New-York tribune., 1918-02-03
Below-The door through which 15.-
600 refugees fled from Turks and
some of the children saved.
Above - Distributing food at the
door and one Of the victims.

Packard rode up boldly. finding, as
he had surmised, that many of them
were his personal friends and acquaint-
ances and former patients None of
them was glad to see him, however,
for they knew what he wanted.
a council of four hours duration
followed, the firing proceeding the
while. A few of the sheiks were in
favor. of acceding to the request of
lives of the Christians. In the COM
pan,y was a sajed. Or descendant Of
Mahomet, dressed in green, and bear
ing a huge rough iron sword, as a
symbol of the jehad. or holy war. He
kept demanding that they get to the
work for which they had como and
not let this lntruding intidel interfere
with them. He continually recited
passages from the Koran. appealing to
the religious zeal of the chiefs. 1t
was a rare battle of wits that surged
to and fro for four hours, to the music
OF the firing in and about the village.
At length the American won, and the
sheiks agreed to give him, as they
said, the souls of the besieged people
provided they would all lay down their
arms and leave their possessions be-
hind them for the Kurds to do with
as they pleased.
a,
and those who had refugeed there from
thirty villages, had gone after the
fighting commenced to the Russian
Syrian Church, which crowns the vii
lage height. From the roof of this
the men were firing upon the Kurds,
who had already killed some two hun
dred persons in the village, and who
held every road of escape. 1t seemed
only a question Of time until the
Christians ammunition would give out
and every man, woman and child would
fall to an inevitable fate.
Besieged March
Out to Safety
After the agreement with the sheiks
had been reached word was sent to the
kurds to cease firing, and then Dr..
Packard himself, carrying his Ameri
can flag, advanced toward the be-
seged church, The cry went up among
the Christians. 'It is the American
hakim sahib!" 1t was not easy for
the Syrians to trust the word of the
Kurds and lay down their weapons.
the nearby Presbyterian Church, TAX
ing their weapons as they entered.
Then began one of the most dra-
matte marches in American history.
That entire company Of rescued Syr-
ians, mistrusting, with reason, the
promise Of the kurds. and expecting
to be fired upon at every turn. went
forth at the heels OF the American
missionary and his flag, past the baf-
fed besicgers and across the plain to
the city and the American compound.
1t was the most difficult prescription
DR.. Packard had ever given, but the
Christians knew him, and took it. to
the saving OF THEM lives.
One recalls the siege of Lucknow
and other historic horrors for Il paral-
lei to the experience of these Ameri-
cans in Urumia For into that small
compound crowded fifteen thousand
destitute persons. 1t is almost beyond
belief as one goes about the premises
to-day. 1t was midwinter (though the
superstitious Moslems remarked that
God gave the Christians the mildest
winter ever known), and few had so
sleep. Every nook and Granny held
refugees. | measured one closet which
has been snug haven for four boys,
snd it is two and half by three and
half feet One little room, without
any conveniences, was maternity ward,
and even twins were born there, with
never an inch of clothes awaiting
them. In the main room Of the girls
school there was not even lying down
room, but only standing or sitting
loom. One layer would be on top of
the desks, one on the seats and another
on the floor. In the church, which
holds comfortably a congregation of al
most eight hundred, there were by
GERS. An instant's contemplation of the
crnrp 10 cickoDiuc