Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1921-02-03

than billions Of dollars spent later In
yuppressing 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 lie says, I'm the
countries of Central Europe there are
going governments which have merely
been temporarily Impoverished by war;
In The Near East, OH the other hand,
there Is no such thing as stable gov
eminent. The whole fabric of the
state has to he created from the be-
ginning, and the innocent and help
less children have to he trained to the
responsibilities Of future citizenship.
Peace i'm 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
Caucasus. one orphana~e where there
are Approximately 10000 homeless
rh 'idren. fatherless or uothtrlrss,
Eany OF them havin" no known living
relative. Some of them do moi even
Know their own names, or the place OF
..!rir birth. They have shown wonder
full recupcrative powers, and to seq
them play their kindergarten or other
games under the direction OF our Amerl.
can relief workers. one could never he
lieve 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 Ave years
ago.
For the accommodation Of these or
phans there are sixty splendid stone
buildings, erected a. barracks for the
Russian army. These buildings are
eminent for period Of ten years and
lend themselves admirably to relief
purposes.
This orphanage at AlexnndropOl IL
but one of the 2o9 orphanages that the
Near East Relief is now operating In
various parts OF the Caucasus, Anato-
liza, Cilicia. Syria and the CONSTANT
nople- AREA.
"Thirty miles from Alexandropol. at
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 Orphnnage al
Kars when the young American COL
lege girl In charge turned to me and
said Mr.. Vickrey, 1t sometimes makes
me feel just little older than Me-
thuselah to be called Mother" by
5000 Of those Armenian children
And that is exactly what she WIS
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 found
1850 beds, which, the day was there,
were occupied by 1,26S patients, 1t
frequently being necessary to put two
or more children in single bed. At
VIC III Vic boSpltut,
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
orphanage, located on mountain side,
for the care Of tubercular children,
this segregation being as much for
the welfare Of the healthy children in
the orphanages as for the care of the
unfortunate consumptives. At Eriyan
we formerly had twenty-six distinct
Orphanages, though they have now
been reduced and consolidated to
seven In number There are some
thing more than 5000 orphans In the
region Of Harnout."