Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1921-10-14

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stration given by the children. l had
never heard such singing. They sang
My Country 'Tis of Thee" and CYAN
kee Doodle" Upon inquiry l found that
the children had been taught these
songs in just n month. The state
ment was made that 80 per cent of
these children would not have sur-
vived had it not been for Near East
Relief. On July A, 1921, 5000 of these
youngsters paraded the streets of that
city, carrying American flags which
they had made.
Largest Orphanage In the World
My next stop wa S at Alexandropol.
where is the largest orphanage in the
world, maintained by our organization.
There found 10000 orphans. It was
a wonderful sight. They are sheltered
in $50 buildings, all of which we're
formerly Russian barracks. l found
these little children running all over
the grounds, and happy once more. I
inspected the hospitals and found them
as %splendidly equipped as any Ameri-
can hospital, but so crowded it was
necessary to put two, three and some
times even four in a bed. The Indus
trial Schools are kept busy. Two
thousand children are daily making
stockings and winter clothes to protect
their bodies.
In November, 1920, the Turks were
at the gates of our Alexandropol or
phanage and this is the story which
they told the workers: that they were
reformed Turks and they would not
tolerate or stand for the massacres
which had occurred during the war.
In March, 1921, two workers discov-
cred that there had been a massacre
within ten miles of the orphanage. 1
took a trip to the White Spring Valley,
the place where the massacre oc-
Cured. In a nearby village l found
an Armenian, one of the survivors.
The following is his story:
Work Of "The Reformed Turk"
"In November the Turks came and
drove the women and children from
several of the villages to this valley.
They violated all the children from
seven years of age up. They shot
them, bayonetted them and cut their
heads off and let them lay in that val
ley. A few of us fled and escaped this
massacre and came back to look for
our loved ones. My own daughter and
wife were among the victims. We
buried many of them. In the villages
they took the unprotected men and
herded them, 800 and 400 in a house,
and they set fire to the houses"
I saw the skeletons of many of the
women and children. The interpreter
told us $500 were m~assacred there. 1
walked over the skeletons of some of
these young and the flesh was
still clinging to the bones.
When the Turks left, ammunition
was blown up, no one knows how. The
glass was broken in many of the or
phanages and last winter these chill
dren and our workers slept in these
cold barracks-ten below zero. 1t was
impossible to get fuel. While l was
there, every effort was being made to
transfer wood from other sections.
Alexandropol is on a high plateau and
for miles and miles one can see hardly
a tree. The Turks have carried every
thing away, the live stock, wood and
farm implements and that section is
not only devastated, but has been
robbed of every necessity for making a
livelihood.
We are hoping very shortly to have
equipment to care for 25 1000 children
at Alexandropol and concentrate them
in one place and thus render our work
more effective. In that city l saw
many horrible sights. The buildings
are all shattered and the adults living
in the ruins.
At the Capital of Armenia
next stopped at Erivan, the capital
of Armenia. AS 1 stepped off the train
and stood at the foot of Mt. Ararat, the
scenes were most depressing. 1 saw
nothing but devastation, war-scourged
fields, and only stones, where once
we're happy homes. l walked alone
on these deserted streets of Erivan. l
saw misery unadorned. l saw a naked
fve-year-old girl standing against a
battered wall, her body covered with
scabies, and she could hardly keep her
hands, for just a moment, away from
these ugly sores. l saw in her eyes
all the sorrow, restitution, misery and
helplessness. 1 shall never forget
when her ayes met mine. 1t was a
silent appeal, an appeal which 1 can
not forget, and then 1 wondered, as
stood before that child, if l was living
in the Twentieth Century. 1t was al
most a dream, a nightmare. 1 cannot
believe even now that it was real.
Nearby 1 saw many like her, chill
dren with bloated stomachs, from eat
;nr c and CLAW. their bodies COW