The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1919-08-29
THE OBSERVATORY.
CALDWELL BOY IN TURKEY

A CALDWELL Do1 LIN - NhE
From letter of William E. Hawkes.
to friend we are permitted to copy
some intedesting facts.
American Mission, Sivas, Turkey,
Tuly ST. was wearing the Red TRAN
ole uniform in Camp Fremont, and
Since I have been with A. C. R. N. E.
in this land of Turkey. | am as much
interested in them now as | was be-
fore and I think more so for I still
feel that belong to the Y after my
IS months in that uniform.
In fact I had a chance to STAY on
with that work in San Francisco or in
some one of several colleges in the
northwest when | chose this expert
ence which may result in my remain
ing in mission work over here.
Nv experiences in Y work were
varied on the home field even though
| did not have chance to get across.
I think l acted as almost everything
from janitor and general roustabout
to tent and building secretary and
camp transportation secretary. Along
with the latter job | had a trip with
troops to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where
/ left the artillery regiment l had
come to feel part of and another trip
to Camp Mills, Long Island, when our
whole division left us just before the
armistice was signed, Having charge
of the Y work on a. trains.
left Camp Fremont as it was being
dismAntled and hurried across the
continent as fast as could and sailed
on the Pensacola" There were AZ
of us living in hold and eating what
the sailors ate. We had rough voy-
age enjoying our first calm day as we
came around the coast of Portugal
and Spain to the Port of Gibraltar.
We did not have a chance to go
ashore there and left the same day
only to run into severe storm as we
headed into the Mediterranean. When
we were off Malta we began to have
fine weather again which lasted until
we reached Beirut We discharged
part of our cargo there and spent a
very busy six days.
In Beirut we managed to see a few
sights and the Syrian Protestant Col
lege especially. The college has a
(Lebanon) rising behind it and the
stretching off in front of it into the
H..
in the hospital about as near skin and
bone as any have ever seen and one
little girl had forearm about the size
of my thumb. The Red Cross there
in charge of Major Nichol, a Presby-
terrain missionary, had done much to
relieve the suffering and had started
weaving and other industries to pro-
vide employment for some of the
poor.
We left several of our party there
and the rest of Gus proceeded toward
Constantinople. We were all on deck
with our eyes open when we passed
through the Dardanelles and had
Schreiner's map with US showing the
location of the various sunken battle
ships. Then instead of going to Con-
stantinople we went to Derindje near
Ismid on Ismid Bay.
The commission had fortunately
been able to take over some large
warehouses there with fine trackage
and good docking facilities. So we
locked and proceeded the. next day
to unload. The cargoes seemed to
have all sorts of things from pins and
thread and cloth and complete 100
bed hospital units, food and all, to
Fords and REQ trucks, one and two
ton.
was in Derindje six days and then
as member of the first party to leave
for the interior stared out by rail. We
had train of % cars, food, automo-
biles, gasoline, flour, milk, and two
large coaches. We had an interesting
trip through the country as every
thing was so new. And the country
Say! so much of it was like our west
with great rolling plains and then
mountains and buttes and then we
went through gorges and tunnels and
the scenery was beautiful.
We went through Eski Shehir Gold
City, and Ak Shehir white City,
and Alton Kara Hissar (the junction
for Smyrna.) Hissar means castle
and there are many names of places
with that as part of it. Kara is black
and then the first part of the name
has something to do with the poppy or
opium. l do not wonder at the latter
for never have ever seen such a
profusion of peoples everywhere as
there are here. Great fields of grain
green and red and all along the roads
red, red, red. could keep on about
the flowers here and started out to
get samples of them when they first
began to come in the place where
was several weeks. gave il up as
could not spare the time to keep ur
with them. Many were like those
had found at home in Idaho or in New
England as the mallows, mullens, for
get-me-not, larkspur, etc.
We stopped in Konia and there we
stopped truly. Half of our party wen
on to Adana and Aleppo. One was .