Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-09-21
WORKER PLEADS
ARMENIAN CAUSE
Urges G. A. R. AuxiIliaries to
Lend Assistance.


is being made before the encampments Of
organizations affiliated with the G. A. R.
by Miss Elizabeth B. Kelly of Cleveland,
who returned to the United States last
July after years work in Aintab, Tur-
key, q little town eighty miles from
sAleppo, and forty miles from a railroad
The Armenian nation is worth saw
ing" declared Miss Kelly in an interview
at the Hotel SEVERN. They have fought
va1antly for their freedom; they are
fighting and they viii continue to fight
as long as they have any survivors.
America is morally responsible for the
100000 Armenian orphans whiuh she has
adopted-responsible to rear them accord
ing to Western civilization"
Miss Kelly, who is touring the United
States in behalf of the Armenian cause.
expects to return TO Turkey in about six
months.
Prior to her trip to Turkey for recon
struction work she was engaged in war
work In America, and for a number of
years was an instructor in home econo-
mics at Wisconsin University
In telling of her experiences in Turkey
Miss Kelly said when she arrived at Ain
tab in July, 1919, the signs of starvation
were evident among all the women and
many Of them were all but destitute of
clothing.
1.-The shops had been closed and all
business had stopped" she said.
We hunted out looms and started
weaving cloth for them from the Ameri-
can cotton. In this way we taught them
all some industrial trade and supplied
them with clothing"
Miss Kelly said the suffering of the
Armenians who returned from the
Arabian desert TO find their homes de-
molisbed was one of the most pitifuI
sights she ever witnessed.
BRITISH KEPT
THINGS QUIET.
while the British were there things
We're quiet" she said, but when the
that they should not take their part of
the punishment and propaganda was
started among the Armenians.
Naturally things went from bad TO
worse; they refused to sell food they
began wounding and massacring; the
shops were closed
At that time two Y. NJ. c. A. men
were killed. Miss Kelly said, with the
explanation that they had been mis-
taken for French men.
There was no Bolshevism in that sec
ton Of Turkey. according to Miss Kelly
THE Turks despised Germany and
blamed her entirely for getting them into
the war" she explained
while the Turks have always been
barbarously crued, all the cunning cruel
" which they showed during the war was
instigated at Berlin"
During the period Miss Kelly was in
Aintab the great deportation of Armeni-
ans took place in which more than one
million were killed or died.
From the middle Of January until
March 81 we were virtually isolated from
the outside world, and while we were
safe within the city it was not safe to
venture out. All the supply trains were
robbed"
The return of the French and the sue
eeeding massacre which fortunately came
of too early falling in its slaughterous
intentions, were described by Miss Kelly.
From that time on the Turks began
firing on the hospitals, and had 1t not
been for the work of the Armenian WON
en- filing sandbags and building bar
ricades we never could have withstood
them during the siege" said Miss Kelly.
SAYS MASSACRE
BOUND TO COME.
Miss Kelly emphasized the fact that
an uprising led by EnVir Pasha for the
general massacre OF the Armenian people
is almost inevitable.
In discussing the work accomplished
among the Armenian women Miss Kelly
said that out of the 100 women rescued
from the Turks only % returned and
all Of these had children they wished
to care for
I'VE found homes for all but $50 of
these women, and every one of these was
taught trade she would not be com
PEELED to go back 70 the Turks"
Miss Kelly said If people could see what
had been done for the Armenian women
they would realize that every dollar they
gave had been paid back a hundredfold.
In discussing the Turkish customs she
said that in the part Of Turkey where
she was man was allowed to have only
four wives.
1.-THE word 'harem' means place of bust
ness and that is the way marriage is
looked upon by the Turkish man." she
said, "and the woman has nothing to say
regarding the man she marries."
Miss Kelly said that the Armenian
woman is much more intelligent and in
dustrious than the Turkish woman and
much better looking, and that the Turkish
women are jealous of them.
MANY times we would be informed
that there was an Armenian woman in
the house by the Turkish women" she
continued.
THE only thing in the life of the
Turkish wife is the man, and that is all
they discuss. and their life is absolutely
repulsive" said Miss Kelly. land the
younger Turkish woman is getting tired
of it,
According to Miss Kelly the high cost
of living in Turkey is affecting Mr.. Turk
because he, in many cases, takes only one
wife instead of his allotted four
The Turks are very anxious to learn
about American customs and get Amer
lean opinions on domestic subjects. ae-
cording to Miss Kelly.