has suffered a serious loss in the death of Mr. John C. Pegram, of Providence, Rhode Island. Due to the interest and energy of Mr. Pegram, Rhode Island founded the first State Branch of the Red Cross after its reorganization in 1905. From this time until his death Mr. Pegram was its President, and he has also been a most faithful and valuable member of the National Central Committee.

We regret that the new plans for a reorganization in regard to State Branches are not yet in such shape as to be presented in this Bulletin. Experience has shown the difficulty of maintaining efficient State Branches under present regulations. Our States are generally too large for the officers and members of Committees of a State Branch to hold frequent meetings, and in many cases it is not wise to concentrate all officers and members of State Committees in one city. The new plans leads to the creation of skeleton State Branches, to act only in case of disasters. The local, county, city, or town chapters will be brought directly in contact with the National Headquarters at Washington. In case of disaster in a State, it has been the custom of the Governor of the State to take prompt action for relief measures. For this reason it is probable that the Governors of States will be asked to act as Presidents of their respective State Branches. In appealing to the President of the United States for assistance, as has been the custom when the calamity has been of such magnitude that it was not possible for the State to render all the aid required, the Governor will appeal to the President of the American Red Cross, so the stricken community will be assured of assistance from the Government and also from the great national organization of the Red Cross. The new plans will soon be formulated and sent to all State officers of our Branches.

MAJ.-GEN. GEORGE W. DAVIS
Copyright, Clinedinst, ’08.

Arrangements for First Aid Courses on a large scale are fast developing. In October, under the Red Cross’ auspices, will be held a competition in First Aid among a number of Miners’ First Aid Corps from different mines in Pennsylvania. A prize, to be won three times, will be awarded, and bronze medals to the individual members of the winning team. Plans for the Nursing Department will receive much consideration. The new Christmas stamp for the tuberculosis work we trust will prove even more successful than that of last year, and so our Red Cross sees the future looming large and vigorous before it.

HON. CHARLES D. NORTON

If, having proved to our people and to the world at large the use and value of our American Red Cross, we can now raise our Endowment Fund to a million dollars, so that by its income we may be always ready to render First Aid when great national or international disasters occur without having to wait for contributions to come in, and so that we may continue and carry on measures of teaching the hundreds of thousands of our men and women engaged in manufacturing, in mining, in railroading, etc., to be prepared to help themselves and each other in cases of the innumerable accidents of every day life, our Red Cross will take its place among the greatest, most efficient, and most blessed forces not only of our own country but of the world itself.

TURKO-ARMENIAN RELIEF

AMERICAN RED CROSS BEIRUT RELIEF COMMITTEE.

By G. Bie Ravndal,
American Consul-General, Chairman.

Beirut, Syria, June 5, 1909.

Your Committee desires to express its profound appreciation of its recognition by the American National Red Cross as the latter’s authorized agents in the matter of extending relief to the sick and destitute of Asia Minor and Syria in consequence of recent bloody disorders.

Such recognition strengthened our appeals for aid. It implied a thorough audit of accounts, and also that distribution to the needy would be made, irrespective of race or creed.

As Americans we have wished that credit for whatever we might be able to accomplish along the lines of alleviating suffering and destitution should be given to the American National Red Cross. For this reason, as well as for purposes of protection, we have displayed the Red Cross flag in the field as well as at our headquarters in Beirut, and we have also marked supplies as shipped by us to various local relief agents with the Red Cross insignia.

Commercially and otherwise, the stricken districts form part of Beirut’s tributary territory. This city, therefore, is especially suitable as a point of distribution of relief supplies in the present emergency. Your Committee, accordingly, was able to and did reach Adana and other afflicted points before any other relief agency. As soon as other instrumentalities had been provided for the Adana region, your Committee concentrated its efforts upon the less favored districts of Alexandretta, Latakia, Kessab, Antioch, and Marash.

We take pleasure in inclosing herewith a synopsis of the report of Prof. Harry Gaylord Dorman, M. D., of Beirut, who, while there, was called upon to superintend the entire medical relief work. Some of Dr. Dorman’s photographs show the Red Cross well to the front in Adana. We are grateful to the authorities of the Syrian Protestant College for granting Dr. Dorman the leave of absence required for the purpose indicated.

Inclosed financial statements, prepared by E. G. Freyer, Esq., our Secretary and Treasurer, who, as the executive member of your Committee, has displayed the most commendable zeal and tireless activity, explains the Committee’s operations up to the present time. Fuller accounts of the manner in which our cash remittances to Alexandretta, Marash, and Antioch were used will accompany our final and detailed settlement with the American National Red Cross. In every instance we have availed ourselves of the services of American, British, and German missionaries in the field, individually known to and fully trusted by your Committee, as distributing agents. Most of them “went through” the massacres of 1895, and thus acquired experience in relief work. Among such field agents we would especially mention Rev. Chambers, at Adana; Rev. Dodds, at Mersine; Rev. Kennedy, at Alexandretta; Dr. Balph, at Latakia; Rev. Maccallum, at Marash, and Rev. Trowbridge, at large, as having rendered valuable assistance.

While this is only the American Relief Committee at work, we are fully aware of the important services rendered by the International Committee at Adana, of which the British Vice-Consul, Major Doughty-Wylie, is chairman; Rev. W. N. Chambers (American), Secretary, and the Imperial Ottoman Bank (French), Treasurer. The latest letter received from Rev. Mr. Chambers, of Adana, shows that the relief work at that point still remains at its initial stage (feeding the hungry and nursing the wounded), and that fresh relief measures are imperatively required.

Rev. T. D. Christie, D. D., President of St. Paul’s College Institute (American), at Tarsus, under the date of May 29, 1909, indorses an “Appeal for Help to Cilicia,” issued by an Armenian Bishop, in the following language:

RED CROSS HEADQUARTERS, BEIRUT.

“The above is not mere rhetoric; it understates rather than overstates the case. The needy refugees in these two Provinces of Adana and Aleppo now number about seventy thousand; the value of the property looted or destroyed is fifty million dollars. I trust there will be a generous response to this cry for help. Something is already being done, for which the men and women on the ground are most grateful; but much more must be done if disaster is to be averted.”

Your Committee is not prepared to confirm any specific estimate of the number of destitute refugees. While in some places the devastation is complete, in other places the crops are left and may yet be saved. We do know, however, that the general situation in the stricken belt is extremely pitiable, and that we are perfectly justified in calling upon the American public for further help.

A SHIPMENT OF SUPPLIES LEAVING RED CROSS HEADQUARTERS AT BEIRUT FOR LATAKIA.

In the case of Kessab, we have supplied some mechanic’s tools and agricultural implements as the best means of obviating the necessity of issuing rations indefinitely. This policy will be pursued in other villages which were looted and destroyed, and where the inhabitants are utterly destitute. Photographs show the steamer which carried our fairly large shipment for Kessab, and boxes composing the shipment. The steamer (Italian) flew the Red Cross flag in honor of the occasion.

Your Committee is deeply grateful for the opportunity of doing this kind of work under the inspiring auspices of the American National Red Cross, and would assure you that we constantly have in mind performing our task in such a manner as not to lower the high standard of efficiency and fidelity to duty set by your noble organization.

Supplementary Report of July 15.

In continuation of my report of June 14, 1909, I have the honor to submit the following further observations:

To begin with, the most pressing need called for food and medical aid. We, therefore, sent doctors and nurses and medical supplies to Adana and provisions, or cash wherewith to buy food, to various stricken centers, such as Adana, Tarsus, Alexandretta, Kessab, Antioch, and Marash. Kessab we also supplied with implements and tools of various kinds, as the village was utterly looted before being destroyed, and practically nothing but ruins was left of it. At Aintab and Beirut we have provided clothing, shoes, and bedding for some destitute orphans.

RED CROSS SUPPLIES, INCLUDING PLOWS, PICKS AND OTHER TOOLS, BEING TAKEN TO THE STEAMER SAILING FOR KESSAB.

Fortunately, in many districts the crops were saved. The food problem, except at certain points, including Kessab, which is not an agricultural village, will therefore be deprived of its worst terrors until the winter sets in. There has been and still is a general demand for clothing, quilts, and blankets, especially from the mountainous regions between Latakia and Marash. We shall hear more about the need of clothing and bedding and shelter as the season advances and the cold November rains begin beating down upon the mountains. Kitchen utensils are urgently wanted in many districts in which the marauders carried off everything portable.

But while the initial and most palpable suffering and destitution may be said to have been provisionally checked, and while preliminary steps are being discussed with a view to establishing orphanages and asylums for the fatherless and factories in which to give the widows employment, we feel that the real pinch is yet to come. After careful investigation, we are satisfied that relief on an extensive scale will have to be furnished for months to come, and that the coming winter will to the utmost tax the capacity of all the relief agencies at work, even if the funds at their disposal are very materially increased beyond the present ratio of contribution.

ITALIAN S. S. “ORIONE” FLYING RED CROSS FLAG, LEAVING BEIRUT FOR LATAKIA.

Confronted with so many unsolved problems of relief and of rehabilitation and feeling that some 25,000 destitute fellow-beings in the district between Marash and Latakia are looking toward this Committee for help, both for the present and during the approaching season of inclement weather, we are in duty bound to persevere.

As late as July 8, Rev. Kennedy reported from Alexandretta:

“Nothing has been done in the district so far to reinstate the refugees in their homes. They have been ordered back to their villages repeatedly, and even threatened if they did not obey, but they say they can not go back as long as they have no houses to return to. What the outcome will be I can not predict. To rebuild 746 houses, even though many of them are little better than huts, is no small thing.”

TENTS FURNISHED THROUGH THE RED CROSS RELIEF COMMITTEE FOR ADANA.

THIRTY-FOUR ORPHAN GIRLS FROM ANTIOCH BROUGHT TO BEIRUT UNDER RED CROSS AUSPICES FOR THE GERMAN DEACONESSES OF KAISERSWERTH. BEDS, BLANKETS, SHOES AND CLOTHING WERE SUPPLIED.

On July 3 this Committee received an appeal from Miss E. Chambers at Kessab for $500 for shoes, $250 for cotton cloth, and $5,000 for wheat, while urgent requests were made for money with which to rebuild houses. More than 600 houses in Kessab had been ruined by fire and other means of destruction. We have supplied the money necessary to buy the shoes and the cloth, but we are unable as yet to provide winter stores or to assist in rehousing the people.

Regarding the matter of contributions, I would invite attention to the report of July 12 of the Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. E. G. Freyer, inclosed herewith. Your Committee’s first call for aid met with a surprisingly generous response from Syria, enabling us to be the first on the scene of devastation with help from the outside. The contributions were not large, but they came in promptly, and as shown by the financial statement of June 24, from numerous sources.

In the matter of distribution, this Committee has exercised very special care. We have dealt exclusively with American, British, and German missionaries in the field, men and women personally known to ourselves, and in whose trustworthiness and good judgment we had implicit confidence. We have full assurance that the supplies and the cash forwarded have been employed where they would accomplish the greatest amount of good. In that way the piasters or piasters’ worth furnished have been made to serve important ends. We, therefore, feel that we have not striven in vain, although the summary of receipts and expenditures does not run into very large figures.

The number of killed during the recent disturbances is variously estimated at 15,000 to 30,000, leaving thousands of widows and orphans. Business practically is at a standstill in the disturbed region. Hundreds of families wish to emigrate, and some have applied to American consuls for assistance to that end. It is a sad state of affairs. But emigration on a large scale at this time, when brighter days obviously are dawning upon this empire, unquestionably would be both a mistake and a misfortune.

Everywhere the Red Cross has been respected and honored, although the emblem of official relief work in Turkey is the red crescent.

Your Committee considers it a special and precious privilege to be permitted to help so many of these afflicted people under the inspiring auspices of the American National Red Cross. We once more appeal for further funds.

MEDICAL RELIEF WORK IN ADANA

The Adana massacre was in two sections, the first massacre lasting from the morning of Wednesday, April 14, for three days, until Friday afternoon, April 16; the second followed after an interval of eight days, and lasted for two days, Sunday and Monday, April 25 and 26. The second massacre was followed by occasional killing of Armenians for five or six days more.

The feature of the first day was the plundering of the shops in the Armenian quarter by the Moslem mob. There was much shooting in the city, and some killing on both sides.

Thursday the shooting and killing was continued with more violence. The resistance of the Armenians in the Armenian section of the city was, to a certain extent, successful in preventing the pillaging of a large part of the Armenian quarter. But in the suburbs, where the Christian houses stood isolated, in their little vineyards or gardens the mob and pillaging soldiers had full play. Houses were entered, their inhabitants shot regardless of sex or age, and then, after having been plundered, the buildings were set on fire. On this Thursday afternoon the first assistance to the wounded was given by Mrs. Doughty-Wylie, the wife of Major C. H. M. Doughty-Wylie, British Consul at Mersine. These two had come up on the last regular train from Mersine the previous day because of the report of trouble at Adana. However much of credit may have been, and rightly, given to the Major for a heroism and courage in these days of terror that was the means of saving the lives of thousands, his wife is no less deserving of credit for a brave and tireless devotion to the needs of the wounded, which has done much to mitigate the suffering that followed these awful massacres. To this work she brought not only a love for the details of nursing, but a genius for organization as well, and a training that prepared her in a peculiar way to fill the need. She had seen service as army nurse in the Boer war, and for six years she personally supported and conducted a hospital in Bombay, where she has nursed through famine and through plague. It surely was a special Providence that brought these two to Adana at such a time.

RUINS IN ADANA.

Thursday afternoon it was reported at the Consulate that nine wounded women and children from the ruined houses of the adjoining suburb had been brought into the Turkish guard house near the Consulate. A message to the guard house to ask if medical help could be given was answered by the curt reply that no assistance was needed as all would be dead by morning. There was firing on the street and murder abroad, but Mrs. Doughty-Wylie, taking with her a Greek woman and Dr. Danielides, who had taken refuge at the Consulate, went over to the guard house. The nine wounded were on the floor of a small room, lying in pools of blood. In an adjoining room were two wounded soldiers, one with a broken leg and one with a flesh wound. After a trip back to the Consulate for dressings, Mrs. Doughty-Wylie and the doctor dressed the wounds, caring first for the wounded soldiers. The women and children were then brought over and placed in a woodshed adjoining the Consulate, while the soldiers were left to the care of the proper military authorities. This formed the nucleus of the hospital relief work. There might have been ten instead of nine in this nucleus but for the fact that even while Mrs. Doughty-Wylie was at work in the guard house a wounded Armenian seeking its protection was stabbed to death by the bayonets of the soldiers in full view of the English Consulate. Of the nine, two died of peritonitis in the course of a few days; two were discharged cured within two weeks, and others were convalescing in the hospital five weeks later.

A tenth was added to the list of wounded in the Consulate that afternoon by the wounding of Major Doughty-Wylie in the right forearm, who, in the role of peacemaker, was frequently between the fire of the contending parties.

End of First Massacre.

Friday morning, about nine o’clock, the bugles sounded the call to cease firing, and the first massacre ceased. Some four or five wounded men were brought into the British Consulate, and the little hospital overflowed into an adjoining Armenian house, where the patients lay in a little dark room with a mud floor.

On Monday a better house was engaged from a Greek. Here were four small rooms and a broad veranda, which for three weeks did service for surgical dressing room and operating room. The hospital was established with fifteen inpatients and a number of outpatients, who came for dressings. Dr. Danielides left in the middle of the week, and the work was carried on by Mrs. Doughty-Wylie, assisted by Miss Alltree and Miss Sinclair (English), and Miss Avania (Greek), until the arrival of Sick Bay Stewart Shenton and five first aid marines from the British cruiser Swiftsure. These came on Saturday, eight days after the end of the first massacre, and with a reinforcement of four more marines two days later they did thorough and efficient work until they were relieved after three weeks by a similar crew of men under Sick Bay Stewart Weiber from H. M. S. Minerva. The work of these men, and especially of Mr. Shenton, in caring for the wounded and in the daily dressing of what, after the second massacre, amounted to some 200 suppurating wounds, is deserving of the highest praise.

RUINS IN ADANA.

In the interval of eight days that elapsed between the first and second massacres, confidence had begun to be gradually restored. The wounded were gathered in several places and cared for by Armenian doctors under the supervision of foreigners. Many of the wounds had gone four days without being dressed and were in bad condition.

Work Organized.

On Monday, April 9, three days after the end of the first massacre, work began to be organized, as follows:

Under the care of Miss Wallis, in the upper Gregorian Church, 60 wounded women and children, and in the Protestant Boys’ School, 15 wounded men, together with over 15 outpatients.

Under the care of Miss E. S. Webb, in the Armenian Girls’ School, and in the lower Gregorian Church adjoining, over 40 wounded, besides 30 sick.

Under the care of the Soeurs de Charite de Ste. Leon, in a large Armenian house, 25 wounded, besides 130 outpatients.

RED CROSS HOSPITAL (SURGICAL) IN CHARGE OF MRS. DOUGHTY-WYLIE. IN SIMEONIDES’ HOUSE.

There were also about a dozen wounded in the Turkish School, and among the 2,000 or so refugees in the New Market Armenian Boys’ School there were 50 sick.

In all there were 330 wounded Armenians under treatment, of whom about half were able to come and go for their dressings. Besides this, there were some 100 sick among the crowded refugees. The small proportion of wounded relative to the total number of Armenians killed in the city during the first massacre—a number estimated at 2,500—is indicative of the vindictiveness of the killing. The chance of escape was small for a man, woman, or child once disabled by a wound.

Wounded Moslems were cared for in the government charity hospital outside the city. There were about 50 inpatients, among whom were said to be a few Christians, and about 150 outpatients. In the Turkish Military Hospital there were also about 40 wounded. From 50 to 60 other wounded Moslems were cared for in their homes. The number of Moslems killed is unknown, but is said to have been 200, more or less.

Second Massacre.

AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITAL (MEDICAL) ADANA.

On Sunday, April 25, the aspect of the medical relief work was abruptly changed by the occurrence of the second massacre. This began at 4 in the afternoon, with a determined fusillade on the New Market Armenian School, accompanied by the firing of the building, and followed by the massacre of most of its 2,000 or more helpless refugees as they sought to escape from the death trap. Carts piled high with bodies were busy for the next three days emptying the school playground of its dead. The acute stage of incendiarism and killing lasted only until the following night, Monday, April 26, but frequent fires and the shooting of stray Armenians continued for a week after. This massacre differed from the first in the absence of any effectual resistance on the part of the Armenians, the prominent participation of the soldiers in the killing, and in that it ended with the complete destruction by fire of the Armenian section of the town, representing something over one-fourth of the city’s area. It seems also to have been characterized by a peculiarly relentless cruelty; sick and wounded men, women, and children fell alike before the shots and bayonets of the pitiless soldiery. The 2,500 who are roughly estimated to have been killed in this second massacre are, for the most part, victims of the Armenian School massacre, together with those who were killed the same afternoon in the lower Gregorian Church and adjoining girls’ school. Of the 70 sick and wounded among the refugees here, most were either killed or burned. The hospital of the French Sisters was burned at the same time. Some of the patients were burned with it, but some were saved by two of the Jesuit Fathers, who carried as many as they could over to the Church of the Jesuit Boys’ School. Even this proved for them an uncertain refuge, for the following day the buildings of the Jesuit School were burned, and its refugees, together with the Jesuit Fathers themselves, were saved from the blood-thirsty mob only by the timely intervention of Major Doughty-Wylie. In spite of his fractured arm, he had a guard from the Vali, and rode about in the endeavor to save life and restore order.

Monday morning, April 26, it was announced that government protection would be afforded only to those Armenians who should present themselves at the Konak or government house. So through the day refugees by the thousand, among them the sick and wounded, fled to the open space in front of the Konak, until the Armenian quarter was deserted. Many were escorted there by Major Doughty-Wylie with a guard of soldiers. Here they stood waiting helplessly, without food, for many hours. The women and children were commanded to stand apart from the men, and all were subjected to a thorough search for arms or valuables. Toward evening they were told to go, but no provision was made for their going. Like a herd of frightened sheep, turning back here and there as some new terror faced them, with a number trampled to death at every fresh panic, husbands separated from wives, and children separated from parents, dead bodies lying in the streets, and darkness coming on, they gradually drifted to the new quarter of the town near the railroad station, where they finally found refuge in the two great cotton factories—13,000 in Trepanni’s factory and 5,000 in the German factory. In this flight they were partially protected by the Macedonian soldiers. Some of them were cut and wounded as they passed by Arab soldiers, but none were killed.

DOCTORS AND NURSES SENT TO ADANA UNDER AUSPICES OF AMERICAN RED CROSS AGENTS, BEIRUT.

The four emergency hospitals in the Armenian district were thus broken up. On that Monday 120 wounded from these hospitals came down to the hospital of Mrs. Doughty-Wylie for dressings, most of them destitute of beds or bedding. The next day, Tuesday, there were over 60 inpatients under the charge of Mrs. Doughty-Wylie; 100 wounded among the 5,000 refugees in the inclosure of the German factory were segregated in a good building intended for the use of foreign employees of the factory. There were no beds for these unfortunates at first. Of this 100 many were but slightly wounded, so that when the factory was emptied of its refugees a week later only 50 were left as interne patients. Besides the 60 or more patients in Mrs. Doughty-Wylie’s hospital, 200 outpatients were also cared for.

There were thus in the three hospitals about 375 wounded under the care of foreigners, after the second massacre, not many more than the number of wounded before the second massacre, for the newly wounded were hardly more than enough to take the places of the wounded who had been killed or burned. Besides, the nature of the second massacre was such as to leave few wounded among those attacked. The kill was usually complete.

Dr. Connell, of H. M. S. Swiftsure; Dr. Bouthillier, of the French cruiser Victor Hugo; Dr. Bockelberg, of the German cruiser Hamburg, with a number of sailors and marines from their ships, gave much assistance.

A number of the native physicians likewise gave their services, though at first it was hardly safe for the Armenian doctors to do so.

The German Emperor had sent his own ship, the Hamburg, post haste from Corfu to Mersine soon after the first massacre, and the supplies needed for the German Hospital were to a large extent furnished from the ship’s stores.

DR. DORMAN MAKING HIS ROUNDS OF THE CAMP. ADANA.

Conditions of Refugees.

In the four days following the second massacre the condition of the refugees in the factories was pitiable. A little raw flour was given out, even on Monday evening, but for most of the people it was two and a half days before bread was distributed to them. The suffering was great. Conditions were not as bad in the German factory as in the Greek factory, because the inclosure of the former was spacious, and the number of refugees less. In the Greek factory the 13,000 filled all available space. The buildings were packed, with people sitting everywhere on the floor; many crawled under the machinery to find a place to lie. Out in the yard of the factory the last comers were jammed together tightly, so that for many there was actually “standing room only.” Among the refugees here few were wounded, but many sick. There had been an epidemic of measles in the town before the trouble began, and in the crowding of refugees from the first massacre there had been a thorough spread of infection. The two weeks that had elapsed since the beginning of the first massacre gave time for the incubation period, and now many children broke out with the rash of measles.

A smallpox scare was of benefit, in that it hastened the evacuation of the factory. This early turning out of the crowd from the factory was one of the best steps taken in all the relief work, for although it caused some few deaths by pneumonia from exposure, it avoided the awful calamity of an outbreak of typhus fever, such as occurred after the Armenian massacres of 1895. The moving of refugees into camp from the Trepanni factory was superintended by Commander Carver, of H. M. S. Swiftsure. By Thursday noon the 13,000 had been divided up into about 30 sections to facilitate the distribution of bread. On Friday, when it was desired to empty the factory, it was announced that bread would no longer be given out in the factory, and each section, according to directions, followed its own particular bread cart out to the place of encampment, at the Yenemahalle. Here, without sufficient covering, and for a time without any tents, families were required to pass nights still cold and chilly, and days rendered intolerable by exposure to the intense heat of the sun at midday. Children in the acute stage of measles passed the night on the bare ground without any covering, and exposure to the chill air resulted in many cases of broncho-pneumonia, from which, for a time, they were dying at the rate of ten a day.

AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITAL IN CHARGE OF SURGEON MILLER, OF U. S. S. “NORTH CAROLINA,” ASSISTED BY THREE HOSPITAL CORPS MEN AND LADIES.

Two days after the establishment of the camp an attempt was made to separate the families with measles, and between 300 and 400 of such were collected by Commander Carver in an orange grove, a quarter of a mile away from the main Yenemahalle camp.

Tuesday, May 4, eight days after the second massacre, the German factory was cleared of its 5,000 inmates, and these were located part in an open camp and part in adjoining houses, which, although rented by Armenians, had been spared the general destruction because belonging to Turkish owners. This location was nearly half a mile distant from the Yenemahalle camp. The people here were fed by German funds, and the place was known as the “German camp.”

At this time the allowance of rations was doubled in the large Yenemahalle camp, so that from this time on the people had sufficient food. But the bread from the emergency bakeries of the first two weeks was often poorly baked, and many people had diarrhœa, approaching dysentery, from eating the raw dough that for many was the only food available during the first two days in the factory. Tuesday night and Wednesday 500 blankets and 100 quilts, sent from Beirut, were distributed to the most destitute of the sufferers in the Yenemahalle and measles camp, but when half of the 13,000 refugees were without covering for the night, it can be understood that the 600 pieces were woefully insufficient to go around. A week later 300 more blankets were received and distributed.

GERMAN HOSPITAL IN GROUNDS OF GERMAN FACTORY WITH KAISERSWERTH DEACONESSES.

On this Tuesday a request made to Ashraf Bey, municipal sanitary inspector, for aid in medical inspection was answered by the sending of two Turkish doctors and two pharmacists, who, the following day, opened an emergency pharmacy near the measles camp.

Red Cross Sends Medical Aid.

Immediately after the second massacre, a call for medical assistance was sent by the Adana Relief Committee to Beirut, where a Red Cross Relief Committee had been constituted by Hon. G. Bie Ravndal, American Consul General; Mr. E. G. Freyer, of the American Presbyterian Mission, and Dr. Geo. E. Post, of the Syrian Protestant College. This was answered by sending an Armenian physician, Dr. Armadouni, on Wednesday, April 28, who, on arrival at Mersine, found that it was impracticable to proceed farther on account of government restrictions of Armenians. Surgical supplies sent with him were forwarded to Adana, and he returned to Beirut.

Another still more urgent appeal for doctors came from the Adana Relief Committee on Friday, April 30. The surgeons from the English and German ships were necessarily irregular in their attendance, and soon to be compelled to leave; Armenian doctors were not available, and severe epidemics were to be expected among the crowded and poorly fed refugees. In response to this call the American Red Cross Committee at Beirut sent a medical commission, which reached Adana on Wednesday, May 5, consisting of two students of the fourth year of the Syrian Protestant College Medical School, Dr. Kamil Hilal and Dr. Fendi Zughaiyar; Miss MacDonald, a Canadian, who had been teaching in Jerusalem, and Dr. H. G. Dorman, of the Syrian Protestant College, who is the writer. With us was a complete hospital outfit of surgical instruments, sterilizers, sterilized dressings and sutures, and a supply of condensed milk, tinned soups, drugs, etc. Miss MacDonald was succeeded later by Miss Davis, who arrived May 10. The size of the Beirut delegation was increased later by the arrival, on May 12, of Mr. Bennetorossian, of the third year in the Syrian Protestant College Medical School, and on May 20 by Dr. Haigazum Dabanian, who had been released by Dr. Torrence, of the Tiberias Mission, from his engagement in the English hospital there that he might assist in the Adana relief work. The two senior medical students were Syrians who spoke Turkish; the last two men were Armenians and deserving of especial credit in coming to Adana at this time, for they knew that in so doing they ran the risk of government suspicion and arrest.

FRENCH FLAG FLYING OVER FRENCH DISPENSARY.

With the delegation going from Beirut, although not sent by the Red Cross Society, were two Kaiserswerth Deaconesses from the Johanniter Hospital in Beirut, Sister Louisa and Sister Hannah. These two sisters were sent in response to an appeal from the captain of the Hamburg. They took the German hospital in charge from the time of their arrival in Adana and inaugurated a reign of cleanliness and order that made the German hospital a pleasure to behold.

On Tuesday, May 6, as the doctors from the English and German ships were compelled to leave, the writer was asked by the Relief Committee to take entire charge of the medical work. I began with a survey of conditions.

In the German hospital were 23 men and 25 women and children now under the care of the two German Deaconesses; 15 or 20 outpatients were coming in for daily dressings.

In Mrs. Doughty-Wylie’s hospital were 17 men and 20 women and children, and in the railroad freight house, under her care, were 21 men and 4 women; 160 outpatients were having their dressings done at this hospital.

In the American Girls’ School were 15 women and children, under the care of Miss Wallis and Dr. Salibian. Some 10 or 15 wounded outpatients were also dressed at the daily clinic held by these two in the Yenemahalle camp.

Thus there were at this time, in all, 305 wounded under the care of foreigners.

PHARMACISTS AND DOCTORS IN FRONT OF ARMENIAN EMERGENCY PHARMACY IN YENEMAHALLE CAMP.

Except for the need of a surgeon in charge of Mrs. Doughty-Wylie’s hospital, the surgical work seemed well in hand and likely to be of lessening urgency, while the medical need was just getting into its prime and had been so far almost entirely neglected. In the Yenemahalle and German camps some 200 were reported as sick, while in the measles camp between 75 and 100 children were suffering from the sequence of measles, bronchitis, pneumonia, otitis, and from diarrhœa and dysentery, as the result of bad food. A discouraging feature of the outlook was the lack of bedding to protect the sick from exposure, and another difficulty was the absence of milk or soup for the hundreds who could eat nothing else. When people die from starvation, it is usually not for lack of something to put in their stomachs. Their hunger compels them to swallow things unfit for food and a fatal diarrhœa or dysentery is the result. For the children, made sick by eating dough during the days in the factory, the rations of the camp, consisting at first of coarse and half-cooked beans (fule), were as impossible food as is grass to a healthy man. Only a limited supply of milk at famine prices was at this time available. There was sometimes two cups of milk a day, sometimes one, and sometimes none for the sick babies, and consequently the little ones were fading away quickly. Happy were the mothers who were nursing their own children, but it was sad to see little ones starving where the mother was too sick to nurse. I was reminded of the work of thoughtless hunters, who kill the parent birds in nesting time and leave the little ones to starve in the nest. Day by day the rows of little unnamed graves were lengthened near the measles camp. Heart rending scenes of mothers beseeching help for their dying babies were common. Some babies were killed in the massacres by cutting and shooting, and perhaps there the Turks were the more merciful.

The camps were rapidly becoming foul from lack of sanitary restrictions. Swarming flies were zealous to convey infection, and it only needed a good hard rain, such as is common in Adana at this time of the year, to spread an epidemic of typhoid or dysentery that would have been impossible to combat.

These were the needs of the camps: Cleanliness, milk, bedding, efficient medical attendance, medicines, and pharmacists. All these needs were gradually supplied in the course of the next ten or twelve days.

CAMP LIFE, ADANA.

The first week’s work after our arrival seemed rather discouraging, although constant progress was made. The camps were rigorously cleaned under threat of short rations. Fortunately the rain held off, and in time the camps became relatively sweet and clean. After a week and a half the refugees began moving back to their ruined homes, and the relief of the congested condition of the camp was a constant lessening of the menace of epidemic outbreak. Until medical force became reinforced, we had to cover the field among us as best we could. Sickness was on the increase, and once the daily reports handed in by the head men of the camp sections showed 400 sick in camp, of whom 75 were reported as “very sick.”

The medical staff at first was quite inadequate for the work of visiting all these sick. The two Turkish doctors and the two pharmacists found the life too strenuous for much more than half a day’s work at a time. It was several days before we were able to do more than make sure that the very sick were seen by a doctor each day.

There was also a shortage of drugs. The remedies needed were few and simple, but they were needed in large quantities. This lack was soon supplied from the drug shops in Mersine. There was a shortage of bottles to put fluid medicines in, and medicines when not taken on the spot were dispensed in finjans, old tin cups, or anything that would hold fluids. One man at the dispensary, whose prescription for castor oil had been filled, in spite of protestations, into his own mouth, when he was told to go finally made clear that it was for his wife that he wanted the medicine.

Conditions Improve.

These rough and ready methods gradually passed as better organization became possible. Dr. Peoples, newly arrived for American mission work in Mersine, joined the medical staff in Adana on May 9, and gave valuable assistance in various branches of the work. After a week, on May 12, the returning French Sisters of Charity, among whom were two experienced nurses, opened a pharmacy and clinic for the refugees of the German camp.

On Sunday, May 16, an Armenian delegation, sent by the Armenians of Constantinople, consisting of three senior medical students, one doctor, and two pharmacists, opened a well-equipped pharmacy, which they had brought with them, in the Yenemahalle camp.

In the meantime the conditions of hospital work became greatly improved. On May 8, three days after our arrival, the surgical hospital of Mrs. Doughty-Wylie was moved from the little cottage and railroad sheds, where such excellent emergency work had been done under such adverse circumstances, to a large commodious house, which had been generously offered for the work by its owner, Cosma Simeonides. In the well-ventilated, spacious rooms of this building 60 patients were comfortably housed, and sufficient space was left for an admirable operating room, for accommodations for help, and for kitchen needs. To care for the patients in these improved quarters, and to relieve the work of the British marines, the necessity for whose withdrawal was anticipated in the near future, a corps of 15 young Armenians and Greeks were enrolled as hospital assistants. These volunteers were for the most part students of St. Paul’s Institute, at Tarsus, and their knowledge of English facilitated the work for the English speaking doctors and nurses. Under these new conditions work which before was arduous and imperfect became a constant source of satisfaction and pleasure. A large debt of gratitude is due to the owners who so generously devoted their beautiful home to this work.

The transfer of the surgical patients left the first emergency hospital free for the accommodation of medical patients. It was soon filled and overflowing, and within a week it was found necessary to accept an offer of the use of the Greek School for the accommodation of patients. On Saturday, May 15, this building was opened as a medical hospital with 50 patients, the most part cases of pneumonia, enteric fever, and dysentery. These patients, too, were under the general care and oversight of Mrs. Doughty-Wylie. In this building also were housed the four American first-aid bluejackets who came up from the cruiser North Carolina the following week; and here, too, was instituted another pharmacy to supply the needs of the hospitals under the care of the sailors who had had training in pharmaceutical work.

Work of Trained Nurses.

In connection with the improvement of the hospital work should be mentioned the noble work of several trained nurses, whose services were early volunteered. Miss Yerghanian, sent by the King’s Daughters Society of Smyrna for this work, arrived on May 5. Miss La Fontaine, of the British Seaman’s Hospital at Smyrna, came soon after. These two, in conjunction with two Armenian nurses who came with the Constantinople Armenian Relief Commission, undertook the nursing of the medical hospital. Miss Davis, of the Jessie Taylor Memorial School, of Beirut, furnished Mrs. Doughty-Wylie most acceptable and skillful assistance in the work at the surgical hospital.

It has been said that perhaps the greatest need of the medical work for the Adana refugees was the lack of sufficient supply of milk. Accordingly the most encouraging day of our work was the day, ten days after our arrival, when arrangements were made to secure huge quantities of goats’ milk from peasants at less than half the famine price of cows’ milk that prevailed in the first days of the camp life. Distribution of the milk and soup in the camps had been early assigned to the Misses Webb, of the American Girls’ School in Adana. The work of these two ladies in their constant, tireless devotion to the relief of discomfort, sickness, and trouble incidental to the distressing conditions of the camp life, calls for the warmest admiration. To the sufferers, whose constant appeals to them were never slighted, these sisters were veritable ministering angels of mercy. Another assistant in this relief work was Mrs. Kuhne, of Mersine, who, while her health permitted, helped in the work of the upper camp.

BUILDING TO BE ALTERED FOR MORE PERMANENT AMERICAN RED CROSS HOSPITAL.

On Monday, May 17, twelve days after we reached Adana, medical assistance was arriving in such force that I felt justified in returning the three medical students who were with me to Beirut, where their approaching examinations necessitated their early return. On this day, in addition to the helpers already enumerated, Dr. J. T. Miller, surgeon of the American cruiser North Carolina, arrived with four first-aid bluejackets. Dr. Gogel, of the British cruiser Minerva, arrived with four marines to take the place of the Swiftsure marines, who were leaving.

International Feature of Relief Work.

I remained in Adana five days longer to make sure that the work was all apportioned and running smoothly. When I left, on Saturday, May 22, the medical work was well in hand and fully manned. Dr. Miller was in charge of the medical hospital, which it was agreed to call the American Red Cross Hospital, and also in charge of the sick children in the measles camp. Dr. Gogel was in charge of Mrs. Doughty-Wylie’s surgical hospital, and a ward for sick babies that had been instituted in an adjoining building, under the care of Miss Alltree. The patients in the hospitals were improving and being discharged, but other patients had been admitted, so that the original numbers were maintained. Some wounded had come in from outside the city. The German hospital, under Dr. Phanouriades, had not taken in new patients, and the number there had diminished to 25. Responsibility for the German encampment was turned over to the French clinic and pharmacy. On May 20 the French opened a little hospital of 12 beds, for medical cases, near their pharmacy. In the Yenemahalle camp rounds were being made by the Turkish and Armenian doctors; the Armenian pharmacy was in full operation and two daily clinics were being held.

THE ADANA RELIEF COMMITTEE IN SESSION. MR. CHAMBERS ON LEFT AND MAJOR DOUGHTY-WYLIE ON RIGHT.

The Turkish military doctors were continuing the clinic at their pharmacy near the measles camp. There were thus in operation four hospitals—English, American, German, and French; four dispensaries—Turkish, Armenian, French, and American, and five daily clinics—English, French, Turkish, and two Armenian. The staff of workers included 25 doctors—English, American, French, Greek, Syrian, Turkish, and Armenian; 11 trained nurses—English, German, and Armenians; 8 first-aid men from the English and American ships, and 12 Armenian assistants. In all this work one of the pleasantest features was its international character. No friction or international jealousies were seen. Before the great need and common aim, distinctions of race or nation fell away, and one helped another with a single desire for service. While I have spoken of the surgical hospitals as English and the medical hospital as American, the distinction is only in name, for the English and Americans have worked together indiscriminately in both hospitals.

The provision for the medical wants of the refugees was sufficient, and it seemed only a question of time until the emergency relief work should grade off into the permanent medical work required for 20,000 homeless and penniless people. When the time for this change should come, it was desired that some permanent good might remain as a memorial of the relief work in Adana, and it was planned that the patients remaining from the American Red Cross Hospital, together with whatever hospital equipment might have been accumulated, should be left to the care of the American Mission in a large building belonging to them, which is now being altered for use as a hospital. There is no hospital in Adana, except one poorly equipped and totally inadequate charity institution, and the field of usefulness for a good hospital would be great. There could be no fitter legacy of permanent help to the Adana sufferers than the founding among them of such a permanent hospital.

The evacuation of the camps, forced by the government on all those who had remaining houses or vineyards, while it worked hardship in some cases, was a necessary precaution for the avoidance of epidemics, and at this time the campers had been reduced by about one-half.

A share in the Adana relief work has been a privilege not alone as an opportunity for service, but it has been a still greater privilege to see the men and women there who, in sublime unconsciousness of self, are daily giving themselves to fill the swarming needs of thousands of destitute people. Especially is this true of Major Doughty-Wylie and Mr. Nesbit Chambers. Credit for the high personal bravery shown by them at the time of the massacres is surpassed by admiration for their devotion now that, acting as directors of the Adana relief work, and showing foresight, discretion, and economy, they have established themselves to bear the burden through the hot days of the long summer. Honor may well be given to those who couple courage in danger with humanity in time of need.

(Signed) HARRY G. DORMAN, M. D.,
Of the Adana Relief Delegation of the
American Red Cross Committee in Beirut.

THE SACK OF KESSAB

By Stephen van R. Trowbridge.

Kessab was a thrifty Armenian town of about 8,000 inhabitants, situated on the landward slope of Mount Cassius (Arabic, Jebel Akra), which stands out prominently upon the Mediterranean seacoast, halfway between Alexandretta and Latakia. Kessab is now a mass of blackened ruins, the stark walls of the churches and houses rising up out of the ashes and charred timbers heaped on every side. What must it mean to the 5,000 men and women and little children who have survived a painful flight to the seacoast and have now returned to their mountain home, only to find their houses sacked and burned! There were nine Christian villages which clustered about Kessab in the valleys below. Several of these have been completely destroyed by fire. All have been plundered and the helpless people driven out or slain.

On Thursday, April 22, serious alarm reached the people of Kessab. It was known that a massacre of the Armenians had taken place in Antioch, 36 miles to the north, and that attacks were being planned on the Christian villages of the mountains. A parley was arranged with the Mudir (magistrate) of Ordou, the nearest seat of government, and a telegram asking for military protection was dispatched to the Governor of Aleppo. The Mudir, whose name is Hassein Hassan Agha, met the Kessab delegation halfway down the mountainside and assured them that he had already scattered the mobs that had gathered with evil intention. But his pledges soon proved to be idle tales, because that very Thursday evening he permitted crowds of armed Moslems to come into Ordou from Jissr Shoughr, Kusayr, Antioch, and even from Idlib, far to the east. Early the next morning, after entertaining the raiders overnight, he sent them on their way to the sack of Kessab. Moreover, the Mudir detained the eleven gendarmes which were ordered by the Aleppo government to protect American and Italian interests in Kessab. The Mudir instructed the gendarmes that they should remain in Ordou.

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER TROWBRIDGE.

Thursday evening the Kessab scouts brought word into the town that great crowds of armed Turks and Arabs had gathered in the nearest Moslem village. It was an anxious night. Before daylight, Friday morning, rifle shots told of the enemy’s advance. By three separate mountain trails, from the north, northeast, and east, thousands of armed Moslems came pouring up the valley. Their Martini rifles sent the bullets whizzing into the Kessab houses, while the shotguns of the 300 Christians who were posted on the defense could not cover the long range. It was a desperate struggle, and the Kessab men realized their straits. The plan which they thereupon made is to their honor and credit. They resolved to hold out as many hours as possible, so as to furnish time for the women and children to escape into the clefts and caves of the mountains to the south. For five hours the fusillade continued with fierce determination. By midafternoon Turks from the Antioch villages had circled around Jebel Akra on the north, so as to command a position above Kessab. The Arabs had flanked the town on the southeast. Meanwhile the vanguard of the Ordou Moslems had captured and burned the adjacent villages just below Kessab, and had set fire to three of the houses at that end of the town. Their cries and frantic threats could be heard distinctly. The women and girls gathered up the little children on their backs and in their arms, hastened along the west trail over the ridge toward Kaladouran, and clambered up into the cliffs and crevices which overlook the sea at an altitude of 5,000 feet. Some in small groups, others entirely alone, hid themselves underneath the thorny underbrush or in the natural caves. Toward evening the men had been compelled by the overwhelming odds to give up the defense. They fell back without any panic or noise. And the Turks and Arabs who rushed into the streets of the town were so seized with the lust of plunder that they did not pursue the rear guard of the Christians. Angry must have been the scenes as the plunderers fought with one another over the stores of raw silk, the chief product of Kessab. Cattle, mules, copper kettles, bedding, clothing, and rugs were carried out by the Turks in feverish haste, as one after another the houses were set on fire. Some of the aged Armenians, who had not the strength to flee, were caught in their houses and barbarously put to death. Others, who had delayed flight in order to gather up and rescue a few valuables, were likewise put to the sword. Axes and knives finished up what the rifles had spared. But the instinct to escape had been so strong among the Christians, and the greed of plunder so absorbing among the Mohammedans, that in all the day’s fray only 153 Armenians and a handful of Turks were killed.

A Kessab girl named Feride, 20 years of age, had a remarkable escape. She had gone over to the village of Ekizolook (Twin Hollows) to save the little bridal trousseau of one of her friends. It was well on in the afternoon when she had gathered up the garments into a bundle. And when she hurried out into the street to join the fugitives she found, to her dismay, that everyone had gone beyond sight and hearing. A moment more and she saw a host of Arabs rush up through the street. She dashed through several little gardens and reached the rocks and underbrush above the village. On and on she made her way without being discovered. In a deep cleft between the rocks she hid and listened. She had dropped the precious bundle, but kept in her hand her New Testament, which was more precious than anything else. As she listened and watched many Arabs and Turks ranged past the entrance to the cleft. Then came one who peered in closely. Their eyes met. He gave a cry to his comrades, “There is a maiden here!” and sprang forward. She summoned her whole strength and leaped up the side of a great rock which rises up above the village. It was a feat which no athlete could commonly have done. At first the Arab could not follow her. He cried again to his companions. They replied by shouting to one another, “Surround her! Surround her!” She was now standing on top of the rock in full sight of fifteen or sixteen Arabs, all in her pursuit. They called fiercely to her to come down. She answered in Arabic, “You may shoot me, but I will never give myself up.” Then they ordered her to throw down to them the purse she had in her hand. She told them it was not her purse, but her Holy Gospel. And she held out her hands in prayer to God. Just then the Arab who had first seen her made a spring up the side of the rock. She leaped in the opposite direction down into some brushwood, but was caught at the side of the rock by branches of briar. The Arab came on over the top of the rock and had reached out his arm to seize her, when a Christian young man, who had taken refuge in another part of the brushwood, fired and shot him dead. He gave a long groan, threw up his arms, and fell prostrate upon the rock. The other Moslems were startled by the unexpected shot and retreated for a time. This gave Feride time to escape into the caves farther up the mountainside, where she remained entirely alone all night and part of the next day. When I was in Ekizolook the Arab had not yet been buried. I took his headdress—a coil of black wool and the “keifiyye” which goes with it—as a trophy. Feride herself told me the story of her escape. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed as she recalled the dangers through which she had passed. She said that after she was discovered in that cleft of the rocks all fear left her. A strange courage came over her, and she felt sure that God would save her from being captured.

One of the school teachers, named Mariam, was caught by the Arabs not far from where Feride had hidden. The Arab who captured her ordered her to become a Moslem. When she refused he threatened to kill two little boys she was trying to protect. Then he raised the axe which he carried and placed the edge against Mariam’s neck, threatening her three separate times. Each time she said she would never become a Mohammedan, nor deny her faith in Christ, nor surrender her honor. The Arab snatched the money which she had with her and tore off the dress and shoes which she was wearing. He told her he would make her his slave. Just then some Turks from Ordou came up and recognized among the women the wife of Dr. Apelian. The doctor had often served these Turks medically. A sharp skirmish ensued, which ended in the defeat of the Arabs. The women were that night taken in safe conduct by these Turks to a Greek house in Ordou, where they were kindly cared for until the fighting was over and they could return to Kessab.

One of the saddest experiences was that of Azniv Khanum, wife of the preacher in Kaladouran. Ten days before the massacre she had given birth to twin children, a boy and a girl. When the flight to the mountains took place she had not the strength to climb with the others, so her husband hid her and their four children among the rocks near the edge of the village. The babies were wrapped in a little quilt and the other children clung to their mother, while the father hid in a cave close by. Before long Azniv Khanum and the children were discovered by the Turks. One of the plunderers snatched up the quilt, despite the mother’s entreaties. The two babies rolled out, one in one direction and one in another, over the rough stones. Then the Turk rudely laid hold of the mother, and, holding his revolver against her breast, ordered her to become a Moslem. She bravely refused. “You are my slave,” he said, and beat her with the flat of his sword. He commenced to drag her down in order to tie her on his horse. Her foot tripped, she fell, and rolled over and over for about eight yards. There she lay on the rocks, bruised and exhausted, in the hot sun. The Turk seeing a chance to plunder, abandoned her. Afterwards other Turks took her money and her dress and shoes and her little girl about four years old. It is wonderful that she lived through it all. One of the little babies lived a week, the other about ten days, after that. When I was in Kaladouran we buried the little boy. It was a very touching service out under the trees.

Now, to return to the narrative. Friday evening it occurred to Dr. Apelian that if he could reach the seaport of Latakia, forty miles to the south, he could telegraph for assistance by sea. With a trusty guide he set out that same evening for the house of a Moslem chief in the mountains. This Turk agreed to ride with him to Latakia, and thus give him protection along the way. Without this escort the doctor could never have made this trip. Even as it was he took his life in his hands. They arrived in Latakia at 2 o’clock at night, called the British and French consuls to Dr. Balph’s home, sent telegrams to Alexandretta and Aleppo, and at dawn notified the Mutasarrif (Lieutenant-Governor) of the attack on Kessab. Turkish soldiers were dispatched at once, and a Messageries steamer started to the rescue from Alexandretta.

Meanwhile, all day Saturday the sacking and burning went on. The large village of Kaladouran was devastated. The Moslems increased in numbers as raiders from distant villages arrived. In the afternoon Selhan Agha, captain of gendarmerie, arrived with forty cavalrymen. He joined in the sack of the town, taking for himself and his company the most valuable share of the booty, the raw silk found in the merchants’ shops. He and the cavalrymen were afterward intercepted at Idlib, on their way to Aleppo, and their saddlebags were found to be crammed full of plunder. Selhan Agha, with the forty horsemen, had been dispatched from Jissr by orders from Aleppo, Thursday afternoon, to go at once to protect Kessab from any mob violence. He could have gone in eight hours, or even less, from Jissr to Kessab. At that time the attack had not yet commenced. Instead of going directly to Kessab he went to Sheikh Keoy and spent the night there. The next day all the Moslems from that village were out on the warpath, while Selhan Agha turned far out of his way and made a sixty-mile detour to many other Mohammedan villages and to the city of Antioch. Finally he reached Kessab, forty-eight hours after receiving his orders, and when he arrived he did not stop the burning and looting, but himself became a plunderer. This whole disgraceful affair has been probed by the Aleppo Commission, and their findings substantiate all of the above statements. I have most of the evidence, however, directly from one of the gendarmes named Mehmet Ali.

BOYS’ GRAMMAR SCHOOL, KESSAB. BURNED APRIL 23-24.

By Saturday night there was not much valuable plunder left. The iron bars were wrenched out from the windows and the household pottery smashed to pieces out of sheer vandalism. As the loot became exhausted the Moslems commenced to range the mountainsides, exploring the caves, and firing into the bushes in the effort to exterminate the Christians. One woman’s husband was cut to pieces before her very eyes, and she herself was severely wounded in the side. She escaped to the deep ravines near the summit of Mount Cassius and lived on snow for twelve days. She is now in the American hospital at Latakia.

All the tradesmen’s shops and merchants’ storehouses in Kessab are burned. In fact, the whole market is in ashes. The Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches are completely burned. The latter was a spacious building, seating a congregation of 1,800. The American Mission residence, occupied by Miss E. M. Chambers, was burned; so, also, the Girls’ High School (American property), the Boys’ Grammar School, and the Protestant parsonage; 530 houses, including the homes of all the well-to-do families in Kessab, are also destroyed by fire. The 700 houses which remain, plundered, but not burned, are small one-room or two-room houses, belonging to laborers and other poor people. In Ekizolook 38 homes are burned; 22 remain. In Kaladouran 65 are gone; 135 are left. In Duz Aghaj 24 are burned; 1 remains. In Keorkine 55 are burned; 45 remain.

On Saturday one of the Latin priests, Father Sabatine, made the journey to Latakia, at considerable risk, in order to appeal for help. Whether it was by the influence of his telegrams or the ones sent twenty-four hours before by the Protestant physician, Dr. Apelian, I do not know, but at all events on Sunday morning a Messageries Maritime steamer came down the coast toward the cove at Kaladouran, at the foot of Mount Cassius. The news was carried from mouth to mouth to all the hiding places among the crags and ravines, so that within a few hours the fugitives began to pour in streams down the Kaladouran gorge to the seashore. The painfulness of that descent can scarcely be imagined. Most of the people had not had anything to eat for two days. Many of them had become separated from their families and were now plodding down toward the sea with a strange blend of hope and despair. The suffering of many of the women was severe indeed. Fourteen children were born during that flight, and the mothers had no alternative but to press onward as best they could in the wake of the multitude.

An 8-year-old little boy was captured by the Turks and carried off to become a Moslem. He was given a Mohammedan name and made to wear a little turban. He acted very demurely and kept quiet. But when a chance offered, as he had permission to go to a nearby well, he ran for dear life and got away. With an instinct as keen as that of a wild creature of the woods, he made his way among the mountains and across the maritime plain forty miles, to Latakia, where he found his mother.

The Messageries steamer took aboard about 3,000 and brought them to Latakia, where they were divided up among several churches and schools. On Monday, a French cruiser brought 4,000 more. The largest number were cared for in the grounds of the American Presbyterian Mission. The hospital was crowded with wounded and sick under the care of Dr. James Balph. Miss Elsey, the trained nurse, opened a maternity ward, and all the Americans worked hard in relief measures. The days in Latakia, under the hot sun and with the constant fear that the Turks of the town might rush in and attack them, were days of exile and hardship, in spite of all that could be done for safety and health. They gathered quietly in the evenings for prayer and for the singing of the hymns that they all know by heart. After a few days sickness began breaking out rapidly. Several smallpox cases were discovered, and the crowded conditions threatened still further disorders. The Mutasarrif, who is chief magistrate in Latakia, had from the start done everything in his power to protect and provide for these fugitives. He himself patrolled the streets at night, and, with the few soldiers at his command, dispersed the angry Moslem mobs which repeatedly made attempts at disorder. He furnished a ration of flour for all and expressed his sympathy with those who were in sorrow. When he saw the rapid increase of sickness he advised that they should all return to Kessab, and to give the people assurance of safety on the road he went with them in person. The courageous and kind-hearted action of this Turk saved Latakia, and the thousands of Kessab people sheltered there, from the dreadful event of a massacre. His conduct stands out in strong contrast with the criminal behavior of Hassein Hassan Agha, the Mudir of Ordou.

INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH IN KESSAB. SACKED AND BURNED APRIL 23-24.

Can you imagine the feelings of the Kessab people as they climbed on foot the long trail up the mountain, and then as they came over the ridge into full view of their charred and ruined dwellings? Their stores of wheat, barley, and rice had been burned; clothing, cooking kettles, furniture, and tools had gone; their goats, cows, and mules had been stolen; their silk industry stamped out; their beloved churches reduced to smouldering heaps. The bodies of their friends and relatives who had been killed had not been buried. And yet the love of home is so strong that the people have settled down there with the determination to clear up the debris and rebuild their houses. If generous gifts arrive from England and America the Local Relief Committee hopes to put into the hands of the Kessab men such tools as shall enable them to earn their usual livelihood by one of the trades or by farming. For the present food supplies and clothing must also be forwarded from Latakia and Beirut. But as soon as a man begins to earn a daily wage, no matter how small, his name is struck off the ration lists. I insisted upon this rule in the case of muleteers, who were paid for carrying up the first shipment of relief supplies. Two capable doctors are ready to give their services for the sick, but they have lost all medical and surgical supplies. It would be of the utmost benefit to furnish them with instruments and medicines. In this, as in other needs, we heartily appreciate the prompt cooperation of the Beirut Relief Committee. Miss E. M. Chambers, who was in Adana during these troubles, has now returned to Kessab. She has lost everything, but is quite ready to share the lot of the people. She is secretary for the Kessab Relief Committee, of which Dr. James Balph, Latakia, is chairman and treasurer.

On Sunday afternoon, May 23, the first preaching service for four weeks was held out under the trees near the burned church. My heart went out to the people as I spoke to them and looked into their faces. I realized then a little what they had been through during the past month. May God’s blessing be richly poured out upon them!

Supplementary Report.

For the first few weeks we were all compelled to do emergency work, the doctors to treat the wounded, the rest of us to secure flour, rice, and water for the throngs of homeless people. But now the attention of all of us is directed to construction work, providing for the industrial needs of the sufferers, rebuilding wherever possible and reorganizing the agricultural work of the peasants. For the orphan children homes are being established, chiefly by the missionaries, and for the widows whose livelihood has been cut off by the killing of husbands, fathers, and sons, the establishment of embroidery, rug making, and silk culture, the materials and tools furnished by the relief committees, the wages to be paid daily to the earners. Where many men have survived, the common trades of carpentry, masonry, stonecutting, tailoring, and weaving may be reestablished by a sufficient financial backing from relief societies. There is also great need of men to specialize in relief work and administer the large funds required. Missionaries can not rightly give up all their regular work, nor can navy officers nor consuls, but a few American volunteers, such as those sent to southern Italy and Sicily after the earthquake, could do a wonderful amount of good.

Perhaps the most effective and wide-reaching relief work thus far has been done by Dr. F. D. Shepard and his wife in the large villages of Hassan Beyli and Baghche. This American surgeon could use to excellent advantage a staff of young men from the homeland. The work of the Beirut Relief Committee in providing hundreds of the men who survived the Kessab attack with tools and implements, so that they might commence earning a living at once, deserves note as a typically American plan, financed chiefly through the generosity of the American National Red Cross. To avoid pauperizing the people is one of the most difficult feats. Here in the city of Aintab, where there has been practically no loss of life, but great economic loss and resulting increase of poverty, I have furnished some of the unemployed weavers with twelve looms for six months. Twelve stonecutters, who were out of work since April 16, I have set to work digging pits or holes in the limestone of the hospital grounds, so that trees may be planted in the pits next spring. The earth is only a few inches deep here.

Although the American people have helped very generously, the work of relief has only just begun, and a more thorough effort to put the people here on their feet again and to make kindly provision for all the helpless persons, the old women and little children, requires large plans and large appropriations from such societies as the American National Red Cross.

An English Woman’s Heroism.

Mrs. Doughty-Wylie, wife of the British Vice-Consul, in a letter to her mother, describes with the vividness of an eye witness the horrors of the last days of the rule of the late Sultan, Abdul Hamid.

Major Doughty-Wylie, a soldier who has taken part in many campaigns, was severely wounded while engaged in the work of rescue. His heroic services have won from the American missionaries laurels that will not fade. Mrs. Doughty-Wylie also, according to impartial witnesses, displayed the courage of her race, and by her devotion and energy saved many lives.

From a letter from Mrs. Doughty-Wylie we make the following extracts:

THE AMERICAN MISSION RESIDENCE. KESSAB. COMPLETELY DESTROYED.

“We are having a perfectly hideous time here. Thousands have been murdered—25,000 in this province, they say; but the number is probably greater, for every Christian village was wiped out. In Adana about 5,000 have perished. After Turks and Armenians had made peace and the Armenians had given up their arms, the Turks came in the night with hose and kerosene and set fire to what remained of the Armenian quarter. Next day the French and Armenian schools were fired. Nearly everyone in the Armenian school perished, anybody trying to escape being shot down by the soldiers.

“In the French school a large number of Fathers and Sisters, with 2,000 Armenians, were rescued by Dick (Major Doughty-Wylie). Thirty, who tried to escape, were shot. Dick found their bodies at the gate, but he got the survivors out of the schools and brought them right through the Turkish quarter without losing a soul. Altogether he got several thousand people out of the burning quarter and encamped them near our temporary dwelling.

“I have the hospital—sixty-five beds so far and about 150 outpatients requiring surgical dressings. Fifteen thousand starving people are to be fed and we are running into debt nicely.

“The Turkish authorities do nothing except arrest unoffending Armenians, from whom by torture they extort the most fanciful confessions. Even the wounded are not safe from their injustice. A man was being carried in to me yesterday when he was seized and taken off to gaol. I dare not think what his fate may be.

“Nobody is safe. They murder babies in front of their mothers; they half murder men and violate their wives while the husbands are lying there dying in pools of blood. Then they say it is the fault of the Armenians, because there existed a revolutionary society of about sixty members, who talked and wrote a good deal of rot.

“We arrived in Adana from Mersine the first day of the massacre, April 14. The murderers boarded the train. There was a rush of Armenian passengers into our compartment. While I tried to buck them up a bit Dick went and tackled an assassin who was just going to shoot somebody else. At Tarsus they murdered two men who were coming from the station just behind us. One man made a rush and gained the guardhouse, but the soldiers shoved him out and watched him done to death in the road.

“Dick got into uniform the moment he arrived, and we saw no more of him till 11 at night. He had been rescuing all the foreign subjects he could find. The following day I saw more brutal murders. An Armenian quarter near us was attacked by Arab soldiers from our guard and was practically wiped out. Their officers and one or two decent soldiers stuck to the guardhouse and took no part in the murders. The officers, at my earnest appeal, even saved some women and children—but how dreadfully shot they were.

“After an hour’s argument I got a Greek doctor to come out with me to the guardhouse and dress the wounded women and children. The room was a puddle of blood, and while we were working there a wounded Armenian, who was staggering in to be dressed, was stabbed to death by some of the soldiers. I saw many murders, and nobody seemed to care.

“The authorities did nothing, and the soldiers were worse than the crowd, for they were better armed.

“One house in our quarter was burned with 115 people inside. We counted the bodies. The soldiers set fire to the door, and as the windows had iron bars nobody could get out. Everybody in the house was roasted alive. They were all women and children and old people. It was in that part of the town that Dick was wounded. They told him that some wounded Turkish soldiers were lying among the burning houses, and he went to rescue them, which they certainly did not deserve. The house from which he was shot had a garden filled with dead women and children, and I have no doubt that some Armenian, who had lost entire family and most of his friends, shot him in a sort of mad fit, probably taking him for a Turk.

Slaughter in the Fields.

“Outside Adana every Christian village—Greek, Syrian, or Armenian—has been burned and every soul in them killed. Unfortunately, it was just before harvest, and thousands of peasants from the mountains and other districts were there to start work. From 100 to 200 men and women were murdered on every farm. Turkish farms were not burned or looted, but the Armenian servants were killed. I know of only one farmer—a friend of ours—who had the nerve to save his Armenians.

MRS. DOUGHTY-WYLIE IN UNIFORM OF ARMY NURSE ON BALCONY OF SURGICAL HOSPITAL.

“The French engineer and an English traveler gallantly did some saving. They had escorts, and the Frenchman stood a three-days’ siege and made his escort fight some Circassians to save a dozen Armenians. It was gallantly done. The Englishman, whose name is Gunter, refused to save himself unless the Armenians who had thrown themselves on his protection were saved. It was touch and go for the lot, but British pluck won and he got his own terms.

“The Germans, however, who were shut up in a place called Bagche gave up the Armenians in their house as the price of their own safety. Here the Germans are working splendidly on relief work. They are all Saxons and had a factory full of Armenians, which held out all right. When the Armenians were being brought out of the factory to the camp, as soon as things were supposed to be quiet, the soldiers started killing them. I happened to be at the guardhouse and got my little officer to go to the rescue, and all were brought in safely except three, who had been already shot.

“Things are still very unsettled. Murders and fires continue; but, of course, it is not like the first days of horror.

“We have 15,000 people starving and without shelter. All we can give them is a fragment of bread or a handful of rice. We have nothing more to give. No milk for the babies—nothing. And measles and dysentery are rife.”

REPORT OF F. G. FREYER, SECRETARY-TREASURER OF THE BEIRUT RELIEF COMMITTEE.

Beirut, Syria, July 12, 1909.

Mr. E. G. Freyer, Secretary-Treasurer of the Relief Committee, with his financial statements sends a special appeal for Kessab. He also says, in regard to the Committee’s work as American Red Cross Agents:

We realized, first, that under the American National Red Cross our Committee would take the field as a distinctively American undertaking, even though recognizing the principle which governs all Red Cross work—that its benefits should reach all in need, irrespective of nationality or creed.

Secondly, it gave the Committee a standing, a guarantee before the public which enabled it to raise funds in quarters where remittances under other circumstances might not have been forthcoming.

The sending of doctors and nurses to Adana in the name and under the protection of the Red Cross flag was not only a source of satisfaction to the Committee, but of the very greatest help and blessing to the many who at that time required immediate medical aid.

Those of us who have lived in the Orient for years have become accustomed to the remark, and in many cases have allowed ourselves to believe, that the native will not help himself, much less others, but that he is willing to be dependent on the charity of the outside world. Be this as it may under ordinary conditions, the present crisis has fully demonstrated that the native can and will rise to the occasion and help not only himself but his neighbor as well.

In looking over the summary of receipts it is more than gratifying to note the very generous response which has come to our appeal from the Syrians, or those whom we designate as “natives.” When we consider that out of a total of 564,538 piasters received fully one-third has come from native sources, this fact in itself may be considered a success commensurate with any relief and help which the money itself has brought to the sufferers. It is proverbial that it is difficult to get money from the native. It is a satisfaction to know that he is sympathetic, and that he can and will help.

Many cases can be cited where sacrifices have been made to help along the work of relief. One man who had saved his metallic pieces (1 cent plus) for nearly three years, and who had his small box nearly full, handed it over with the remark, “Here, I have saved these for three years. I know not what the box contains. Take it for the fund.” The proceeds of that box netted the fund 385 piasters, or $13.75. The children brought their pennies, school girls went without portions of their meals, the poor gave of their little, and by these acts of self-denial helped to feed and clothe their fellow-countrymen.

We have esteemed it a privilege to work under Red Cross auspices, even though our funds have come also from many other sources.

From England we have received many contributions, large and small. The latter are numerous, and indicate the desire many have had to help.

A Special Appeal for Kessab.

Relief work at Kessab, as in many of the disturbed districts of northern Syria, has been going on since the end of April last. During that time the Beirut Relief Committee has been able to aid in feeding and clothing the many widows and orphans who were left entirely destitute, while tools for carpenters, blacksmiths, and masons, also plows and farming implements, have been sent there so that the work of reconstruction might begin.

Until now relief work has consisted chiefly in feeding the hungry; more could not be undertaken on a large scale. The summer months have proved favorable in that the people did not require special housing. Improvised tents and shelters of various kinds were constructed, and for the present these have served their purpose well, but the great question which confronts all who are engaged in this work is, how these people are to be housed and sheltered during the bleak winter months. It must be remembered that the winters at Kessab are exceptionally severe. Situated on the side of a mountain at a high altitude, the winds and rains not infrequently cause the place to be entirely covered with ice and snow.

Then, again, how are they to be provided with food to tide over the winter, or until they can raise their next crop of silk worms, the chief industry of Kessab? We can not go on feeding them indefinitely, yet it is a duty to feed and house this people until, under ordinary conditions, they can provide their own support and repair their homes.

In regard to providing shelter, it is thought that it may be feasible to erect two or three large barracks to give at least temporary shelter to the women and children. Conference with those on the field and those who know the conditions which hold good at Kessab may prove that this is not a feasible plan, but that it would be better to roof over some of the larger buildings. While practically all the houses in Kessab were destroyed by fire, the walls of most of them are standing and in good condition. It may be found more advantageous to roof over several of these large houses, or even the Protestant and Armenian Churches. The latter could be used by the constituents of either sect, and under such conditions as the Relief Committee may see fit to make. Unless some such measure of relief is adopted immediately great will be the suffering and privation of the people of Kessab during the coming winter months.

The very lowest estimate places the cost of the construction work at $10,000 and the cost of a sufficient quantity of wheat to sparingly supply the needs of the people at $5,000.

In view of the foregoing facts a special appeal is therefore made for $15,000, $10,000 of which to be specifically designated as intended for and to be applied to constructive work.

It is hoped that these specific objects for which funds are so urgently needed, and the receipt of which will do untold good, may appeal to many who are in a position to give.

Abstract of First Financial Statement, Beirut Relief Committee, June 24, 1909.

Your Committee has long felt the necessity of rendering at least a preliminary statement, showing amounts received and expended, in connection with the relief work made possible through your generosity.

Without the aid of regularly paid assistants it has, however, been impossible for the Committee to render such an account earlier, feeling that its first efforts should be directed toward the work of relief rather than that of accounts.