Elbert County tribune and Elbert County banner., 1920-11-05
AMERICAN WOMEN STIRRED BY
ARMENIAN HORRORS.

"Merciful God, it's ali truel NobodJ
| has ever told the whole truth! Nobody
couldl"
Thus Eleanor Franklin Egan, in the
| saturday Evening Post, quotes How
| ard Heinz of Pittsburgh, Herbert
| ;loover's representative In the Near
East, on the real conditions in Arme-
Ia as he saw them with his own eyes.
sir. Heinz has been one of those who
.,ad believed the stories of starvation
and death In Armenia had been exas-
! ,ernted. Not until he went himself to
he Caucasus did his views change.
| then he was shaken TO the foundation
( his soul by what he saw.
Fearful! Awful Horrible Unbe-
ievablel" are some of the adjectives
sfrs. Egan says must be used in speak
ng of conditions In the Nsnr East,
where Near East Relief, l Madison
| avenue, New York, supported by con
r,butions from the American people
| : conducting the only organized effort
| TO save the lives of these utterly desti-
| ute millions. Everything she saw and
| neard Justified the necessity for quick
| md generous aid from America. Her
-Iory of what she witnessed re-enforces
he call of the Near East Relief for aid
'or stricken Armenia.
| ""The Hunger grin is everywhere
.vident," Mrs. Egan writes. "The pitt
ful hundreds seemed to me to be weep
ing constantly. Not profoundly as in
grief, but whimperingly, appealingly
as in unbearable physical distress. A
| terrible population. Unspeakably filthy
and tatterdemalion throngs; shelter
less, death stricken throngs milling
| from place to place, children crying
| aloud, women sobbing in broken mar
| ilculate lamentation men utterly hope
less and reduced to staggering weak
| uess Needless of the tears rolling down
| their dirt streaked faces"
| That is her picture of the Armenians
most in evidence in Armenia These
| are the throngs. Then she turns to the
| mobs. Large numbers here and there,
| wide-eyed, eager, hands outstretched in
| *olfish supplication teeth barred In a
I chastity grin that had long since ceased
to smile-an emaciated skin-stretched
| grin, fixed and uncomfortable"
rs 1t any wonder" she asks, that
could not swallow my food? threw It
to the children in the ravening hordes
and started small riots The children
| fought together, snarled and clawed al
one another for small bits of army bis
cult or morsels of bully beef
| "And then l was told that many of
them were so starved that SOLID food
was likely to kill them instantly. This
was too terribly true. Yet in the whole
length and breadth of the land there
| was not an ounce of food Of the kind
necessary for such cases At Kars /
| saw one man die with bread In his
teeth. And If you Will consent to look
| with me upon too awful thing will
add that he showed evidence of having
| eaten too much grass.
| Il went hungry in Armenia and !
associate remembered pangs Of my
| own with all my recollections OF She
terrible land. had plenty of food with
| me, but for days on end l could not
eat. 1t was physical impossibIlIty."
I OF her first sight in Armenia OF the
terrible condition of the people Mrs.
| Egan writes of the scenes on her way
| to kars:
Everywhere In the fields there were
| people down on their knees searching
| for grasses to eat Those near the rail
| road lifted their heads and gazed al
our train as II rushed past, and |
caught gliinpses of terrible faces. An
old man sitting on the top of an EN-
bankment waved handful of grass at
me where l stood at the car window,
then threw his head back and laughed
maniacal laugh. I began then to feel
the cold chills with which I was to
| shiver for days on end"
| OF Kars she writes:
'.They were a multiple Lazarus. and
the train was the rich mans table.
tney were begging for crumbs. be.
gan to hear for the first time the whin
ing indescribable phrase that sounded
to me like 'O-na-ne, O-ns-ne.' 1t wa.
so feebly, so plalntively murmured, %
mn Dc.'"
Mrs. Egan asked what 1t mennt an,
was told the nearest equivalent wa
"Oh, my soul !" But" she says. "i
was more than that; 1t was a praye:
for mercy"
Describing mnkeshift hospital b.
fore the arrival of the Near East Relic
workers, Mrs, Egan writes:
"The sick In their unbelievable rag
we're lying around on the noors-bun
dies OF unimaginable wretchedness
The doctor was not doing anything a,
all for them. What could he dof He
had not SO much as single ounce of
medicine Of any kind The little people
we're more pitiable than the adults.
The ward, If may call it that. had
10 II not one stick of furniture of any