Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-02-10


later in ,suppressing international
warfare and strife"
Mr.. Vickrey considers the need in
the Near East and especially in Ar
menia greater than anywhere else in
the world, because, as he says, I'm the
countries of Central Europe there are
going governments which have merely
been temporarily impoverished by
war. In the Near East, on the other
hand, there is no such thing as stable
government. The whole fabric of the
state has to be created from the begin
ming, and the innocent and helpless
children have to be trained to the
responsibilities of future citizenship.
Peace in the Near East and, in great
measure, throughout the world, will
depend very largely on the character
of the citizenship Of the peoples Of
the Near East"
Irresistible Appeal of Orphans.
Describing the %orphanage work Of
the Near East Relief in the Armenian
republic, Mr.. Vickrey said:
I'VE have at Alexandropol in the
are approximately 10000 homeless
children, fatherless or motherless,
many of them having no known living
relative. Some of them do not even
know their own names, or the place
of their birth. They have shown won.
derful ]recuperative powers, and to see
them play their kindergarten or other
games under the direction of our
American relief workers, one could
lever believe that they had passed
through the years of suffering that
most of them have experienced since
they, or their parents, were driven
from their homes In Central Turkey
five years ago.
"For the accommodation OF these
orphans there are sixty splendid stone
buildings, erected as barracks for tho
Russian army. These buildings are
now given to us by the Armenian gov
eminent for Il period Of ten years and
lend themselves admirably to relief
purposes.
"This %orphnnagc at .Alexandropol Is
but one of the 800 orphuIIuges that the
Near East Relief is now operating in
various parts Of the Caucasus, Anato-
liza, Cilicia, Syria and the Constants
nople-Straits area.
Thirty miles from A~lcXandropol, mt
Kars, there is another group Of Rus
sian army barracks. which were given
us by the Armenian government for
relief purposes. | was going through
the dormitorIes. Of this orphanage at
Kars when the young American col
lege girl in charge turned to me and
said: Mr.. Vickrey, 1t sometimes
makes me feel just n little older than
Methuselah to be called Mother" by
5000 Of those Armenian children.
And that is exactly what she was
the only mother that these 5000 Ar
menian children have, except as she
avails herself Of the organized assist.
ance of native Armenian women, in
caring for this large family.
"In the hospital at Kars l found
1,15O beds, which, the day l was there
were occupied by 1898 patients, il
frequently being necessary to put two
or more children in a single bed. Al
A~lexandropol we have in n hospital
or group of hospital buildings, 1850
trachoma patients. At Karaklis, forty
miles east Of Alexandropol we have an
orphanage devoted exclusively to the
care and training of the blind children
At Delijan we have another orphan
age, located on Il mountain side, fol
the care of tubercular children, this
segregation being as much for the wei
fare of the healthy children In the
orphansges as for the care of the I'm
fortunate consumptives. At Erivan we
formerly had 20 distinct orphanages
though they have now been reduced
and consolidated to seven In number
There are something more than 6,00(
! ssphans In the region OF Harpout."