American National Red Cross; Red Cross and Red Crescent
The sun is extremely hot during the summer in the interior, hence when
the moon was favorable we traveled by night, leaving the saddle long
enough to sleep in the "Araba" (a sort of small, springless, covered
wagon used where there are roads) so as to have the day to work in while
our horses rested. When we could do so in our journey we left funds for
specified purposes, but frequently the sufferers felt safer without such
assistance and declined to receive it. At Sivas we gave a fund for
farmers' tools. Here the grain crop was later than in the valleys
further south. We also left here with the Rev. Messrs. Perry and
Hubbard, a horse, in order to facilitate their relief work. From Malatia
several families and individuals placed themselves under the protection
of the Red Cross and its guards in order to go in safety to the coast. A
portion of this road is infested with brigands and a strong guard is
necessary, in fact it is needed throughout the whole region. The
government took particular care of us by giving us a brigand as a
special guard through the dangerous part of the road, saying that we
should be safer with him than with the regular military guard. A few
weeks before a rich caravan was robbed on this road, and when we passed
we had the interesting pleasure of taking tea and journeying for a while
with the chief of these brigands who had two days before been enlisted
in government service. With the ample government protection we have at
all times had, we seldom felt concern for our personal safety,
notwithstanding that in places where we visited there was often a great
deal of anxiety and fear on the part of the people for their own safety
and that of their friends, or their property if they had any.
Tokat and Amasia were on our homeward route--the latter place being the
site of the ancient castle of Mithridates, King of Pontus.
At Samsoun we had two saddle horses to dispose of, and our consular
agent, Mr. Stephapopale, having a stable, kindly offered to sell them to
the best profit for us, and to see that the proceeds were used in aiding
the refugees who crowd to the coast in the hope of getting farther on,
but only find themselves stranded and unable to return, becoming thereby
veritable sufferers.
On the sixteenth of July we reached the Bosphorus, four months and six
days from the time we started out from Constantinople for the interior,
glad of the privilege and power we have enjoyed as messengers to carry
some of the gifts that have been entrusted to your care by the people of
America for the innocent, unfortunate sufferers of Anatolia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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