American National Red Cross; Red Cross and Red Crescent
None could be found at this time of night; besides there was no barley
for the horses, and nothing was to be done unless it was to go on and
try another village. Our zaptieh seemed to have exhausted his resources
and said no more. Other villagers had come and were standing around the
"villageman," who still insisted that he could do nothing. Miss Bush
quietly suggested "_Argentum_." We got down from our horse, went around
carelessly, and slipped a "cherek" (a five piaster piece) into his
fingers. He took and felt of it, and then went away without a word.
After about ten minutes he returned with a light, a door was opened
close beside us, and we unloaded our animals, put them all in, took in
the luggage, went in ourselves, got our supper, spread our blankets,
drove away our audience of villagers, fastened the stable door and
announced to ourselves that we were one hour into the "next day," and
went to sleep. We were off again the next morning before the sun was up.
This is a sample incident of what happened in frequent variation during
interior travel.
At Harpoot we arranged for supplying tools and cattle to the remaining
villages which we failed to reach from Egin. Here, too, we found Mr.
Wistar busy supplying harvesting and threshing implements, and cattle
for plowing in the Harpoot plain and villages. In this vilayet there are
upwards of two hundred villages either plundered or wholly destroyed,
and from these many persons of all classes came for medical or surgical
help.
Preparations were made to work in Malatia, where, some weeks before, we
had ordered supplies and medicines sent to be ready for our arrival, but
owing to the unsettled conditions there, no such work could be done to
advantage. The time for our return to Constantinople was drawing near
and on the twenty-seventh of June we were ready to start for the Black
Sea. We called to pay our respects to the governor of Harpoot and found
him as cordial as he had always been. Inquiries were made and
explanations given, so that he might more thoroughly understand the
character and purposes of the Red Cross. His Excellency remarked that it
gave to those engaged in the work great opportunities to become
acquainted with different countries, and that we must have found Turkey
the most difficult of them all to work in. He regretted that he himself
had been of so little assistance to our efforts, etc., but we took
pleasure in saying that he had done at all times all that we had asked
and ofttimes more. Speaking for those associated with our work I could
safely say that all the recollections of our personal relations with the
vali of Harpoot will remain with us as pleasant and satisfactory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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