Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1921-02-09
HELD IN ARMENIA
(Continued from Page Fivo).


(Continued from Page Fivs).
days we began to hear the guns, and
see the deserving Armenian soldiers
come struggling back, not always so
deliberately 'sIraggnng" either, and
gradually we realized that the Turks
were winning, and coming fast tow
ard Alexandropol. Our chief, Capt
Yarrow, ordered that each American,
whether man or woman, should be
placed in charge of one or more build
lnRs connected with our OrphanaGe. !
took my bed and, few possessions to
my warehouse office, where have
been sleeping ever since, and Clark
was assigned to one OF the girls or
phan buildings. This was very es-
sential, as no one knew what the Turk
would do-be it massacre all the chill
dren or what. At all costs, we were
to stick by the orphans, no matter
what happened, and lucky for them,
poor children, for many OF our Armen-
ian assistants fled and left them, and
had we left, or even hesltated, there
would have been such panic that no
one could have controlled them, and
they would have run to the mountains
and starved or frozen, for the bare
mention of "Turk'' and they shudder
and want to flee. Some days later,
after having watched the artillery
battles in the mountain passes, ID
miles away, and even heard the rifle
and machine gun fire, a sort Of ar
mistice was declared, and we heard all
sorts of rumors as to terms.
"But the firing ceased, and at the
l.. II 10 hoIioI
ian betook himself out Of Alexandra
pol, along with what possessions he
could carry, and the hosts of refugees,
who had sought protection in this
town, fled in the direction of Erivan
or Keraklis, on foot, by horse, or in
OK wagons, or on tops of freight cars
moving government supplies.
"The officials skipped, and took all
several of the important food and 9TH
left alone, with thousands of Orphans
and some very few loyal Armenian as
sistants, who determined to see the
thing through. It seems that the
Turks promised to quit fighting if CIV
en- control of the railroad in Alexan-
dropol. That of course meant occu-
not know what / confess we were
all pretty nervous and excited.
Suddenly, one morning, several
Turkish cavalrymen rode through our
grounds, and seeing workman or
two with good shoes on, demanded at
the point of rifle that they be re-
moved and handed to them. They al
so demanded overcoats and in some
cases even stripped the men of ev-
erything. One of our American boys
was riding horseback with his camera
slung over his back. Some Turkish
soldiers demanded it and when he told
them or tried to tell them, that he
was an American, they started to lead
the horse away. Our district COM
mander fortunately rode up at just
this moment, and pointed to our
flags flying round about,
and finally succeeded in getting rid of
them.
Later in the day, swarms of cavalry
and officers arrived in town, and pro-
ceeded to set up a more or less order
ly government. Capt. Yarrow, our
Pasha, the commanding general, to
explain who We were, and what we
were doing. We found him to be
delightful Turkish gentleman, who
speaks French beautifully, and that
same day, Capt. Yarrow brought him
and several other Turkish officers to
see our buildings and particularly our
ware houses, as we were afraid if we
we not perfectly open and frank, they
might decide to confscate our flour,
rice, beans, condensed milk, and what
not, and what would our poor orphans
do? Well, they did not take thing,
and they have not done a thing but
occupy Alexandropol peacefully. We
have Turkish liaisOn officer attach
ed to us, and if any soldier gets fresh
or trys to do any looting, he takes
care of it for us. He speaks French
and is quite gentleman. We have
invited him to have his meals with
us. What the Turks are going to do,
we cannot tell. AS yet they have be-
haved themselves splendidly. Today
We have had our first chance to send
mail, for virtually we are prisoners
here. However, do not worry about
us. We are thriving on the excite
ment. I could write a lot of political
news, but it is better not to. But it
is glorious country geographically,
We are completely surrounded by
snow capped mountains. We breathe
air 5000 feet above the sea level, and
up to the summit of "Allah Geuze"-
Do not ask me when shall get away,
write to the Sultan of Turkey! Per
haps he will tell you. I have not
even heard who has been elected pres
ident of the United States"