The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1926-11-04
KIN OF ARGONAUTS
FOUND IN CAUCASUS
American Woman Visits
Lost Nation In Russia.

Welchyille, Maine That the goFges
Of the Russian Caucasus hide a lost
nationv which claims descent from
Jason. wears chain armor like the
aneients and still performs sacrifices
and worships trees, Is the strange tale
brought back to America by Mrs. Karl
Rankin, who has just returned from
Ave years as Near East relief work
er in Armenia. Mrs. Rankin is the
first foreign woman and the first
American to venture into this hazard
GUS and hidden land.
Mrs. Rankin, native Of Welchvflle,
is back In her old home on her honey
moon. 1t was as Miss Pauline Jordan
that she spent five years in Armenia
after two years Of study with Madame
Curie In Paris. On her arrival In New
York she married Karl Rankin, an
other returned Near East relief work
er. Her family were pioneers In
Maine coming here in 1910.
Story Of Her Trip.
Mrs. Rankin's story of her visit to
the lost nation" Of the Saventians, as
told to an interviewer here, is as fol-
lows:
II was stationed at Alexandropol, in
Russian Armenia, where $4,000 ref
ugee orphans are being educated By
the Near East relief. / found that
group of these children were Of Saven
tian race, and it became necessary
for somebody to visit their mysterious
mountain homeland In an effort to
trace their relatives and If possible
to repatriate the children In homes
among their own people.
Perhaps 1t was q foolhardy and
venturesome trip for q woman, but
still feel the thrill Of having accom-
plished It was told In Tifiis that
would not come back alive, but my
mission was important.
''From the railroad travelled three
days on horseback to village where
l obtained local guides to accompany
me through the mountains. For Eve
days our horses climbed steadily, IL
hours day. The trails often lay
along the edge of terrific chasms,
where misstep meant death. Then
we began to encounter scattered cot
tages and tiny hamlets. 1t was no
ticeable that my Georgian guides had
terror Of the natives, for they would
often humble to themselves in Rus
sian, A dark peoplel A dark people
''The country is accessible through
a labyrinth of mountain passes for
only a few weeks each year. was
the first American woman who had
ever visited it. This people may truly
be called a lost nation, because it is
akin to no other people on earth to-
day. Even the fora of their land
seems strange. The natives are white,
with fair skins and blue eyes, and
they talk language unknown out
side their boundaries.
Their Religion Different.
Though they call themselves Chris
tians, their religion is different from
any other sect. They stu perform
sacrifices and there are remnants of
ancient tree worship In their rites.
Russian scholars say that these peo-
pie are the descendants of Jason and
the Argonauts. One of their priced
relics is an anchor which they claim
came from Jason's ship. 1t Is pre-
served In temple on the slopes OF
that great mountain upon which
Prometheus is said to have been
bound.
During our trip we were compelled
to seek nightly refuge In the homes OF
the people. They 1--we Ia wooden huts
Of two stories, the lower floor shell
tering their animals, while the upper
floor is a single huge room where the |
whole family lives and sleeps Their |
food consists mainly Of hatcha-puri, |
an odd mixture of corn meal and |
goats milk cheese.
MY mission among the Saventians |
was entirely successful. After few
days, they were no longer suspicious
Of me, and within a week they were
quite friendly. They were ire
mendously impressed to find that
Americans were caring for a group Of
refugee children belonging to their
tribe and they promised to send their
head men TO our orphanage headquar-
tiers to select the first unit Of children
for repatriation 1t is quite likely
that the American work for these chill
dren viii result In breaking down the
ISOLATION Of this people and bringing
them back again into a world useful