The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1921-01-17
MADE FAMOUS BY NOAH;
WANTED u. S. TO MAKE
II FREE.

One of the states which asked the
United States to be its mandatory Is
Nakhichevan.
If you have not heard OF Nakhich-,
evan. first consult Genesis 81, for
the district In question lies at the
foot of Mt. Ararat, and the town or
Nakhichevan contains the alleged
graveyard of Noah The builder OF
the Ark, local tradition aftfrms. went
down into the land that sought the
wing of the United States. There he
is said to have died Of thirst in the
parched plain after his ark had hrok-
en- up on the snowy peak of the
worlds most famous mountain.
The Nakhtchevan district, inhabited
by Tartars. Is bounded on the north
by the Armenian district of Erivan.
Along the south flows the AraX river,
which is the subject Of many an Ar
menian song and which here forms the
boundary between Asiatic Russia ana
Persia. In the hills to the northeast
is ShuSha, a strong Armenian center
where the Armenians held out against
a circle of foes in the summer of 1918.
When Russa's power in the Caucasus
declined and the soldats flowed back
from the former Russian front in Tur-
KEY through the Nakhichevan district,
the traditional hatred between the Ar
menianS of the Erivan district and
the Mohammedan Tartars broke out
This closed the carriage road to
Tabriz and later closed the railway.
At great risk several members of the
American Committee for Armenian
and Syrian Relief, with headquarters
at Erivan, went to TabriZ and brought
back several million roubles in a train
that was SO crowded with retre0tlng
Russian soldatS that one of the COM
mitter members, upholstered with
hundreds of thousands of roubles, was
forced TO sleep on the roof of the car
in temperature near zero. Within
weph The railway service was stopped
by Arnenian-Tartar fighting.
The uprising of the Nakhichevan
Tartnrs was Ill timed. German propa-
gantists had placarded the district
with fosters eXhorttng these Tartars,
who aye related to the Turks and are
of tive same religion, to arise against
the Armenians, whom the retreating
Russians had left to their own de-
vices This they did. But the Ar
meniunS had spent the winter in rails
ing an army to take over the former
Russian front and about $4,000 OF
these volunteers were assembled in
Eriran
When the writer crossed the lgdlr
plain. where Armenians are starving
today these much prosecuted people
wee having their inning and the
smoke from Il score of burning T6r-
tar villages could be seen. TartarS
with arms were allowed to live II
thcy surrendered their guns, and
women and children were not touched.
but their villages were looted and
burned by the Armenians. This was
In March, 1910. All the Tartars re-
treated to the Nakhichevan district
where they formed a majority of the
population. There they have re-
mained Hatred between them and
the Armenians IS strong,
The whole problem is made difficult
ny Ike diversity of the population. In
the mountain villages the Kurds are
most numerous. \ strong hand will
be necessary to control these several
tribes. The KurdS have been forced
TO he butchers by the Turks, who gave
them guns as their only tools, and
who kept agriculture and education
from them Their condition was as
bed cor time as that Of the Arme-
,iaG~ ru' long the Turk" russian
roun,-,r sores of Kurds TO he
Scen ,v!.u ..a.. one carmen; .. N.Ie
foGT - .g ..1,.-glc Of seven tunuHana
Seel in March,