On Saturday one of the Latin priests, Father Sabatine, made the journey to Latakia, at considerable risk, in order to appeal for help. Whether it was by the influence of his telegrams or the ones sent twenty-four hours before by the Protestant physician, Dr. Apelian, I do not know, but at all events on Sunday morning a Messageries Maritime steamer came down the coast toward the cove at Kaladouran, at the foot of Mount Cassius. The news was carried from mouth to mouth to all the hiding places among the crags and ravines, so that within a few hours the fugitives began to pour in streams down the Kaladouran gorge to the seashore. The painfulness of that descent can scarcely be imagined. Most of the people had not had anything to eat for two days. Many of them had become separated from their families and were now plodding down toward the sea with a strange blend of hope and despair. The suffering of many of the women was severe indeed. Fourteen children were born during that flight, and the mothers had no alternative but to press onward as best they could in the wake of the multitude.
An 8-year-old little boy was captured by the Turks and carried off to become a Moslem. He was given a Mohammedan name and made to wear a little turban. He acted very demurely and kept quiet. But when a chance offered, as he had permission to go to a nearby well, he ran for dear life and got away. With an instinct as keen as that of a wild creature of the woods, he made his way among the mountains and across the maritime plain forty miles, to Latakia, where he found his mother.
The Messageries steamer took aboard about 3,000 and brought them to Latakia, where they were divided up among several churches and schools. On Monday, a French cruiser brought 4,000 more. The largest number were cared for in the grounds of the American Presbyterian Mission. The hospital was crowded with wounded and sick under the care of Dr. James Balph. Miss Elsey, the trained nurse, opened a maternity ward, and all the Americans worked hard in relief measures. The days in Latakia, under the hot sun and with the constant fear that the Turks of the town might rush in and attack them, were days of exile and hardship, in spite of all that could be done for safety and health. They gathered quietly in the evenings for prayer and for the singing of the hymns that they all know by heart. After a few days sickness began breaking out rapidly. Several smallpox cases were discovered, and the crowded conditions threatened still further disorders. The Mutasarrif, who is chief magistrate in Latakia, had from the start done everything in his power to protect and provide for these fugitives. He himself patrolled the streets at night, and, with the few soldiers at his command, dispersed the angry Moslem mobs which repeatedly made attempts at disorder. He furnished a ration of flour for all and expressed his sympathy with those who were in sorrow. When he saw the rapid increase of sickness he advised that they should all return to Kessab, and to give the people assurance of safety on the road he went with them in person. The courageous and kind-hearted action of this Turk saved Latakia, and the thousands of Kessab people sheltered there, from the dreadful event of a massacre. His conduct stands out in strong contrast with the criminal behavior of Hassein Hassan Agha, the Mudir of Ordou.
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH IN KESSAB. SACKED AND BURNED APRIL 23-24.
Can you imagine the feelings of the Kessab people as they climbed on foot the long trail up the mountain, and then as they came over the ridge into full view of their charred and ruined dwellings? Their stores of wheat, barley, and rice had been burned; clothing, cooking kettles, furniture, and tools had gone; their goats, cows, and mules had been stolen; their silk industry stamped out; their beloved churches reduced to smouldering heaps. The bodies of their friends and relatives who had been killed had not been buried. And yet the love of home is so strong that the people have settled down there with the determination to clear up the debris and rebuild their houses. If generous gifts arrive from England and America the Local Relief Committee hopes to put into the hands of the Kessab men such tools as shall enable them to earn their usual livelihood by one of the trades or by farming. For the present food supplies and clothing must also be forwarded from Latakia and Beirut. But as soon as a man begins to earn a daily wage, no matter how small, his name is struck off the ration lists. I insisted upon this rule in the case of muleteers, who were paid for carrying up the first shipment of relief supplies. Two capable doctors are ready to give their services for the sick, but they have lost all medical and surgical supplies. It would be of the utmost benefit to furnish them with instruments and medicines. In this, as in other needs, we heartily appreciate the prompt cooperation of the Beirut Relief Committee. Miss E. M. Chambers, who was in Adana during these troubles, has now returned to Kessab. She has lost everything, but is quite ready to share the lot of the people. She is secretary for the Kessab Relief Committee, of which Dr. James Balph, Latakia, is chairman and treasurer.
On Sunday afternoon, May 23, the first preaching service for four weeks was held out under the trees near the burned church. My heart went out to the people as I spoke to them and looked into their faces. I realized then a little what they had been through during the past month. May God’s blessing be richly poured out upon them!
Supplementary Report.
For the first few weeks we were all compelled to do emergency work, the doctors to treat the wounded, the rest of us to secure flour, rice, and water for the throngs of homeless people. But now the attention of all of us is directed to construction work, providing for the industrial needs of the sufferers, rebuilding wherever possible and reorganizing the agricultural work of the peasants. For the orphan children homes are being established, chiefly by the missionaries, and for the widows whose livelihood has been cut off by the killing of husbands, fathers, and sons, the establishment of embroidery, rug making, and silk culture, the materials and tools furnished by the relief committees, the wages to be paid daily to the earners. Where many men have survived, the common trades of carpentry, masonry, stonecutting, tailoring, and weaving may be reestablished by a sufficient financial backing from relief societies. There is also great need of men to specialize in relief work and administer the large funds required. Missionaries can not rightly give up all their regular work, nor can navy officers nor consuls, but a few American volunteers, such as those sent to southern Italy and Sicily after the earthquake, could do a wonderful amount of good.
Perhaps the most effective and wide-reaching relief work thus far has been done by Dr. F. D. Shepard and his wife in the large villages of Hassan Beyli and Baghche. This American surgeon could use to excellent advantage a staff of young men from the homeland. The work of the Beirut Relief Committee in providing hundreds of the men who survived the Kessab attack with tools and implements, so that they might commence earning a living at once, deserves note as a typically American plan, financed chiefly through the generosity of the American National Red Cross. To avoid pauperizing the people is one of the most difficult feats. Here in the city of Aintab, where there has been practically no loss of life, but great economic loss and resulting increase of poverty, I have furnished some of the unemployed weavers with twelve looms for six months. Twelve stonecutters, who were out of work since April 16, I have set to work digging pits or holes in the limestone of the hospital grounds, so that trees may be planted in the pits next spring. The earth is only a few inches deep here.