Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-10-05
IN 4 SAD PLIGHT.
Five Hundred Unfortunate Chris
tians Are Stranded in
France.

Copyrighted, 1896, by the Associated Press.)
Marseilles, Sept. 29.-There exists a
condition of affairs in this city at pres
ent which seems to be a disgrace to
Europe and to the Armenian associations
generally throughout the world. Subsist-
ing upon government, municipal or pri-
vate charity here, are 500 unfortunate
Armenlans, men. women and children,
young and DID, who have succeeded in eS-
Gaping from the bloody massacres at
COnstantinople and who were one and
all buoyed up by the hope on landing
here of being able eventually to reach
the land of freedom, the United States.
But weeks have already elapsed and
nothing definite appears to have been
done for their relief, much less towards
finding them homes, by any of the many
associations for the relief of suffering
Armenians which have been organized
in England or America. These unfor-
Inmates, however, seem to be the very
class to which the hand of charity
should be first extended. They are
homeless; nearly all are penniless; many
are enduring the pangs of hunger and
vet nobody seems willing to step in and
guide this band of refugees to some place
where they can begin life anew and IN
der more promising circumstances.
Large amounts of money have been
raised in the past for the destitute Ar
menians in Armenia, but the SITUATION
of the latter is not whit worse than
that of starving people here if as bad.
The Armenians in Armenia certainly had
their co-religioniStS and fellow country
men to fall back upon, but the poor peo-
pie here seem to have no friends III the
wide world, yet they are as honest and
industrious q class as one can find on the
shores of the Mediterranean.
Some South American spectators, it
is true, taking advantage of this deplor-
able situation, have prevailed upon SUI
others of the Armenian refugees to allow
themselves to be transported to the Ar
gentine republic, there in all possibility to
meet the fate of thousands of Hebrews
of Russia who, thanks to the philan-
thropy of the late Baron Hirsch, emigrat-
ed to South America only to find them
selves, figuratively speaking, tossed from
the frying pan into the fire. 1t is true
that the climate of Argentina is said
to be more healthy than that of the re-
gions the poor Hebrews tried to settle
in. But the end is likely to be the same
in the case of the Armenian refugees,
who are not a class of people likely to
thrive in roughly founded colonies.
Only about eighteen of the 1900 Ar
menians who reached here have as yet
been able to start for the United States.
These few emigrants are of the better
class of Armenians. They are fairly
we'll supplied with funds and will prob
ably start for New York via Southamp-
ton. But what is to become of the re-
naming unfortunate Christians, fleeing
from the blood-stained Turks, who are
living on charity here with their eyes
turned longingly towards the United
States?
1t would seem that these poor people
may be barred from reaching the United
States and they may be forbidden to land
there even if they succeed in obtaining
transportation to the shores of North
America. Surely if there ever was case
in which iron rules, necessary no doubt,
might be relaxed, it is in the case of these
stricken people, flying from the persecu,
tons and butcheries that have prevailed
in their own land. There is material here
for the foundation of a strong Armenian
colony and it would appear that there
must be some spot on earth where these
victims of the bloodthirstiness and mis-
government of Abdul Hamid Sultan of
Turkey, who, according to generally cred
tied reports, must have caused the massa-
ere of some $4,000 Christians during the
last few years, can earn an honest living.