Bisbee daily review., 1920-06-27
TURKS FIRE IN
 AMERICANS IN
 THE NEAR EAST


 NEW YORK, June 26.-The Turk ish nationalist forces in besieging Marash, Syria, last January deliberate ly and continuously fired on the American college and Near East Re lief hospital and orphanage there, ac- cording to Dr. Mabel Elliott, of Ben ton Harbor, Michigan, who was in charge of the hospital during the | three weeks attack.
 Dr. Elliott, who has now returned to this country with Mrs. Mabel Pow CT, of North Hero, Vt, Miss Helen Shultz of Reading, Pa, and Miss Min nie Dougherty of Holyoke, Mass, told an eyewitness story of the attack, di- rected against the Armenian popula- tion.
 The slaughter of men, women and children was horrible, she said, and the pillage of houses barbaric In one Armenian church 2,5O0 persons were killed-only p surviving the at tack on it-she said.
 Of fleeing column of 5000 Ar menians, mostly women and children driven from the besieged city, Dr. FL liott said only 2,200 reached their ob- jective, Islahie, but 75 miles away.
 The whole three weeks of the seize the firing from house tops and windows never ceased" she said. 'The Turks fired many buildings all ovar tho tOup and from, o,,r u,;rdorro we could see columns of smoke rising first from one part of the city and then another, every hour of the day and night
 The largest Armenian church at first sheltered some 2500 Armenians of the better class, shop keepers, bus mess man and merchants and their families. They had arms, and they put up a good fight. But the Turks finally fired the church and forced them out. Only P of them escaped with their lives.
 "A communication trench was dug from French headquarters to the hos pital by which the French wounded were brought in to us. They were all Seneglaese and Moroccans. The Senegalese blacks suffered frightful- ly from the cold. We had 900 cases of wounded and frozen feet-mostly frozen feet.
 All over town, the Armenians gather in the nearest churches for protection, largely because by being concentrated they were in greater force, and also because the church buildings are of stone, and surround ed by high walls, and thus made the best means of defense. It wasn't pos sible to live a day in private house. as the Turkss would fire the house and drive the inhabitants out, killing them as they ran for shelter. We could see that going on everywhere
 There were about 5000 Armenians who .joined the column and tried to make the march over the mountains to Islahie, 75 miles from Marash, when the French troops evacuated the city
 There was no food for anyone, and only few carts. Practically everybody had to walk the whole way
 Tt was a ghastly, incredible night mare. The worst blizzard that Mar ash had ever known caught us.
 Most of the fugitives were wo- men and children. The men stayed behind to fight and cover our retreat.
 "They died like flies. Every 90 wards or so someone would drop in the snow There was no use trying to do anything. It was all anybody could do to keep going.
 We had to cross many streams, which were frozen at first, but the ice was broken by the French trains and artillery and when we came along we had to wade in the icy Wa ter, and then walk on in the snow. l saw the French general in command wading the streams on foot.
 Out of the 5000 who started only 22OO ever got there.
 "Mrs. Mabel Power of North Hero, Vt. and Miss Helen Shultz. of Read ing, Pa. who came out with me went to Adana in a French hospital train.