Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-02-26
: F0E TdE NEAR EAST
can Extravaganza in the
I Of Armenian Suffering
h. Home to Rccupcratc, Doubt
|n bout i',cr Iicgniniug Their
ID Outlook on Ltfc-Nord
Pictures of the iiOrrors
Fly Frederic j. tlaskin


hich recently appeared in p
INT New York daily is true, and
dy ia having such a good time
X;ravagaut then the Near Eas'
has "A suggestion 20 make for
ms It, It's treasurer wants TO
{, the ucNt time you ore seized
10 unCoNtrc'laNlc impulse to part
Ash, you Won, lc' him know SO
can sell YOU some -four o. some
milk NJ some underwear to he
the Syrlaus and Armepiaus. Or.
II your particular orgy has pro-
far enough, you might even ADOPT
IAN over in the destitute provinces
treasurer of the Near East relief
Office at its headquarters at !
Avenue here. and you will find
pre- any day, surrounded by grim
sphio evidence of the awful con-
existing in Armenia and Syria by
flmmer records Of peoples suit.
and occasionally by real witnesses
suffering. who have lust returned
country. Naturally. living in such
hvironncnt day after day, the
err has become a trifle prejudiced
pr Of relief work. He thinks II IL
fun. He thinks, to be quite ex-
that II is much more fun to save
of an Armenian, who is starving
need of medical attention. than it
by "A new automobile or fur coat.
easurer has done both in his time,
so he speaks from experience.
Near East Relief workers who are
home to rCcuperate after. their
bus activities in the devastated
ss OF Asia also share this pref
for relief work when 1t comes 10
cXtravagani.
!, afraid l shall never regain my
look on life" said a young relief
Just back from Armenia who
the headquarters of the oreaniza-
{ other day. on the way back to
me in New England. ~ am not
erHon for you TO talk to concerning
ons over there. because saw so
suffering that it seems actually
nplace 10 nc when you live
starva ton. MISERY and disease,
eath, every day of your life for
Al time. You eventually become
o it--nevcr hardened to il. but
reached q certain point. If YOU
what I mean, YOU can't experience
ore horror.
fought ] would never feel horror
again. but | did. 1t was when 7
II New York, and walked up Fifth
~ ~.
of it's show-windows. the cNpcn-
nousines blocking traffic. the thou
Of women in rich fur coats. and the
overed boxes of bonbons on dts
n the big candy stores. For the
bf ono Of these limcusincs. hun
yrian babies could have been fed
price Of one box OF candy whole
could have been supplied with
or month
oppose my viewpoint is quite NOR
1t you see | have just come from
the present capital of Armenia.
the streets ore lined with shvering
Is. barcfooted. thei: emaciated
wrapped only in bits of sacking
Is bleak and cold in this part OF
and the population is totally un-
ed for il. Tiny children wear only
reds of filthy rags. and crouch on
reefs numb with cold, whimpering
balm. Often they are compelled to
bff the hungry parish dogs. which,
by hunger. attack any living
We did what We could to gather in
who were TOO helpless or exhausted
flves to come for aid, but every day
me across dead bodies in corners
the poor people had dragged
ELVES, seeking shelter from the
blasts"
young woman spoke in "A calm.
sionate voice, her eloquence was
nd unanimated. She complained OF
erself. "1f 7 could only make You
here n home feel what felt when
reached Armenia, but il is all
After 7 get rest, perhaps"
Louise Chamberlain, another
can girl who has Just returned
service In the Near East Relief
hls at Erivan, also complains tina,
ut'ook on life is changed forever.
Mt too much to say that my soul
rozen within me over there in
a." she says.
tn my own eyes I have seen living
en in the shelters sleeping on what
Posed at first were dirty mattresses
ourtyard, but not until We aroused
tie ones did we see the mattresses
the blackened bodies of their cam
hs, some OF them dead for sevo raj
asked the children why they
some of the children why they
on the bodies and their answer was
hey had TO have something TO sleep
keep their almost naked bodies
the frozen ground.
you had seen children in the streets
van pounding with stones the bones
ly devouring it, IL you had known
I'm the cemeteries bodies had been
and The next day were seen in the
hs pots of the refugees human
what would you sayc Could you
them
normal times, Miss Cham berlain
Erivsn had population OF 5000;
last winter there were at leaet
people in the city. Tney congested
'iSrts' 'hc dhtysi lne court yaFOe,
ruined, roohess buildings, budding
here that promised the slightest
n from the pitiless, penetrating rain
be Caucasus that chills even the
~ clad to the bone. The once rich
DOR who had fled before the Turks,
on the same level of ragEedness
eands died of cold and starvation.
theirs poured In to replace them.
ugees are still pouring into Erivan.
onditions are now improved owing
: persistent and tireless work of the
East Relief II has erected and
ixed hospitals, shelters. orphanages
work shops, and has established a
m for rationing the population on
anne lines that Mr.. Hoover rationed
refugees IN Belgium. American
workers are now in charge of fifty
relief stations In these Impoverished
rs; 1876 orphanages sheltering nearly
Thousand children; forty-four hospi-
treating monthly $4,000 clinic
hts; and sixteen homes for women
ed from Moslem harems. They
organized and are operating indus