Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1920-12-22
ARM ENlANS NEED
ALL WE CAN GIVE

Near East Relief. in Milwaukee, re-
Gently.
DR.. Yonan is an Assyrian and has
come To this country to interest
Americans in the cause of the As
syrians and Armenians. In his plea
for help. he said:
For the last twenty-five years
have been a professor in the only col
lege in Persia. l have taught hun
dreds and hundreds of young men,
who. when the World war was on.
We're needed as interpreters 10 the
British. The other day in Chicago [
met a number of them. Some had
been in this country for fifteen years,
but they could not speak a word of
English. over. there we know your
language. your history; we are Amer
leans though on a foreign soil | have
lived in that world of turmoil with my
father. with my people and ! fought
in the war My little boys, with me,
have seen starvation and the horrors
of war. | have seen men sawed
asunder and ! have seen women led
their wives at the critical moment
when the Turk was ready TO snatch
her TO him. have been in terrible
flights where a mother, with blOodshot
eyes filled with horror and fear. has
taken their children--one on her back.
and carrying another. was fleeing 10
save them and herself. II you had been
in those sieges as have, you would not
leave the city OF Milwaukee till you
had done what you could TO save TO-
900 children.
Il feel that the Armenians have two
just claims upon you. One. as repre-
sentatives of those Christian races
which were killed and crucifed. tor
tured with hunger. many of whom
have died in the front line trenches OF
Christianity We have died for our
faith and are dying today. For 600
years the terrible Turk has been our
master. His program has been to
annihilate and exterminate us. He
has killed US. is killing US now. but
he can never kill our faith. He can
take a babe By the hairs of its head
and decapitate him with his Damascus
dagger. with a smile.
When this war began, we gave our.
selves to the allies. They made ex.
travagant promises to US. We refused
an offer of the Turks and Germans,
believing that the time had come when
we would be free of the Turk and that
we would put ourselves with the allies
and make the supreme sacrifice to get
liberty. We did our part. We did so
per cent more than the British and
so per cent more than the French.
We gave 100000 young men out of
100000 people to fight the battles of
the allies. These young men never
surrendered and they never retreated.
I'VE organized our armies. and IL
year-old boys enlisted. Ny own boy
was one of them. We had 1900 rifles
and a little ammunition We fought
one against twenty, defending our
homes. our daughters and the cause
of the allies After six weeks we
never heard from the allies. and after
six months we never heard from them.
In the seventh month of the siege. one
morning, we saw a British airplane
coming. What a joy. we all thought!
II was Capt. Pennington. from Mesopo-
tamia. and he was with us twelve
hours. He told us he was very sorry.
but that the British could not come
TO our rescue. We watched him mount
higher and higher in his airplane the
next morning. and with the disappear.
ance of that aiTplane. our last hope
fed
Then we determined to attempt a
flight. At midnight on July %, 1918,
we attempted a flight Eighty thou.
sand people marched away. carrying
their children upon their backs to save
them from slaughter. The Turks pur.
sued and captured more than 10000
the first day. For seven DAYS we
marched without rest or sleep. Ny
God. wha; my eyes saw those DAYS
and what my ears heardi Our Amer.
lean vice consul and missionary, DR..
W. A Shedd. an American. our inspira.
ton. after seven days march collapsed
and in % hours died from an attack
of cholera. He was the only one that
was buried. And what a burial! A
hole dug. and his body put in IT. only
10 be drgged out later by dogs, and
eaten
Can you imagine that out of 5000.
900 people in Turkey and Persia. not
one has a home? There is not a house
standing. not a village. not a church.
not a school When we consider life.
almost two-thirds OF those nations
have been slaughtered.
MY present faith is this: AS lore
as there is an American living. nly
people will not perish. I believe in
| your sense of justice. believe you
have a conscience. You are the most
unselfsh people on earth Therefore
we con-e TO you and appeal to you in
behalf of our nQouls. I kuou go, all