Connecticut western news., 1920-02-05
AMERICANS HELD AS
 SPIES BY THE TARTARS
Another Story of Prosecutions
 of Starving Ar -..- menians

ted with ms war experiences 1n France and lured to the Near East by desire for further adventure, is back with story adding to those al- ready told of the horrors inflicted by the Moslems upon the Armenians and with tale of Americans mis- taken for spies by the fierce Tartars and held prisoners for days awai ing summons to death.
 He is F. H. Miller, Detroit boy, who during the World War served with the aviation section of the American army in France. Mus tered out, lover there" he heard of an opportunity for service and ad- venture with the American Relief Commission in. the Near East and went to the Caucasus where he ad- mits he got his fill of adventure, for the time being at least. He has just returned and has gone to Northern Michigan for a hunting trip in an endeavor to forget some of the horrible scenes in and around Erivan and other places in Armenia.
 Familiar with automobiles since his early boyhood, Miller who is not much past 25, was placed in charge of the transport of the relief workers in the Erivan district. Later he was with the American Commission for Armenian and Syrian Relief and when that was succeeded by Near East Relief he continued his work in the district.
 Suffering in Caucasian Armenia has been relieved to large extent in the Erivan district" said MT. Miller 'tBut there is still enough to wiring the stoutest heart. The worst prob lem of all is the seemingly endless stream of refugees which pours into the city, now headquarters of the government of the Armenian Repub- lic. @
 "The government has no funds for public works on which to employ those of the refugees able to do a little work. It has but little money to buy food. The refugees drift in, find little or nothing and after a time, those who are able, drift some where else, always seeking food enough to maintain life,
 4s"Outside the city, conditions are much worse. Along every road are the refugees, most of them wander ing aimlessly in the hope of getting something to eat. Four years ago they were prosperous farmers, shop keepers, or business men. Now they have ntohing and they and their kin are dying by scores daily. Near East Relief is doing splendid work, but it must do more and more for the need is great.
 HBelgium and Northern France suffered much during the War but not as Armenia has suffered. In the country districts there are scores of ruined villages and houses, some completely destroyed, others so dam aged as to be almost beyond repair. On the farms, trees were wantonly cut down, crops uprooted, buildings wrecked and tools carried away.
 s'This is what the survivors are coming back to. Decimated fami- lies, ruined homes, wrecked farms, no food, little work, no prospects. Unless America aids promptly and generously starvation and disease will finish the work of extermination begun by the Turks.
 Miller's adventures began soon after he was assigned to the head quarters in Erivan. Automobile trips were not delight. The roads, or what passed for roads, were in de- cidedly bad shape, only one, that from Erivan to Tifiis, being in the fair class. No tires were obtatinable at any price, gas was high and scarce and everything else needed was either impossible to gete or at a prohibitive price.
 In Constantinople, Miller had re- placed hihs war-worn American uni form for a new English one, Sam Browne belt and all. This change, common to all Americans in the Near East at the time, caused trouble for him and a party of Americans he was driving to Tifiis on a relief mission, for at Nachievan, the party was halted by Tartars and arrested as British spies from Persia.
 Under heavy guard adn expecting to be shot at sunrise the party spent a sleepless night, but after a con- ference with the Tartar governor the following day they were released. At Boshanara came repitition of the arrests and threats. This time they were held for three days with death hanging over their heads. Proof that the party was all-Ameri- can finally won them through and they returned with eleven Americans and French citizens who had been held by the Tartars.