The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1921-10-03
Result OF War And Famine

The horrors of Armenia are worse
than ever.
The first tragedies in this strick
en- country came when the Turks, fol
lowed by the Kurds, sword in hand,
ravaged it, killing off the people in
whole villages, leaving little ones in
the cutters to starYe to death, carry
ing off girls to be slaves in Moslem
harems.
Now, added to the Wholesale mas
sacres-there have been two recent
ly, in Trebizond and Sansoun-are
the added horrors of famine. caused
by the Greek-Turco fighting, the fail
ure of corps and. in some sections,
as a result of the famine in Rus
STA.
The cities are congested with re
fugees, fleeing from the zones of the
new hostilities. All places of smell
ter are congested with refugees.
From alleys, from stables, the refu-
gees, adults and children, overflow
into the streets and there perish.
Thousands right now are dying Of
starvation. Little children are per
ishing - the dead wagons make
regular trips and gather up the bod
les of those who have died the night
before
The actual present-day conditions
are set forth in plain language in a
report from John w. Mace, just sent
to Maryland Headquarters. The sit
uatiOn was seen BY the official party
from America, of which Nh Mace
was d member. Here are the facts:
Children, some barely old enough
to stand alone; SO ShriVeled by star
Walton that they have lost almost all
semblance to anything human, COW
cred from head to foot with sores,
from which they have not the streng-
tn brush the flies; moaning and whin
ing like little animals for food, for
which hunger has robbed them OF
the power of speech, to ask; beatin 6
al the gates of the American orphan
age i'll the city of Erivan and appeal
ing in vain to be taken in because
there is not enough room and barely
enough food for those inside.
Such is the typical picture of con-
ditions in Armenia drawn by group
of investigators for the Near East
Relief who have just returned to
this country from the famine zones
of the LeEant.
Armenia is the land of the living
nightmare" declared John w. Mace,
a member of the party. I'VE thought
we had become pretty well hardened
to suffering after seeing the refu
gee camps in Constantinople and Ba-
toum But Armenia brought no
thing but ali uninterrupted series of
sights at the memory of which one
sickens.
I'VE fastened into the orphanage
at Erivan to escape the horror at
the gates. But once inside the con-
trast only made it seem more awful.
Well fed, we'll cared for, sturdy
youngsters, plainly dressed, were
romping on the Fairgrounds, or were
busy in the class room and the shops.
They looked as if they wanted for
nothing 1t was only when we in
spected the crowded living quarters
that we knew that every cent was
being made to do its utmost in pro-
viding necessities for those within
the gates.
I'VE passed out again, almost fall
ing over the tiny wretches that tried
to drag themselves through as the
gates was opened to let us out.
Never have-I seen such EXPRESSIONS
OF despair and hopeless agony.
Conditions were the same every
where A small child lay dead on the
station platform when our train
drew up A man arose from a rag
ged, listIess group nearby. He came
towards us evidently to beg food.
Before he could take more than two
or three steps he cTumpled up and
fell.
"A member of our party stepped
toward him, but was stopped by an
other relief worker, member of the
local unit Don't he said. 1t will
do no good He is dead, probably
from starvation, but it might be-
cholera or maybe both
Not far from the station we saw
a wagon draw alongside big hole
that had evidently just been dug.
The driver jumped off and with big
hook began pulling out what looked
to be bundles of old rags and pushed
them in to the hole. When he came
closer, however. we saw what had
appeared to be rags were bodies.
Their tattered garments caused the
illusion. The presence of a dozen
or more mounds of fresh earth near
by testified to many previous trips
Of that wagon.
1T was not long before the dead
wagon became a familiar sight to us.
Each day it went about the. street
gathering up corpses. The driver
used the hook to lessen the danger