The Washington herald., 1921-04-24

not worked to death will eventu-
ally be shot. The Turkish soldiers
have very intimate way OF stop
ping native Armenians in the
streets and relieving them first Of
their shoes and overcoats. and then
their money and tewelry. In some
cases they may or may not leave
the poor victim his underwear. ana
the temperature here is not exactly
tropical. In Kars we had two very
attractive American girls. One has
her hair bobbed. and wears her
riding habit a great deal of the
time. When the Turks came into
the town the first day, of course.
they knew very little about the
Americans, and one Of the soldiers
thought she was an Armenian boy.
and demanded. frst, her shoes, and
then her very good looking pair
Of riding breechesi She managed to
dissuade him by giving him her
jewelry instead.
Cowardly Surrender.
A peace of a kind has now been
signed with the Turks by which
they will hold Kars Zone Of the
most powerful fortresses in the
"OTlQ, anu WHICH Tue AIUltHidho
surrendered without a shot. The
actual line between Turkey and
Armenia will be only about twenty
five miles away from Alexandropol.
OF course, the former Armenian
government, composed largely of
the Dashnaksagan party. has been
forced out OF power by the
Turks. but about three weeks
ago. to our surprise and horror.
we learned that Armenia had
turned Bolshevik, and that the
Turks were encouraging 1t. You
can imagine the precarious condi-
tion of our organization under such
circumstances. Wa Immediately
got in touch with the local Bolshe-
vik committee to find out II we
might continue to operate, and IL
they would respect our rights to
control supplies for our orphanages
The first meeting was very unsat-
isfactory, as they threatened to
control everything belonging to the
Near East Relief. and to leave US
no freedom Of action, even sug-
gesting that they would find new
quarters for US, which we thought
might or might not mean Jail. They
really hoped that we would stay
here under such conditions as a
bait for more supplies from Amer
lea.
Help From Turks.
The captain felt that times were
too anxious for his judgment alone,
so he formed commission COM
posed of FIVE members of the Near
East, and we decided that the Turks
were our best friends. and that we
would best quit Alexandropol i'm
mediately and take our headquar-
ters and supplies to Kars to oper-
ate there with our 5000 orphans
already in that station. The Turks
guaranteed US safety and promised
that we might secure further sup
plies through Turkey via Trebizonde
and Ezeroum. However, this is a
very uncertain route, particularly in
winter. as the roads extend to high
attitudes and there, is much snow
Several days afterward second
meeting was called with the Bolshe-
viks. at which they, fearing we were
leaving with all supplies. tried to
convince us to stay. making many
promises of concessions. : =
But meanwhile the Bolo armies
were advancing from Russia to
keraklis, one of the northern towns
of Armenia, and we had gotten In
touch with them. Altogether a diff
ferent attitude was taken by them
toward the American Committee.
We were promised every kind of
protection and given every encour-
agement to remain at our posts.
This put US on the fence, not know
Ing whether to go or stay. but all
precedents warned us to look upon
any assurances from the Bolos with
suspicion. -f
Then the Real Climax Came.
Two days later we were called In
conference with the local Bolo lead
ers and several members of the Rus
sian Bolsheviks or Soviets. One of
the Russians started the ball roll
ing by saying, This conference will
be very short" and continued by
informing us that the next mornine
at eleven o'clock they would take
over all our institutions. autos. food
supplies. and we were to be held as
prisoners. This ultimatum was
sumner. as you may we'll imagine
We left that office. not knowing
whether they would shoot US in the
back as we went down the stairs
or not. A hurried conference was
held among the Americans, and vol =
nnteers were called for to remai,.s
in Aiexandropol while the resi-.
were to 60 that same night to Kars.
10