The Arvada enterprise., 1921-01-20
ARvADA BOY's THnilLlle0 !
EXPERIENCE m AkiRl4,

ARvADA BoY's TnnilIllt0
ExPERIENcE m ARi0l4A
Kars, Turkey, Nov. II, tsSo.
Dear Father.
Do you notice the change In eeh-
try in my letter hsadings OF ece1 .
you know that Kara has been tall
by the Turks. I wonder II yeu =
ceived . copy Of the cablsgram Z y
we had sent to the homo offlss ln
New York with the request that p
families b notified Of he svsnt \ Z
that We were all safe. II ysu Z
not rather imagine you ars anxi
I don't know where I can 81 q =
letter on III way to you. Of cexe
there Is no post. However. We NJ
there soon viii be a. Alsxanafot !
has bssn taken by the Turks 70 ~
enia il absolutely cut off from u
outside world. IL
Well, the whole thing broke u
suddenly and unexpectedly We wsll
dazed by it. On the morning =
October 80, we went about our wotl
quite a. usual, little thinking that
few hours We would be under Tur1
ish rule. I started from the bard
about 8 o'clock with forty teams An
wagons to haul food supplies froil
our city warshouse TO o. Warshoss
ia the valley near our home. TIN
IL q precaution In case tie Tura
capture Kars later ON. ~ We fully 81
pected them to. The day before
had worked at the sans job.
Cannons were boosaing from I'll
forts in and around Kars, 70 reel
ICED that the TURKS wsss nearer thas
they had bssn at any tiAs. Ths d.
before We were told thAt Trey weft
only ok miles away. Our sarshoust
IL on the outskirts Of toWA toward
the positions Of the Turia. Will
IL wagns were being loedsd ! Ia!
I would ride out on hessshssk 70 ~
Armenian positions to see wAat NJ
doing. In one Of the outlying postD
tions protecting one Of tAs Sse4
found an office friend Of mine =
hia- mAn.[I SAA&A1A wltA NJ II
i some time and watehsd the firing o,
q battery . few hundred yards b
front Of me and followed the move
ment Of the Taskish troops advane
ing over hilly ground. Ny frisad
said the situation WAS very sstioul
but didn't realize the significance
Of what he said. went back TO tht
warehouse. The wagons were benz
loaded. All went well until = shell
struck and exploaded about 200 hun
dred feet from where We were d
work. My Moikent Russian) teams
sters were frantic. They jumped
in their wagons and said. Lets go!
No amount of talk from me woult
avail. I only had four more wagon'
to fill. Nothing doing, 50 away VI
started. Already could see hun
dreds Of people scurrying hither ant
thither. The news came to me tha
the Turks had already entered tn
town on the farther side. I didn'
believe Il was possible but neverthe
less Il was true. The town was Il
. panic. A dull roar distinctly filles
the air, the combined voices Of thou
sands Of fleeing people, the believing
Of driven cattle and the distressing
sosnd from hurried goats and sheep
all this linked with the sound o.
numbsrisss wheels on oxcarts an
wagons. had . terrible time Ut
ting my forty wagons thru the con
jssted streets. already choked witi
masses Of terror stricken men, NO
men and shildren. walking, running
or urging on their slow moving OK
carts. It was awful, like hell turn
cd loose. Women and children wsrt
crying and screaming ~ they wsr'
jostled or knocked down by waGoni
OF men o. fleeing soldiers. When
saw the hundreds Of soldiers In thu
mass then I began to realize what
was really At hand. The army had
broke and fled and they were al 20
Ing out through the Valley where
our house Ia and Q group Of our insti
tutions. Only the one road Of
escape from the Turks and an awful
picture Il was. Wagons and oxcart'
broke down under their heavy loads
The procession would tsmpornril,
would be blocked, such . screaming
l.. su.l .