The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1903-12-03
TWO YEARS in EUROPE
Elvyn Ninde Tells of His Travels
In The Old World.


Mediterranean Sea, and in quite q
number of the provinces and princi.
palities Of the Turkish Empire. He
has, during the time consumed In
this trip, been in Egypt, Palestine,
many of the islands Of the Grecian
Archipelago, and in Bulgaria and Ser.
via. He has been face to face with
tho Turkish atrocities committed in
Macedonia and has become intimate
ly acquainted with the details OF the
revolution among the Bulgarians OF
Macedonia.
Mr.. Ninde is a much travelled man
and has seen all peoples Of the world
and in all conditions. He has seen
so much of life upon the globe that
things have become ordinary and
common and the affairs Of people
have but little interest for him.
Much acquaintance with countries
and people tend to give the man who
travels far and wide surfeit of that
which interests the ordinary tourist.
The ordinary affairs of a country
or a people have ceased to attract
the attention of Mr.. Ninde, but when
he came face to face with the facts
in connection with the Bulgarian rev.
olution, he was astounded at the ter
rible conditions which he saw and
knew to exist. He became stirred
and moved at the crimes committed
by the Turkish soldiery in the Mace
DOMAIN country as he had never been
before. He was touched by what he
saw, and found to be true to the ex-
tent that the thing would not leave
his mind and he found himself contin-
ually engrossed in thinking about it,
and he was even dreaming about the
people and the situation.
Mr.. Ninde says that ne American
people do not know of the awfulness
Of the situation existing in Macedo-
MIA and across the frontier in Bulga-
ria, or there would certainly be more
interest shown in the revolution Of
these people. The situation has been
growing worse and worse during the
past several months and now the
rigors of cold and lengthy winter
season are upon the people, with no
hope of relief, and they must starve
and die by the hundreds unless local
relief can be given them.
The greatest amount of suffering
is among the refugees, women and
children for the greater part, who
have come out of Macedonia into the
Bulgarian country. There are known
to be fully sixty thousand of these
refugees scattered along the frontier
towns of Bulgaria, with no means of
support They have no clothing ex-
cepting the clothes in which they
stand, no money and no means with
which to secure either clothing or
food, and they have come upon a
country that is taxed with it's own
support.
The Turkish soldiers went into
this country with the intention OF
completely crushing out the revolu-
ton, but the insurrection has taken
so strong a hold upon the people of
the state that the Turks have found
a task that has been far beyond their
means and power. Orders were is
sued by these in authority that the
country must he actually depopulat-
ed and all Christians in the country
must be made away with. The SOL
diers went at their bloody work with
a diligence that beggars any descrip-
ton that can be given concerning it.
The soldiery has overrun the coun-
try and wherever men are found they
are ruthlessly murdered, massacred
All men are shot down at sight, their
homes are burned, after being pill
LACED by the soldiers. Some of the
women and children are murdered as
are the men, and worse fate befalls
the girls who are found in the vii
lagos and in the paths crossed by the
soldiers. They are captured and
turned over to be the property of the
soldiers, to be used by them as they
desire. After a few days of merci-
less treatment these girls in many
cases are also put out of the way.
The terrible things that are perpe-
trated are beyond belief, and it does
not seem possible that such things
can be done in the very face of civil
ization.
The refugees for the greater part
are women with babes, old women
and children who have been burned
out of their homes and have in some
way managed to escape with their
lives. They have gathered in COM
panies and crowds and have managed
to get across the frontier into Bulga-
ria. At one place where Mr.. Ninde
was stopping for a time there were
twenty thousand of these people and
they were then in a pitiable plight.
In many cases the refugee would be
the sole survivor of a large family,
all others having been massacred or
taken off by the soldiers. There is
little or no relief to be had by these
poor people, although some steps
toward giving assistance have been
taken by the Christian countries of
Europe. Relief funds have been start
ed in England and some money has
been sent from this country by those
who have understood the situation as
oxpfc4.