The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-02-03

Is the statesman of the mission, hac
been holding conferences with the
Turkish and Persian officials and their
diplomatic Offices supplemented the
walls | asked Mr. Allen, one of the
heroes Of the siege, what really would
bave been done had the Turks and
Kurds broken through in force. He re-
Piled, well, all we could have done
would have been to sell our lives as
1-arly rs possible; and ! had on a CON
venient shelf in my home. forty five
knives, such as the Assyrian noun
tamcers wear, which l had taken from
efugces; and l had picked out the men
10 whom would give these il the worst
rIme 10 pass. l knew that every one
of them would give i good account of
himself"
How Americans Met Al Emergency.
There are no natiYe-born Americans
ia Urumia except missionaries; and at
the time Of the siege these numbered
eighteen, of whom thirteen came down
with the dread typhus fever, though
happily not all at the same time. Three
Of the women died. With native fac
ulty for organization, the little force
was divided 50 that there was always
an American on guard, and so thas
each department Of the tremendous
work was under one responsible head.
Imagine what it means to have fifteen
thousand destitute persons, frightened,
helpless, and unused to organization, or
to life in civilized environment sud
fenly thrust upon the care of a handfui
cf Americans. All had to be fed,
1oused, and kept warm, il possible
trough it was not possible to do the
asst.
Upon one man, Mr.. Mcdowell, de.
volved the Herculean task Of sanitation,
including the protection Of the water
supply. Personal cleanliness was. Of
course, out of the question for the
refugees. and the conditions, particu.
larry among the mountaineers, grew
such as may not be described outside
Il medical journal Nor is it good
form to talk about vermin in America,
bat in all their hideous variety they
we're talked about and seen and felt by
everybody on the premises. Typhus,
which wrought 50 fatally among Syri-
ans and Americans, is carried by one
particularly obnoxious form Of vermin.
Then there was bread to be provided.
Did ever housewife have such a task
as fell upon Miss Lewis, of the girls
school, the present Mrs. Shedd-the
feeding of fifteen thousand with breac
alone? -Four to five tons, or fourteen
10 fifteen thousand Of the native loaves
Il bread, were provided daily, in as
systematic a fashion as possible. The
money for the purchase of this from
Mosem bakers had to be raised; and IL
vas well that the American credit was
Scod with the money ylenders Of the
city. 1t was pathetic to read in the
diaries of the missionaries such as the
notable one kept by Miss Lewis, their
concern about this money, lest America
would not be willing to repay it, There
vas a deal of trusting the good faith
and loyalty of the homeland in those
lays.
Other work, like that Of Mr. Allen
and Doctor Packard and Mr.. Mcdowell
was the visiting Of villages, to rescue
besieged Christians, or individual girls;
or to bury the bodies of the massacred.
There was none Of the American men
who did not in those days look upon
The dead and marred faces of his
friends. At one time fifty men, includ.
ing a HISTORIAN bishop and some
lriests, were taken out from the city
and shot in cold blood, because they
were Christians. The missionaries
buried these. In one village the Kurds
stood the men in rows, to see how
many they could kin with one shot
Syrian notables we're held by the Turks
lor ransom. at the hands of the Amer.
leans.
All the while there continued the
5hort to communicate with the outside
world, and it was eleven weeks before
my message from America got
though Once, in response to diplo-
matte pressure through Constantinople,
the Turks agreed to forward n tele-
gram, in which the besieged tried to
tell as discreetly as possible, their
plight ana need. When it reached
America it was an assurance that all
the missionaries were well, and that
they needed nothing!
A Hero Tale Of Modern America.
or incidents there were enough to
fll several books; but perhaps the palm
goes to the experience Of DR.. II. p.
Cackard, the missionary physician
,n -, rF ,lf nIr,y
and derring-do OF the Middle Ages. Per
sonal courage, will-power. resourceful-
ness and statecraft all came into play
IN capital fashion.
Word came TO the Americans that
of in the village Of Geogtapa, six
miles away. the Christians were be-
eieged by the Kurds, and that there
vas fighting under way. Straightway
Doctor Packard, whose medical work
had brought him into touch with many
Kuris. went forth to the scene carry
ing an American and a Aurkish flag
The firing was incessant, both in the
village and on all the roads leading to
Z. The sheikhs Of the Kurdish tribes
who had come down from the noun
tafns for the festival OF loot and rapine
and slaughter We're gathered under n
cluster of trees about a mile from the
village. To this group Doctor Packard
rode up boldly, finding, as he had sur
.1ised. that many OF them were his per.
soual friends and acquaiHtances and
former patients. None of them was
cad to see him, however, for they knew
what he wanted
a council Of four hours duration fol.
lowed, the firing proceeding the while
\ few of the sheikhs were in favor Of
acceding to the request of the American
maxim. and sparing the lives OF the
Ehrl.Iinue N III con, M =. !. 1r--,.. n 60 in.l