THE DAWN OF A 
 NEW ERA ;/i SYRIA 
 
 MARGARET M£GILVARY 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/dawnofnewerainsyOOmcgirich 
 
The Dawn ot a New Era in Syria 
 
« ««."«*« 
 
 
The Dawn of ii1^^ 
 Era in Syria 
 
 By 
 
 MARGARET McGILVARY 
 
 Secretary Beirut Chapter Red Cross 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 Cover design and maps by 
 
 LANICE PATON DANA 
 
 New York Chicago 
 
 Fleming H. RevcII Company 
 
 London and Edinburgh 
 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 
 New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
 Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
 London : ai Paternoster Square 
 Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 
 
To 
 
 ALL THOSE BRAFE AMERICANS 
 
 and 
 
 LOTAL-HEARTED STRIANS 
 
 who laboured for Syria in her darkest 
 
 hour in the faith that dawn would 
 
 surely succeed the night 
 
 50i)88U 
 
Preface 
 
 MANY of our favourite books have been 
 written " by request." A little boy once 
 said to a famous author, "If you will write 
 me a book about animals, my father will print it." 
 The result was the " Just So Stories." 
 
 It is impossible to estimate how many people have 
 sought out the American residents in Syria with ques- 
 tions in regard to their experiences during the war. 
 Newspaper reporters, directors of relief-campaigns, 
 and agents of political propaganda have been clamour- 
 ing for stories, for statistics, for facts pertinent to 
 this or that particular issue. It is evident that 
 America is interested in Syria, and those of us who 
 are concerned with Syrians welfare feel that we can 
 do her no greater service than to introduce her to the 
 American public. Geographically this land is regarded 
 in America as a " remote corner of the globe," and 
 perhaps there are comparatively few at home who 
 realize the numerous ties which bind the United States 
 to this small land on the eastern coast of the Mediter- 
 ranean. American philanthropy has been pouring 
 millions of dollars of American money into Syria 
 during the last five years. Moreover, within the last 
 nine months the question has arisen of an intimate 
 
 7 
 
8 Preface 
 
 political relationship between the two countries. If 
 this little volume answers any questions, and succeeds 
 in arousing an interest in this struggling nation, it will 
 amply fulfil its purpose. 
 
 I have been greatly handicapped by the fact that for 
 years there has been no comprehensive treatise on 
 Syria. If I may judge by my own scanty informa- 
 tion before I came here to live, the average American 
 knows very little of the geography, the government, 
 the economy of the country, its wartime experiences, 
 or its present problems. Any book on Syria, however 
 simple, must supply these deficiencies. For this rea- 
 son I have been forced to treat certain subjects more 
 in detail than would otherwise have been necessary. 
 
 "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story " is the only 
 authoritative work on Turkey during the war that has 
 been published. I purposely refrained from reading 
 this book until I had completed my own, as I wished 
 to avoid influence upon my point of view. In one or 
 two instances I have verified my information by re- 
 ferring to his discussion of such technicalities as the 
 Capitulations, but in all such cases I have cited Mr. 
 Morgenthau as my authority. If there are other points 
 of similarity, it is purely accidental. 
 
 I am under special obligation to my uncle and my 
 aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Dana ; and but for their 
 encouragement and generous interest I doubt whether 
 I should have had the courage to undertake the task. 
 Mrs. Dana has given me invaluable assistance in the 
 preparation of certain chapters on subjects where her 
 information was more complete than mine. Mr. Dana 
 
Preface 9 
 
 has allowed me free use of records of Press-work and 
 relief-activities and has set no limit to my use of facts 
 regarding certain of his personal experiences which 
 have been little known outside of our family circle. 
 
 I am also indebted to my uncle, Lewis Bayles Paton, 
 Professor in Hartford Theological Seminary, Hart- 
 ford, Connecticut, for revising the manuscript and 
 reading proof. 
 
 M. McG. 
 
 'Aleih, Lebanon. 
 
Contents 
 
 I. The Closing of a Highway of the Na- 
 
 tions 17 
 
 Syria the most isolated country in the world 
 
 during the Great War. 
 Turkey closes every door to outside help. 
 
 II. The Disintegration of Syria ... 27 
 
 At the msrcy of the Turks. 
 
 Physical, racial, and religious divisions in Syria 
 cause lack of national unity. 
 
 Turkey and Germany introduce plan of starva- 
 tion. 
 
 III. Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria . 38 
 
 Modern Crusaders. 
 
 The Capitulations — a ring in the nose of the 
 bull. 
 
 IV. Mobilizing an Elusive Army . . . 52 
 
 Bombardment of Belgrade signal for Turkish 
 
 mobilization. 
 Germany's hand on the rudder. 
 Economic, financial, and political chaoi in Syria. 
 Germany and the Jehad, 
 Germany and the Capitulations. 
 Entente campaign against Turkey a side-issue. 
 
 V. Abrogation of the Capitulations . . 73 
 
 Mistreatment of consular officials. 
 Deportation of belligerents. 
 
 VI. The American Red Cross to the Rescue 82 
 
 American position unique and enviable. 
 Civilian relief and two hospital units. 
 xz 
 
1 2 Contents 
 
 The arrest of an American philanthropist. 
 Relief work in Lebanon. 
 The ship that never came. 
 
 VII. The American Mission-Press in a New 
 
 Role 97 
 
 What it was before the war. 
 
 Converting a print-shop into a banking house 
 
 and relief-bureau. 
 The persecution of the Manager. 
 
 VIII. Syrian Philanthropy FROM Abroad 113 
 
 Transfer of funds from America to Syria through 
 the American Press. 
 
 The American Dollar in Turkey. 
 
 The dramatic side : humour, pathos, tragedy. 
 
 The deportation of a Syrian patriot and philan- 
 thropist. 
 
 IX. Unjust Stewards 133 
 
 Personalities regarding Enver, Talaat, and Jemal 
 
 in their relation to Syria. 
 A Twentieth Century Herod. 
 An assassin for Chief of Police. 
 Two Governors of Lebanon. 
 Governors of Aleppo and Damascus. 
 
 X. The Effect in Syria of America's En- 
 
 trance INTO THE War . . . .157 
 
 Turkish police close American institutions. 
 
 Smuggling ^40,000 past Turkish guards. 
 
 The departure from Syria of American repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 The Chief of Police orders resumption of 
 American Press activities. 
 
 How a German cooperated in American relief- 
 work. 
 
 Why Jemal Pasha protected the Syrian Protes- 
 tant College. 
 
Contents 13 
 
 XL Hysterical and Historical Excitements 167 
 
 Financial flurry, naval activities, aerial attacks, 
 the destruction of a submarine in Beirut har- 
 bour, evacuation, deportation, the locusts. 
 
 Signals to the enemy. A hidden wireless. 
 
 Spies. 
 
 The arrest of the entire American Mission. 
 
 Court Martial of two Americans from Armenia 
 
 Typhus. 
 
 Hiding provisions in a Phoenician well. 
 
 XII. 19 1 7 — The Year of Horror . . .189 
 
 Relief work continued without funds by the 
 
 American Mission. 
 Americans as arbiters of life and death. 
 A nation's struggle against extermination. 
 The history of an average Lebanon family. 
 
 XIII. How an Englishman Kept Four Thou- 
 
 sand Syrians Alive .... 209 
 
 An operation and a toothache remove barriers 
 to relief work. 
 
 A visit to the Brummana Soup-Kitchen. 
 
 Bayard Dodge saves thirty villages from starva- 
 tion. 
 
 XIV. The Deportation and Imprisonment of 
 
 the Director of American Relief in 
 Syria 235 
 
 Azmi's jealousy of American philanthropy. 
 
 Journeying as a prisoner through Anatolia in 
 midwinter. 
 
 First impressions of Constantinople. 
 
 W. S. Nelson and C. A. Dana in War Depart- 
 ment prison. 
 
 An unexpected release. 
 
 The new Sultan. 
 
 Decline of German prestige in Turkey. 
 
 The collapse of the Central Powers. 
 
 The Armistice and the end of Turkey. 
 
 Home again. 
 
14 Contents 
 
 XV* The Dark Hour Before the Dawn . 263 
 The worst year of the war. 
 
 XVI. Dawn — The Day of Syria's Liberation . 274 
 
 Syria in ignorance of military eventi. 
 Watching the Palestine campaign from the 
 
 Capital. 
 The flight of the Germans and Austrians. 
 Allen by '3 crusade seen from the heights of 
 
 Lebanon. 
 Deposing the Turkish Governor of Beirut. 
 The triumphal entry. 
 
 XVIL The New Day ..... 286 
 
 Syria's fate. 
 
 Syria's dependence on America's friendship, 
 
 50,000 Syrians in destitute homes. 
 
 Syria's right to self-determination. 
 
 Will America stand by " The Fourteen Pointi " ? 
 
Illustrations 
 
 Beirut and the Lebanon Mountains . FrontUpiea 
 
 Facing page 
 
 Miss McGilvary, Mr. Dana, Mrs. Dana, Dorothy 
 
 Dana, at their Summer Home in *Aleih . , 22 
 
 28 
 
 V- 
 
 4a 
 54 
 86 
 100 
 100 
 X04 
 114 
 130 
 158 
 158 
 196 
 206 
 258 
 258 
 280 
 282 
 284 
 
 Bedouin, or Nomad Arabs . • • • 
 
 Map of Syria 
 
 The American Mission in Syria . • 
 Map of Lebanon and Adjacent Districts 
 Hospital Unit, Beirut Chapter, American Red Cross 
 Unloading Paper for American Press • • 
 Sending Publications to Steamer . • « 
 Two Arabic Compositors of the American Press 
 American Press Administrative StafF • ^ 
 
 Assad Kheirallah « 
 
 American Mission Compound, Beirut, Syria , 
 American Summer Residences, 'Aleih, Lebanon 
 Typical Starvation Cases . . . • 
 Scenery in the Lebanon Mountains . • 
 
 The Entente Fleet in the Sea of Marmora • 
 The Fleet at Anchor in the Bosphorus . 
 The First British to Enter Beirut . • 
 
 Omar Bey Daouk 
 
 General Allenby and StafF at the Dog River . 
 
THE CLOSING OF A HIGHWAY OF THE 
 NATIONS 
 
 SYRIA was perhaps the most completely isolated 
 country in the world during the Great War. 
 As the result of an almost ironical series of cir- 
 cumstances this land which for so many centuries 
 played such an important role in history was for prac- 
 tically four years hidden behind a drawn curtain. 
 This " bridge of the world," as it is sometimes called, 
 this highway between Asia and Africa for the con- 
 quests and commerce of nations, became for the first 
 time in recorded history as much out of touch with 
 the trend of world events as the bleak plains of Pata- 
 gonia, or Lapland, 
 
 The history of Syria is in itself practically a resume 
 of the history of civilization from its earliest begin- 
 nings to the present day. The Turkish Empire as it 
 existed before this last great war included areas which 
 were more richly endowed with the heritage of the past 
 than any other portions of the world's surface. Meso- 
 potamia probably cradled the earliest civilization. 
 Egypt contains the richest and best-preserved records 
 of a highly developed ancient culture. Arabia and 
 Syria, both former Turkish provinces, gave birth to the 
 three great religions of the world, Isl^m, Judaism, and 
 
 17 
 
l8 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Christianity. Jerusalem is the shrine of all these re- 
 ligions, and Moslem, Jew and Christian jostle each 
 other in the narrow streets of the Holy City and con- 
 test with fanatical hatred for the ownership of the 
 places that are sacred to all three sects alike. The 
 name of this remote and crumbling Oriental city is 
 familiar to " people and realms of every tongue," and 
 the ignorant Russian peasant who has scarcely heard 
 of Moscow and Petrograd is nevertheless hoarding his 
 savings for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 
 
 The historian, the Bible student, the archaeologist, 
 the statesman must all include within their professional 
 equipment a comprehension of the history of Syria and 
 its problems. In some respects Syria is the most back- 
 ward country in the world, and might almost be re- 
 garded as an exhibit in the museum of time. A large 
 majority of the peasant population of the Holy Land 
 to-day cultivate their soil and conduct their social life 
 just as their ancestors did three thousand years and 
 more ago. Many of the agricultural implements and 
 the household utensils have not been altered in the 
 slightest particular from those which are described in 
 the Bible. Old tribal customs, especially among the 
 Jews, still prevail, and the traveller is constantly im- 
 pressed with a sense of unreality as if he were observ- 
 ing animated tableaux illustrating a long-loved book 
 as he sees at every turn the episodes of Biblical history 
 reproduced in the life of the modern inhabitants of the 
 " Bible-land." 
 
 In this respect Syria is the land " where all things 
 always seem the same " ; and yet, on the other hand. 
 
The Closing of a Highway of the Nations 19 
 
 Syria is the one spot still left on the face of the earth 
 with which the world-peace settlement has not yet been 
 able to cope. It was a comparatively easy problem for 
 the Entente to agree upon the terms under which Ger- 
 many and Austria should be reinstated; but one item 
 of the docket with which the Conference must deal 
 before its work is finished promises endless difficulties, 
 and may even sow the seeds of discord between the 
 parties of the Entente. That item is the disposal of 
 Syria. The searchlight of the world is turned in 
 Syria's direction. There are a score of conflicting and 
 powerful political forces at work, and the task of 
 evolving an equitable solution from the chaos of greed 
 bids fair to prove well-nigh impossible. To the mind 
 of the Jews the hour has sounded for their rcestablish- 
 ment in the land of which they were centuries ago 
 despoiled. For the Arabs the time has come to assert 
 their claims over the vast territory which is theirs by 
 right of prevailing race and language. The Syrians 
 are clamouring for independence. England and France 
 and Italy have each political or commercial aspirations 
 which make the possession of Syria highly desirable, 
 and America stands in that awkward position of being 
 the sponsor of Syria's choice, an invitation which she 
 cannot disregard in view of the famous " Fourteen 
 Points." 
 
 Hov/ever much the existence of Syria had to be 
 reckoned with by the various combatants in the con- 
 flict, its real internal life during the war was prac- 
 tically unknown to the world. Outsiders saw in the 
 newspapers little mention of other than military events 
 
ao The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 in Syria. Some may have been stirred by appeals to 
 help the starving Syrians, but how many realized that 
 the suffering was not due entirely to the exigencies of 
 war but to the deliberate attempt of the rulers to ex- 
 terminate a subject race? Those within the country 
 felt themselves growing almost daily further out of 
 touch with the march of world events. The great 
 majority of these also realized that they were prisoners 
 who faced both indignity and starvation. In one 
 sense, all who remained in Syria during the war, 
 whether voluntarily or otherwise, were prisoners. 
 Foreigners and Syrians alike found themselves fettered 
 by lack of funds, materials, ways and means ; by gov- 
 ernment regulations and interference; and they were 
 in danger of mental stagnation, and even death from 
 disease, famine or torture. Those were very dark 
 hours. Like a night during sickness they dragged on, 
 and it seemed that the dawn would never break. 
 
 In Roman times Syria was the granary of the world 
 which encircled the Mediterranean, and she is still 
 capable of producing wheat to feed that little world. 
 Yet in our day, during the reign of a few Turkish gov- 
 ernors, some of whom were eminently suited to the 
 worst Roman era, one-half the population of Syria was 
 wiped out entirely through disease and starvation. 
 Even Belgium and Serbia, which probably suffered as 
 heavily as any of the small countries engaged in the 
 war, cannot show as high a percentage of mortality 
 due to these causes. 
 
 Probably no part of the world contained also in so 
 small an area representatives of so many nationalities 
 
The Closing of a Highway of the Nations 21 
 
 as did Syria at the beginning of the war. Her in- 
 ternal life, therefore, during the war presented not only 
 the problems of her Syrian inhabitants, a race subject 
 at that time to the Sultan of Turkey, but also certain 
 peculiar features in relation to the foreign residents. 
 The vicissitudes of the latter, as seen by the writer of 
 this book, form a part of the story which cannot be 
 lightly told. 
 
 These pages are written in Lebanon during the 
 peaceful summer of 1919; and although the surround- 
 ings are identical with those in which the events of th^ 
 war occurred, everything has been so altered since the 
 British occupation less than a year ago that we some- 
 times wonder whether it was a dream after all. We 
 use the words " during the war " as if we were refer- 
 ring to an epoch which we can only dimly remember. 
 So rapidly does one adjust oneself to new conditions! 
 
 I came out to Syria in the spring of 1914, having 
 just graduated from college, to work as secretary to 
 my uncle, Mr. Charles A. Dana, Manager of the Amer- 
 ican Mission Press in Beirut. The offer particularly 
 tempted me for I understood that life in Syria was 
 peculiarly rich and delightful, affording many oppor- 
 tunities for travel in the Near East. Moreover, as a 
 point of contact with the outside world it could scarcely 
 be equalled. "Everybody that is anybody " eventually 
 visits the Holy Land, just as every one visits Paris ; but 
 in Beirut, unlike a great city like Paris, the small Amer- 
 ican community is privileged to entertain and become 
 well acquainted with the distinguished guests who are 
 constantly passing. Since one must always behold the 
 
22 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 greater part of the world in a mirror, it seemed to me 
 there was no better place than Syria for a Lady of 
 Shalott. 
 
 I had been in Syria only four months when the war 
 began, and I then discovered that I had chosen as my 
 residence for the next two years and eight months the 
 most out-of-the-way corner of the world, instead of 
 the greatest highway. However, life there held ample 
 recompense for its isolation. In my position at the 
 American Press I was in constant touch with the prob- 
 lems of relief -work, and I came to know and love the 
 land and the people in a way that is possible only in a 
 community which is cut off from the rest of the world. 
 
 I have incorporated into this book some sections of 
 reports of the Beirut Chapter of the American National 
 Red Cross which, as secretary of that organization 
 from 1914 to 1917, it was my task to prepare for the 
 main office in Washington. 
 
 In the fall of 1917 Mr. Dana was deported from 
 Beirut, owing to the hostility of the Turkish Governor, 
 Azmi Bey; and the Dana family, including myself, 
 spent the last year of the war — one of many downs 
 and ups — in Constantinople, returning to Beirut in the 
 spring of 1919. 
 
 At the beginning of the Great War Beirut was the 
 third city of the Ottoman Empire, a flourishing port 
 with an extensive trade. Though it has no great his- 
 torical past like Damascus, its story is not lacking in 
 interest. It was an ancient Phoenician settlement, and 
 as such enjoyed a flourishing trade with Egypt, Tar- 
 shish, and the Greek islands. It eventually passed un- 
 
MISS McGILVARY, MR. DANA, MRS. DANA 
 
 DOROTHY DANA 
 
 AT THEIR SUMMER HOME IN 'ALEIH 
 
The Closing of a Highway of the Nations 23 
 
 der Roman control, which marked the beginning of the 
 most prosperous period of its history. After its cap- 
 ture by the Arabs in 635 a. d. it remained Moslem until 
 1111, when Count Baldwin took it for Christendom. 
 In 1187 it was recaptured by §alah-ed-din (Saladin), 
 and has since then been nominally under Moslem rule, 
 although for one period of many years it was the seat 
 of the rebel government of the Druze Emir, Fakhred- 
 din. From that time on until comparatively recent 
 years, whoever its nominal rulers have been, it has been 
 under the influence of the Druze Emirs of Lebanon. 
 In October, 1918, it was recaptured a second time for 
 Christianity by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force un- 
 der General Sir Edmund AUenby. 
 
 Never in all this history of capture and recapture 
 has Beirut been so isolated from the rest of the world 
 as during the past four years. The neighbouring coast 
 city of Jebail, the ancient Gebal, was besieged by the 
 Assyrians, but was in constant touch with Egypt dur- 
 ing the whole siege ; Tyre was besieged fifteen years by 
 Alexander, and still maintained her sea-trade. Yet in 
 our day not only the coast cities, but the whole of Syria 
 was utterly cut off from the outside world and was the 
 victim of disease, of starvation, and of tyranny. 
 
 Syria from its location is naturally a highway. 
 Generally outlined, it occupies the entire coast of the 
 most eastern extremity of the Mediterranean. It ex- 
 tends from the Taurus Mountains, which border Asia 
 Minor, to Egypt and the Arabian Desert, and inland to 
 Mesopotamia. All traffic from the coasts of Asia 
 Minor must pass through its northern portion. Xeno- 
 
24 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 phon's Ten Thousand filed through the Cilician Gates 
 into Syria on their march toward Mesopotamia in the 
 days of the younger Cyrus, just as did the troops of 
 Von der Goltz on their expedition to Bagdad. Hit- 
 tites, Assyrians and Egyptians centuries ago met and 
 clashed in Syria, for it was the roadway to and from 
 their respective kingdoms. North of Beirut the deep 
 gorge of the Dog River affords one of the easiest 
 passes from the coast into the heart of Lebanon. As- 
 syrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Egyptians, Greeks and 
 Romans have all passed that way. Near the mouth of 
 the river the cliffs are covered with inscriptions in al- 
 most every tongue known to antiquity cut into the 
 solid rock, some so worn by time that one can scarcely 
 distinguish the queer, antique figures, others remark- 
 ably well preserved. Napoleon III left his tablet 
 there. The most glorious and most recent inscription 
 is that of General Sir Edmund AUenby, placed there 
 soon after the British occupation of Beirut. 
 
 In recent years Syria has become of strategic value 
 as the one connecting link between the capital of the 
 Turkish Empire and its most easternly provinces, as 
 well as Its nominal dependency, Egypt. Germany 
 recognized this and knew also that by maintaining the 
 Bagdad Railway and her colonies in Palestine she 
 could always menace any possible concession to Eng- 
 land for a railroad which would carry mail and trade 
 by the shortest possible route from Europe to Persia 
 and India. 
 
 When the war began the first step in the separation 
 of Syria from the world was the severance of connec- 
 
The Closing of a Highway of the Nations 25 
 
 tion with Egypt, which cast in her lot with the Entente 
 by declaring herself independent of Turkey. Next 
 came the cessation of maritime commerce as one by one 
 the European countries broke relations with the Otto- 
 man Empire; and, six months after Turkey herself 
 entered the war, scarcely a ship was seen save an oc- 
 casional distant French or British cruiser patrolling the 
 coast. Then Mesopotamia fell into the hands of the 
 British; but, as a wide desert separated that part of 
 Asia from Syria, no military advance was made be- 
 yond Bagdad, and no connection existed between the 
 British army and the eastern border of Syria. There 
 remained only the slender thread of the railway which 
 connected Syria with the government at Constanti- 
 nople. This was controlled by the Turks and the Ger- 
 mans; hence Syria, cut off on three sides, was at the 
 mercy of her hostile rulers and their equally hostile 
 allies who held the fourth side. 
 
 Germany cared nothing for Syria save as a pos- 
 sible future German colony and as a buffer against 
 Egypt. The Turkish Government bore no love for its 
 province whose Arab and Syrian population was 
 frankly disaffected. Germany encouraged the isola- 
 tion of Syria as a whole in order to further her larger 
 schemes which included the complete disintegration of 
 the Ottoman Empire. Turkey seized the opportunity 
 to vent her barbaric instincts and to harass and murder 
 a nation she hated, and in order to accomplish this she 
 closed every possible door to outside help through the 
 mails or otherwise. For these reasons, Turkey was 
 cut off from all save her allies; and had Bulgaria not 
 
26 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 entered the war on the side of the Central Powers, the 
 Ottoman Empire would have been completely encircled 
 by enemies, and would soon have fallen into the power 
 of the Entente. As it was, Syria became, partly by 
 force of circumstances, and partly through concerted 
 action, completely isolated. 
 
 Those four years when Syria was entirely segre- 
 gated from the rest of the world formed the blackest 
 period of her history. Just as the darkest hours pre- 
 cede the dawn, and in sickness the vitality is at lowest 
 ebb in the early morning hours and the pulse weakens 
 like a candle flickering in the wind, so the flame of 
 Syria's national life was scarcely sustained. When 
 dawn came at last, it found Syria very weak but still 
 alive, and ready and eager to face a new future. 
 
II 
 
 THE DISINTEGRATION OF SYRIA 
 
 NO small part of the difficulties in Syria during 
 the war was due to the fact that she was at 
 the mercy of the Turk so far as her one 
 connection with the outside world was concerned, and 
 this largely because of the form of government. Tur- 
 key changed in 1908 from an absolute to a constitu- 
 tional monarchy governed by the Sultan and a parlia- 
 ment consisting of delegates from the various prov- 
 inces. As a matter of fact, between 1915 and 1918 a 
 large number of these delegates never reached Con- 
 stantinople, or, if there, were so out of touch with 
 their constituents that there was little representation 
 in the true sense of the term. The real power rested 
 in the hands of the Committee of Union and Progress 
 which had smothered the ambitions of the Young 
 Turk Party that had aspired to at least a nominally 
 liberal government, and which controlled the Sultan, 
 the Cabinet, Parliament and the majority of the pro- 
 vincial governors. The Triumvirate of the Committee 
 of Union and Progress were Talaat Pasha, Minister 
 of the Interior; Enver Pasha, Minister of War; and 
 Jemal Pasha, Minister of Marine and later Military 
 Governor of Syria. Of these more anon. 
 Each of the large areas in Turkey, such as Mesopo- 
 
 27 
 
28 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 tamia, or Syria, was divided into smaller sections called 
 vilayets under control of a Governor-General, or Vdli,^ 
 who was responsible only to the Sultan; or in other 
 words, to the control of the Committee of Union and 
 Progress. During the military regime in Syria the 
 Vdlis were limited in their functions by the power of 
 the Military Governor. The vilayet contained four 
 graded subdivisions the officials of which were all re- 
 sponsible to the Vdli. The vilayet boundaries for the 
 most part followed some logical geographic divisions. 
 However, Beirut Vilayet, in which we lived, contained 
 three separate areas around Beirut, Sidon and Tripoli, 
 where the Province of Lebanon extended to the sea- 
 coast and cut into it in two places, and a fourth part 
 comprising Nablus in Palestine. The Vilayet of Beirut 
 which included so many detached sections is only one 
 of a dozen illustrations of how Syria was through her 
 government and through her very nature internally dis- 
 integrated. 
 
 One of the chief causes of this disintegration was 
 the physical character of Syria. There are two prac- 
 tically parallel ranges of mountains extending through 
 almost its entire length. The first, or Western Range, 
 is near the coast, with which it is connected by a chain 
 of coastal plains of greatly varied widths. The sec- 
 ond, or Eastern Range, is on the side toward the 
 Syrian Desert. Between these is a narrow depression, 
 or rift, which is, at the Dead Sea, the lowest level on 
 the face of the earth. Thus at almost any point where 
 you cross Syria going eastward you find five parallel 
 
 ^ Turkish— Vilayet and Vdli; Arahic—Wildyeh and Wdli. 
 
The Disintegration of Syria 29 
 
 bands: coastal plain, mountain, rift, mountain, des- 
 ert. 
 
 The diversity of surface in Syria produces an equal 
 diversity in climate, and this diversity is paralleled by 
 the variety of races and religions. The bulk of the 
 population of Syria is Arab in origin, and is of two 
 general classes, the settled, or Felahin, and the no- 
 madic, or Bedouin. 
 
 The settled population is of very mixed blood. It 
 includes the Syrians, by which we mean the descend- 
 ants of all those peoples, except the Jews, who spoke 
 Aramaic at the beginning of the Christian era. This 
 stock is modified by an admixture of Arab and Cru- 
 sader blood, and its language is now Arabic The 
 Syrians present a great diversity of types. There are 
 the half-nomad, crude farmer folk of the borderland 
 between civilization and the desert, the more advanced 
 farmer class of the mountain districts, the conservative 
 inhabitants of the inland cities, and the fairly cosmo- 
 politan people of the coast cities. Scattered through 
 nearly all these classes is a gradually increasing leaven 
 of education. 
 
 Besides the divisions created by location and by 
 occupation there are still others created by religion. 
 In America one asks, What is a man's profession? In 
 Syria, What is his religion? Some of the Syrians be- 
 came Moslems at the time of the Turkish conquests, 
 but a very large proportion are still Christians. The 
 latter are of many denominations, often with antago- 
 nistic interests. Probably the foremost bodies among 
 them are the Greek Orthodox and the Maronites, the 
 
30 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 latter adherents of a modified form of the Roman 
 CathoHc Church. The Maronites have long been sym- 
 pathetic with French interests in Syria; and together 
 with the Druzes, their rivals, are destined to play, in 
 the immediate future, a prominent part in the life of 
 their country. 
 
 The Druzes are a mixed race, mostly of Arab blood. 
 They possess a secret religion which may be termed a 
 mixture of IslAm and Christianity in a more or less 
 esoteric form. They also believe in a series of incar- 
 nations of the soul after death until its final absorption 
 into the Deity. The Druzes formerly lived in feudal 
 state under Sheikhs, who were in turn subject to 
 Emirs. They rose to power in the early part of the 
 sixteenth century, and maintained their supremacy 
 until 1860. Numerically they are still the strongest of 
 the non-Christian sects in Lebanon, and they cherish a 
 deep-rooted hatred of the Christians which finds fre- 
 quent vent in local feuds. Practically all the Moslems 
 in Lebanon are heretical, and are probably as antago- 
 nistic toward the orthodox adherents of IslAm as they 
 are toward the Christians. While the Druzes are the 
 most numerous of the schismatic sects, there are a 
 number of others, notably the Mutawailehs, and the 
 Nusairiyeh. 
 
 This bird's-eye view of the principal racial and re- 
 ligious divisions in Syria shows how lacking the coun- 
 try is in national unity. When, owing to the exi- 
 gencies of war, internal communications were reduced 
 to the minimum, or in some parts entirely suspended, 
 the physical and racial characteristics of Syria were 
 
The Disintegration of Syria 31 
 
 such that parts of the country became as much cut of! 
 as oases in the desert which caravans rarely touch. 
 Hence, while Syria is not large, we in Beirut were 
 practically out of contact with certain regions com- 
 paratively near us. Other sections, however, claiming 
 attention for their very isolation, had in a marked de- 
 gree a bearing on the internal situation of the country 
 during the war. 
 
 Most travellers approaching Syria by sea usually 
 notice first the character of its coast ; for if the sea be 
 rough, they may not be able to land. The coast is 
 regular and possesses no good harbours, even Beirut 
 with a port in the sheltering curve of St. George's Bay 
 offers but fickle entrance in bad weather. The striking 
 feature of the Syrian seaboard along half its length is 
 the mountains which seem to rise abruptly from the 
 sea. 
 
 There are, however, about eight maritime plains 
 whose location is indicated on the map by the larger 
 rivers or by the more important seaboard towns which 
 have naturally developed near them. A narrow strip, 
 in some places scarce wide enough for a roadway, con- 
 nects these plains. The close proximity of the moun- 
 tains on one side and of the sea on the other makes the 
 scenery varied and lovely. Now and again the level 
 areas expand into tracts of great fertility whose abun- 
 dant yield of fruit, vegetables, and other crops supplies 
 the needs of the coast cities and provides them with 
 produce for export. Except in two large plains south 
 of Mt. Carmel there is little grain raised near the sea, 
 which explains why the coast of Syria north of Pales- 
 
32 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 tine is dependent on the interior for its main slaple, 
 wheat. 
 
 On leaving the coast and entering the mountains one 
 finds another distinct area, the Lebanon district. It 
 derives its name from the Lebanon Mountains — some- 
 times erroneously spoken of as Mount Lebanon — a 
 mighty range which begins northeast of Tripoli and 
 extends approximately to a region east of Sidon and 
 Tyre. The Lebanon Mountains contain the highest 
 peaks of the Western Range in a ridge called Dahr-el- 
 IJIodib, southeast of Tripoli. The rugged nature of 
 the country with its high mountains and steep-sided 
 valleys has produced a hardy, energetic race of moun- 
 taineers, physically vigorous, honest and free-spirited. 
 
 The antagonism between the Druzes and the Maron- 
 ites early resulted in lack of cohesion in the Lebanon, 
 and foreign intrigue and Turkish hatred of all Chris- 
 tian subjects played upon the religious feud. The 
 Moslem Government first covertly incited the Druzes 
 against the Christians, and then openly abetted them. 
 As a result of this plotting, the Lebanon Mountains be-f 
 came in 1860 the scene of a tragedy so horrible that 
 the Foreign Powers realized the necessity for prompt 
 and effective intervention. In this year occurred the 
 massacre of the Christians by the Druzes in some 
 scores of Lebanon villages and the slaughter of about 
 three thousand Christians in Damascus. During that 
 reign of terror the foreign residents underwent a most 
 anxious time. In view of the fact that the Ottoman 
 Government would do nothing to restore order, the 
 European Powers found it necessary to intervene in 
 
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The Disintegration of Syria 33 
 
 Lebanon, which was occupied by S0,000 foreign 
 troops, about half of which were French. 
 
 The French occupation continued till 1861 when the 
 Sublime Porte was forced to accede to an arrangement 
 which would tend to lessen quarrels between the Chris- 
 tians and the Druzes. Even after the withdrawal of 
 foreign troops, French and English naval squadrons 
 cruised along the coast for months, just as they did 
 from 1916 to 1918 for other reasons. Lebanon was 
 constituted a Privileged Province by statute of Sep- 
 tember 6, 1864, with an autonomous government under 
 the protection of the five Great Powers: England, 
 France, Italy, Austria, and Germany. The Governor 
 of Lebanon was to be a Christian, a just precaution 
 considering the fact that three-fourths of the popula- 
 tion were Christians, and arrangements were made for 
 the gradual withdrawal of the Druzes from the juris- 
 diction of the State. 
 
 In 1914, when the Ottoman Empire broke relations 
 with the Entente Powers, Lebanon ceased to be re- 
 garded as an Independent Protectorate. It was 
 ranked as an Independent Mutaserrifiyeh and given a 
 Moslem Governor, or Mutaserrif, responsible to the 
 Sultan. Curiously enough, while the Turk violated 
 during the Great War every other treaty he had ever 
 signed, for some unknown reason he respected the 
 exemption of the Lebanese from military service. Up 
 to within the last few years Lebanon had her own 
 army of only a few hundred men, and no Lebanese 
 could be drafted for service in the Turkish army. The 
 Lebanese uniform was not unlike the Zouave, and it 
 
34 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 was so novel a sight as to impress the traveller as al- 
 most an anachronism to see these husky mountaineers 
 in their blue and red uniforms, with little bolero jackets 
 and full, baggy trousers, standing guard along the 
 roads, or sauntering about the stations as the trains 
 pulled in. 
 
 It was always with a sense of relief that one crossed 
 the vilayet boundary and passed into the region 
 guarded by these Lebanese. The Lebanon roads were 
 always in better condition than those which the vilayet 
 was supposed to care for, and the very people seemed 
 of a finer type as soon as one entered Lebanon. Dur- 
 ing the war they were so fortunate as to have Turkish 
 governors that were reasonable and conscientious. All 
 Munif Bey, later Minister of Public Works, and Ismail 
 Hakki, former Turkish Counsellor in Egypt, both tried 
 to deal as fairly by their province as the Turkish Gov- 
 ernment and certain unavoidable circumstances would 
 permit. Yet Lebanon suffered more heavily during 
 the years of the war than any other part of Syria. 
 Practically three- fourths of her population of approxi- 
 mately half a million were wiped out by starvation. 
 
 The reason for this was that the rugged Lebanon 
 district, unfit for much level cultivation, raised only a 
 small fraction of the wheat necessary for her popula- 
 tion. For their income the Lebanese depended on the 
 sale of produce from their small farms or the export of 
 their silk. Also certain villages were supported by 
 special trades; for instance, one depended on silver 
 filagree work, another on knife-making, while a third 
 made nearly all the bells which called Christians to 
 
The Disintegration of Syria 35 
 
 worship from Aintab to Sinai. The Entente blockade, 
 instituted the second year of the war, caused the cessa- 
 tion of numerous small industries such as those just 
 mentioned and the temporary destruction of the silk- 
 raising industry, inasmuch as all the silk could not be 
 marketed in the country, but was usually exported to 
 France. Later, under the guise of military necessity, 
 Jemal Pasha confiscated all the silk that he could lay 
 his hands on, and he used as his agent a notorious ras- 
 cal, Tewfik Bey. The poor suffered most heavily, as 
 the rich were able to give large enough bribes to secure 
 protection. Still another cause of distress was the fact 
 that, owing to the complete cessation of postal commu- 
 nication with the outside world, a large number of 
 Lebanese were deprived of external sources of income, 
 such as funds sent them by relatives resident in Amer- 
 ica or in other countries, or bank accounts which they 
 had established abroad. It so happened, therefore, 
 that for one reason or another whole villages were 
 annihilated. 
 
 The Government commandeered wholesale, without 
 payment, animals for transport and for army food 
 supply. People dependent on their sheep or mules for 
 support were impoverished, and there were no longer 
 enough animals for the transport of foodstuffs from 
 one place to another, a serious matter in view of the 
 fact that the railways, being in Turkish or German 
 hands, were available only for military use. Farmers 
 who had saved seed-wheat the first year of the war 
 were forced to eat it the second summer, and by the 
 second winter Lebanon was bereft of wheat. Her dis- 
 
36 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 couraged, almost hopeless population found their coun- 
 try isolated by reason of its rugged mountains and the 
 desire of the Turkish Government to cut it off from the 
 rest of Syria. 
 
 Had the Turk permitted it, the whole of Syria might 
 have been fed by the two main inland areas, the vast 
 level tracts in the Central Depression and the Hauran. 
 Around Aleppo, Hama, and Homs the apparently bare 
 and uninteresting levels are capable of raising a great 
 deal of wheat. These plains during the war were en- 
 tirely separated from each other and from the rest of 
 Syria, save for roads over mountain passes or the slen- 
 der thread of the railway between Aleppo and Reyak, 
 the only means by which, after endless difficulties in 
 the matter of purchase, permits, and car-space, any- 
 thing could be transported from this region to other 
 parts of Syria. 
 
 Still more isolated was Hauran, the great wheat- 
 raising region of Syria, which once fed half the Roman 
 world. The plateau of Hauran lies south of Damas- 
 cus and adjacent to it is another wheat country, Jeb- 
 el ed-Druz, or Druze Mountain. The inhabitants of 
 this part of Syria are partly settled Bedouin tribes and 
 partly, as the name indicates, Druzes. They have al- 
 ways retained distinctive tribal characteristics and cus- 
 toms, and have maintained an exclusive and often 
 hostile attitude, at times quite baffling to the Turk. 
 When the Gk)vemment essayed to control the vast sup- 
 plies of wheat raised in Hauran the population made 
 endless difficulties and even concealed quantities of the 
 grain. They also refused Turkish paper money, and 
 
The Disintegration of Syria 37 
 
 would sell only to buyers who could offer gold " with 
 the horse on it," t. e., English sovereigns bearing the 
 mounted St. George combating the dragon. 
 
 Because food was the crying need of all Syria during 
 the war, these parts of the country I have mentioned 
 somewhat at length were constantly in the minds of all 
 of us. The coast, dependent both on external and in- 
 ternal trade relations, was isolated on both sides and 
 suffering; Lebanon was segregated, internally dis- 
 rupted and starving; the two sections of the interior 
 which might have been utilized to feed the rest of the 
 country were forced into passivity by the Turks. 
 Moreover, not only did the native population suffer at 
 the hands of their rulers, but there was scattered all 
 over Syria the large non-Syrian element mentioned 
 earlier in this book, the Armenians, Jews, Levantines 
 and foreign residents, whose fortunes were bound up 
 in the fate of the country, and whose sufferings were 
 similar to those of the Syrians. 
 
 Not only did each separate community struggle for 
 existence, but Syria as a whole w^as a victim because 
 her position geographically and politically facilitated 
 her becoming a closed highway. Her inhabitants suf- 
 fered because physically, racially and politically Syria 
 was isolated and lacked cohesion. The Americans 
 resident in the country felt it their task to do what they 
 could to alleviate internal conditions. It is to Turkey, 
 however, and to her ally, Germany, that Syria owes the 
 fact of her remaining for nearly five years behind a 
 drawn curtain. 
 
Ill 
 
 FOREIGN GUESTS OF THE SULTAN IN 
 SYRIA 
 
 MY first introduction to Syria was through the 
 letters of my aunt who lived there, and I 
 was perplexed to account for the fact that 
 these letters bore the postage-stamps of any one of five 
 different nations. The geographies said that Syria 
 was a Turkish province, but what could be the status 
 of a country whose postal service was apparently under 
 international control? Later, when I myself went to 
 live with that aunt in Syria, I learned that the answer 
 lay in that half -mysterious phrase, "the Capitula- 
 tions," — what the Capitulations were and how they 
 affected Turkey will later be discussed in detail. The 
 question of the political status of Syria arises in the 
 mind of each new arrival in the land. A more com- 
 posite population could hardly be imagined, and unlike 
 most places where the population is international, in 
 Syria the subjects of each foreign nation maintain to 
 an extraordinary degree the integrity of their national 
 life. 
 
 In Crusading days, all Europeans were grouped by 
 their Eastern opponents under the title of Prank, and 
 to-day a corruption of the term still exists in the 
 
 38 
 
Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria 39 
 
 Syrian word Pranji. The Syrians themselves have 
 drawn this line of demarkation, designating as Pranji 
 any Occidental, European or American, and with them 
 the word is practically synonymous with foreigner. It 
 might seem that the result would be a social homo- 
 geneity among the Westerners resident in Syria, but 
 such is not the case. It is true to a certain extent in 
 the smaller places; but in large cities, like Beirut, the 
 foreign population as a whole has never amalgamated. 
 One finds oneself speaking of " the French colony," or 
 the "Anglo-American community," and each one of 
 these units is socially self-sufficient. True, there are 
 frequent occasions when all forgather, and the assem- 
 bly takes on a truly cosmopolitan character, but in gen- 
 eral, in the ordinary world of social life, each colony 
 lives very much unto itself. 
 
 The East has always been attractive for the Western 
 world. Its lure has wooed men from home and kin- 
 dred to endure danger and hardships in a hostile land, 
 and this siren call is as compelling to many of us to- 
 day as it was to our ancestors centuries ago. Long 
 before the fire of religious enthusiasm roused in 
 Europe the determination to gain possession of the 
 shrines of the Holy Land, trade between the Occident 
 and the Orient had existed to their mutual profit. In 
 the beginning, the current was from the East west- 
 ward, for civilization matured more rapidly in the 
 warm Eastern climes. The Phoenicians who, centuries 
 before the Christian Era, were masters of the Syrian 
 coast, built their ships and ventured forth, even beyond 
 the Pillars of Hercules, into the boundless ocean of the 
 
40 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 4 
 
 West. They bore their treasures to that little isle 
 which we now call England, and brought back with 
 them ores and furs which they had there obtained in 
 fair exchange. Rome turned her eyes toward the 
 East, and seeing that it was good, overthrew great 
 kingdoms and annexed vast tracts of territory. Even 
 among the Crusaders, political and commercial inter- 
 ests were paramount over their enthusiasm for the holy 
 cause. Especially was this true of the Fourth Crusade 
 { 1204 A. D. ) , which Venice actually diverted from the 
 Holy Land to Dalmatia and Constantinople for pur- 
 poses of her own trade and by secret agreement with 
 her Eastern commercial allies. 
 
 The vast armies of Crusaders, recruited from all the 
 countries of Europe, and comprising men of all walks 
 of life, were moved by varied and often conflicting in- 
 terests. Shoulder to shoulder with the religious fa- 
 natic marched the social outcast who sought to obliter- 
 ate the memory of his past offences against society by 
 the fame of his prowess in a holy cause. Their tent- 
 mates were an adventurer, restless and chafed under 
 the humdrum conditions of every-day life, and a pros- 
 perous merchant who thought in terms of commercial 
 profit 
 
 The same impulses which prompted men of wholly 
 diverse tastes to join in the Crusades have brought the 
 modern Westerners to the Holy Land. Some are ac- 
 tuated by the pure spirit of missionary zeal and re- 
 ligious fervour, others by the no less altruistic desire to 
 encourage the advance of these less progressive coun- 
 tries through commerce, agriculture, and the develops- 
 
Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria 41 
 
 ment of natural resources. Still others are inspired 
 solely by selfish motives, and by recognition of the fact 
 that in a country which has so obvious a future as 
 Syria it is well to be first on the scene. According as 
 their motives have been laudable or deplorable, the in- 
 fluence of foreigners on the country has been beneficial 
 or unfortunate. From the very dawn of her history, 
 Syria has been the bone of contention and the prey of 
 conflicting desires. She has been the victim of re- 
 ligious fanaticism no less than the object of crass com- 
 mercialism. She has been riven with civil dissension, 
 and has been rent in the conflict of international jeal- 
 ousies. And yet, for the present, her salvation lies In 
 the beneficent and just intervention of some great 
 power, under whose mandate she may learn to master 
 her own forces, and develop her independence. 
 
 Among tlie alien races which have exploited Syria 
 none have wrought such ravages as the Turks. The 
 recent history of the country has been one long succes- 
 sion of conflicts between Christianity and Isl4m, and 
 each power in turn has worsted the other and assumed 
 governmental control. During the twelfth and thir- 
 teenth centuries in particular, the struggles between the 
 two religions were titanic, and Christian kings and 
 Moslem princes succeeded each other with m.elodra- 
 matic rapidity. The later Crusades were fruitless, and 
 after the failure in 1248 of the Thirteenth and last 
 Crusade, IslAm for nearly seven centuries was never 
 effectively disputed. Indeed, until the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, foreign Christians were barely tolerated in the 
 Holy Land, and it is only during the last century that 
 
42 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 they have gained an effective foothold there. Very 
 quietly and unostentatiously Christian influence has 
 spread until, with the British occupation in 1918, 
 Syria once more passed into Christian hands. So 
 complete, however, has been the transformation, that 
 the population is no longer overwhelmingly Moslem, 
 although the Moslems in all localities but Lebanon are 
 still in the majority. The Crusade of the last few 
 centuries has been a silent one, but the West has made 
 its contribution of men and resources just as truly as it 
 did in the days of chivalry. The saint, the merchant, 
 the outlaw, the adventurer are still to be found among 
 these modern crusaders, and all the races of the Occi- 
 dent are represented in that army. 
 
 From the point of view of numbers, the influence of 
 the Anglo-Americans is probably greatest in Syria, and 
 as the aims and ideals of these two nations are not 
 dissimilar, it is fair, up to a certain point, to treat the 
 two as one for purposes of discussion. Previous to 
 the war, there were several hundred British and Amer- 
 icans resident in Syria, the majority of whom were en- 
 gaged in missionary and educational work. From 
 Jerusalem to Aleppo, from the seacoast to the wilder- 
 ness east of the Jordan, in the mountains, in the desert, 
 and on the fertile maritime plain scores of mission sta- 
 tions were scattered In an important city like Beirut, 
 there might be a dozen missions operating simulta- 
 neourly and harmoniously, carrying on evangelistic, 
 educational, medical, and social work. In more iso- 
 lated spots one foreign pastor was located, or one 
 British or American doctor ministering to the needs of 
 
'db 
 
Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria 43 
 
 the district by his efforts as a touring physician, or by 
 the maintenance of an up-to-date hospital. In still 
 other centers, according to their size, a school or 
 groups of schools were located. 
 
 This organized mission-work had been gradually de- 
 veloping in the country during the last hundred years. 
 In the early years of the nineteenth century, the first 
 American missionaries penetrated into Syria, and be- 
 gan their work on the same far-reaching scale which 
 the present century has elaborated and developed, but 
 has not radically changed. The first British mission 
 in the Holy Land was established about the same time, 
 and so rapidly did the work grow that at the opening 
 of the war there was hardly an important city in Syria 
 or Palestine, or even, one might say, a central village 
 that was not a base for missionary operations. 
 
 The main centers of missionary activity were, natu- 
 rally, the largest cities, such as Beirut, Damascus, 
 Aleppo, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Sidon and Tripoli. 
 Other towns were occupied, however, according to the 
 opportunities that they offered for contact with an im- 
 portant social community. In a little, out-of-the-way 
 town in Northern Galilee, for instance, there is an in- 
 dependent mission-worker who has been prompted to 
 ' vote her life to the conversion of Jews ; and who has 
 chosen this particular village as the best means of ac- 
 cess to a large Jewish district. To Nebk and Deir 
 'Atiyeh, remote villages on the skirts of the Syrian 
 desert, a small band of Danish missionaries has pene- 
 trated, largely because this region has been left un- 
 touched by other missionary organizations. Certain 
 
44 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 villages in Lebanon have been chosen because they are 
 the strongholds of the Druzes, others because they 
 offer access to some of the more inquiring sects of Ori- 
 ental Christians who have begun to evince an interest 
 in the Western Church. In this way the whole coun- 
 try has been fairly honeycombed with Anglo-American 
 influence ; and it speaks well for the spirit in which the 
 foreigners have laboured, that, wherever he may be, 
 the missionary is almost an oracle in his community. 
 Perhaps the strongest impetus the Syrian nation has 
 had toward national unity has come from this common 
 admiration for individuals living among them, who are 
 not of them. 
 
 Much of this incipient welding of sects and races 
 that have been traditionally antagonistic must surely be 
 credited to various missionary enterprises in the coun- 
 try. The Syrian Protestant College, formerly the child 
 of the American Congregational Mission in Syria, but 
 now under independent management, has been one of 
 the most prominent factors in producing this spirit of 
 tolerance. It is a recognized fact that the Moslem, 
 the Jew, the Druze, the Protestant, and the Oriental 
 Christian who have been students in this College can 
 work together as business men, or can serve on the 
 same committee, with a degree of success that would 
 be absolutely impossible had they not had this levelling 
 experience of a tolerant American education. The 
 same is true to a lesser degree of the graduates of the 
 American mission-schools, and this only because the 
 pupils are less mature, and their characters less stabil- 
 ized when they leave the secondary schools. When 
 
Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria 45 
 
 they graduate from the College they are men, and 
 their opinions are formulated with more or less per- 
 manency. The graduate of the American High School 
 is still a callow youth, and unless he continue under the 
 influence of mature minds in some more advanced 
 school, he may surrender himself anew to the intoler- 
 ant prejudices of his own sect. 
 
 Among the foreign organizations in Syria and Pal- 
 estine the French missions come next to the British and 
 American in scope and influence. It is an open secret, 
 however, that while the latter are operating in the 
 country from purely humanitarian motives, French 
 missions have been established with a more subtle 
 political purpose. It has, moreover, been unfortunate 
 for their influence in the country that a large number 
 of the French priests who have emigrated to Syria 
 were ejected from France, where they were considered 
 undesirable citizens. This has not, however, pre- 
 vented their being used by their Government as agents 
 of political propaganda, and they have gained a follow- 
 ing of several hundred thousand among the Majonites, 
 the most powerful sect of Syrian Romanists. 
 
 The particular stronghold of the French missions is 
 the Lebanon, and there is hardly a hillcrest that is not 
 crowned with a Catholic monastery ; there is scarcely a 
 spot in Lebanon so remote that in the evening hush one 
 cannot hear the melodious note of a convent-bell sound- 
 ing the hour of evening worship. The terms Catholic 
 and Maronite and French-sympathizer are practically 
 synonymous in Syria, for most of the Syrians who ac- 
 knowledge the authority of the Pope look also to 
 
46 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 France as their strongest hope in the attainment of 
 their political aspirations. Undoubtedly the French 
 have done a great deal for the country in the matter of 
 education, but it has been unfortunate that this has 
 been accomplished at the price of exaggerating the al- 
 ready latent denominational antagonisms. Their most 
 distinguished institution in Syria is the Jesuit Univer- 
 sity in Beirut, which has won international recognition 
 for the high standard of its scholarship, its famous 
 library, and the value of some of its publications, espe- 
 cially along historical and archaeological lines. 
 
 Among the Protestant missions operating in Syria 
 and Palestine before the war were the Danish, pre- 
 viously mentioned, and the German. Curiously 
 enough, the latter were assigned by their government 
 no role as political agents, in spite of Germany's long- 
 acknowledged political aspirations in Syria. In Beirut 
 and in Jerusalem in particular there were numerous 
 flourishing institutions, hospitals, hospices, orphanages 
 and schools; but at the time of writing these are all 
 under the control of British or American organiza- 
 tions. There were three prosperous German colonies 
 in Palestine, one at Jerusalem, chiefly commercial, one 
 at Jaffa, and one at Haifa, the two latter mainly agri- 
 cultural. These colonies were established about fifty 
 years ago by modern crusaders from Wiirtemburg who 
 were inspired with the desire to rebuild the Temple. 
 Since the British occupation, the Germans, with but 
 few exceptions, have been expelled from the territory 
 of the former Turkish Empire; and it has not yet been 
 decided whether they will be permitted to return. 
 
Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria 47 
 
 This brief statement of foreign missionary influence 
 in Syria would not be complete without reference to 
 the work of numerous other nationalities ; but as most 
 of their activity has been along the line of Catholic mis- 
 sionary methods — the domination of the few, rather 
 than the lifting of the masses — their influence has been 
 restricted and purely local. The Russians had exten- 
 sive work, especially in Palestine, where, previous to 
 the war, the richly endowed Russian Palestine Society 
 maintained numerous hospices and schools, including a 
 normal seminary. The Russians have always particu- 
 larly patronized the adherents of the Greek Orthodox 
 Church in Syria, all of whom were admittedly Russian 
 in sympathy. 
 
 The Austrians and Italians likewise supported mis- 
 sions in the Holy Land, but their work was preemi- 
 nently educational, or medical, and was not extensive 
 in scope. Among the foreigners must also be included 
 the " Frank "monks, who have long possessed monas- 
 teries in the Holy Land. The Franciscans have been 
 especially zealous in providing accommodations at 
 many different places for wayfaring pilgrims. These 
 monks are generally Spanish, or Italian, and more 
 rarely French. They exercise a very beneficial influ- 
 ence over the native clergy through the schools which 
 they maintain. 
 
 As was intimated, however, at the beginning of this 
 chapter, secular interests as well as religious motives 
 have attracted the Westerner to the Near East. There 
 has always been a rich field for commercial enterprise, 
 and previous to the war European finance had been 
 
48 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 granted important concessions in Syria. There was a 
 complete system of German banks throughout every 
 part of the Turkish Empire, but only one other foreign 
 bank existed in Syria, a French bank in Jerusalem. 
 All the leading European nations, except Germany, 
 however, had contributed liberally to the currency sup- 
 ply of Turkey, with a result that French, Italian, Rus- 
 sian and British gold were as much in circulation as 
 was Turkish gold. 
 
 The French in particular had extensive commercial 
 interests, and consequently definite political aspirations. 
 Such vital factors in the life of the country as the rail- 
 ways, roads, tramlines, and the gas and electric com- 
 panies were backed by foreign capital. A French com- 
 pany had built the seawall at Beirut and controlled the 
 port. The same was true of the Damascus, Hedjaz 
 and Extension Railroad, and of the Gas and Electric 
 Company of Beirut. The concession for the Bagdad 
 Railway, on the other hand, had been granted to Ger- 
 many, although at one time England had been almost 
 in sight of the prize. The Beirut Tram Company was 
 a Belgian concern: all of which indicates how keenly 
 desirable a foothold in this little land was adjudged by 
 the great European Powers. Ships of all nations 
 brought foreign produce to the Syrian coast ; and, inci- 
 dentally, America made her contribution to the econ- 
 omy of Turkey by the importation of the Standard Oil 
 Company's products, and by the exportation of tobacco 
 and licorice. An American-Syrian Chamber of Com- 
 merce was In existence before the war, and is now be- 
 ing revived; but in comparison with other foreign 
 
Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria 49 
 
 countries America's interests were so limited to educa- 
 tional and religious enterprises as to seem to the Turks 
 of little consequence. They realized that America had 
 no desire to interfere in the politics of the Near East, 
 and this fact gave her a prestige wholly different from 
 that of any other Great Power. During practically 
 the whole course of the war the Ottoman attitude to- 
 ward the United States was conciliatory and ingratiat- 
 ing ; and even the Germans failed to blind the Turks to 
 the fact that, if they alienated America, they would 
 lose their one possible champion. In view of the fact 
 that, at the opening of the war, America was generally 
 supposed to be destined for the role of international 
 arbiter at the final settlement of peace, Turkey stub- 
 bornly persisted in maintaining amiable relations with 
 this desirable friend. 
 
 One has only to recall the history of the Turkish 
 Empire to realize how absolutely essential it was, if 
 foreigners were to reside there at all, that their life and 
 property should be protected by special treaties and 
 agreements. Such treaties have existed for centuries, 
 and are known as " the Capitulations." I have here 
 taken the liberty of quoting a few admirably concise 
 paragraphs from Ambassador Morgenthau's Story on 
 this subject: 
 
 "Turkey had never been admitted to a complete 
 equality with European nations, and in reality she had 
 never been an independent sovereignty. The Sultan's 
 laws and customs differed so radically from those of 
 Europe and America that no non-Moslem country 
 could think of submitting its citizens in Turkey to 
 
5© The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 them. In many matters, therefore, the principle of 
 exterritoriality had always prevailed in favour of all 
 citizens or subjects of countries enjoying capitulatory 
 rights. Almost all European countries, as well as the 
 United States, for centuries had had their own con- 
 sular courts and prisons in which they tried and pun- 
 ished crimes which their nationals committed in Tur- 
 key. We all had our schools, which were subject, not 
 to Turkish law and protection, but to that of the coun- 
 try which maintained them. Several nations had their 
 own post offices, as they did not care to submit their 
 mail to the Ottoman postal service. Turkey likewise 
 did not have unlimited power of taxation over for- 
 eigners. It could not even increase their customs 
 taxes without the consent of the foreign Powers. . . . 
 Turkey was thus prohibited by the Powers from devel- 
 oping any industries of her own; instead, she was 
 forced to take large quantities of inferior articles from 
 Europe. Against these restrictions Turkish statesmen 
 had protested for years, declaring that they constituted 
 an insult to their pride as a nation and also interfered 
 with their progress." * 
 
 Only under these provisions, as experience subse- 
 quent to their abolition certainly proved, could life for 
 the foreign resident in Turkey maintain any degree of 
 safety or security. By grace of these treaties, he was 
 not only permitted to pursue his work unmolested, but 
 he had the right of appeal to his national representa- 
 tives at the Sublime Porte in case of any infringement 
 of his treaty rights. It may easily be understood that 
 ^Ambassador Morgenthau's Story, pp. 112-113. 
 
Foreign Guests of the Sultan in Syria 51 
 
 these Capitulations were a thorn in the flesh of the 
 Turk, or one might better say, a ring in the nose of the 
 bull. If ever he so far forgot himself as to menace his 
 foreign guests, a judicious twist would recall him to 
 his actual position, and frighten him into at least a pre- 
 tence of submission. However, he was biding his 
 time, and it will shortly be seen that the first acts of 
 independence and defiance committed by the Turk, 
 under the instigation of the Germans, were the aboli- 
 tion of the Capitulations and the celebration of this 
 event with public demonstrations and rejoicing. 
 
IV 
 
 MOBILIZING AN ELUSIVE ARMY 
 
 THE curtain rises on Syria. Time: the summer 
 of 1914. The heat in Beirut during June and 
 July had been most oppressive, and long be- 
 fore the beginning of August most of the American 
 community had fled from the torrid humidity of the 
 plain to their summer-homes in the mist-swept retreats 
 of Lebanon. Only the President of the Syrian Prot- 
 estant College, the Staff of the College Hospitals, and 
 the Manager of the American Press were detained in 
 the city by the pressure of their duties, which were, if 
 anything, heavier during the summer months, when ill- 
 ness was more prevalent, or plans must be made for the 
 work of the coming winter season. But even these 
 busy folk found it necessary to seek refreshment in the 
 hills, and counted it among their duties to arrange an 
 occasional holiday in Lebanon. On Saturday, August 
 first, Mr. and Mrs. Dana and I set out for the village of 
 Shweir where we expected to pass a quiet and peaceful 
 week-end. As a matter of fact, I recall a restful and 
 idle Sunday spent under the pines on the mountain- 
 side. However, the memory of that uneventful day 
 has been almost obliterated by the excitement of the 
 events that followed. On Monday morning we were 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 53 
 
 returning to the heat and dust of the plain and the 
 work of another trying week when we met crowds of 
 people fleeing from the city. Every one seemed panic- 
 stricken, and many urged us to retrace our steps to 
 the mountains. In vain we attempted to discover the 
 cause of this feverish excitement. It was evident that 
 no great catastrophe had befallen the city, for there it 
 lay on the plain beneath us, pale and drowsy in the 
 August heat. Not a wisp of smoke was visible to give 
 the alarm of fire, nothing appeared out of the ordinary 
 to stir the slumbering countryside, except the unusual 
 clouds of dust raised by the hurrying feet of men and 
 animals toiling up the steep ascent. At times we al- 
 most feared that we too should have to join that wit- 
 less exodus, for on several occasions we were stopped 
 by travellers and told that if we attempted to cross the 
 borderline between Lebanon and Beirut Vilayet our 
 horses would be commandeered by the military. As a 
 matter of fact, we only succeeded in reaching our desti- 
 nation in the heart of the city because we insisted on 
 our right as Americans to pursue our journey un- 
 molested, an argument which continued effective until 
 the war was several months old. When we reached 
 the city and reliable sources of information, we dis- 
 covered the cause of the panic. The Austrian guns 
 had opened fire on Belgrade, and with the echo of the 
 first report the Turkish Government had begun to 
 mobilize its army. It was from the traditional horrors 
 of enforced service in the Turkish ranks that the 
 Syrians were fleeing as one man. 
 There was nothing of Oriental sluggishness in the 
 
54 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 way that Turkey acted in this crisis, and we in the 
 country were wholly swept off our feet. We hardly 
 realized even at that time how powerful the German 
 influence in the Empire already was, for it had been 
 fostered so secretly, and yet so skillfully, that when the 
 crisis came, Germany alone had her hand on the rud- 
 der. When the shot was fired at Sarajevo, Germany 
 warned Turkey to prepare herself against the attack 
 which must surely follow the outbreak of trouble in the 
 Balkans, and at the drop of the hat Turkey was in the 
 ring. In every country of Europe nations were be- 
 ginning to stir, men were donning uniforms, and the 
 most peaceful land was being converted into an enor- 
 mous drill-ground. Turkey in this respect was no ex- 
 ception, but where the men of other nations responded 
 willingly to the call of their country, in Turkey they 
 fled before the conscription officers as from the plague. 
 Even the Lebanese dared not rely on their traditional 
 immunity from military service as long as they resided 
 in Beirut, for no one trusted the wily Turk, and each 
 felt that he would be safe only in the fastnesses of 
 Lebanon among his compatriots who could combine 
 with him to defend their rights. It would hardly be 
 incorrect to say that there was not an Ottoman subject 
 in all of Syria who was animated by one spark of 
 patriotism. Of the Syrians themselves, a great ma- 
 jority secretly aspired to independence, or to a protect- 
 orate under the mandate of one of the Great Powers. 
 Others, less nationalistically ambitious and concerned 
 solely with their own personal well-being, were plan- 
 ning to leave their native land and seek their fortunes 
 
<f9 to 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army ^^ 
 
 abroad where, under a more beneficent administration, 
 they might live in peace and devote themselves to the 
 acquisition of wealth. To such the war was a calam- 
 ity only because it trapped them in Syria when they 
 were intending to fare forth into the world overseas. 
 Even the Turkish government officials had no love for 
 Turkey, and felt no responsibility to their government. 
 Greed and the accumulation of wealth were their sole 
 aims in life, and to them the war offered a possibility 
 of greater license than had prevailed in times of 
 peace. 
 
 Then it was that Turkey, hounded on one side by 
 Germany, was driven on the other side by a nascent 
 hope that, by the proper conduct of her affairs at this 
 time, when the world was in a tumult and every one 
 was too much occupied with his own affairs to concern 
 himself with the Near-Eastern question, she might pay 
 off old scores, and secure to herself certain much-cov- 
 eted privileges, and, perchance, even additional terri- 
 tory. If she listened to German warnings, she became 
 convinced that her very national existence was at stake, 
 and that only by the instant mobilization of her armies 
 and prompt resort to precautionary measures against 
 foreigners could she hope to maintain her separate 
 identity. If she lent an ear to the voice of her own 
 avarice, she saw in the world-calamity an occasion to 
 establish beyond question her disputed sway over 
 Egypt, and to drive the hated and privileged foreigners 
 from her territory. Whichever motive actuated her 
 conduct, certain it was that she must have an army, 
 and the only way to mobilize that army was by force. 
 
56 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 To assemble that army, however, was like trying to 
 gather feathers in a gale. The only hope lay in imme- 
 diate action. If she loosed her hand from one cap- 
 tured feather to seize another, a puff of wind carried 
 the first far out of reach. The available men of the 
 country were scurrying to Lebanon like rabbits making 
 for cover, and those who were obliged to remain within 
 the vilayet were daily disappearing from view. No 
 one knew whither they had gone, or how they lived, but 
 many who had been familiar sights in the genial haunts 
 of the city vanished overnight, and were not seen 
 again for months — in some cases even for the whole 
 period of the war. Where they hid themselves we are 
 only now beginning to learn, but with the desperation 
 of the outlaw they fled from the conscription officers 
 of the Government. 
 
 Certain features of the resulting chaos in Syria need 
 not be described, for there was not a country of Europe 
 that did not know the same upheaval during some 
 period of the war. But the abject terror that pos- 
 sessed the population as a mass is something that has 
 probably never been equalled in this generation. Bel- 
 gium was undoubtedly terrorized when the wave of 
 German invasion broke over her boundaries, but the 
 necessity for immediate action for self-defence, and 
 the purifying love of country transformed that terror 
 into a sacred fervour. In Turkey, on the other hand, 
 there was no redeeming virtue to ennoble this consum- 
 ing fear. It was the repellent fright of the animal at 
 bay that swept over the land from one end to the other. 
 All sects were united in the common bond of fear of 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 57 
 
 tht Government and in the search for some escape from 
 tht certain disaster which loomed ahead. 
 
 Even the most pessimistic did not imagine in those 
 days that the war would last more than two or three 
 months at most, or that the conflagration once kindled 
 would lick up everything in its path. No one really 
 believed that any of Turkey's enemies would take this 
 occasion for attacking her ; otlierwise perhaps the age- 
 long hatred of one Balkan nation for another, or the 
 traditional enmity between Russia and Turkey, might 
 have united the peoples of the Ottoman Empire in a 
 common cause. The threat that England would send 
 an army from Egypt to invade Palestine, or that 
 France would disembark her legions on the maritime 
 plain failed to arouse any military fervour in the heart 
 of the Syrian who was secretly hoping, even plotting, 
 that England or France might come and deliver the 
 country from the hand of the oppressor. We all be- 
 lieved in those days that one or both of those Powers 
 would undoubtedly attack Turkey should the latter 
 show the supreme folly of allying herself with Ger- 
 many in the war, but that Turkey would ever be 
 capable of such madness we hardly imagined. 
 
 One who had been absent from Syria between Sat- 
 urday, August first, and Monday, August tenth, might 
 have fancied that he had suffered the fate of Rip Van 
 Winkle, and that in reality some years had elapsed in 
 the interval. In those ten days the whole country had 
 been transformed. Where, before that Saturday, men 
 had gone quietly about their business, cultivating their 
 ground, carrying on their commercial and financial 
 
^8 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 transactions as they had been wont during times of 
 peace ; on the Monday there were no young men to be 
 seen in the streets, shops were closed, business was par- 
 alyzed, and the anxious countenances of women and 
 children already bespoke fear and anxiety as to where 
 they should find their next meal. Banks had closed 
 their doors, the moratorium was in force, gold had 
 gone into hiding, and those who had cash in hand when 
 the bolt struck were hoarding it against the needs of 
 the unknown future. The low capitalization of the 
 country necessarily forces the people to a hand-to- 
 mouth existence. Even a man who owns much land 
 has so little ready money that he cannot afford to lay 
 in extensive quantities of living commodities, but must 
 depend upon daily cajgh-purchases in the markets. 
 Within a fortnight the necessity of acquiring ready 
 cash had brought into the market many valuable per- 
 sonal effects such as rugs and jewelry. No one would 
 sell for credit, and the would-be purchaser must lay 
 down the cold coin, even though he had to sell his 
 watch to secure it. 
 
 The result in the cities was the suspension of all in- 
 dustries. Factories were closed, and petty merchants 
 reduced their business to a minimum. In the country 
 it was harvest time when many of the men were taken 
 for the army, and there was no one left to garner the 
 crops. Thousands of dollars* worth of foodstuffs 
 rotted in the fields, and when the winter came with its 
 icy rains and penetrating winds, thousands starved for 
 want of the precious, wasted food. It was not only 
 the habitually indigent, or even the labourers who led 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 59 
 
 a hand-to-mouth existence, that began to feel the pinch 
 of poverty. All classes, with but one exception, were 
 stricken with want ; and some of those who had lived 
 in luxury before the war, because of their inability to 
 realize ready cash on their invested capital, knew now 
 the pangs of hunger. 
 
 With the rupture of diplomatic relations between 
 Turkey and the Entente, the British, French, and Rus- 
 sian steamers discontinued their service to Turkish 
 ports. All possibilities of import were thus cut off. 
 Certain staples of diet, such as sugar, which are not 
 raised anywhere within the Empire, could no longer be 
 brought into the country, and the same was true of less 
 necessary articles, such as drugs, matches, Russian oil, 
 and foreign clothing. Duty on some imports was 
 raised one hundred per cent., and in a few weeks the 
 Beirut Customs-House was closed, although it con- 
 tained over one million dollars* worth of goods which 
 the owners could not afford to clear. 
 
 Within a very short time the general supply of stores 
 in the country was exhausted, or had been hidden, espe- 
 cially in those places where soldiers had been stationed 
 and where the shops had been looted on the pretext of 
 supplying the needs of the army. An inventory of the 
 articles commandeered, including not only clothing and 
 food, but babies' slippers, silk petticoats, and face- 
 powder, will reveal how wholesale and shameless was 
 the robbery. No receipts were given, and no pay- 
 ments were made for anything taken. The whole pro- 
 ceeding was equivalent to mob-plunder carried on by 
 soldiers or by government representatives. Then, 
 
6o The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 when it seemed that everything seizable had been 
 seized, there came a new order that every shopkeeper 
 must furnish a statement of stores in his possession. 
 He was indeed between the Devil and the deep sea. If 
 he did not make a truthful declaration, he exposed him- 
 self to the penalty of fine and imprisonment; if he were 
 honest, his little all would be taken.* 
 
 It would be impossible to imagine a more desperate 
 situation. The economy of the country has already 
 been dealt with in a previous chapter, and special em- 
 phasis was there laid on the fact that many thousands 
 in Syria are wholly dependent for their support upon 
 relatives resident abroad. Frequently the inhabitants 
 of towns with a population of from three hundred to 
 two thousand are almost entirely supported by relatives 
 in the United States, South America, or the British 
 Empire. Of late years this fact has changed the very 
 aspect of the landscape. Wherever a neat red tile roof 
 has replaced the old-fashioned flat mud roof on a 
 house in a Syrian village, one may safely assume that 
 the new roof has been purchased with the earnings of 
 some Syrian who has prospered abroad. With Tur- 
 key's entrance into the war this income from the out- 
 side world was completely arrested. Checks and 
 drafts were no longer negotiable, even when offered at 
 a discount of fifty per cent. The difficulties of this 
 situation which began in August were augmented still 
 further by the declaration of hostilities between Tur- 
 key and the Entente in November, because of the fact 
 
 ^Vidf p. 6; also my Report of the Beirut Red Cross Chapter, 
 May, 1915. 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 6l 
 
 that ninety-nine per cent, of these remittances were by 
 checks on London banking-houses, and the Turkish 
 Gk)vernment then decreed the transfer or negotiation 
 of London drafts an illegal proceeding. 
 
 I have just said that all classes but one were levelled 
 in the common distress and affliction that had befallen 
 the country. That one exception was the class of 
 wealthy merchants, those " wolfish " men, as some one 
 recently described them, who had sufficient capital to 
 enable them to speculate in foodstuffs, and who were 
 so unprincipled as to feel no scruples against enriching 
 themselves at the expense of their unfortunate country- 
 men. With demoniacal foresight these capitalists real- 
 ized their opportunity and bought up everything they 
 could lay their hands on. By the time those who were 
 less crafty in business affairs awoke to their extremely 
 precarious situation and prepared to lay in a stock of 
 necessary commodities, they discovered that the Syrian 
 financiers had forestalled them. The whole reserve 
 supply of the country was in the hands of speculators. 
 All the sugar in a city like Beirut, which, if properly 
 administered, should have supplied the wants of the 
 entire population during practically the entire war, was 
 stored in the warehouses of a wealthy Moslem, who 
 preferred to let it rot, rather than put it on the market 
 before he could command the price his avarice dictated. 
 Early in the war most of the woolen and cotton goods 
 of the country was bought up by wealthy Jews in 
 Aleppo and dispatched to Bagdad, Constantinople, and 
 other cities of the interior, leaving the markets of 
 Syria absolutely stripped of anything which might be 
 
62 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 purchased, even at a ruinous price, for clothing or bed- 
 ding. All the wheat in Syria was either commandeered 
 by the military, or bought as it stood in the fields by 
 these same crafty men of business; but when Lebanon 
 lost thirty per cent, of her population through starva- 
 tion in a single winter, the Government, which had con- 
 nived at this robbery, pled difficulties of transport as 
 an excuse for the fact that thousands of tons of wheat 
 lay moulding in Damascus, Aleppo, and the Hauran. 
 As a matter of fact, the whole problem of transport 
 has been greatly exaggerated. It did not even require 
 organization, and had the Government not interfered, 
 the distribution of food supplies in the country might 
 easily have been adjusted. The rich wheat regions of 
 Hauran, Palestine and Northern Syria were fully 
 capable of producing wheat sufficient for the needs of 
 all Syria. One can easily understand that every car 
 on the railway from Constantinople to Jerusalem car- 
 ried troops and ammunition in one direction only, 
 south, and that those same cars returned empty through 
 the grain regions of Palestine and Hauran, where 
 wheat sufficient to provide for the whole population of 
 Syria lay piled on either side of the railway awaiting 
 transport to distributing centers. The Government not 
 only made no effort to regulate the revictualing of the 
 country, but cooperated with the food-speculators who 
 recognized in the economic situation the opportunity 
 to amass enormous private fortunes. Permits for the 
 purchase and transport of tremendous amounts of 
 foodstuffs were granted to these speculators which less 
 favoured merchants could not possibly obtain, and all 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 63 
 
 the grain that was imported into Syria was consigned 
 to a few wealthy men who formed a wheat-combine 
 and who dictated their own exorbitant prices. Within 
 a half-year after the commencement of the war in 
 Europe a score of men in Syria held the country in the 
 hollow of their hands. Commerce was at a complete 
 standstill, and supplies were shifted from place to 
 place, or marketed only as these men decreed. 
 
 As time went on conditions grew steadily worse, 
 both in the towns and in the country. The same 
 desperation that had driven the city-dweller to sell his 
 rugs, his furniture, his jewels, even his house, had 
 forced the rural population to mortgage every spare 
 metre of land. Only recently there came to my at- 
 tention a typical instance. It was the case of a man 
 who with his two daughters lived in Beit Meri, a large 
 village in the mountains some fifteen miles beyond 
 Beirut. His two sons had emigrated to New Zealand ; 
 and as their business there had proved prosperous, they 
 had undertaken the entire support of their father and 
 their two sisters. Up to the time when communica- 
 tions were abruptly terminated by the war, remittances 
 from the sons had arrived regularly. The father was 
 an industrious and self-respecting farmer, but he lived, 
 as did practically all of his class, a day-to-day exist- 
 ence. When the crash came, he had nothing set aside 
 for such an emergency. He was soon forced to sell a 
 small piece of land, but the price it brought was only 
 sufficient to provide his family with bread for a few 
 months. In time he was driven down to the city in 
 search of some one who would advance him money on 
 
64 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 the pledge that his sons would pay off his debts at the 
 close of the war. He discovered two business men, 
 formerly from his village but now resident in the city, 
 who were willing to loan him money ; but the price de- 
 manded was a promissory note at fifty-five per cent, 
 compound interest, and the agreement to repay in gold 
 after the war! The sum of eighty Turkish Liras, or 
 $240, which he received in paper three years ago is to- 
 day due at the amount of £360, or $1,425 i This is 
 only one true instance out of thousands. 
 
 The reader may well wonder what had been the fate 
 of the foreign resident in Syria during this difficult 
 period. It must have impressed him that Turkey had 
 taken the bit in her teeth, and that neither the curb of 
 the Capitulations, nor the fear of foreign intervention 
 had power to check her in her mad plunge to destruc- 
 tion. As a matter of fact, every country in Europe 
 was desperately preoccupied with its own affairs, and 
 only Germany, who had her own reasons for watch- 
 ing Turkey's every move, had time to consider how 
 she had been affected by the world upheaval. An 
 American who was on friendly terms with the Syrian 
 mayor of the village where he had his summer-home 
 furnished me with conclusive proof that months previ- 
 ous to August, 1914, Germany's plans for Turkey's 
 part in the war that she was meditating were as fully 
 matured as were her plans for Europe. In April, 1914, 
 the Mukhtar of B , a prominent town near Damas- 
 cus, received from his Turkish superiors sealed in- 
 structions which he was to hold for further orders. 
 He told his American friend about this sealed envelope 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 65 
 
 and they speculated as to its meaning. On the first 
 of August the mystery was solved, when the Mukhtar 
 received an order to open the envelope and found 
 therein an army conscription-list for his district and 
 mobilization orders designed by the Germans in ac- 
 cordance with their own plans of campaign. Of 
 course, the head of every village or community in 
 Syria had received similar orders in April and August, 
 and it was this foresight on the part of the Turco- 
 German military party at Constantinople which ex- 
 plains why it was that by August 4, 1014, there was 
 posted in every town in the interior of Syria a list of 
 those inhabitants liable for military service. We could 
 not at the time understand the dispatch with which 
 these lists had been prepared. When war actually 
 began, the wisdom of Germany's provisions became 
 evident. 
 
 Germany, with practically the whole of the civilized 
 world ranged against her, at least in sympathy, if not 
 on the actual battlefield, had calculated that her one 
 hope of salvation lay in the proper manipulation of 
 Turkey as a pawn in the game. Turkey as Germany's 
 ally would be invaluable in the execution of Teutonic 
 projects against Russia, India, Egypt and the Balkans. 
 Yet Turkey as a power could not be relied on to play 
 her part unaided. Germany knew that the weaker 
 Turkey was nationally, the easier it would be to in- 
 timidate her into playing the role that German strategy 
 had assigned her. Turkey, racked with internal ail- 
 ments, financially, socially and economically ruined, 
 would be far less of a problem from the German stand-' 
 
66 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 point than a Turkey that could stand on her own feet 
 Germany, therefore, who acknowledged no law but 
 that of her own necessity, did everything within her 
 power to weaken the country as a whole and to direct 
 its control into the hands of a few chosen men to whom 
 the German Ambassador at Constantinople might dic- 
 tate the demands of the Kaiser. 
 
 In some respects, nothing that Germany did in 
 Europe, disgraceful as her conduct there was, revealed 
 the true depravity of her national standards as did her 
 relations with Turkey. The world feels no sympathy 
 with Turkey, and civilization rejoices to-day that the 
 five-century old regime of crime and bloodshed has at 
 last come to an end; but even Turkey's villainy does 
 not excuse the part that Germany played, indeed, it 
 only makes it worse. Can the world forgive a man 
 with the education and traditions of a gentleman who 
 hires an assassin to fight his battles with him, and who, 
 worse still, does so without any intention of being loyal 
 to the bond which he has himself established with his 
 tool ? Germany needed Turkey, but she meant to sell 
 her when the proper time came. 
 
 In my opinion, however, Germany's supreme act of 
 infamy was her attempt to incite the Moslem world 
 to the Jehad, or Sacred War. It was not her fault 
 that the attempt failed. Her intention remained the 
 same, the foul purpose of rousing the blood-thirsty 
 Mohammedan world against Christendom, or rather 
 against all Christendom except Germany. Nothing in 
 the annals of the world has been more horrible than 
 a successful Jehdd, and Germany believed that she was 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 67 
 
 unchaining the hounds of hell when she inspired the 
 summons to Isk\m to rise against the infidels. If 
 Islam was more civilized than the so-called Christian 
 nation that sought to rouse her, the credit belongs to 
 Isldm. The shame remains to Germany. 
 
 Personally I hope never to witness a more revolt- 
 ing spectacle than that of November 13-14, 1914, when 
 the proclamation of the Jehdd was publicly made in 
 the Empire. In Syria there were harmless and unim- 
 passioned demonstrations against the foreigners, the 
 banners of Isldm were unfurled, and ancient battle- 
 cries were faint-heartedly repeated with the shame- 
 faced realization that the day of those sentiments was 
 past, and that even to recall them was a disgrace in this 
 generation. Along with those processions of pseudo- 
 fanatics rode the German and Austrian representa- 
 tives in Syria in full regalia; and from the same 
 platform whence the Moslem orators exhorted their 
 co-religionists to arise and exterminate the infidel, the 
 German and Austrian consuls besought that same 
 fanatical horde to unsheathe the sword against their 
 Christian brothers. There was no apparent result from 
 this propaganda, unless it be that it fanned the flame 
 of Moslem fanaticism which later broke forth in the 
 massacre of the Armenians. That it failed, let me 
 repeat it, is to the eternal credit of Isl^m. That it 
 was ever attempted, should be remembered as Ger- 
 many's supreme disgrace. 
 
 Our own American and English periodicals have al- 
 ready revealed to the public some of the subterfuges 
 to which Germany resorted in the hope of ingratiating 
 
68 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 herself with the Moslem world. I recall particularly 
 an article which appeared in the Literary Digest during 
 the first year of the war, in which was quoted Moslem 
 criticism of Germany's disloyalty to her professed 
 faith, Christianity. It was commonly believed among 
 the more ignorant classes in Turkey, and doubtless 
 elsewhere in the Moslem world, that the Kaiser was a 
 descendant of the Prophet on his mother's side — it is 
 enough to make the ghost of that English princess 
 walk! — and these same simple-minded folk believed 
 tliat Germany had embraced Isl4m and had entered the 
 lists as a defender of the faith against the Giaours 
 (infidels). A vast number of Moslems were success- 
 fully duped, but the more intelligent, thinking classes 
 were only revolted by the insincerity and baseness of 
 the modem exponent of Kultur. It is a commentary 
 on the power of the Mohammedan religion that it fails 
 to satisfy an educated Moslem. Especially among the 
 Turks a man who has enjoyed the advantages of a for- 
 eign education, and who has developed intellectual and 
 ethical depths of character, is at heart more Christian 
 than Moslem. He may cling to the outward forms of 
 Isl^m, may be regular in his attendance at Mosque on 
 Fridays, may even keep the fasts; but if he has truly 
 assimilated European ideals, he will probably have 
 only one wife, and will probably be open in his criticism 
 of certain formulas of the Moslem faith which he holds 
 are not adapted to the present stage of civilization. 
 Unfortunately for Turkey, however, men of this type 
 were in the political minority, and the infamous tri- 
 umvirate at Constantinople had already elected that 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 69 
 
 Turkey should range herself on the side of the Central 
 Powers in the world conflict. True patriots in Tur- 
 key mourned the certain destruction that awaited their 
 country, but the Ottoman nation as a conglomerate 
 mass had neither the wit nor the loyalty to understand 
 or to care whither they were tending. 
 
 Among the influential classes in Syria, as well as 
 Turkey proper, every man lived for himself, and every 
 man's hand was against his brother. He who could 
 snatched from those about him, and he who was robbed 
 of everything laid himself down to die. Brother's 
 hand was against brother, and son betrayed father. 
 The rich ground down the poor, and those in power 
 sacrificed the people to their selfish ambitions. Every 
 one deplored the existing conditions, but not a single 
 patriot arose to save the situation. There was no 
 cohesion in the population. Christian distrusted 
 Druze, and Moslem distrusted Jew. Because they 
 would not hang together hundreds hung separately, 
 and the Empire fell prey to the Germans and to Turks 
 of the type of Talaat, Enver, and Jemal, who despoiled 
 it without ruth. 
 
 Turkey's first act of defiance and self-assertion was 
 the abrogation of the Capitulations, two months after 
 tlie opening of the general European War, and one 
 month before Turkey herself became a combatant. 
 Under these Capitulations, as I have previously de- 
 scribed, Turkey had for centuries writhed; but the 
 civilized nations of the world had been inexorable, for 
 they knew well that on them alone depended the peace 
 and security of foreign residents in the Ottoman Em- 
 
7© The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 pire. The agreement being bi-lateral could not be 
 changed without the consent of both contracting 
 parties; and, needless to say, the Great Powers had 
 never consented to the least departure from the terms 
 of the treaties. The abrogation of the Capitulations 
 was part of the Young Turk program to shake off for- 
 eign tutelage and to create a new Empire on the basis 
 of Turkey for the Turks. Naturally Germany en- 
 couraged them in this scheme of independence, realiz- 
 ing that it would only further Teutonic ends. It 
 would be far easier for Germany to accomplish her 
 purposes with Turkey if she were the sole sponsor, 
 than if she were only one of several signatory Powers ; 
 and, of course, it did not take a diplomat to realize that 
 Turkey must still depend on foreign support, at the 
 price of concessions to foreign Powers. Accordingly, 
 on October 1, 1914, the Sublime Porte decreed that 
 the Capitulations were henceforth non-existent, and in 
 so doing Turkey succeeded in directing toward herself 
 the enmity of all Europe except the Central Powers. 
 She staked everything on one hazard, Germany's 
 loyalty; and Germany, as the world well knows, be- 
 trayed her at every opportunity. 
 
 A month later, November 1, 1914, Turkey and Eng- 
 land went to war ; and one after another the Powers of 
 the Entente severed relations with Turkey and left 
 her to her fate. This was a revenge far different 
 from anything on which Constantinople had calculated. 
 They had never taken it into their reckoning that for 
 years the campaign against Turkey would be a mere 
 side-issue, and that she would be cut off from the rest 
 
Mobilizing an Elusive Army 71 
 
 of the world to starve, or to live on such alms as her 
 Teutonic patrons might, through motives of self-in- 
 terest, bestow upon her. For four years the ships of 
 the Entente fleets patrolled the Syrian coasts, but never 
 was there one serious attempt at landing. For four 
 years the enemy aeroplanes soared over the more ac- 
 cessible portions of the Empire; but if they ever 
 dropped a bomb, it was more as a pastime, to annoy 
 Jemal Pasha in some ostentatious passage through the 
 country, or to disconcert the Turkish troops assembled 
 for a special review. At times we revelled in the 
 omniscience of the Entente Powers, and chuckled to 
 ourselves when a French cruiser sent ashore a note to 
 the Governor of Beirut addressed and delivered to him 
 in Tripoli when he was there for a few hours only on 
 a secret mission unknown in Beirut itself; but as the 
 weeks dragged into months, and the months into years, 
 we grew heartsick with the suspense. Conditions in 
 the country grew more and more distressing. Disease 
 and famine walked abroad in the land; death and 
 nakedness stared us in the face, and the horror of it 
 all grew more than courage and sympathy could stand. 
 The Syrian people, after the first feverish weeks of 
 anticipation when they hourly expected an allied land- 
 ing on the coast, at which time they themselves would 
 rise to join the invaders against the hated Turk, re- 
 lapsed into dull apathy. All their time and energies 
 were devoted to satisfying the barest needs for exist- 
 ence, and if they gave a passing thought to the situa- 
 tion it was to curse the French for abandoning them to 
 their fate. Very soon even that vent to their feelings 
 
72 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 was denied them, for they had before their eyes the 
 horrible example of some scores of their country- 
 men dangling from the gallows in the public squares 
 of the prominent cities of Syria — French sympathizers 
 and intriguers, apprehended by the Government and 
 doomed to a traitor's death. 
 
THE ABROGATION OF THE CAPITULATIONS 
 
 IT was less than two centuries ago that Turkey, 
 upon the declaration of war with some rival 
 power, was accustomed to seize the diplomatic 
 representatives of the hostile nation at Constantinople 
 and immure them in the medieval dungeons of the 
 Seven Towers. Even before the declaration of war 
 between Turkey and England in 1914, the British Am- 
 bassador at Constantinople, Sir Louis Mallet, was 
 threatened with assassination; and in the days which 
 preceded the actual outbreak of hostilities it is said that 
 he anticipated the possibility of imprisonment before 
 he could leave the Empire. True to her traditions, 
 upon the occasion of her entrance into the European 
 War, Turkey took prompt steps to humiliate in every 
 way possible any official representatives of the Allied 
 Nations unfortunate enough to be trapped in the Em- 
 pire at the time. This was especially true in the 
 provinces. 
 
 I happened to be in Damascus on November 1, 1914, 
 the day hostilities began between Turkey and England, 
 and I was returning to Beirut on the train which car- 
 ried the French, English and Russian consuls and vice- 
 consuls from Damascus. Knowing that war was 
 imminent, they had spent the last two or three days in 
 
 73 
 
74 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 October in attempting to arrange with the Turkish 
 authorities necessary formahties preHminary to their 
 departure. All telegrams to and from their embassies 
 in Constantinople had been held up by the Turks for 
 several days past, and they were completely out of 
 touch with the trend of affairs. However, by Mon- 
 day night, November 2nd, everything was arranged and 
 on Tuesday morning they boarded the seven o'clock 
 train for Beirut, whence they should embark by Italian 
 steamer. Once out of the Damascus station without 
 incident, I have no doubt each breathed a sigh of re- 
 lief, and congratulated himself on his success. But 
 their satisfaction was short-lived. In its leisurely 
 progress over the ninety mountainous miles of road 
 to Beirut, the train reached Reyak, the junction with 
 the Aleppo line, about noon. Here there was a cus- 
 tomary halt of half an hour for luncheon, and most 
 of the first-class passengers alighted to take their noon 
 meal at the station restaurant. While we were eating 
 we noticed that several Turkish soldiers and secret 
 police had entered the restaurant and were furtively 
 regarding the foreign consular representatives. There 
 was little doubt as to what their next move would be. 
 Before they could finish their meal, the unfortunate 
 consular officials were taken into custody by the Turk- 
 ish police and put into a train bound for Damascus. 
 It was only a prompt threat of reprisals from their re- 
 spective governments that effected their release a few 
 days later, but they had to embark from Beirut like 
 fugitives on a stormy winter night in order to make 
 good their escape, as they well knew that the Beirut 
 
The Abrogation of the Capitulations 75 
 
 authorities had been instructed to further hinder their 
 departure in every possible way. Thanks to the prompt 
 energy of the American Consul General in Beirut, Mr. 
 Hollis, and of the Vice Consul, Mr. Chesbrough, they 
 were safe on board the Italian ship, from which the 
 Turks dared not remove them, when the Beirut of- 
 ficials awoke to their duties the following day. The 
 Russian Consul General from Beirut was less for- 
 tunate. He was arrested and sent to the interior, and 
 was subjected to such indignities on the way as only 
 the Turks, inspired by the Germans, could stoop to 
 invent. 
 
 The first problem which confronted Turkey after 
 she had decisively committed herself for the war was 
 the policy that she should adopt toward her resident 
 enemies. There were thousands of enemy subjects 
 scattered throughout the Empire, and the general fear 
 on the part of the foreigners was that Turkey would 
 pursue some " policy of f rightfulness '* in regard to 
 them. She had before her the example of German 
 brutality which struck a responsive chord in the cruel 
 Turkish temperament. Only the facts that the ma- 
 jority of these belligerent subjects were now under 
 American protection, and that Turkey desired the 
 good-will of the United States, prevented the Turks 
 from following their natural bent. America, more- 
 over, had consistently refused to recognize the abro- 
 gation of the Capitulations, and insisted on the ob- 
 servance of her former treaty rights. The Germans, 
 on the other hand, were using their utmost influence to 
 induce the Turks to deal harshly with enemy aliens. 
 
76 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 partictilarly urging the advisability of detaining for- 
 eign residents as hostages for the good behaviour of 
 their respective governments. Thanks to the efforts 
 of the American Ambassador at Constantinople, most 
 of the foreign residents of the Capital were permitted 
 to leave the country, but those in the interior were 
 never given such an opportunity. As long as Amer- 
 ican prestige proved effective there was no organized 
 oppression of belligerents in the Empire; but as Amer- 
 lean influence gradually declined, and as German in-- 
 fluence increased, conditions grew very serious for the 
 subjects of nations hostile to the Ottoman Empire. 
 Turkey was relapsing into that state of barbarism 
 which was natural and congenial to her and which only 
 the Capitulations had made impossible. 
 
 The next step on the part of the Ottoman Govern- 
 ment was to seize foreign property and institutions 
 wherever possible, and it was only the unflagging zeal 
 of such American representatives in charge of bel- 
 ligerent interests in the provinces as the American 
 Consul General in Beirut, Honourable W. Stanley 
 Hollis, Consul Glazebrook of Jerusalem, Consul 
 Young of Damascus, and Consul Jackson of Aleppo 
 that thwarted the Turks in their intention of making a 
 clean sweep of enemy property in Syria. In smaller 
 places where there were no consular officials at hand, 
 they broke into schools and even into private resi- 
 dences, and looted and destroyed without restraint. 
 Most of the belligerent schools were occupied at one 
 time or another by Turkish troops, who so befouled 
 everything they touched that in some cases the build- 
 
The Abrogation of the Capitulations 77 
 
 ings will have to be torn down and rebuilt before the 
 premises can be used again as schools or as residences. 
 For a time the representations of the American Am- 
 bassador at the Sublime Porte prevented this abuse of 
 foreign property in larger centers, but little by little 
 the aggressions of local officials increased, and their 
 depredations, being apparently unmarked by the Cen- 
 tral Government, became more and more unrestrained. 
 By the end of the war there was probably not a build- 
 ing in the Empire which had belonged to belligerenta 
 which was not appropriated and converted into a Turk- 
 ish barrack, a school, or an orphanage for the chil- 
 dren of Turkish soldiers. 
 
 The British Consul General in Beirut, Mr. Cumber- 
 batch, was far-sighted enough to realize as early as 
 September, 1914, that it was no longer safe for British 
 residents to remain in Turkey. He sent special mes- 
 sengers to the isolated localities where British subjects 
 were living to bring them to Beirut, and about the 
 middle of September he sent out of the country his 
 family and as many Britishers as would heed his warn- 
 ing. He himself remained until early November, 
 leaving only after the actual declaration of war be- 
 tween Turkey and his government. Unfortunately 
 there were many British subjects who refused to leave 
 the country, even though they realized that they were 
 remaining at their own risk. None of them foresaw 
 the possibility that the war would drag out for four 
 long years. Many who had their entire capital in- 
 vested in Turkey preferred to remain to look after 
 their interests. A niunber of missionaries, also, re- 
 
78 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 fused to leave the field of their labours and the Syrians 
 dependent on them. As far as I know, no other for- 
 eign colony was given a similar opportunity to depart 
 before it was too late, and most of them paid bitterly 
 for the lack of foresight of their representatives. 
 
 In December, 1914, the local officials in Syria and 
 Palestine were instructed to deport the subjects of 
 belligerent nations resident on the seacoast into the 
 interior. When the order first reached Beirut, the 
 American Consul General, Mr. Hollis, did his utmost 
 through Ambassador Morgenthau to force the Sub- 
 lime Porte to reverse the order. During the day or 
 two while he was awaiting instructions from Con- 
 stantinople, Mr. Hollis advised the British and French 
 subjects, then under his protection, to keep out of the 
 way of the Turkish police, and to avoid the issue until 
 definite advice could be secured. Some two score or 
 more French and British subjects living in Beirut took 
 shelter in the compound of the Syrian Protestant Col- 
 lege, which offered them an asylum until the matter 
 should be definitely settled. There was an American 
 cruiser, the North Carolina, in the harbour in those 
 days, and every one knew that the Turks would make 
 no attempt forcibly to remove any one whom the Amer- 
 icans had made up their minds to protect on their own 
 premises. The word came back from Constantinople 
 that even belligerents connected with American institu- 
 tions, or under American guarantees, must leave for 
 the interior, but that women and children would be 
 exempt. The Turks, wishing to draft for military 
 service the graduates of the Syrian Protestant Col- 
 
The Abrogation of the Capitulations 79 
 
 lege Medical School, exempted also three British doc- 
 tors who were important men in the medical depart- 
 ment. The Constantinople newspapers subsequently 
 commented on the fact that Turkey had thereby forced 
 British subjects to contribute toward the Turkish mili- 
 tary campaign ! 
 
 On December 9, 1914, the first deportees, a forlorn 
 little band of British, French and Russian subjects, 
 with here and there a Belgian, or a subject of one of 
 the Balkan kingdoms, were packed into the train and 
 taken to Damascus, where they were held as civil pris- 
 oners. In the beginning they were not badly treated. 
 They were permitted to live in hotels, or even in 
 private houses; and were required only to report at 
 the Police Station for registration once a day. How- 
 ever, there were many hardships to be endured by 
 those who were thus exiled, especially as at one time 
 they were in the position of hostages rather than mere 
 interns, when Jemal Pasha threatened to exact re- 
 prisals on them in connection with a British naval 
 demonstration against Alexandretta. Families were 
 separated, the men being taken into the interior, and 
 the women being left in their former residences to 
 suffer the most wearing anxiety due to mistrust of the 
 Turk. Old men and sick men were taken, as well as 
 men of military age ; and some that went to live in the 
 interior went practically penniless, as the order came 
 so suddenly that they had no time to prepare for the 
 journey. One of the most sickening days of my whole 
 life in Turkey during the war was that immediately 
 preceding that deportation. Several members of our 
 
8o The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 little Anglo American community came into the Amer- 
 ican Press, where I was working, to leave in American 
 hands their wills, their valuables, and their final in- 
 structions. As we accepted their commissions and 
 wished them Godspeed, we tried to smile, but we dared 
 not look into those haggard faces, for fear the tears 
 that lay so near the surface would overflow. 
 
 Of those that went into exile that dreary December 
 morning some never returned, but were buried in the 
 interior. The majority were held nearly four years 
 as civil interned prisoners until shortly before the 
 signature of the Turkish Armistice on October 31, 
 1918. Only some few drifted back, largely through 
 the efforts of friends who had influence in Constanti- 
 nople. About a dozen were released from Damascus 
 on December 22, 1914, arriving in Beirut in time for 
 Christmas; and they were permitted to remain until 
 April 6, 1916, when they were again deported, this 
 time until the end of the war. After a great deal of 
 wire-pulling, certain elderly men, or men useful to the 
 Turks, such as the Belgian Director of the Tram Com- 
 pany, the French Manager of the Electric Company, 
 and others, were finally granted a permanent exemp- 
 tion. 
 
 There is no space here to tell the story of the exile 
 of those belligerent friends of ours; but, no doubt, 
 some one of them may himself one day give his story 
 to the world. Suffice it to say here that later the 
 women also were deported to Aleppo, with the excep- 
 tion of a few whose physical condition even the Turks 
 recognized as too delicate to permit them to mate the 
 
The Abrogation of the Capitulations 8 1 
 
 journey. Later all the belligerents, men, women and 
 children, were deported even further into the interior, 
 to Urfa, in the Mesopotamian Valley. Here they wit- 
 nessed all the horrors of one of the two Armenian 
 massacres before the women were transported to the 
 seacoast at Alexandretta, whence they were removed 
 by an American cruiser. After the second massacre of 
 the Armenians, the men were returned to Anatolia 
 and were scattered in isolated and out-of-the-way 
 Turkish villages about Konia, Sivas and Angora. The 
 life of these men, who knew no Turkish in these Turk- 
 ish-speaking towns, who were cut off in many cases 
 from all communication with their relatives and 
 friends, and who were subjected to the thousand and 
 one petty annoyances, insults, and dangers, the inven- 
 tion of which so delights the Turkish provincial of- 
 ficial, can only be left to the imagination. Indeed, 
 after the Armistice it was almost as if the dead had 
 come to life at the trumpet-call of the new era. Young 
 men grown old, old men with tottering steps and child- 
 ish minds, good men grown evil, and evil men grown 
 brutal, arose from their long imprisonment and re- 
 appeared in the world of the active. Some of us, who 
 were either more hopeful or more ignorant than the 
 rest, had deplored the hopeless pessimism with which 
 these same men had left our midst four years before; 
 but that tragic roll-call when they reassembled con- 
 vinced us, even if the events of the past four years had 
 not already done so, that they were wiser than we in 
 dreading the future which placed them at the mercy of 
 the Turk's brutality. 
 
VI 
 
 THE AMERICAN RED CROSS TO THE 
 
 RESCUE 
 
 AS Americans our position in the Empire was 
 unique, and for some time indeed enviable. 
 Diplomatically we had enjoyed the privileges 
 of the "most favoured nation," and practically that 
 was exactly our position during nearly three of the 
 four years of the war. The reasons for this were 
 several. Turkey undoubtedly realized early in her 
 alliance with Germany that she must not look to her 
 ally for material financial support; and like many an- 
 other impoverished nation, she began to speculate on 
 the possibility of diverting to herself some of America's 
 immense wealth. Politically also she was in desperate 
 need of a friend; and she fondly hoped that the sym- 
 pathies of America, the great neutral nation, might 
 with a little diplomacy be enlisted in her behalf when 
 the final day of reckoning should come, and when 
 Turkey should have no other friend at the peace-table 
 to champion her cause. 
 
 We only dimly realized these things in the early days 
 of the war, and wondered that we as Americans en- 
 joyed so many privileges. American consular repre- 
 sentatives were allowed to affix their official seals to 
 
 82 
 
The American Red Cross to the Rescue 83 
 
 certain of the buildings belonging to the British which 
 the Turks were most anxious to seize and occupy, and 
 for months those seals were left intact. American of- 
 ficial interference in behalf of belligerent subjects was 
 tolerated in a way that surprised us, and for several 
 months after the withdrawal of the British missions 
 from Syria, the American Press was permitted to con- 
 tinue the salaries of their native employees in accord- 
 ance with lists received by what we called " the under- 
 ground mail route." This latter form of relief, how- 
 ever, soon became too dangerous to be continued, as 
 the Turks pretended to look with suspicion on such 
 transactions, which might be interpreted as British 
 propaganda and the support of British agents. It was 
 more for the safety of the Syrian employees of the 
 British missions than from any concern for the Press 
 itself that these payments were eventually discontinued, 
 although the result was that many of the valuable 
 Syrian teachers and assistants in other departments of 
 the mission work, all of whom had been educated and 
 supported by the British missionaries, died of disease 
 and starvation during the absence of their patrons 
 from Syria. 
 
 Encouraged by the apparent good-will of the Otto- 
 man authorities, the American community of Beirut 
 determined to inaugurate a campaign against the dis- 
 tress prevalent throughout the country. The organiza- 
 tion was ready to hand. There was existent a five- 
 year-old Chapter of the American National Red Cross 
 (the first ever established outside of the United States 
 or its dependencies), founded at the time of the Arme- 
 
84 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 nian massacres of 1909. By the time that the Beirut 
 Red Cross Chapter had decided to undertake active 
 relief-work, Turkey was in reality at war with Eng- 
 land, France and Russia, and the country was already 
 afflicted with all the misery which in most cases exists 
 only as a direct result of active military campaigns. 
 But even had Turkey not actually entered the arena, 
 the Chapter would have felt amply justified in making 
 plans for relief -work which could be truly defined as 
 an attempt to " mitigate the suffering caused by . . . 
 great national calamities, and to devise and carry on 
 measures for preventing the same.'* * That was in the 
 early days of American Red Cross activity in connec- 
 tion with the European War, before the tremendous 
 drain upon the resources of the organization made it 
 necessary for the National Society to adopt the reso- 
 lution that its funds should be used solely for Euro- 
 pean relief for sick and wounded of the armies of all 
 nations then at war. 
 
 In December, 1914, the Beirut Chapter of the Amer- 
 ican National Red Cross held its annual meeting and 
 elected officers for the coming year. Honourable W. 
 Stanley Hollis, the American Consul General at Beirut, 
 consented to serve as President of the Chapter. Pro- 
 fessor James A. Patch of the Syrian Protestant Col- 
 lege was elected Vice-President; Mr. Dana, Manager 
 of the American Press, Treasurer; and myself. Secre- 
 tary. Three additional members were elected to the 
 Executive Committee: Mr. Bayard Dodge, Mrs. H. G. 
 Dorman, and Mrs. H. H. Nelson, all of the Syrian 
 *Red Cross Byrhws, 
 
The American Red Cross to the Rescue 85 
 
 Protestant College. Later Professor Robert B. Reed, 
 in charge of the Employment Department for Men, 
 and Miss Anna Jessup, director of the same work for 
 women, were invited to become associate members. 
 At the end of the following year political conditions 
 in Syria were such that it was impossible to call the 
 regular annual meeting of the entire Chapter, and it 
 was informally agreed that the same officers should 
 continue to serve. In compliance with the request from 
 the State Department in Washington that consular 
 officials should not hold office in Red Cross Chapters, 
 Mr. Hollis resigned, and Mr. Patch was elected Presi- 
 dent. Professor J. Stewart Crawford of the Syrian 
 Protestant College then became Vice-President. The 
 Executive Committee comprised this personnel during 
 the full term of its service in connection with the 
 Great War; and even after the cessation of the activi- 
 ties of the American Red Cross in Syria, certain mem- 
 bers of the former Executive Committee continued to 
 serve on what is now known as the Permanent Com- 
 mittee for American Relief in Syria. In other words, 
 the members of the Red Cross Executive Committee 
 were in charge of all the relief-work that was accom- 
 plished in Syria with American funds during the last 
 five years. To them belongs the credit for the truly 
 remarkable achievements of American philanthropy 
 during this dark period, and to-day they are still held 
 responsible by the charitable organizations at home 
 for the proper administration of the funds. 
 
 At the December, 1914, meeting, the Chapter em- 
 powered the Executive Committee to direct the work 
 
86 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 of investigation of local needs through poverty and suf- 
 fering; to appoint sub-committees, including Syrians; 
 and to administer all funds with a view to promoting 
 the general usefulness of the Society. The Executive 
 Committee formulated its campaign along two distinct 
 lines of relief: first, the preparation and dispatch of 
 a Hospital Expedition to the Fourth Ottoman Army 
 Corps in the campaign against Egypt ; and second, the 
 organization of a local relief-committee to minister to 
 the immediate distress among the civilian population 
 of Syria. The civilian relief-work was organized in 
 three departments : employment, flour-distribution, and 
 assistance to the families of Ottoman soldiers in ob- 
 taining from the Government the promised allowance 
 for support. 
 
 An appeal for funds was forwarded to the National 
 Headquarters in Washington, and a prompt response 
 came in the form of $10,000. This amount was sup- 
 plemented from time to time; and by November, 1916, 
 the Beirut Chapter had received from Washington an 
 ^ggr^g^te sum of $83,641.55 for relief purposes. This 
 sum was further augmented by considerable private 
 donations and by large grants from relief-societies all 
 over the world. In the autumn of 1916 the Armenian 
 and Syrian Relief Committee took over the support of 
 relief-work in the Ottoman Empire, and in January, 
 1917, made a grant to Syria of $50,000. An addi- 
 tional $700,000 was invested in food and clothing 
 to be dispatched as a Christmas present to Syria from 
 the American public. Two days in October, 1916, 
 had been appointed by President Wilson as gift-days 
 
The American Red Cross to the Rescue 87 
 
 for Armenia and Syria, and America had responded 
 generously to the appeal. 
 
 The responsibility for the organization and man- 
 agement of the Medical Relief Expedition was en- 
 trusted by the Executive Committee to the Faculty of 
 the Syrian Protestant College as a sub-committee for 
 medical relief. Under their able direction a hospital 
 unit was organized and equipped. This was accepted 
 by Jemal Pasha, the Commander of the Fourth Otto- 
 man Army, and the agreement was that the unit should 
 serve as a tent-hospital of two hundred beds at Hafir 
 el-Aujah, a station on the Egyptian frontier, one day's 
 ride from Beersheba. Dr. E. St. John Ward, Pro- 
 fessor of Surgery in the Syrian Protestant College, 
 was appointed director of the expedition, and Rev. 
 George C. Doollttle of the American Mission, associate 
 director. The rest of the staff consisted of Dr. 
 Naimeh Nucho, pathologist; Dr. Athman Saadeh, as- 
 sistant pathologist; Dr. Atiyeh, assistant surgeon; 
 twelve seniors from the Syrian Protestant College 
 Medical School as orderlies; two pharmacists, one 
 dentist, and four sisters of the Kaiserswerth as nurses, 
 making a staff of twenty- four. In the preparation and 
 equipment of the hospital unit all the labourers were 
 furnished by the Employment Bureau of the local 
 relief-committee. The expedition carried with it a 
 fully equipped operating tent, and a pharmacy tent 
 supplied with a three months* stock of medicines. The 
 expedition left Beirut on January 21, 1915, and pro- 
 ceeded safely to Hafir el-Aujah, where the hospital 
 was established. They remained two months, return- 
 
88 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 ing to Beirut March 27th. During the time of their 
 service they treated about two hundred and twenty pa- 
 tients. The fact that this number is so small is not a 
 commentary on the efficiency of the hospital unit, but 
 is a revelation of conditions in the Turkish Army. 
 Of that ill-starred expedition very few survivors ever 
 returned. The Turkish forces were practically wiped 
 out. Those that escaped the British bullets succumbed 
 to disease and starvation in the desert. Many bands 
 of stragglers either lost their way in the wilderness, or 
 perished in the terrible sandstorms which overwhelm 
 the wandering traveller. Of those who were wounded 
 in the campaign only the merest handful received med- 
 ical aid at the front, and none but the hardiest could 
 survive the dreadful two-days journey on camels to 
 the Red Cross hospital at Beersheba. 
 
 On May 4, 1915, the Beirut Chapter received an 
 urgent appeal from the American Ambassador at Con- 
 stantinople for the immediate services of a hospital 
 unit to aid in caring for the wounded of the Gallipoli 
 campaign. The Ambassador offered transportation 
 for the party by the U. S. Collier Vulcan, then in Turk- 
 ish waters. The Beirut Chapter voted to send the ex- 
 pedition, and the Syrian Protestant College generously 
 agreed again to liberate Dn Ward, together with Miss 
 Van Zandt, and Miss Nightingale, nurses in the Col- 
 lege Hospitals. The party left on the Vulcan May 
 16th, and remained in Constantinople until August. 
 
 By the middle of May, 1915, only five months after 
 the commencement of organized Red Cross work in 
 Syria, when the annual report of the Beirut Chapter 
 
The American Red Cross to the Rescue 89 
 
 was submitted to the National Headquarters in Wash- 
 ington, the hospital unit to Beersheba had been dis- 
 patched, and had returned to Beirut. The second hos- 
 pital unit was on its way to Constantinople, and the 
 local relief-work was proceeding in smooth-running 
 order. Arrangements had been made in cooperation 
 with the municipality for the employment of able- 
 bodied men in a crusade for cleaning and repairing the 
 streets, and in a general campaign of sanitation. The 
 city had been plotted out in twelve districts, each under 
 the supervision of an American woman, members of 
 the College or Mission communities; and in each of 
 these districts, after careful personal investigation by 
 the district superintendent, a list of worthy candidates 
 was prepared. Flour, a week's portion at a time, was 
 doled out to those families of destitute women and 
 children who had no wage-earners to support them. 
 Later a Women's Employment Bureau was instituted, 
 with special emphasis on lacemaking and needlework 
 for which there was always a good sale. 
 
 The relief-work in Syria was centered in Beirut for 
 two reasons: the Central Committee was located there, 
 and the Beirut Chapter as such was directly respon- 
 sible to the National Committee in Washington for the 
 proper administration of the funds appropriated to 
 Syria. Moreover, there was a greater need In Beirut 
 and its Immediate vicinity than In any other one local- 
 ity. Obviously a crowded city presents more prob- 
 lems than the rural districts, and the situation In Beirut, 
 a city dependent on commerce and trade, was more 
 desperate than that In such a city as Aleppo, or Damas- 
 
90 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 cus, which are centers of internal economy. Beirut 
 was the gathering-point for the destitute of the coun- 
 try for miles around. Immigrants from Lebanon who 
 had been starved or frozen out of their former homes 
 flocked to the city in the hope of finding work there. 
 It was estimated at one time that there were as many 
 as forty thousand homeless and destitute people in 
 Beirut who had assembled there from all over the 
 country. The funds at the disposal of the Red Cross 
 workers were limited, and it seemed wiser to do a 
 little thoroughly than to attempt too much and accom- 
 plish little for want of concentration. Appropria- 
 tions were, however, granted from Beirut to other 
 cities, among them Homs, Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre, 
 Damascus, Haifa and one or two of the larger villages 
 in Lebanon, to be disbursed according to the judgment 
 of the Americans resident there. In most of these 
 places the work was conducted along practically the 
 same lines as the work in Beirut. 
 
 The work of the Red Cross proceeded smoothly un- 
 til August, 1915, when it was suddenly terminated by 
 an open exhibition of hostility on the part of the 
 Turkish authorities. The Governor of Beirut, Azmi 
 Bey, had made no secret of the fact that he had been 
 chafing under what he considered the impudent inter- 
 ference of the Americans in civil and municipal af- 
 fairs. He had undoubtedly been awaiting the oppor- 
 tunity to strike in a way that would at once cripple the 
 Red Cross activities and humiliate the American per- 
 sonnel. It matters not that the nominal aggressors 
 were underlings, minor police officials. None of them 
 
The American Red Cross to the Rescue 91 
 
 would have risked his position in such a move had he 
 not been certain of the temper of his superiors. The 
 blow fell suddenly and took the form of the arrest of 
 Mrs. Dale, Superintendent of the American College 
 Hospitals in Beirut. She was directing the relief- 
 work in her district when the police arrested her to- 
 gether with several of her Syrian assistants. They 
 were conducted to the central police station, where 
 they were detained until the personal representations 
 of her brother. Dr. Frederick Bliss, effected her release. 
 The matter roused a storm of feeling both on the part 
 of the Americans and of the Syrians who had benefited 
 by their activities, and who felt that their very lives 
 depended upon the continuance of the Red Cross work. 
 However, the matter being thus brought to an issue, 
 the Governor expressed himself emphatically as an- 
 tagonistic to any such usurpation by foreigners of his 
 own prerogatives, and the Red Cross was forced to 
 discontinue its work in the Beirut municipality. 
 
 In Lebanon, however, the Governor, Ali Munlf 
 Bey, took an entirely different attitude, and intimated 
 that he would be not only willing but grateful, if the 
 American Red Cross might transfer to the province 
 under his jurisdiction the relief machinery which had 
 operated so eflfectively in Beirut. He stipulated 
 merely that the Red Cross should consent to a nominal 
 cooperation with a committee of the Ottoman Red 
 Crescent created for the purpose, which comprised a 
 group of men so tolerant and so acceptable to the 
 Americans that the most cordial relations were pos- 
 sible between the representatives of the two committees. 
 
92 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 The Red Cross Executive Committee elected as repre- 
 sentatives to the joint relief-committee Mr. Patch and 
 Mr. Crawford from the College, and Mr. Dana and 
 Mr. Doolittle from the Mission. The leading spirit 
 among the Red Crescent representatives was Judge 
 Mohammed Effendi Abou Izzedine. His death from 
 typhus during the winter of 1917 proved a serious 
 blow to the relief-work in Lebanon; so much was his 
 heart in the undertaking that during his last illness he 
 worked in bed over the details of organization as long 
 as his strength permitted, and in his delirious ravings 
 he lamented over the suffering in Lebanon which 
 weighed so heavily on his mind. 
 
 The joint relief-committee continued to operate for 
 five months, from December, 1916, to April, 1917, 
 when America entered the war. Mr. Doolittle took 
 up his residence in Ba'abda, the seat of the Lebanon 
 Government, in charge of the relief-bureau there, but 
 the other members of the Red Cross committee were 
 obliged to make several trips to Ba'abda each week dur- 
 ing the worst winter weather. I shall always have a 
 vivid memory of these gentlemen, clad in rubber coats 
 and high boots, setting out in the rain on their cold, dis- 
 mal journey to a committee-meeting in the mountain 
 village an hour distant. They travelled frequently on 
 foot, occasionally by carriage, or on horseback. 
 
 The meetings of the full Beirut Executive Commit- 
 tee were continued all through that winter, as the four 
 representatives to the joint-committee were not em- 
 powered to act without specific instructions. Every 
 important project was reported to the Executive Com- 
 
The American Red Cross to the Rescue 93 
 
 mittee before action was taken, and the representatives 
 were instructed in detail as to their policy in any vital 
 matter. This seemed necessary as a safeguard against 
 possible machinations on the part of the Turks. 
 
 The relief -work in Lebanon was carried on along 
 much the same lines as the work in Beirut, and for sev- 
 eral months the Red Cross Chapter was privileged to 
 direct an enterprise which gave vent to the energies 
 and sympathies of its members. Anything was better 
 than being idle at a time of such great distress 1 
 
 In the autumn of 1916 the Armenian and Syrian 
 Relief Committee announced that its Christmas pres- 
 ent to Syria was a shipload of food and clothing, which 
 was to be transported to the Syrian coast by the U. S. 
 Collier Ccesar, under the consent of the Allies and the 
 guarantee of safe conduct from the Germans and the 
 Austrians. For about three months the Beirut Com- 
 mittee, in collaboration with the Red Crescent, turned 
 all its wits and energies to preparing for the arrival of 
 " the Christmas ship." Warehouses were secured, ar- 
 rangements completed for docking and unloading the 
 precious cargo and guarding it against possible at- 
 tempts at confiscation by the Beirut authorities. The 
 Red Cross Executive Committee, of which I was then 
 secretary, held three and four hour sessions three 
 evenings each week over the knotty problems con- 
 nected with safeguarding the relief supplies from the 
 moment of their arrival until they were delivered to 
 the most needy Syrians outside of Beirut, and yet ac- 
 cessible from Beirut. From the very outset we had 
 determined that the Vali's attitude precluded any pos- 
 
94 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 sibility of aiding Beirut's residents, and we resolved 
 that we would make a serious issue of the question 
 rather than allow one grain of wheat to fall into the 
 granaries of the corrupt officials of the Beirut munici- 
 pality. More than one thousand villages in Lebanon 
 were personally visited by Red Cross agents and lists 
 of needy individuals were made up in three categories 
 in order of need. The plan was so perfected that im- 
 mediately upon the arrival of the CcBsar the cargo could 
 be unloaded and distributed to centers where detailed 
 lists of candidates for relief were in readiness. 
 
 The expected arrival of the ship had been generally 
 advertised by the American and European newspapers 
 circulated in Syria, and also, indirectly, by the special 
 preparations devolving upon the joint-committee for 
 relief. The whole country was literally living on ex- 
 pectation. One of our community met an old man 
 coming out of a bakery holding in his hand the " chalk 
 and alum and plaster . . . sold to the poor for 
 bread." He was shaking his head over the unappetiz- 
 ing and unnutritious lump and muttering to himself, 
 "Bad bread to-day, bad bread to-morrow; the next 
 day the American ship comes." What then happened 
 was the greatest tragedy of the war in Syria. You in 
 America perhaps know better than we just why the 
 Christmas ship never came, although we are only just 
 beginning to apprehend the political complications 
 which spelled death and disaster in Syria, and sore 
 heartache for those of us who had given months of our 
 time and thought to the successful execution of this 
 project 
 
The American Red Cross to the Rescue 95 
 
 The ship reached Alexandria safely ; and as soon as 
 its arrival there was reported in Syria, every one ex- 
 pected that it would reach Beirut without further de- 
 lay. But it never reached Beirut! Its arrival was 
 postponed from week to week, and from month to 
 month, until one day the whole country awoke to 
 realization of the fact that it was never coming. The 
 failure of a ship to reach port is one of the most 
 familiar tragedies of life. Shakespeare has vividly in- 
 terpreted for us in The Merchant of Venice what the 
 loss of a vessel means to an adventurous business man 
 who has invested his full fortune in its cargo. The 
 whole world turns sick wiih horror over such a catas- 
 trophe as the loss of the Titanic, or the sinking of the 
 Lusitania, each with its precious freight of human 
 life. In these days of mammoth vessels such a dis- 
 aster means the death of hundreds, or even thousands. 
 But the failure of the Ccesar to reach Syria meant the 
 loss of tens of thousands. The official statistics for 
 the month succeeding the announcement that the sail- 
 ing had been cancelled show a higher rate of mortality 
 than any other one month during the war. Literally 
 hundreds died of disappointment. It had been a case 
 of "while there is hope there is life." Thousands 
 had been living on scanty rations with the expectation 
 that a day of comparative plenty was ahead. Others 
 had borrowed against the time when they might repay 
 by sharing their rations from the Ccesar's cargo. 
 When they at last realized that the ship was not to 
 come and that their credit was no longer good, their 
 last hope for the future set; they had no further cour- 
 
96 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 age to live, and nothing to live for. Oh, the tragedy 
 of that bitter disappointment ! I must confess that we 
 who had given so much of ourselves for the success 
 of this enterprise of American philanthropy and 
 Christmas good-will felt that we had been deserted by 
 the home-committee and left to cope unaided with the 
 desperate situation in the land to which we had pledged 
 our support. We now know that it was not the fault 
 of either the Relief-Committee at home, nor of our 
 Government. Once again Syria, and particularly the 
 civil population of Syria, had been the victim of in- 
 ternational politics. 
 
 In April, 1917, the breaking of relations between 
 America and Turkey placed the Americans in the 
 Empire in a position practically amounting to that of 
 belligerents, and with the loss of our neutral status the 
 possibility of overt humane service was closed to us. 
 The Beirut Chapter of the Red Cross continued to 
 operate in a quiet way until it had expended the funds 
 in hand at the declaration of hostilities, but in June, 
 1917, it held its last meeting. From then onward 
 until the end of the war a local relief -committee, 
 financially backed by the personal guarantee of the 
 members of the American Mission, continued the 
 philanthropic service, although it was necessary to re- 
 vise the whole metJiod qf x^or^^ure;. 
 
yii 
 
 THE AMERICAN MISSION PRESS IN A 
 NEW r6lE 
 
 THE peculiar exigencies of such a crisis as the 
 recent World-War have submitted institu- 
 tions as well as individuals to an analysis 
 which has lowered the mighty and exalted the humble. 
 Many a respected citizen has proved himself a 
 " slacker/' and many a town " tough " has covered 
 himself and his community with glory. Fortunes have 
 been made and lost in a day in war speculations, kings 
 have been elevated or cast down. Business-houses 
 with a long-established reputation have forfeited pub- 
 lic esteem by their conduct during the national crisis; 
 and others have sprung from obscurity to world-promi- 
 nence. The general call to arms inaugurated new 
 standards of value. In these last five years men and 
 institutions have been rated according to their relation 
 to the vital issues at stake, and not with regard to 
 their pre-war status. It is as if the war had destroyed 
 the whole existing order, and created a new era with 
 new standards. The missionary who, perhaps, previ- 
 ous to the war, was ridiculed for the eccentricity of 
 his appearance, or his absorption in the problems of a 
 remote foreign locality, has now been called to advise 
 with those empowered to determine the fate of nations, 
 
 97 
 
98 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 On the other hand, the potentate who was powerful 
 enough to plunge the whole world into turmoil is to be 
 tried as a common criminal; and while his fate is yet 
 undecided, passes his days felling trees on an estate in 
 Holland. 
 
 In this general social and commercial upheaval the 
 American Presbyterian Mission-Press at Beirut has 
 known its share of the radical transformation. What 
 was five years ago an obscure mission printing-house 
 has to-day international recognition not only as a com- 
 mercial and banking institution, but also as a relief- 
 center similar to a charity-bureau in one of the great 
 American cities. The soul of the enterprise has been 
 transfigured, and yet its physical appearance is the 
 same. Even the face and form of a man alter as 
 his mental and spiritual capacity increase, but the 
 American Press is still lodged in a building which 
 gives no hint of its internal transformation. From a 
 dingy office in a patchwork building, which was once 
 the Mission-Church, the Press Management directs 
 transactions which involve annually the manipulation 
 of millions of dollars. In this building are housed the 
 Treasury of the American Presbyterian Mission in 
 Syria, and of all the relief-societies operating in Syria; 
 the financial correspondents for Syria of the Standard 
 Oil Company of New York; the agents of the Amer- 
 ican Bible Society; not to mention another tremendous 
 commercial and financial enterprise. And yet the 
 name painted over the door is simply The American 
 Press, and even this brief title is popularly clipped to 
 the Press, 
 
The American Mission Press in a New R61e 99 
 
 Experience has taught that one of the vital factors 
 in successful mission-work is a mission printing-house, 
 inasmuch as it is always possible, even in countries 
 where large public meetings are forbidden, to reach 
 the literate masses through the printed page. The 
 American Mission in Syria was no sooner established 
 than the need of a mission-press made itself evident. 
 Conditions in the Ottoman Empire, however, were 
 such that it seemed inadvisable to attempt anything 
 in the line of publication at that particular time, in 
 view of the fact that the Turkish censorship of printed 
 matter was fanatically rigorous. In 1822 the Congre- 
 gational Mission Board at Boston determined to locate 
 the American Mission-Press for Syria in Malta, until 
 such time as conditions in the Turkish Empire would 
 permit of its transfer to Asia Minor or Syria. Twelve 
 years later the opportunity came ; and in 1834 the Press 
 was removed to Beirut, where it has operated for 
 eighty-five years with only one interruption. This 
 was during the war between Turkey and Russia in 
 1853-56, when the American missionaries fled for a 
 few months to Cyprus for safety, at which time the 
 translation and editorial work of the Press was like- 
 wise carried on there. 
 
 The greatest modern literary contribution to the 
 Arabic-speaking world — which comprises one-fifteenth 
 of the population of the globe — is the Arabic version 
 of the Bible, translated and published by the Beirut 
 Mission-Press half a century ago. This has been re- 
 peatedly revised and modernized; but in spite of the 
 enormous demand from all parts of the world for the 
 
100 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Scriptures in Arabic, the American Press is the only 
 printing-house in the world which produces the com- 
 plete Arabic Bible in all forms. In addition to re- 
 ligious literature of all types, the American Press has 
 translated into Arabic and publishes school-books, fic- 
 tion, and miscellaneous works on scientific subjects; 
 and many of its publications are circulated throughout 
 the whole Arabic-speaking world. During the year 
 1913, the Press exported to the United States, South 
 America, India, Egypt, Africa, Mesopotamia, Arabia, 
 and the islands of the Pacific more than 200,000 vol- 
 umes of its productions. 
 
 The Press has never lost sight of the fact that it 
 must keep pace with Syria in its growth and develop- 
 ment. As education has become more widespread 
 throughout the country, there has been an increasing 
 demand for clean, interesting and instructive litera- 
 ture in Arabic to compete with the immoral literature 
 translated from the French which has lately flooded 
 the market. Not only must the Press increase the 
 quantity, but also the quality of its output. At the out- 
 break of the European War plans for a new and 
 modern building were in hand, and the Management 
 was concentrating all its energies on the problems of 
 how, and along what lines, it might increase the staff, 
 both editorial and administrative, so as to meet the 
 needs and grasp the opportunities of the age. 
 
 It will be necessary to digress here to sketch briefly 
 another phase of the Mission-Press activities which 
 was unofficial, but vitally important to the American 
 Mission community in Syria, and which in a measure 
 
UNLOADING PAPER FOR AMERICAN PRESS 
 
 SENDING PUBLICATIONS TO STEAMER 
 
The American Mission Press iii a New R61e i^i 
 
 explains why the Press was called upon, during the 
 war, to play so large and so varied a role. The 
 American Mission in Syria is centered in four sta- 
 tions, Beirut, Sidon, Tripoli, and Zahleh in Lebanon, 
 from which centers the work in the out-stations is 
 directed. Of these four cities Beirut is the only one 
 that occupies a position of commercial importance. 
 Sidon and Tripoli are not large ports in the sense that 
 they are suited by their location for extensive mari- 
 time operations. Neither has a harbour, but Beirut can 
 boast one of the few fairly good harbours on the coast 
 of the eastern Mediterranean. Zahleh, on the other 
 hand, lies far in the interior — far, that is, for Syria, 
 where ten miles present greater difficulties in travel 
 than one hundred miles in America or Europe. 
 Beirut is the seaport for Damascus, and consequently 
 for the whole interior as far north as Aleppo. At 
 Beirut the ships of commerce discharge their freight, 
 and through the Beirut custom-house eighty per cent, 
 of the imports to Syria pass. Obviously, Beirut sta- 
 tion is the Mission's point of contact with the outside 
 world, and in Beirut the Treasurer of the Syria Mis- 
 sion must be located. The Manager of the American 
 Press is, therefore, also the Treasurer of the Mission. 
 The result is self-evident. A missionary in one of 
 the other stations sends to America or to England for 
 a consignment of groceries. Will the Manager of the 
 Press please, as a personal favour, send some one re- 
 liable to the custom-house to clear the said consign- 
 ment, and see it safely dispatched by train to Zahleh, 
 or by cart to Sidon or Tripoli? Of course, the Man* 
 
102 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 ager cannot refuse so reasonable a request, but in the 
 course of a few months the Press is obHged to develop 
 a regular shipping-department with a complete staff 
 that devotes practically all its time to questions con- 
 cerned with customs, transport to the interior, and 
 kindred problems. Similarly, in compliance with or- 
 ders from all parts of the country, the Press keeps a 
 special employee to make purchases in the Beirut shops, 
 which are, of course, superior to any in the interior; 
 another to be responsible for the quantities of mail for 
 the out-stations which come directed to its care. The 
 Press, being located in the metropolis, has facilities for 
 cashing checks and handling accounts in banks that 
 have no provincial agencies. The Manager of the 
 Press, being on the spot, can reserve steamer-passage 
 for the missionary starting home on furlough, or meet 
 the incoming steamer and pilot the new arrival past the 
 greedy customs officials to hotel quarters previously 
 engaged by the Press. In short, the American Mis- 
 sion-Press is the Cook's Agency, and the Import, Ex- 
 port, and Purchasing Office of the Mission, merely be- 
 cause it is the only American institution in Beirut with 
 a staff sufficiently large to warrant the assumption that 
 " there will surely be some one to spare who can do 
 just this for me." 
 
 Not only the American Presbyterian Mission in 
 Syria requires these special services of the Press, the 
 same is true of every mission in Syria and Palestine, 
 from the Taurus Mountains to the Egyptian border. 
 The mail of a single day brings to the Manager's desk 
 orders ranging from a slate-roof for a new school- 
 
The American Mission Press in a New Role 103 
 
 building four hundred miles to the north of Beirut, to 
 a horse and buggy for a missionary on the edge of 
 Hauran, or a tombstone for a grave in Damascus. 
 
 With this established precedent, it was no abrupt de- 
 parture for the Press gradually to assume more and 
 more obligations of a financial and commercial char- 
 acter; until with the war's continued embargo on 
 trade, and the impossibility of securing necessary 
 printing-supplies, the publication side of the Press's 
 activities diminished in proportion as the financial side 
 increased. The paralysis of the business world and 
 the suspension of normal trade activities has already 
 been discussed in a previous chapter. Banks were 
 closed and all communication with the outside world 
 ceased, save through the Ottoman Post Office and 
 under the eye of the Turkish censor. The Press, how- 
 ever, arranged an " underground " mail-route, the only 
 channel which permitted of freely-expressed corre- 
 spondence with the outer world. General, unimpor- 
 tant mail was entrusted to the local Turkish Post 
 Office as a blind, for its total absence would immedi- 
 ately have aroused suspicion. This " underground " 
 mail-service was available for only a few months ; but 
 brief though the period was in which the Press could 
 communicate freely with its home-board, the Presby- 
 terian Board of Foreign Missions of New York City, 
 it was sufficient to establish in America a firm under- 
 standing of the situation in Syria and of the needs. 
 In the light of this understanding subsequent corre- 
 spondence passing through the Turkish Post Office 
 might be so cryptic as to be unintelligible to the censor 
 
104 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 and yet be perfectly comprehensible to the corre- 
 spondents. Through the medium of the "under- 
 ground " a numbered letter was forwarded by the 
 Manager of the Press to the Treasurer of the Board 
 requesting the latter to deposit the sum of One Thou- 
 sand Pounds with a certain bank in Switzerland to the 
 credit of the account of the American Press. Six 
 months later, the Turkish censor would not find any- 
 thing startling in a cable phrased as follows : ** Repeat 
 transaction my number eleven, two instead of one " ; 
 and yet it would have a very definite message for the 
 Treasurer in New York, meaning this time that he was 
 to deposit with the Swiss Bank Two Thousand Pounds 
 for the Press account. 
 
 In December, 1914, Mr. Dana, the Manager of the 
 Press, cabled Mr. Dwight H. Day, his New York 
 Treasurer, to accept for transmission to Beirut any 
 sums of money which Syrians in America might wish 
 to send to their relatives in Syria. Upon receipt of 
 lists of amounts deposited in New York, together with 
 the names of the sender and the payee, the Press guar- 
 anteed to make payment in any part of Syria. This 
 step was taken by Mr. Dana purely as a relief-measure, 
 and he little suspected the proportions to which it 
 would very shortly develop. In less than a year the 
 Press had paid out more than $2,000,000 to approxi- 
 mately 30,000 Syrians living anywhere in the country, 
 from Gaza, near the Egyptian border, to Bagdad in 
 Mesopotamia. The difficulty of locating and identi- 
 fying the thousands of payees living in isolated vil- 
 lages scattered throughout this vast region was indeed 
 
The American Mission Press in a New R61e 105 
 
 tremendous, but it was accomplished with a very slight 
 increase in the staff of workers, and without the loss 
 of a dollar through mishap or mispayment. 
 
 During the summer of 1915 this relief-work on the 
 part of the Press and Mission had become so exten- 
 sive, and such a large proportion of the population 
 depended upon financial assistance from the Amer- 
 icans, that the Turkish authorities began to display 
 open hostility toward the work. Our chief enemies 
 among the Turkish officials were Azmi Bey, Governor 
 of Beirut, and Muhhedin Bey, Chief of Police, both 
 of whom were notorious assassins, and both of whom 
 were agents of the Triumvirate in Constantinople in 
 their scheme for the deliberate extermination of the 
 Syrian people. These men recognized in the work of 
 Mr. Dana, as Manager of the Press, and his resultant 
 contact with the Syrians an important obstacle to their 
 plan of exterminating this subject race as effectively, 
 but not so conspicuously as they had exterminated the 
 Armenians. Furthermore, he was handling immense 
 sums of money, portions of which they believed they 
 might divert into their own pockets, if only they could 
 sufficiently intimidate him or threaten the suspension 
 of his work. In other words, they were determined 
 that his work should continue only if it were suf- 
 ficiently remunerative to them. 
 
 In the accomplishment of their purpose, there was 
 nothing to which these two men would not stoop ; and 
 when overt methods failed, they resorted to blackmail 
 and intimidation. Their first attempt was to cut off 
 the Press from its mail, in the hope that, if they could 
 
lo6 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 prevent the arrival of the weekly packets of instruc- 
 tions from New York, the " remittances to Syrians,'* 
 as we at the Press designated them, might be termi- 
 nated. The next line of attack was to accuse the 
 Press of making payments to the Syrians in behalf of 
 the British and French Governments with a view to 
 purchasing the promise of Ottoman subjects to join the 
 enemy at any moment when Entente intervention 
 might appear imminent. Another charge was sug- 
 gested by the jealousy of the local banks, namely, that 
 the Press interfered with the business of legalized 
 banking institutions, which, it was said, had been 
 forced to suspend operations because they could not 
 compete with charitable organizations. Finally, the 
 Manager was personally accused of manipulating the 
 Turkish paper-currency in such a way as to cause its 
 depreciation to only one-fourth of the gold value. All 
 of these charges were, of course, absolutely false. 
 The Press had always played fair with the Govern- 
 ment and had never transgressed any of the laws of 
 the Empire. In particular, the last mentioned charge 
 was not only unjustified, but positively contrary to 
 fact. The Press was in reality the greatest agency in 
 Syria for upholding and stabilizing the value of the 
 Turkish banknotes ; and had it not been for the finan- 
 cial prestige of this one institution, paper-currency 
 throughout the country would practically have gone 
 out of circulation, as it did in all isolated localities in 
 the interior not afYected by our financial transactions. 
 During the last three years of the war, Mr. Dana's 
 life was one of constant annoyance and danger. The 
 
The American Mission Press in a New Role 107 
 
 infamous Azmi and Muhhedin combined forces to in- 
 timidate him by false accusations, threats, and secret 
 intrigue. Day and night he was dogged by spies who 
 watched his every move with greedy eyes in the hope 
 that some indiscretion on his part might deliver him 
 into their hands. Scarcely a week passed that he did 
 not receive, either in a personal interview, or by an 
 anonymous letter, some threat or warning of black- 
 mail. The arrival of midnight telegrams was so fre- 
 quent an occurrence as to cause no alarm in the Dana 
 household, but time and again we were roused in the 
 dead of night by a terrific pounding on the door which 
 proved to be no telegraph-boy but some of the most 
 dastardly agents of the police. On several occasions 
 Mr. Dana was summoned forth at midnight to secret 
 police quarters in the town where he was interro- 
 gated, threatened, and pressed for money until he could 
 convince his enemies that neither the fear of death, 
 nor the more horrible things that they threatened could 
 induce an American to sell his honour. 
 
 On one occasion he was roused from his sleep, and 
 conducted by two non-uniformed spies to a building 
 near the Police-Station. Here he was told that the 
 charges which had been lodged against him and which 
 were then under consideration by the Chief of Police 
 were so grave that only the payment of a large sum of 
 money could save him. They flatly demanded $10,- 
 000; and when given a positive refusal for even a 
 small amount, one of the men left the place under pre- 
 tence of reporting to the Chief of Police the failure of 
 their negotiations. The second man proceeded then 
 
lo8 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 to enter into a violent discussion with another person 
 whom Mr. Dana has always supposed to be an Ar- 
 menian who had been alone in the dark room when the 
 American and his two captors had entered. As the 
 conversation was conducted partly in Armenian and 
 partly in Turkish only a word now and then was in- 
 telligible to Mr. Dana, but it was evident that this was 
 a similar case where money was being demanded. 
 Finally, when the threatening rage of the Turkish spy 
 could apparently wring nothing from the victim, the 
 Turk seized the wretched man by the neck, stabbed 
 him twice through the breast, then cut his throat. 
 The murderer, sprayed with the spurting blood, threw 
 the knife on the floor and turning to Dana said in 
 Arabic, " He has refused to pay the money demanded." 
 The American was evidently intended to understand 
 that he might expect a similar fate if he too per- 
 sisted in his refusal. 
 
 Later the assassin disappeared and returned after 
 having changed his clothes. He reported that the 
 Chief of Police wished to buy a check on Dana's New 
 York bank, and would give him the countervalue in 
 cash a few days later. The check, however, must be 
 delivered that very night. They apparently wished to 
 change slightly the colour of the blackmail procedure 
 to a commercial transaction, but the Manager of the 
 Press knew that the money would never be forth- 
 coming. There was no way out of the situation save 
 through apparent acquiescence. He was taken by the 
 spy to the Press, where he wrote a check on a New 
 York bank that was unnegotiable. This, however, 
 
The American Mission Press in a New Role 109 
 
 entirely satisfied his Turkish tormentors. As soon as 
 the check was delivered over he was allowed to re- 
 turn to his house, but he lived in daily suspense of 
 their discovery of the ruse. He was slightly relieved 
 when a few weeks later the Chief of Police, the head 
 of the three conspirators, came to an untimely end. 
 Six months later the second was brought low by a 
 British bullet on the Palestinian front. The third 
 still haunted him like a spectre of death for nearly two 
 years, although Mr. Dana never knew whether he had 
 discovered how they had been outwitted. Eighteen 
 months later he appeared again in the dead of night 
 on the wide ledge outside the window of Mr. Dana's 
 hotel room. His appearance was a great shock, for 
 Dana had no idea that he was still dogging him. 
 
 The next morning the local papers mentioned the 
 discovery, in an alley beside the hotel, of the corpse 
 of one of the old Hamidian spies. He was lying on 
 the edge of the pavement with his skull crushed, and 
 had apparently fallen from a great height. The 
 Greek tenants of a third-story apartment directly 
 across from the hotel were at first suspected, as it was 
 known that this man had on several occasions ascended 
 to their rooms, as he said, " to make observations." 
 The Greeks were subsequently exonerated, but the 
 police evidently never discovered how the man had 
 met his death. The incident was in itself a frightful 
 one, but the death of the one remaining man who had 
 been involved In the blackmail attempt and who had 
 
110 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 been outwitted through the trick of the bogus check, 
 closed forever a fearful chapter of suspense and terror 
 in Mr. Dana's life. 
 
 In such a country as Turkey it matters little whether 
 a charge be true or false. It is not the innocence or 
 the guilt of the accused that determines the outcome, 
 but the comparative wit of the contestants. In deal- 
 ing with barbarians only primitive methods avail, and 
 the victory is to the keener cunning. In Turkey a mur- 
 derer with a sufficiently strong following may live in 
 security, and even occupy a position of honour and 
 influence. But a righteous man who has powerful 
 enemies is doomed to destruction, unless he be con- 
 stantly on his guard, and unless also he be subtle 
 enough to keep his own counsel, and sufficiently wary 
 to foresee and forestall his opponents' moves. In the 
 case of the Manager of the Press, it was one man 
 against a whole corrupt administration, and I cannot 
 believe that mere human wit saved the day. Some- 
 thing more than tact and insight was essential in the 
 conflict of honour with infamy, and civilized principle 
 with barbaric brutality. Personally I can only be- 
 lieve that this struggle between American philanthropy 
 and Turkish lust of destruction was only another phase 
 of the world-conflict of civilization against barbarism, 
 of right against might. It was with this faith that we 
 fortified ourselves in those soul-racking days. Here 
 in Syria we were fighting our share in the World- War 
 just as truly as were our compatriots on the Western 
 Front. 
 
 Although we never confessed it even to each other, 
 
The American Mission Press in a New R61e ill 
 
 I am certain that we of the Dana family had no more 
 expectation that Mr. Dana would live to see the end of 
 the war than we should have had, had he been as- 
 signed a particularly dangerous post in France. And 
 yet we should have been " slackers '* had we used our 
 influence to induce him to leave the country, or to give 
 up the unequal combat. There were times when it 
 seemed physically impossible that the human mind 
 could bear such a strain as was constantly put upon 
 him, and even those of us who know him best and 
 who shared most intimately his life during that dread- 
 ful period cannot fully comprehend what inherent 
 force of will, or superhuman cooperation gave him 
 strength to win through safe and sane. 
 
 A few months ago, while travelling on the train 
 from Cairo to Port Said, I met a British officer of 
 twenty-one who wore on his right sleeve five chevrons, 
 one red that showed he had volunteered for service 
 during the months of 1914. On his left sleeve were 
 two vertical gold bars. Presuming upon that peculiar 
 intimacy which sometimes arises during companionship 
 on a long journey at the end of which one knows lies 
 a parting of the ways, I asked him to tell me where he 
 had been fighting when he was injured. There was 
 something strikingly impersonal in the frankness with 
 which he then related the episode in France in which 
 he had been wounded. He had been struck, and had 
 fallen in the path of a machine-gun which peppered 
 him with bullets as he lay unconscious on the ground. 
 During the thirty-six hours that he lay in " No Man's 
 Land," he had received six wounds, each of which 
 
1 1 2 The Dawn of a New £ra in Syria 
 
 might have proved fatal, had it been located a hair's 
 breadth to one side or the other; and yet not one vital 
 organ or one essential muscle had been destroyed. He 
 was nine months in the hospital, during three of which 
 he had neither memory nor consciousness. When he 
 finally returned to his regiment, he was another man, 
 a man who had walked into the very jaws of death, 
 and who looked thenceforth upon every day of his 
 life as a privilege beyond his wildest imaginings. I 
 doubt whether that youth will ever know fear again, 
 or will ever lose that sense of unexpected richness in 
 the possession of life. I asked him later what he was 
 particularly interested in. " Oh, everything ! " he ex- 
 claimed, as much as to say, " Who would not be, who 
 might be lying in his grave in France, were it not for 
 a miracle ? ** 
 
 As my young uncle, Mr. Dana, listened to the story 
 of that youthful hero, I saw in his face the reflection 
 of the other's mood. He too had dwelt in daily com- 
 panionship with death, and had even felt its awful 
 clutch. He too was still alive to work, to play, to be 
 " interested in everything." And in the faces of both 
 I read something else that I could not name: perhaps 
 a fresh purpose in life, and the resolution to make the 
 most of it while it lasted. Certainly it was not the 
 " eat, drink and be merry " attitude. Far from it I 
 Rather the conviction that a life which had been so 
 miraculously spared had perhaps been spared with a 
 purpose, and was, therefore, in a measure consecrated 
 to a cause. 
 
VIII 
 SYRIAN PHILANTHROPY FROM ABROAD 
 
 FOR those of us who worked at the American 
 Press during the period of the war there re- 
 main three impressions of vivid drama: 
 tragedy, pathos, and comedy. " Remittances to 
 Syrians " is the official title in the books of account of 
 the American Press of that extensive line of business 
 which provided the means by which Syrians living 
 abroad might send money to relatives in their native 
 land. The accounts and records of the Press reveal 
 such bare facts in connection with this relief-work as 
 have already been enumerated in the preceding chap- 
 ter: statements of the amounts received, by whom they 
 were sent, and to whom they were to be paid. It 
 would, however, have been impossible to devise a sys- 
 tem by which one could become more intimately and 
 more extensively acquainted with the life of a nation 
 than by this. 
 
 The system in itself was beautifully simple, but its 
 success was due entirely to the loyal cooperation of 
 numerous agents, notably the Treasurers of the Syrian 
 Mission-stations in Lebanon, Tripoli and Sidon. The 
 Press is under no less a debt of gratitude to other as- 
 sistants, not of the Mission, but one with the Mission 
 
 113 
 
1 14 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 in their whole-hearted enthusiasm and cooperation 
 with such work as the Mission was attempting, through 
 the Press, for reHef in Syria. It would hardly be fair 
 to mention one or two without naming all, and it must 
 suffice here to state that these agents were located 
 throughout the whole country: in Jerusalem, Safed, 
 Damascus and Aleppo in the interior; in Jaffa, Haifa, 
 Latakia, Mersina and Alexandretta on the seaboard; 
 and in numerous towns in the interior of Anatolia and 
 even Mesopotamia. Every one offered his services 
 free of charge, as his contribution to the relief-work. 
 The regular staff of the Press in Beirut, whose work 
 had been considerably lightened through the decrease 
 in the activities of the printing-department, was trans- 
 ferred almost bodily to this new department, thereby 
 reducing to a minimum all expenses in connection with 
 administration. 
 
 Early in January, 1915, an advertisement was in- 
 serted in all the Arabic and many of the English news- 
 papers in the United States announcing that the Treas- 
 urer of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions 
 would accept for transmission any sums of money 
 which Syrians resident in America wished to send to 
 their relatives in Syria. This notice was copied by 
 Arabic newspapers all over the world with the result 
 that In a few months money was pouring in from all 
 quarters of the globe to the Board's office in New 
 York. It was soon necessary to employ a special staff 
 to handle the work at the New York end. The money 
 was received either in the form of postal orders, or 
 checks which had to be negotiated through regular 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 115 
 
 banking channels, or wads of American greenbacks 
 paid in over the desk of the receiving cashier. Re- 
 ceipts were issued to the depositors, and notification 
 slips bearing the name and the address of the payer 
 and payee in Arabic and English were prepared at the 
 same time in New York. These slips were later given 
 to the stenographers, who made up lists reading as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 " Inclosed find check for $1,525.60 to cover the fol- 
 lowing remittances: 
 
 $50 from Yusef Touma, 116 Broad Street, Canton, 
 Ohio, to his mother, Sobat, in Deir el Kamr, 
 Lebanon, 
 
 $40 from Hanna Haddad, Washington Street, New 
 York City, to his brother, Khalil Haddad, a 
 shopkeeper on the Beirut River Road, Beirut, 
 
 and so on through a list of fifty to one hundred items, 
 some of them far less explicit in their instructions. 
 These lists were dispatched weekly to the Treasurer 
 of the Syria Mission in Beirut, who gave them first his 
 careful personal attention, and then turned them over 
 to his secretaries, who " routed " them, that is, 
 separated the items and relisted them according to the 
 districts in which they should be paid. In such a list 
 as that quoted above of, say, one hundred items, forty- 
 one might be paid from the Beirut office, nine in Leb- 
 anon Station, twenty-one in Tripoli, seven in Sidon, 
 and the remaining twenty-two scattering payments in 
 Jerusalem, Nazareth, Haifa, Aleppo, Antioch and 
 Mardin. To each disbursing center was dispatched 
 
Il6 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 the list of payees living in that locality, the money 
 with which to make the payments, and in some cases 
 typewritten receipts all ready for the payee's signature. 
 At stated intervals, the signed receipts were turned 
 back to Beirut, where they were classified and filed ac- 
 cording to districts and villages. 
 
 As I said, the system was simple, in fact could 
 hardly have been simpler, but there were countless 
 difficulties involved in successfully carrying it out. 
 The greatest problem, apart from the never-ceasing 
 hostility of the Government, lay in securing the money 
 with which to meet these orders for disbursement. It 
 was out of the question, for several reasons, to con- 
 sider transferring funds from New York to Beirut, as 
 rates of exchange were prohibitive, and banking-busi- 
 ness was at a standstill. After moderately successful 
 attempts in various directions, Mr. Dana finally dis- 
 covered that the most satisfactory method was for him 
 to sell checks on his New York bankers in exchange 
 for Turkish paper-currency. During the three years 
 when this method was in practice, the average rate 
 was about $3 to the Turkish Lira instead of the par 
 rate of $4.40. This slight gain on exchange enabled 
 the Press to meet expenses of administration in con- 
 nection with the Syrian remittances, and still disburse 
 at a trifle above par, a gain which was of but slight 
 value to the recipient, but which gave the lie to subse- 
 quent accusations that the Press was growing rich by 
 unlawful profit on exchange. 
 
 For example, the dollar at par was worth twenty-two 
 and one-half Turkish gold piasters. At times when 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 1 1 7 
 
 exchange rates were particularly favourable the Press 
 paid out as high as thirty-five to forty paper piasters 
 for each dollar. The relative value of gold and paper 
 was not proportionate to the exchange values, but, 
 nevertheless, it is a matter of considerable pride to the 
 Press that while amounts transferred through the local 
 banks lost in transit as much as eight per cent, ten per 
 cent., and even twenty-five per cent, and thirty per cent, 
 of their face-value, amounts transferred through the 
 Press gained a maximum of sixty per cent. 
 
 I have gone thus completely into what is a purely 
 technical question for the reason that the Press has 
 been subjected to a vast amount of unjust criticism 
 from Syrians abroad who have been advised by their 
 relatives and friends out here that sums sent through 
 the Press have suffered enormous depreciation. This is 
 true only in so far as Turkish paper had depreciated in 
 relation to gold. One hundred dollars deposited in New 
 York would, at par,have been worth £tq.* 22.60, but was 
 paid in paper by the Press, when rates were favour- 
 able, at £tq. 30. If these £tq. 30 were exchanged into 
 gold only £tq. 6 could be purchased, the equivalent of 
 $36.40. It is evident that the $100 has lost $Y3.60 in 
 transit, which is true in so far as its purchasing value 
 was concerned. As a matter of fact, the payee gained 
 over the par rate $33, the difference between £tq. 22.60 
 per $100 and £tq. 30 per $100. As gold was out- 
 lawed by the Ottoman Government and was confiscated 
 wherever it could be discovered, it could not be circu- 
 lated by the Press without jeopardizing the interests 
 
 * £tq,=Turkish X,iras. 
 
Ii8 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 of its tens of thousands of beneficiaries. The Press, 
 however, always gave the payees the option of re- 
 fusing the sum outright, in which case it was returned 
 to the sender without any charge for transfer; or of 
 delaying receipt on the chance that rates might take a 
 more favourable turn. Because, as I said, there has 
 been a great deal of unintelligent criticism of the 
 Press's methods in financial matters, I have risked 
 boring the average reader for the sake of enlightening 
 those who are interested in this phase of the question 
 from the angle of the business man. 
 
 The whole work, however, has not been one of busi- 
 ness, dull and prosaic. It has presented a most fasci- 
 nating opportunity for contact with Syrians of all 
 classes and all walks of life, both in their own country 
 and abroad. There was scarcely a transaction that did 
 not have its humour, its pathos, its tragedy, or its 
 dramatic side ; and none that did not amply repay the 
 effort involved with the realization that through the 
 hand-to-hand exchange of money there was the heart- 
 to-heart exchange of sympathy. Who would not 
 labour early and late, with infinite anxiety, and even 
 danger to his own personal safety, if thereby he might 
 be the agent of salvation to those menaced with death 
 by starvation, nakedness, and exposure? Who of us 
 has seen some dull countenance brighten with new 
 hope at the almost forgotten sight of money, or felt 
 on his hand the kiss of gratitude, mingled with tears 
 of emotion, without thanking God for the generosity 
 of those Syrians overseas who, by their economy and 
 the sacrifice of legitimate and hard-earned comforts, 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 1 19 
 
 spared the wherewithal to keep alive their brothers in 
 Syria! How often we have said to each other, "If 
 only the man who sent that amount could have seen 
 the joy in the face of his relative here when he re- 
 ceived it ! " 
 
 I must take this occasion to express the profound 
 admiration and affection for the middle-class Syrian, 
 more especially the country-folk, which grew up in me 
 during the years of the war, as a result of my contact 
 with them through this Press relief-work. Their fam- 
 ily loyalty and their willingness to share with each 
 other even the last crust is something so beautifully 
 touching that I have felt humbled before it. I have 
 known a man of moderate means, who supported his 
 whole hamlet of perhaps fifty persons as long as his 
 own income held out, and who died the same death 
 from starvation as did the others when his funds were 
 exhausted. There is a man in the village where we 
 spend the summer who maintained during the war a 
 family of fourteen individuals, some of whom we 
 should term " distant relatives," although it meant that 
 he and his own family of five must forego all the com- 
 forts, and even many of the actual necessities which 
 he might otherwise easily have provided for them. 
 
 After working, day in, day out, on the lists from 
 New York, one comes in time to realize that Rosa 
 Haddad in Fall River, whose address indicates that she 
 is a day-labourer in a big shoe-factory, is sending a 
 monthly remittance of $10 to her old father in Leb- 
 anon; and I have tried to read between the lines of 
 those matter-of-fact records from the New York of- 
 
120 ,The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 fice of names, addresses, and amounts, the sacrifices 
 and even tragedies that those Hsts represent Perhaps 
 Rosa drew upon the little fund that she had laid aside 
 for her trousseau when she should marry Habeeb, and 
 she bravely determined upon the postponement of her 
 wedding, even before Habeeb received the letter from 
 Shweir announcing the death of his brother and the 
 fact that their crippled sister, Jameelie, would follow 
 him to the grave unless Habeeb could contribute to- 
 ward her support. 
 
 The Syrians abroad rose as one man to the assist- 
 ance of their countrymen. The economies and dreams 
 of a lifetime, the hope of a comfortable old age, or a 
 triumphant return to the native land as a wealthy for- 
 eign resident were none too precious to sacrifice in 
 such a time of need as the period of the war. I, for 
 one, shall never see a rugged mountaineer without re- 
 membering that he may be such a hero or the father 
 of such heroes as those I have just described. I shall 
 never look into the sad face of a young mother, toil- 
 ing along a dusty road with her child in her arms, with- 
 out wondering whether in her home she has mothered 
 other chicks besides her own. It matters nothing that 
 there have been men of the so-called upper classes of 
 society in the country who have done their utmost to 
 disgrace the name of Syria before the nations of the 
 world — robbers, usurers, and land-grabbers. A nation 
 is as good as the best of its people; and the country 
 that can produce the every-day heroes and heroines that 
 the war has developed in Syria is worthy of honour at 
 home and abroad. Many a demoralized city-dweller 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 121 
 
 haa lived a life consistent with the standards of the 
 decadent society of the later Roman Empire, or of 
 France during the Reign of Terror. But as long as 
 there lives in Lebanon a race of sturdy mountaineers 
 with the sturdy virtues of a mountain people, Syria 
 will and must develop into a strong nation. 
 
 One phrase has been constantly on American lips 
 when Syrians have attempted to express their heart- 
 felt gratitude for their preservation. " You must not 
 thank us. You must thank your own people, in 
 America, in England, in Egypt It is they who have 
 sent the money that saved your lives. We Americans 
 have been only the agents to see that it reached you." 
 It is, however, heart-warming and to the missionaries 
 must seem the culmination of a century's labour, that 
 relations between the Americans and the Syrians have 
 during the war become so cordial. We have never 
 done all the things with which they credit us, but per- 
 haps it is inevitable that there should be a strong bond 
 between those who have together experienced such 
 hardships as did all who continued in Turkey through- 
 out the whole period of the war. The facts that the 
 Americans, no less than the Syrians, were at the mercy 
 of the Turks, that they too knew anxiety as to where 
 they should obtain the winter's wheat-supply, that they 
 denied themselves all possible luxuries, that they ate 
 the Syrian dishes, and wore clothes made of native 
 fabrics— in short, that they lived just as the Syrians 
 lived — these facts perhaps place them in a peculiarly 
 intimate relationship with the Syrian people. Every 
 American who remained in Turkey after the departure 
 
122 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 of the official representatives in April, 1917, did so 
 with the knowledge that he remained at his own risk. 
 Disease, starvation, and complete isolation from his 
 home and friends in America were actualities at the 
 time when he made the decision, and there were yet 
 more dreadful possibilities ahead whose full horror 
 only the Turks could realize. 
 
 I dare write thus frankly of the heroism of the 
 Americans with whom I was associated because of my 
 own peculiarly sheltered position. In one sense, I was 
 almost a bystander, and the sorrows that darkened 
 those dreadful years were for me purely vicarious. I 
 never knew any personal uneasiness, for I was in no 
 way in the public eye, but I was saddened with anxiety 
 for the safety of my uncle and his family. I was 
 young, and had none dependent on me. I was free 
 to go or to come without concern as to how my move- 
 ments would affect those whom I loved. I had only 
 an indirect share in the work that the Americans were 
 doing in the country; and therefore, I may be par- 
 doned, if what I say of my countrymen expresses my 
 pride in them, and I may at least be exonerated from 
 the suspicion of personal vanity or self-satisfaction. 
 
 All over the world men and women have eased their 
 breaking hearts with the hope that " somehow good 
 will be the final goal of ill," and in Syria to-day we 
 are fortunate in that we can already see some of the 
 beneficial results of the ills which we have survived. 
 We should have sufficient cause for gratitude were our 
 only gain Syria's liberation from the oppression of thf*. 
 Turk, but there are improvements of a more subtle 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 123 
 
 character which are evident, probably, only to one who 
 knew the country before the war as well as after. 
 From the missionary standpoint, the greatest step to- 
 ward progress has been the tendency to merge sectarian 
 enmities in a rapidly growing national loyalty. There 
 is, furthermore, a gratitude to America which has 
 been expressed at times in a most astonishing way. 
 
 For generations the French Catholics have been ex- 
 ceedingly jealous of American religious influence in 
 the land, and they have instilled into their converts 
 much of their intolerance and bigotry. The fact, how- 
 ever, that the American relief -agencies made no dis- 
 tinctions of race or creed in their service to the Syrian 
 people disarmed hostility in a most surprising way. 
 The Americans were fully aware of the bitter enmity 
 of the Catholics (locally known as Maronites), espe- 
 cially in that Kesrawan region of Lebanon, north of 
 Beirut. That knowledge, however, was no deterrent 
 when it came to the possibility of rendering relief to 
 the Maronite inhabitants of this district, which suffered 
 particularly from the effects of the war. 
 
 While writing this I chanced to turn over the figures 
 showing the totals of the various sects helped by 
 America's charities during the last two years of the 
 war. Out of 46,000 Christians who received relief, 
 fifty- four per cent, were Roman Catholics and Maron- 
 ites, and only one and one- fourth per cent, were Protes- 
 tants. More than that, even the priests, hostile as they 
 had always been toward the American missions, were 
 glad to avail themselves of the privileges of receiv- 
 ing money through the Press, and of banking there. 
 
124 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 The Press stood ready to deliver money to any indi- 
 vidual lucky enough to have relatives abroad desirous 
 of thus assisting him, and never inquired whether he 
 were priest or layman, Mohammedan, Druze, Greek 
 Orthodox, Protestant, or Maronite. Some of our 
 most satisfactory dealings were with the Maronites; 
 and if some of our greatest annoyances were caused 
 by the priests, that was no more true of the Cath- 
 olics than of the priests of other sects. The Syrians 
 have a saying that, if you wish to find the Devil, you 
 have only to lift the cap of a priest; and there were 
 times when we were tempted to believe the truth of 
 that malicious proverb. As a matter of fact, most of 
 the flagrant cases of dishonesty and falsehood must be 
 laid at the door of the clergy; and one or two typical 
 incidents will reveal what we had to contend with. 
 
 Mr. Nejib Kheirallah, the paying cashier at the 
 Press, fortunately for the Press, was a young man of 
 rare shrewdness, otherwise our proud record of no 
 losses through mispayments could never have been at- 
 tained. On one occasion a priest entered the office and 
 presented one of our regulation notices which re- 
 quested Mikhail Gabriel to call at the American Press 
 on important business. Such notices bore only the 
 name of the payee and the serial number of the pay- 
 ment. The name of the sender was omitted for a 
 special reason. In Syria, where family names are a 
 comparatively recent achievement, it frequently hap- 
 pens that there are two or more men of the same name 
 in one village, just as it might happen that there would 
 be several George Henrys in Paterson, New Jersey. 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 125 
 
 It would, however, be a rare coincidence if two of 
 these Syrian George Henrys had relatives of the same 
 name residing in the same place in America. The 
 prospective payee, therefore, is required to give the 
 names of relatives or friends residing abroad from 
 whom he might possibly receive an amount of money; 
 and if among those names should occur the name of 
 the actual sender, the identification is practically com- 
 plete. Of course, further safeguards in the way of 
 written guarantees from the sheikh, or mayor, of the 
 village in which the candidate lives, reliable witnesses 
 to the signature, etc., are required. 
 
 This priest presented the notification slip, and an- 
 nounced that he was Mikhail Gabriel, and that he had 
 come to get his money. There was something odd in 
 his manner, and Nejib Kheirallah looked searchingly 
 into his crafty face. However, as his answers to the 
 usual questions tallied with the information forwarded 
 from New York, and as his credentials from the sheikh 
 and other dignitaries of his village were in perfect 
 order, there was no reason for withholding the pay- 
 ment. Like a hawk, however, the cashier scrutinized 
 his every move, and the moment that the priest set pen 
 to paper to affix his signature to the receipt a slight 
 tremor betrayed some unusual excitement. In a flash 
 the cashier had him by the throat, and, worrying him 
 as a dog worries a rat, accused him of forgery. The 
 man turned ashen white and fainted from terror. 
 When he came to, he confessed his guilt and pled for 
 leniency. Mikhail Gabriel had died only the week 
 before, and the priest had intercepted the Press notice 
 
126 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 with the intention of securing the money for himself. 
 Had he been the only individual involved, his prayer 
 for mercy might have been granted, but the matter was 
 too serious to be lightly dismissed. In his hands Mr. 
 Kheirallah held the written evidence of the perjury of 
 the sheikh of the village, and the other " reputable citi- 
 zens " who had borne false witness to the man's iden- 
 tity. The case was put in the hands of lawyers, and 
 the criminals brought to justice. Investigation re- 
 vealed forty inhabitants of that village whom the priest 
 had unsuccessfully approached in his attempt to secure 
 by bribery the necessary guarantees. 
 
 A delightful contrast to such an incident was the 
 visit which the Manager received from other priestly 
 representatives from a distant monastery high up in 
 the Lebanon Mountains. A delegation called upon 
 him to express their gratitude for the assistance ren- 
 dered through the medium of the Americans, and to 
 discuss the possibility of their recording their appre- 
 ciation in some more substantial form. They had de- 
 termined to present President Wilson with a desk 
 made of the fragrant cedar-wood, requesting him to 
 accept it in recognition of the gratitude of the Syrian 
 Catholics for the generosity of the American public. 
 It was a beautiful idea, and the Manager assured them 
 that President Wilson would undoubtedly treasure 
 such a gift; but at that time it was impossible to think 
 of sending to America anything so bulky as a cedar- 
 wood desk. The priests were disappointed, but prom- 
 ised to reopen the question after the war. It may be 
 that some day they will ; if so, I trust that the President 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 127 
 
 of the United States will value the token as one that 
 is truly significant of a change of heart on the part of 
 at least certain representatives of a class that five years 
 ago was the most bitter enemy of the American Mis- 
 sion. 
 
 One would have to write a book of several hundred 
 pages to do justice to the human side of this relief- 
 work. A thousand and one nights would not exhaust 
 the treasury of stories of incidents that have made us 
 laugh and weep. You would have forgotten for a 
 moment even the most pressing care, if you could have 
 heard Mr. Dana laugh, when, in reading over the lists 
 of instructions from New York, he came to an item 
 of $100, " to be delivered with a thousand kisses to 
 my sister in Jerusalem " ! Your heart would have 
 been lightened of a load of sympathetic anxiety when 
 you discovered on another list a substantial sum for 
 the poor woman who had waylaid Mr. Dana a week 
 before as he passed through a remote mountain-village, 
 and who had poured into his ears her pitiful story. 
 Her daughter lay ill of typhus, and she had no money 
 for medicines or proper food. She had only sufficient 
 flour for one more baking. Was it an answer to 
 prayer that her son in America, from whom she had 
 heard nothing for ten years, was suddenly inspired to 
 send her a sum of money? 
 
 But the tragedy of the sums that came too late! 
 One day a doctor from a village on the coast north of 
 Beirut came into the office to receive about $1,400 
 which he was charged to distribute among the residents 
 of his village. There were about thirty names on the 
 
128 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 list forwarded to him by the senders. He wept as he 
 read it over, and he told us that only five of that thirty 
 were still alive. 
 
 On other occasions money came as a perfect God- 
 send, and relieved an otherwise desperate situation. 
 Mr. Assad Kheirallah, the Syrian guide, philosopher, 
 friend, and secretary of the Press, was making a tour 
 through the Kesrawan region of Lebanon. It was 
 winter, and he had besought the Manager to allow him 
 to make the journey to some of the more isolated vil- 
 lages to deliver the money, rather than require the poor 
 people to take the long journey to Beirut to obtain it. 
 Darkness had overtaken him at a wayside inn, and he 
 had taken shelter there for the night. He had scarcely 
 touched the hot supper that his host had prepared for 
 him when there was a shuffling of feet at the door and 
 two men entered bearing the apparently dead body of a 
 scantily clad man. Good Samaritans that they were, 
 they had picked him up from the roadside where they 
 had found him, and brought him to the inn with the 
 hope that warmth and nourishing food might save his 
 life. He revived more speedily than they anticipated, 
 and when he was strong enough to talk he told them 
 that he had walked down to the coast from one of the 
 highest villages in that district of Lebanon only the 
 day before. All winter he had struggled to keep him- 
 self and his family of four motherless children alive, 
 but he had finally reached the limit of his resources. 
 He had sold everything in the house from the kitchen- 
 utensils to the beds on which they slept. He could 
 borrow nothing, for his neighbours were as poor as he 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 129 
 
 was. He could not remain in the house and watch his 
 children starve under his eyes, so he had bidden them 
 farewell, and departed for the coast in search of assist- 
 ance. He had little hope that he would meet with suc- 
 cour of any kind ; and when he left them he had deter- 
 mined that he would not return if he must go back 
 empty-handed. His benefactors heard his sad story, 
 but they themselves were poor, and had nothing to 
 give. Mr. Kheirallah, who had not spoken before, 
 then asked the man his name; and when he heard it, 
 began asking the most curious questions. Have you 
 any relatives in America ? Where do they live ? What 
 are their names? At first the poor man could recall 
 no kinsman living abroad, but finally he recollected the 
 fact that his brother's youngest son had gone away 
 some years before, and the last they had heard had 
 been living in Providence, R. I. Mr. Kheirallah in- 
 quired his name, and then consulted his list. There 
 was a sum of $200 for the man before him from this 
 almost-forgotten nephew! The man could not be- 
 lieve his good fortune, but was finally persuaded that 
 the money was indeed his. He did not know how to 
 sign his name on the receipt, but he made his thumb- 
 print over the stamp, and the next day he returned to 
 his village with sufficient supplies and money to sec 
 him and his family through the remainder of the 
 winter. 
 
 Up to the date of writing, the records at the Ameri- 
 can Press show more than a million individual items 
 disbursed to persons of all classes and creeds in Syria. 
 About one-third of these are the so-called " Syrian 
 
130 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Remittances," forwarded by the New York Treasurer. 
 The remainder represent items sent through the Amer- 
 ican Embassy, the Swedish Legation, the Dutch Lega- 
 tion in Constantinople, the American Diplomatic 
 Agency in Cairo, the American Consulate General of 
 Beirut, a Jewish reHef-society, and numerous private 
 charitable organizations. There is hardly one of 
 these but bears mute testimony to similar incidents. 
 The Governor of Beirut was not far wrong when he 
 recognized in the work of the American Press a for- 
 midable obstacle to the Turkish program of destruc- 
 tion ; nor was he mistaken when he feared that it would 
 result in a sympathy between the Syrians and the 
 Americans which would only further emphasize the 
 contrast between American and Turkish methods of 
 procedure. His worst fears were being realized ; and 
 finally, in a truly Herodian fashion, he determined to 
 remove the man whom he considered his most effective 
 opponent. How he did so, is a chapter by itself, 
 and will be dealt with as such ; but it was not until he 
 had tried every other plan of interference and oppres- 
 sion that he finally resorted to such a drastic measure 
 as the removal of the director of the whole relief-work. 
 In May, 191Y, the Press was given a warning hint of 
 trouble ahead when Assad Kheirallah, the most power- 
 ful Syrian in connection with American Influence in 
 the country, was made the victim of a fresh scheme of 
 Turkish vengeance and injustice. Mr. Kheirallah, to- 
 gether with quite a number of other prominent Syrian 
 business-men, was deported to Adana. The alleged 
 reason for this unprecedented move was the determi- 
 
ASSAD KHEIRALLAH 
 
Syrian Philanthropy From Abroad 131 
 
 nation of the Ottoman Government to deal summarily 
 with those who were said to be responsible for the 
 Syrian lack of confidence in the Ottoman banknote. 
 The Turkish paper-currency issues were daily depre- 
 ciating because of the evident demoralization of the 
 government. Mr. Dana's name had also been on this 
 list for deportation; but through the timely interven- 
 tion of Syrian friends, it had been removed just before 
 the " round-up " was made. The list also included 
 the name of another most valuable friend of the Amer- 
 ican Press, Mr. Joseph D. Farhi, a prominent Jewish 
 business-man who had secretly negotiated hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars' worth of American Press drafts 
 in securing funds for relief and for the general 
 finances of the Press and Mission. 
 
 Four months after Mr. Kheirallah's departure into 
 exile, Jemal Pasha was paying a visit to the village in 
 which the Kheirallah family lived. Mrs. Kheirallah 
 and her daughter went to call upon Him, stating plainly 
 that it was purely a business-visit for the purpose of 
 laying before him the injustice that had been done the 
 head of their house. They stated emphatically that 
 they were asking only for justice, and they requested 
 an investigation. They said, "If you find Assad 
 Kheirallah guilty of anything against the Government, 
 we should be the first to urge his punishment. If you 
 find him innocent, we are sure you will promptly return 
 him to his home." 
 
 Jemal Pasha was overcome with surprise. He had 
 been besieged with requests and petitions, but never 
 one from two women wlio so fearlessly demanded of 
 
132 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 him justice in its highest form. He saw that they 
 were unusual women, educated, refined, and dauntless. 
 He promised them on his word of honour that he 
 would look into the matter at once; and if facts were 
 indeed as they represented them, would act promptly. 
 Within a few weeks Mr. Kheirallah was home, and 
 was never again molested by the Government. 
 
 During the whole period of the war practically all of 
 the difficult, and even dangerous questions between the 
 American Mission and the Turkish Government were 
 handled skillfully and successfully by Mr. Kheirallah. 
 The whole American community is convinced that 
 there is no one like him in all Syria, and it would be 
 impossible to express in words the gratitude due one 
 who has endeared himself to all his countrymen, what- 
 ever their creed or political persuasion. 
 
K 
 
 CJNJUST STEWARDS — PERSONALITIES IN 
 
 REGARD TO CERTAIN TURKISH 
 
 OFFICIALS IN SYRIA 
 
 AN account of life in Turkey during the Great 
 War which did not include more than a pass- 
 ing reference to certain prominent Turkish 
 officials would be like the proverbial production of 
 Hamlet with Hamlet left out; or more properly speak- 
 ing, a melodrama without a villain. Around such fig- 
 ures as Enver Pasha and Talaat Pasha in Constanti- 
 nople, Jcmal Pasha, Azmi, Muhhedin, Tahsin, and 
 Bedri, Beys in Syria, the whole action during this 
 period is pivoted ; and without them one could no more 
 make a reader understand why life in Syria was what 
 it was than one could relate the life of Christ without 
 m.ention of Herod and Pilate, or describe Rome of 66 
 A. D. without an expose of the character of Nero. In- 
 deed, I can only designate such personalities as Jemal 
 Pasha and Azmi Bey as anachronisms. Personally I 
 could not be in the presence of either of them for a 
 minute without being almost terrified with the realiza- 
 tion that here was a man that did not belong to this 
 generation, or to this stage of the world's civilization. 
 
 133 
 
134 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Behind the dapper exterior of the Europeanized Turk, 
 modern to the last mode in dress and social manner, 
 smouldered the barbaric brutality of bygone centuries. 
 If ever there was an argument for the re-incarnation 
 of human personalities, that argument is Jemal Pasha 
 or Azmi Bey. It is easier to believe that the uneasy 
 spirit of a Herod or a Nero has been reembodied in 
 one of these modern Turks than it is to consider them 
 the product of the present era. It seems incredible that 
 the twentieth century could produce such types, and 
 still more incredible that even in Turkey they should 
 be rulers with unlimited powers, rather than criminal 
 outcasts. 
 
 Constantinople has never been veiled from interna- 
 tional gaze as has Syria, and the careers and personali- 
 ties of such men as Enver and Talaat have been fa- 
 miliar to the world at large ever since the birth of the 
 Young Turk party in 1908. Moreover, they have 
 been so ably depicted in Ambassador Morgcnihau's 
 Story that it is hardly necessary here to do more than 
 touch on them in their relation to Syria. Talaat Pasha 
 never figured directly in Syrian affairs, yet it is a 
 known fact that the same fiendish cruelty which origi- 
 nated the idea of the Armenian massacres was also 
 responsible for the attempted extermination of the 
 Syrian race. He was the leading spirit in the Tri- 
 umvirate at Constantinople, and admittedly the power 
 behind the throne. The unexpected advertisement of 
 the Armenian atrocities, however, taught the wily 
 Talaat a lesson, and in the direction of affairs in Syria 
 he took pains that his responsibility should be screened 
 
Unjust Stewards 135 
 
 behind his tools and accomplices actually in Syria. He 
 succeeded to a certain extent because one who knows 
 the villainous Azmi feels it unnecessary to search 
 further for a man sufficiently wicked to devise such 
 fiendish cruelties. Azmi was undoubtedly responsible 
 for the specific details, but it is unquestionably true 
 that Azmi could not have retained his position one day 
 had his administration not been harmonious with the 
 program drawn up in Constantinople. 
 
 Enver Pasha, a young, good-looking man of the 
 people, who had risen through sheer arrogance and 
 through successfully executed assassinations, who had 
 married a sultana, and lived in luxury in a palace on 
 the Bosphorus, was at the zenith of his meteoric career 
 during the war. In his capacity of Minister of War, 
 he made three flying visits to Syria: one to Aleppo dur- 
 ing the planning of the Mesopotamian campaign, one to 
 Damascus to assist in adjusting a difference between 
 Liman von Sanders and Jemal Pasha, and one to Jeru- 
 salem and to Beirut in order to satisfy himself to what 
 extent Jemal Pasha was playing fair with his Con- 
 stantinople party. There had been considerable ap- 
 prehension on this score at the Capital, because it was 
 known that if a good opportunity arose Jemal Pasha 
 would intrigue with the Entente. 
 
 That last visit remains very plainly in our memories 
 as the Beirut flour-supply was curtailed for three days 
 previous in order that on the day when Enver arrived 
 the city might be flooded with bread. Bread was for 
 the first time distributed to the poor people gathered at 
 the municipal soup-kitchens just before Enver arrived, 
 
136 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 and the happy crowd was photographed by th^lrisiting 
 party. As soon as Enver left that quarter the bread 
 was snatched away by the police from the starving 
 people, many of whom died from the shock of the 
 disappointment, and was hurried to another soup- 
 kitchen where it was used in the same way. Needless 
 to say, the report reached Constantinople that Beirut 
 was plentifully supplied with food, and that the poor 
 were being well cared for by the municipality; but 
 Enver probably laughed up his sleeve for he knev/ the 
 real conditions. 
 
 It was during my year's residence in Constantinople 
 that Enver became a reality to me, for I frequently 
 saw him there. The fact that he lived in constant ter- 
 ror of assassination only served to advertise his pres- 
 ence and herald his trips about the city. On several 
 occasions the tram on which I was travelling to the 
 city from Arnaoutkeuy on the Bosphorus was delayed 
 for nearly an hour at the gate of Enver Pasha's palace. 
 All traffic in the streets was habitually suspended along 
 the route from his home to the War Department in 
 Stamboul, and secret-service men were stationed every 
 quarter of a mile along the way. The Pasha travelled 
 in a large closed touring-car which raced through the 
 streets at a speed that would rival that of a New York 
 fire-company, and when the car was still blocks away 
 the incessant shriek of its siren could be heard above 
 the din of the city. There was something awesome in 
 'the sound, and the reckless pace at which the car was 
 driven typified the brute terror of the owner who chose 
 to risk the lives of a cityful of people rather than travel 
 
Unjust Stewards 137 
 
 at a speed which might expose him to an assassin's 
 bullet. 
 
 Unlike Talaat and Jemal, and indeed the majority 
 of Turks in public or private life, Enver was wholly 
 inaccessible to a woman. It is a curious fact that the 
 Oriental, for all his contempt for womankind in gen- 
 eral, will seldom refuse an interview to an individual 
 woman. The Turk, whether he be cabinet minister, 
 provincial governor, or director of a commercial con- 
 cern, will grant a woman requests which a man would 
 not dare to utter, especially if she can summon to her 
 aid a few melting tears. But Enver Pasha, for rea- 
 sons only suspected, was possessed with the fear that 
 he would meet his death at the hand of a woman, and 
 not only was no woman permitted to approach him on 
 matters of business, but he shunned society and divided 
 his time between his own well-guarded home and his 
 equally well-guarded office in the War Department. 
 
 Enver was the special tool of the Germans, and I 
 know from personal experience that practically the 
 only way to gain his ear was through the good offices 
 of Germans connected with the Embassy or attached to 
 the Turkish War Department. 
 
 While the personalities of Talaat and Enver are 
 vividly imprinted on my mind, nevertheless my knowl- 
 edge of them is second-hand, and such as any Ameri- 
 can might have who had followed the course of events 
 in Turkey for the past ten years. When it comes, 
 however, to Jemal Pasha and Azmi Bey, the protago- 
 nists in the war-drama of Syria, I feel that I am quali- 
 fied to speak with far more certainty and assurance. 
 
138 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Not only did I see both of these men frequently, and 
 even in the case of Jemal in a social way, but my own 
 life was shadowed with the horror and anxiety which 
 even indirect contact with such devilish personalities 
 inspired. I am fully aware that certain members even 
 of our own American community have spoken in de- 
 fence of these men, but in all such cases it is easy to 
 trace the reason in the fact that they were the recipi- 
 ents of very marked favours in the way of patronage 
 and special privileges. The Turks realized that by 
 granting such favours they themselves would eventu- 
 ally profit, directly or indirectly. There were several 
 periods during the course of the war, particularly after 
 tlie breaking of relations between the United States 
 and Turkey, when the very existence of such institu- 
 tions as the Syrian Protestant College and the Ameri- 
 can Mission schools was extremely precarious. The 
 Turks were already in possession of the property of all 
 belligerent institutions, and they were devoured with 
 longing to assume like control over American prop- 
 erty. The situation was an extremely delicate one, 
 and one which called for consummate tact and diplo- 
 macy. Fortunately our American Ambassadors to the 
 Sublime Porte during this period, Mr. Morgenthau and 
 Mr. Elkus, were richly endowed with both of these 
 necessary qualities, but there was so little coordination 
 between the Government in Constantinople and the 
 provincial officials that a point once settled in principle 
 in the Capital might, nevertheless, cause constant diffi- 
 culty and annoyance in the provinces. Such a matter 
 as the collection of taxes on the property of foreign 
 
Unjust Stewards Ijg 
 
 institutions, for instance, had been theoretically settled 
 for all time when the Capitulations were formulated; 
 but when, after the abrogation of these treaties, the 
 matter was again raised, the Sublime Porte stated in 
 positive terms that American institutions were still to 
 be exempt. Even such a definite statement of policy, 
 however, on the part of the Central Government did 
 not prevent the frequent resurrection of this old cause 
 of friction. Time and again charges for taxes were 
 presented to the American institutions, and time and 
 again the matter was referred to Constantinople and 
 the previous decisions reconfirmed. The same was 
 true of questions connected with special permits for 
 individual schools operated by the Americans under 
 one general, blanket firman (or imperial permit), 
 from the Sultan ; likewise of the exemption of pastors 
 and teachers from military service, and other matters 
 no less vitally connected with the existence of Ameri- 
 can educational institutions in the Empire. As long as 
 there was an Ambassador in Constantinople, there was 
 only one course of action for the Americans to take, 
 namely, the reference of their problems to their na- 
 tional representative at the Capital; but after the de- 
 parture of the Ambassador in 1917, all such issues 
 could only be settled locally, and by the exercise of 
 tact and persuasion. Although American interests had 
 been confided to a neutral government, our treaty 
 rights were not sufficiently understood by this to give 
 us adequate protection. Moreover, the Swedish Lega- 
 tion was avowedly pro-German in sympathies, and in 
 many cases where the Germans were at the bottom of 
 
140 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 some particular unpleasantness, the Swedish Minister 
 refused to act against the interests of his Teutonic 
 friends. 
 
 The Turks naturally took advantage of our defence- 
 less position to stir up many old causes of grievance 
 in the hope that they might either enrich themselves by 
 the sale of favours to the Americans still resident in 
 the country, or that they might come into possession of 
 certain much coveted properties in Syria such as the 
 American College in Beirut and the American Mission 
 property in the out-stations. Obviously, there were 
 two courses for the Americans to follow: that of in- 
 gratiating themselves with those in power, and thereby 
 obtaining immunity from aggressions; or that of ad- 
 hering staunchly to what had been in the past the 
 American national principle in dealing with the Turks, 
 whatever the cost might be in loss of property or inter- 
 ference with established activities. The Syrian Prot- 
 estant College took the former course, and the Ameri- 
 can Presbyterian Mission the latter, and it is somewhat 
 of a commentary on the undependability of the Turk 
 that subsequent events proved that each course brought 
 results practically contrary to what might have been 
 expected. It might almost be laid down as a general 
 principle that concession to one demand from the 
 Turks brought another on its heels, while a firm refusal 
 frequently " called their bluff." 
 
 The foregoing remarks, though merely a hint, may 
 serve to explain the fact that two Americans resident 
 in Syria under the regime of Jemal Pasha and Azmi 
 Bey may give entirely contradictory reports as to the 
 
Unjust Stewards 141 
 
 true nature of these much-talked-of men. The Col- 
 lege was the recipient of many favours from both, and 
 doubtless feels honour-bound to temper its criticism 
 accordingly. The Mission, on the other hand, suffered 
 particularly at the hands of the local governors, as it 
 was firmly determined not to yield in the smallest de- 
 tail to what it considered unreasonable demands, espe- 
 cially when compliance with such demands might bring 
 into question its loyalty to its own government. The 
 American Mission had come out to the country to 
 serve the Syrian people; and while the missionaries 
 respected the laws of the Ottoman Government, and 
 conscientiously endeavoured to render unto Caesar 
 Caesar's due, and never overstepped their treaty rights, 
 their sympathies were frankly with the subject race; 
 and wherever possible they used their influence in be- 
 half of the oppressed. I doubt whether they had even 
 vaguely formulated the theory of a nation's right to 
 self-determination before President Wilson gave utter- 
 ance to his famous " Fourteen Points," but the merest 
 humanity compelled cooperation with those who were 
 in distress, even though that policy might result in 
 open conflict with the oppressor. On the other hand, 
 the maintenance of over-cordial relations with the 
 Turkish authorities seemed to some Americans to bor- 
 der on treachery to their own government and disloy- 
 alty to their Syrian proteges. 
 
 Jemal Pasha was one of the famous Triumvirate in 
 power in Constantinople. He was Minister of Marine, 
 and during the war. Commander of the Fourth Army 
 Corps, operating in Syria and Mesopotamia. In the 
 
142 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 winter of 1914-15 he established his headquarters in 
 Damascus for the campaign against Egypt. Less 
 fearful of assassination, and hence less elusive than 
 Enver, he was also more sociable and easy of access 
 than was the Minister of War. I saw him many times 
 and met him personally on several occasions, both in 
 Syria and in Constantinople. 
 
 His physical presence was not imposing. His 
 frame was powerful but stocky, but he had the most 
 piercing glance I have ever met. Tricky and cruel as 
 the man was known to be, he possessed a certain per- 
 sonal magnetism. Mr. Morgenthau likens him to a 
 medieval robber-baron, and indeed the comparison is 
 most apt. In his assumption of unlimited power, he 
 reduced his subordinates to the state of serfs and abject 
 retainers. He was virtually dictator in Syria, and the 
 court of last resort, and he seldom concerned himself 
 with his obligations to Constantinople. He could be 
 relentless or generous as he pleased, but it is said of 
 him generally that he was a man of his word, and that 
 his promise once given was secure. He played the 
 game of starving Syria with a mask of hypocritical re- 
 gret, but his actions left no doubt as to his contempt 
 and hostility toward the Arab race. It is also sus- 
 pected that the concessions which he made to for- 
 eigners in his jurisdiction, especially in the American 
 educational and relief-work, were made with the hope 
 that, in case the campaign should go against him, and 
 he should decide to cast himself into the hands of the 
 Entente, these deeds would all be counted to him for 
 righteousness. He was known to be bitterly anti- 
 
Unjust Stewards 143 
 
 German, and Francophile. He was also — to his credit 
 be it said — no friend of Enver or of the Beirut Vdli. 
 
 Partly through the innate cruelty of the man, and 
 partly through his consummate tactlessness, Jemal 
 Pasha succeeded early in the war in directing toward 
 himself the undying enmity of the Arabs. At the 
 time of the departure of the French Consul from 
 Beirut, at the outbreak of the war, certain extremely 
 dangerous documents were left in the French Consul- 
 ate, hidden behind a false wall. When the American 
 Consul General, Mr. Hollis, took over the protection 
 of French interests in Syria, he implored the French 
 Consul to destroy any papers which, should they fall 
 into the hands of Turks, might serve to incriminate 
 Ottoman subjects. The French Consul, however, was 
 deaf to this appeal, and departed leaving behind him 
 numerous documents connected with the French propa- 
 ganda in Syria. Some of these were signed letters 
 from Syrians with French sympathies promising finan- 
 cial and political support to any attempt France might 
 make to liberate the country from Turkish dominion. 
 These documents were undoubtedly evidence of high 
 treason on the part of those in the conspiracy, and 
 perhaps any government would have been justified in 
 dealing with the offenders as traitors. However, with 
 diplomacy and tact, the matter might have been han- 
 dled in a way that would have increased rather than 
 destroyed the Ottoman prestige with the Arabs. 
 Jemal, as Military Governor of Syria, dealt with the 
 matter in a most summary fashion, and thereby roused 
 the revengeful hatred of the whole Arab race. Not 
 
144 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 only did he hang without trial the principal offenders, 
 whatever their rank or political following, but he so 
 far overstepped the bounds of caution as to include in 
 the number executed an Algerian prince. 
 
 It may be argued that during a time of war a gov- 
 ernment must resort to drastic measures to suppress 
 treason, but the fact remains that the course which the 
 Government followed was more disastrous than salu- 
 tary in the long run. Moreover, previous to the war, 
 the Arab party had been recognized by the Ottoman 
 Cabinet, and the Sublime Porte had agreed to the ex- 
 istence of a decentralization party. It was not as 
 though the Arab Nationalists had secretly sprung into 
 being during a time of war, and had taken advantage 
 of Turkey's preoccupation with military affairs to in- 
 trigue with foreign Powers. The result of Jemal's 
 efforts to crush the Arab power was that thencefor- 
 ward the Arabs transferred their allegiance to the Brit- 
 ish; and the bitterest enemies that Jemal Pasha had, 
 both as a man and as a ruler, were those in the province 
 under his administration. 
 
 The authority of Jemal Pasha in Syria was that of 
 a military dictator, and in this capacity he frequently 
 clashed with the civil authorities in the provinces under 
 his jurisdiction. It has already been explained that 
 the entire Turkish Empire was divided into states or 
 vilayets, under Vdlis, or Governors, each of whom was 
 directly responsible to the Sultan. The zone of the 
 Fourth Army in Syria included three such vilayets, 
 Beirut, Damascus, and Aleppo. When the war broke 
 out, the Vdli of Beirut was one Sami Bekir. He was 
 
Unjust Stewards 145 
 
 a tall, florid Turk, who lived on fairly good terms with 
 the foreigners. He frequented the so-called French 
 Club, an organization which, after the breaking of re- 
 lations, was camouflaged as the American Club (a 
 complete misnomer), and still later as the Syrian Club. 
 He was very fond of gambling, and owing to this pas- 
 sion, was on more or less familiar terms with a certain 
 class of wealthy Syrians. His presence was always 
 manifest in his goings and comings about the city, for 
 he travelled in a large and very blatant yellow automo- 
 bile. As he was not entirely in favour with the Young 
 Turk party, and was also not above suspicion of having 
 an itching palm, he was removed early in the war to 
 Aleppo, and replaced by a man of an entirely different 
 stamp. 
 
 Azmi Bey, the new Vdli, was then about forty-five 
 years of age. He was slightly undersized, and gave 
 the impression of physical weakness, which was further 
 accentuated by his cruel and dissipated face. His 
 black hair was slightly grizzled, as was his Van Dyck 
 beard. In appearance he was more Armenian than 
 pure Turkish in type, but in character he was a Turk 
 of the Turks, and one of the very wickedest. He was 
 openly known to be an agent of the Young Turk party, 
 a tool of Enver, and one of that class of Turks who 
 were fanatically anti-foreign. Nevertheless, his inor- 
 dinate ambition frequently brought him into conflict 
 with his part)''-leaders at the Capital, and there were at 
 least two occasions when he was summoned to Con- 
 stantinople and when his return to Syria seemed ex- 
 tremely doubtful. As former Prefect of Police at 
 
146 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Constantinople, he had a long record of crimes at his 
 door, and it was known that on more than one occasion 
 he had acted as political assassin, a convenient method 
 of ridding himself of his enemies which he did not 
 hesitate to employ in his later career in Syria. Azmi 
 was the notorious cut-throat which the Young Turk 
 party sent to Paris some time before the war to assas- 
 sinate General Sherif Pasha, but on that occasion he 
 bungled the affair and killed instead the Pasha's aide- 
 de-camp. The deed was accomplished in broad day- 
 light in the heart of Paris, and Azmi coolly descended 
 from the scene of his crime to a waiting automobile, 
 and was spirited away before the outraged French 
 could apprehend him. Two years later at the instiga- 
 tion of his party he boarded a Russian steamer bound 
 from Odessa to Egypt, which had called at Constanti- 
 nople, enticed on shore another enemy of the Young 
 Turk regime, whom he murdered that night in one of 
 the dreadful dungeons of Stamboul. For his Paris 
 crime the French Government offered a heavy bounty 
 for him, dead or alive, should he ever enter France or 
 fall into French hands. During the war his various 
 villainies gained him such a reputation that he was in 
 particularly bad odour with the Entente who ranked 
 him with Talaat, Enver and Jemal in responsibility for 
 the numerous atrocities which can be laid at the door 
 of the party-leaders in Constantinople. 
 
 Like Jemal Pasha, with whom he was at swords* 
 points — a fact which probably gained him the special 
 favour of Enver — ^Azmi Bey was a man by instinct and 
 actions eminently more suited to a barbaric rather than 
 
Unjust Stewards 147 
 
 a civilized age. Although he enjoys the reputation of 
 being somewhat of an ascetic, Aznii Bey was in reality 
 profligate in his private life. A sister of charity gave 
 me a circumstantial account of his attempt to abduct 
 one of the orphans under her care, a tale which in no 
 wise contradicts other reports that I have heard of his 
 low moral standards. His chief virtues are said to 
 have been punctuality, industry, and devotion to his 
 official duties, even at the sacrifice of social pleasures. 
 He was positively fanatical in his enthusiasm for Tur- 
 key, and there was nothing feigned in his hatred of 
 foreigners, or in his resentment at their interference 
 with Ottoman affairs. He was outspoken in his likes 
 and dislikes, and made no secret of the fact that he 
 lived in constant terror of assassination. He was 
 never out of reach of a loaded revolver which he would 
 have used in self-defence just as coolly as he had em- 
 ployed similar weapons for the destruction of his 
 enemies. 
 
 On Azmi Bey and his minions rests the blame for 
 most of the starvation and suffering in the vast district 
 under his control. He was carrying out the exter- 
 mination program instituted by the Young Turk Gov- 
 ernment, and in the execution of this congenial task he 
 found great satisfaction also in venting his hatred 
 against foreigners. He consistently either prohibited, 
 or interfered with all relief-projects undertaken by the 
 Americans in Beirut Vilayet. He did countenance one 
 or two relief-organizations carried on under the pat- 
 ronage of certain wealthy Syrians whose favour he 
 wished to win for the financing of a large gambling 
 
148 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 casino and amusement park which he was building 
 near the city. Incidentally, it is an interesting fact 
 that this very casino, four months after Azmi's de- 
 parture from Beirut, was being used by the British 
 Army Y. M. C. A. He also established soup-kitchens 
 which provided an erratic and insufficient food-allow- 
 ance for a small fraction of the hungry of Beirut. At 
 the same time, however, that he was nominally patron- 
 izing these, he was satisfying his vanity by wholesale 
 attempts at city-improvement, which, however laudable 
 at any other time, were the cause of injustice and suf- 
 fering and were regarded by the people as merely 
 another scheme of destruction on the part of the Gov- 
 ernment. Whole sections of the city were torn down 
 to make new or wider roads. Property owners were 
 not reimbursed for houses or shops thus destroyed, nor 
 was any provision made for housing the hundreds of 
 poor people formerly huddled in the crowded sections 
 thus demolished. Men were forced to work on this 
 roadmaking but were not adequately paid. While 
 parts of the city were undeniably improved, other por- 
 tions looked as if they had been destroyed by an earth- 
 quake. Nothing would convince a Jerusalem man 
 who came to Beirut early in 1917 that there was no 
 truth to the report prevalent in the Holy City that 
 Beirut had three times been bombarded by Entente 
 ships. Were not the evidences of it before him In 
 what is now, in 1919, Allenby Street? 
 
 By 1917 Azmi Bey could not travel from his house 
 to the city limits along the main thoroughfares without 
 seeing in the streets all along the route people eithei: 
 
Unjust Stewards 149 
 
 dead or dying of starvation ; yet he refused to let wheat 
 into the city, and decreed that all foodstuffs should be 
 subject to taxation or seizure at the border. Finally, 
 when the Americans transferred their efforts at relief 
 from the province under his jurisdiction to Lebanon, he 
 attempted to put a stop to the work by deporting the 
 two Americans who were especially active in the fin- 
 ancing and the organization of relief-enterprises. 
 
 For more than three years Azmi Bey proved so use- 
 ful an agent of the party of Union and Progress that 
 he was suffered to remain in office, although there were 
 times when his position seemed extremely precarious. 
 As an official he placed his own interests above those of 
 his country, and there is positive evidence of his cor- 
 ruption and abuse of his authority. He had the bold- 
 ness to hint to Mr. Dana, three days before the latter's 
 arrest and deportation, that there was trouble ahead 
 which might be averted by the payment of $50,000. 
 He was ultimately recalled in disgrace by the very 
 party in Constantinople which had placed him in office, 
 and was summoned to the Capital to defend himself 
 against serious charges. The case went so badly with 
 him that for a time he was imprisoned in the War De- 
 partment; and shortly after Mr. Dana's release from 
 his incarceration, when calling at the Prison one day, 
 the Commandant of the Prison asked him whether he 
 would enjoy the sight of his enemy behind the bars. 
 His imprisonment was not of long duration, however, 
 and he was soon strutting about the city as if he owned 
 the place. On several occasions the Danas and I 
 lunched at the table next to his at the Tokatlian Hotel 
 
15*0 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 In Pera, and I for one did not find that his presence 
 whetted my appetite. Azmi Bey was one of that band 
 of fugitives from justice who fled from Constantinople 
 just before the British occupation. It is supposed that 
 he sought sanctuary in Germany, where he is probably 
 still hiding, although frequent reports of his suicide 
 have been circulated in the Capital — probably with a 
 view of terminating the extremely inconvenient inter- 
 est which his enemies seem to take in his whereabouts. 
 There are many who sincerely hope that he is still 
 alive, and within the reach of retributive justice ! 
 
 Muhhedin Bey, the Chief of Police in Beirut, proved 
 an able and sympathetic assistant in any villainies 
 which the Vdli devised. He was also a notorious as- 
 sassin, and had been employed by the Young Turk 
 party to murder the editor of the Tannin, whom he 
 shot at noon on the Galata Bridge at Constantinople. 
 Never was life in Beirut more precarious for Syrian or 
 for foreigner alike than during the dual regime of 
 these two men. No chief of police in Beirut ever had 
 assembled about him such a number of unscrupulous 
 private agents and cut-throats. He had any number 
 of men on his spy list whom he could call into the 
 office, hand a silver coin, and a slip of paper bearing 
 the name of any individual whatsoever, and say, " I 
 want that man killed." He could be sure that the task 
 would be accomplished before another sun had set. 
 His system of terror and extortion was unprecedented 
 even in Syria. He formed false sugar companies, 
 mining companies, and building companies, and sent 
 the bogus stock certificates through the town, where by 
 
Unjust Stewards 1^1 
 
 forced sales among the merchants he collected a splen- 
 did private fortune. 
 
 In the summer of 1916 Muhhedin Bey was sent to 
 the wheat region about Urfa, in Mesopotamia, to pur- 
 chase wheat for the needs of Beirut Vilayet, Had he 
 fulfilled this mission honourably, there would have 
 been no more popular man in the whole of Syria. He 
 would have been worshipped as a national saviour. 
 However, being a Turkish official, he saw in this 
 merely an opportunity for lining his own pockets. Out 
 of several hundred carloads of wheat purchased by him 
 with public funds only six ever reached Beirut! 
 Shortly after his return to Syria, he pled urgent per- 
 sonal business which necessitated his going to Con- 
 stantinople for a flying trip. He had only just passed 
 Aleppo when agents of Azmi, who was exasperated at 
 the failure of his colleague to divide the profits, over- 
 took him and searched his baggage. Among the boxes 
 which were said to contain merely his personal effects 
 and gifts of silk and wool for friends in Constantinople 
 were found some f tq. 16,000 in gold which he had in- 
 tended to send to Switzerland by his aide, to be there 
 invested for him. He was brought back under guard 
 to 'Aleih where he was put through that famous Court 
 Martial which has unjustly condemned so many Syr- 
 ians to death. He was acquitted ! What subsequently 
 happened is more or less a matter of gossip; but it is 
 said that in an interview with Azmi Bey, the latter 
 handed Muhhedin Bey a revolver with the hint that 
 there was no room on earth for such a scoundrel as he. 
 The disgraced Muhhedin went first to the Police Head-^ 
 
152 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 quarters with the intention of murdering his succes- 
 sor, Hakki Bey, whom he suspected of having assisted 
 in his humiliation; but, the acting chief being absent, 
 he returned to his house. A few moments later the 
 guard at the door heard a revolver-shot, and entering 
 the apartment found Muhhedin dying. His body was 
 buried as criminals are buried in a shallow grave in the 
 sands outside the city. When the news of the event 
 reached Constantinople, Talaat (?), a connection of 
 his by marriage, raised a terrible commotion; and the 
 body was disinterred and was sent in state to the 
 Capital. Never was a man*s decease occasion for 
 greater rejoicing! Many an innocent person slept 
 more easily the night after his death was publicly 
 known. His successor, Mukhtar Bey, was a quiet, 
 friendly Turk who tried to soften conditions as much 
 as he dared under the reign of Azmi, and who had a 
 splendid record for fair dealing. In comparison with 
 that of Muhhedin, his regime seemed positively benefi- 
 cent. 
 
 It is indeed refreshing, after the rehearsal of the 
 infamies of such men as Azmi and Muhhedin, involv- 
 ing as it does the memory of many episodes connected 
 with my uncle's experiences so terrible that even the 
 thought of them makes me shudder, to turn to two 
 other Turks who ruled in Syria, but who were men of 
 entirely different spirit. One was AH Munif Bey, for 
 two years Governor of the independent province of 
 Lebanon. He was, of course, affiliated with the 
 Young Turk party, but he was a man of quiet force, 
 who by the dignity of his character and his diplomacy 
 
Unjust Stewards 153 
 
 succeeded in maintaining friendly relations with the 
 powers in Constantinople without surrendering him- 
 self to them as a tool. I have already described his 
 attitude in regard to the relief-work which he wished 
 the Americans to transfer from Beirut to Lebanon, and 
 I believe it is fair to say that under him Lebanon en- 
 joyed comparative justice and tolerance in affairs con- 
 nected with governmental administration. During his 
 regime poverty, starvation, and suffering were not in 
 the least abated; but the amelioration of those condi- 
 tions depended on matters entirely beyond the control 
 of the Lebanon Governor. It has already been pointed 
 out that Lebanon was not self-supporting, and that the 
 wheat-supply must be imported from regions lying to 
 the east and northeast. Even the beneficent governor 
 in the " island " of Lebanon was powerless to alleviate 
 the suffering of his subjects, without the support and 
 cooperation of the governors of these wheat districts, 
 and of the land that lay between. Against the hostility 
 of Jemal Pasha and of Azmi Bey, and their determina- 
 tion to brook no interference with their plan of starva- 
 tion, especially in Lebanon, Ali Munif was impotent. 
 
 Early in 1917 he was called to Constantinople to 
 occupy a position in the Turkish Cabinet, and was 
 given the portfolio of Minister of Public Works and 
 Public Instruction. To my mind, his conduct after 
 the Armistice is the best possible commentary on his 
 character. When Enver, Talaat, and Jemal fled for 
 their lives from the approach of the Entente, Ali 
 Munif Bey was one of the very few men who had held 
 office under the Young Turks* regime who was not 
 
154 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 afraid to face the incoming armies. He remained 
 quietly in Constantinople; and although he was sub- 
 jected to an interrogation, I am told that he was 
 granted honourable acquittal. As far as I know, he 
 still resides in the Capital. 
 
 His successor as Governor of Lebanon, Ismail 
 Hakki Bey, who had formerly held the position of 
 Turkish Counsellor in Egypt, was a humane and oblig- 
 ing man, interested in the welfare of his people, and an 
 open promoter of education, sanitation, philanthropy, 
 and public welfare. He was firm in administering 
 justice, and was not afraid to renovate his own admin- 
 istration by the imprisonment of certain officials whose 
 habits had become rather lax under former administra- 
 tions. He recognized the defects of his own govern- 
 ment, and did not hesitate to call upon foreigners for 
 ideas and for assistance whenever progressive action 
 could be taken wisely. When Azmi Bey was called to 
 Constantinople, Ismail Hakki's jurisdiction was ex- 
 tended over Beirut also, and he held the joint office of 
 Vali of Beirut and Mutaserrif of Lebanon. He re- 
 mained in office until a few days before the arrival of 
 the British on October 8, 1918, when he hurriedly de- 
 parted for Constantinople. He left behind him a rec- 
 ord for clean and honourable dealing, and all who 
 knew him are frank to admit that during his regime 
 the country prospered as it had at no other time during 
 the war. 
 
 There are two other public characters connected 
 with affairs in Syria who should rightfully be included 
 in this chapter of personalities. One is Tahsin Bey, 
 
Unjust Stewards 15^ 
 
 Governor of Damascus, and the other Is Bedri Bey, 
 Governor of Aleppo. Tahsin Bey's character was far 
 superior to that of any of his associates; and had he 
 been Governor of Beirut, the history of Hfe there dur- 
 ing the war would have been far different from what it 
 was. I believe that Tahsin Bey of Damascus can be 
 identified with Tahsin Pasha who was Governor of 
 Van just previous to the Armenian massacres in 1915, 
 but who was replaced by Jevdet Bey, because he could 
 not be relied on to carry out the government policy of 
 persecuting the Christians. Tahsin Bey was a hard- 
 working, forceful man, and a born politician. He cor- 
 dially hated the Germans, and opposed them point by 
 point in their repeated attempts to take over the ad- 
 ministration of Damascus. Had the Vdli there been 
 a less positive character, the Germans would undoubt- 
 edly have succeeded in establishing a Teutonic admin- 
 istration in that great Oriental city, which they realized 
 would be a priceless possession for supplies and for 
 equipment in any project which they might undertake. 
 If they had carried out their plans, they would most 
 certainly have precipitated an Arab revolution in Da- 
 mascus and in the surrounding region, with the prob- 
 able result that Syria would have passed under British 
 control many months earlier than this actually hap- 
 pened. Tahsin Bey was openly friendly to American 
 relief-work; and once, while visiting Dr. Dray's hos- 
 pice and soup-kitchen in Brumm^na, as the guest of 
 Ismail Hakki Bey, he was so impressed with the work 
 that he gave an order for one hundred and fifty tons 
 of wheat. 
 
156 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Bedri Bey in Aleppo was likewise a prominent figure 
 in Constantinople politics. At the outbreak of the war 
 he was Prefect of Police in the Capital, but was later 
 given the post in Aleppo, probably in order that he 
 might extract his share of the financial plums in Syria. 
 While in Aleppo he instituted great plans for civic 
 improvement, and thereby accumulated large sums of 
 money which went into his private pocket. 
 
 These are the men who caused the public sorrow of 
 Syria ; and I wonder whether the reader will pause in 
 his reading, as I have done so often in writing, to 
 marvel that such men could live and rule during the 
 twentieth century. Could anything equal the charac- 
 ters of Azmi and Jemal as a proof of the real nature 
 of the Turkish Government, and could anything be 
 surer evidence that Turkey as a nation has forfeited all 
 rights to an independent existence? Such men as I 
 have just described are not exceptional, but are typical 
 Turks; and a country which can produce, and which 
 tolerates such men as its governing class, cannot be 
 trusted with the safety of subject-races. 
 
THE EFFECT IN SYRIA OF AMERICA'S 
 ENTRANCE INTO THE WAR 
 
 ALL our special excitements in Beirut seemed to 
 come on Sunday, we could never understand 
 exactly why, although some ingenious member 
 of the community suggested that it was because Sun- 
 day was to the Moslems what Tuesday is to us. On 
 Saturday, corresponding to our Monday, the officials, 
 back at their desks with that fresh zeal for work which 
 attends the opening of a new week, turned over their 
 records, and recalled to mind items which had perhaps 
 been overlooked in the pressure of more urgent affairs. 
 Sunday, like our Tuesday, was the day for executing 
 any newly formed resolutions. Moreover, Sunday 
 was the day when we were known to be at home, or in 
 church, and when, therefore, we were easy to find. 
 Whatever the reason may have been, the fact remains 
 that Sunday was the one day in the week when we 
 were particularly liable to annoyance from the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The day when the severance of diplomatic relations 
 between the United States and Turkey was announced 
 in Beirut proved no exception to the general rule. On 
 April 22nd, one of the first hot days of early summer, 
 as we were coming out of church, we noticed a police- 
 
 157 
 
158 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 man stationed at the outer gate of the Press, which is 
 adjacent to the church. Had I been asked to state 
 anything extraordinary about the appearance of the 
 street at that time I should probably have overlooked 
 the policeman, for the gray uniform of the Turkish 
 police was too familiar a sight to attract notice. But 
 to the manager of the Press that motionless guard 
 meant something out of the common. Later in the 
 day, when we learned of the breaking of relations be- 
 tween our own country and the Ottoman Empire, the 
 presence of that Turkish guard became instantly intel- 
 ligible. The average Turkish official saw no distinc- 
 tion between the rupture of diplomatic relations and an 
 actual declaration of war. Thenceforth Americans 
 also were regarded as belligerents. The policeman at 
 the gate was the first step in Turkey's plan of confiscat- 
 ing American property, just as she had seized the 
 property of other belligerents. 
 
 The three days that followed were full of excite- 
 ment. A rupture between America and Turkey came 
 as no surprise; indeed, we had believed for months 
 that it was imminent, so that when the blow fell, we 
 were not found wholly unprepared. Against just such 
 an emergency the manager of the Press had removed 
 to other quarters certain valuable papers and money, 
 including a small reserve of gold. No attempt was 
 made to open the Press on Monday morning. No at- 
 tention was paid to the Turkish guard, and he remained 
 at his post quite oblivious of the fact that the manager 
 and certain employees had entered by a back door, and 
 were working inside the shuttered building transport- 
 
America's Entrance Into the War 159 
 
 ing records and valuables to a place of safety. These 
 were carried to a private house in the Mission com- 
 pound, at that time unoccupied, the owners being in 
 America. In the course of the morning enough had 
 been removed to relieve considerably the anxiety of the 
 manager who anticipated that the next move on the part 
 of the Government would be to seize the Press building 
 and confiscate everything it contained. Great as the 
 loss would be if they should appropriate the paper and 
 other printing supplies, especially the thousand pre- 
 cious electroplates for the Arabic Bible (each one 
 worth $12.50), that loss would be insignificant in com- 
 parison with the taking of the contents of the safe: 
 deeds, records, accounts, and cash. 
 
 After this transfer had been successfully completed, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dana and I went to the American Con- 
 sulate to see what we could do about removing the gold 
 that was stored in the Press safe there. Here likewise 
 there were Turkish police stationed at every door, but 
 they made no attempt to interfere with our entering. 
 We knew, however, that they might insist on searching 
 us as we came out, for other Americans had already 
 been subjected to that indignity earlier in the morning. 
 This being the probability, how were we to remove that 
 gold? There were $40,000, wrapped in rolls of about 
 $200 each. Mr. Dana dared not carry any himself. 
 It was out of the question to think of loading it into a 
 satchel and boldly walking out with it. Finally we 
 decided that Mrs. Dana and I should make several trips 
 between the Consulate and our house, about a mile 
 away, each time carrying as many rolls of gold as we 
 
l6o The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 could stow away inside of our clothing. One by one, 
 the rolls were dropped down our necks until the weight 
 was as much as we could carry. We found that we 
 could manage about $6,500 apiece at a time, and in 
 three trips we succeeded in removing the entire amount 
 without arousing any suspicion on the part of the 
 guards. The gold was subsequently packed in a tin 
 box, and was plastered up under a marble floor in our 
 house until such time as conditions in the country 
 would once more permit of its circulation. Every one 
 anticipated that the time would come when Turkish 
 paper-currency would be entirely discredited, and then 
 lucky the man who had a little " hard cash "1 
 
 On May 7, 1917, the American Consul General, Mr. 
 Hollis, the Vice-Consul, Mr. Chesbrough, and one of 
 the American clerks, Mr. Wadsworth, left Beirut for 
 the overland trip to Constantinople. The Dutch Con- 
 sul General in Beirut was entrusted with American and 
 Allied interests. In Aleppo these gentlemen were 
 joined by the consular representatives from Aleppo 
 and Damascus; but owing to delays en route, they 
 reached Constantinople just a few hours too late to 
 leave the Capital on the Ambassador's train. With 
 customary malice, the Porte hindered their departure 
 from the Empire as long as possible, and I believe it 
 was July before they were allowed to leave by the 
 Balkan Express for Europe. 
 
 On Monday, April 23rd, the American Press did not 
 open its doors. This was the first time in half a cen- 
 tury that the Press had been closed on any day other 
 than a holiday. For two months guards were sta- 
 
Americans Entrance Into the War 161 
 
 tioned at the gate of the Press, and at the entrance of 
 the Mission compound. Finally the Chief of Police 
 called Mr. Dana to interview him and requested him 
 to open the doors and resume business, stating that the 
 closing of such an important commercial house was 
 creating a very bad impression in the town, considering 
 the great work which the Press had done. The truth 
 was that the Syrians were so indignant over the affair 
 that the Turks realized how thoroughly they had 
 roused public sentiment against them by this particular 
 act. 
 
 Mr. Dana refused to open the Press so long as the 
 premises were under police guard, and demanded offi- 
 cial explanations as to why the guards should be kept 
 there. The Chief replied, "You know that we are 
 about to go to war with your country." To this Mr. 
 Dana answered, " It is not so. Your Government and 
 my Government are not on speaking terms because you 
 are an ally of Germany with whom we are at war, but 
 that does not give you the least right to interfere with 
 the private property of Americans." 
 
 Finding that cajolery had no effect, the Chief then 
 resorted to the favourite Turkish ruse of threats. " If 
 you don*t open the Press," he stormed, " I will seize it 
 and confiscate everything in it." " Yes, I know you 
 can do that," the manager replied quietly. " You have 
 the power and no one can stop you. I have no fear 
 of anything that you or any other Turk can do. My 
 only fear is that a blot may fall on the good name of 
 the Press through anything I myself may do. The 
 Press has operated in this country under Turkish rule 
 
l62 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 for nearly one hundred years, and never in all that 
 time has its good reputation been tarnished. I have 
 no terror of you or of the worst you can do. I should 
 be afraid, however, to meet my board of directors in 
 the United States, if I had brought discredit upon the 
 institution entrusted to my care. I should be doing 
 that very thing if I were to accede to your unjust de- 
 mands. What you take by force does not shame us. 
 What I voluntarily surrender to you does." 
 
 A silence followed this defiant speech ; then with the 
 unaccountable caprice of the Turk, the Chief of Police 
 reached for his telephone and gave orders that the 
 guards should immediately be removed from the Press 
 and the Mission property. Mr. Dana thanked him 
 without comment. The next morning the doors of the 
 Press were again opened. 
 
 As a matter of fact, much of the Press's work had, 
 during this period, been carried on from the unofficial 
 quarters in the private house previously mentioned, 
 although publicly the Press had ceased to function. 
 
 After the breaking of relations, the greatest problem 
 with which the Press had to contend was the matter of 
 the Syrian remittances. It was no longer possible to 
 pay these as they had formerly been paid, for the Otto- 
 man Government, which made no distinction between 
 an actual declaration of war and the mere rupture of 
 diplomatic relations, would have branded the continued 
 attempt of the Americans to make payments to Syrians 
 as enemy propaganda, with serious results not only for 
 the Americans, but also for the Syrian beneficiaries. 
 At this juncture a German stepped into the breach, 
 
America's Entrance Into the War 163 
 
 proving by his tolerance and philanthropy that he was 
 one of those rare individuals, and rarer Germans, who 
 were blessed with a larger vision, and a love of human- 
 ity greater than their devotion to the Prussian system. 
 This German was Mr. Ernst Schoemann, Director of 
 the Deutsche Paldstina Bank, and Swedish Consular 
 Agent in Beirut. No higher tribute could have been 
 paid to him than the attitude of the American com- 
 munity at the time when there was uncertainty as to 
 whether the American interests should be entrusted to 
 the Dutch or to the Swedish representatives in Beirut. 
 In Constantinople, the American interests in Turkey 
 had formally been handed over to the Swedish Minis- 
 ter, the Honourable C. d*Anckerswaerd, although the 
 Swedish home-government and its Constantinople rep- 
 resentatives were admittedly pro-German. In Beirut, 
 however, where the Swedish Consular Agent was in 
 fact a German, but was in reality infinitely less fanat- 
 ically Prussian than his chief in Constantinople, the 
 Swedish representative was rejected, and the American 
 affairs were entrusted to the Dutch Consulate General. 
 The American residents as a whole had been united in 
 their desire that Mr. Schoemann should be placed in 
 charge of their interests, so great was their confidence 
 in him, and so warm their admiration. There was 
 nothing of the Hun in this quiet gentleman, and it was 
 impossible to associate him with the deeds of his coun- 
 trymen in Europe. Indeed, in his rare comments upon 
 the course of military events, he frankly deplored the 
 brutal spirit of Prussian militarism. To the very last, 
 namely, until his departure in September, 1918, before 
 
164 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 the British advance, Mr. Schoemann lived in most cor- 
 dial relations with the Anglo- American community of 
 Beirut. Indeed, the American Press owes it to him 
 that it was able after the breaking of relations to con- 
 tinue certain of its payments under Azmi's very eye. 
 It was only Mr. Schoemann's willingness to cooperate 
 in these relief -payments to Syrians which prevented a 
 complete cessation of this line of work, and a conse- 
 quent increased mortality in Syria during the winter 
 of 1917-18. 
 
 At the moment of the rupture, there were many lists 
 of Syrian remittances already in the Press in the 
 course of preparation for payment. When the Press 
 was closed, there was no way in which to effect the 
 delivery of the designated amounts; and daily the 
 policemen at the gate turned away scores of people 
 who had already been instructed to call for their 
 money. It seemed wicked to consider returning these 
 amounts to New York with the bare statement that it 
 was no longer possible to continue this relief-work. 
 It would have been like snatching a loaf of bread from 
 a starving man whose fingers had already closed upon 
 it. Consequently, Mr. Dana arranged to have these 
 payments made at the Deutsche Paldstina Bank as 
 though they were a part of the Bank's own transac- 
 tions. All during the summer of 19 lY the remittances 
 to Syrians were continued by this method, but the 
 necessary funds were raised by the Press through the 
 sale of checks on its New York bankers, a risky 
 method, since a Turkish military restriction forbade 
 the negotiation of foreign checks. These, however, 
 
America's Entrance Into the War 165 
 
 were antedated, and therefore, bearing no evidence 
 that they were not issued previously to the publication 
 of the ban, could be circulated v^rithout any legal 
 penalty. 
 
 The experience of the American Press after the 
 breaking of relations may be regarded as fairly typical. 
 The American Mission representatives did not suffer 
 any greater inconveniences, although they needed to be 
 constantly on the alert to save their property from the 
 rapacious Turks. The American Mission Hospital in 
 Tripoli, and the private residence of William S. Nelson 
 in Homs were the only American properties actually 
 seized, and these were not taken until several months 
 after the breaking of relations. 
 
 The Syrian Protestant College fared no worse, al- 
 though it was known that the Germans were doing 
 their utmost to use the Turks as their catspaw in ap- 
 propriating this most desirable site in Beirut. A Ger- 
 man meteorologist actually went up to the College and 
 announced his intention of taking charge of the ob- 
 servatory, and settling his own family in one of the 
 faculty homes. It was largely due to the enmity be- 
 tween Jemal Pasha and the Germans that the College 
 was allowed to continue. Had Jemal Pasha himself 
 wished the premises, he would not have delayed an 
 instant in seizing them, but he preferred to leave the 
 Americans in possession, if by so doing he could spite 
 the Germans. It is known, however, that Jemal had 
 promised a special favourite of his, one Hallide 
 Hanum, a Turkish Mme. de Stael, that, when he was 
 ready to turn the Americans out, he would make her 
 
l66 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 directress of education in Syria, and give her the Col- 
 lege site into the bargain. The time for this move 
 not being ripe, however, he was pleased to play the 
 part of College patron, and even assisted in securing 
 supplies of foodstuffs during two years when the in- 
 stitution would otherwise have had to choose between 
 closing or assuming an enormous financial obligation. 
 
XI 
 
 HYSTERICAL AND HISTORICAL 
 EXCITEMENTS 
 
 LIFE for foreigners behind the curtain in Syria 
 was never free from strain. They would be 
 ashamed to refer to the lack of customary 
 luxuries as a hardship, for in that respect they were 
 no worse off than every one else throughout the world. 
 Their sympathies were constantly harrowed by the 
 sufferings of the Syrians, but there was no country in 
 Europe where they could have escaped such vicarious 
 pain. The whole atmosphere was charged with ex- 
 citement. There was an unbroken chain of events 
 which served to keep the nervous in a ferment of un- 
 rest. Some of these occurrences stirred the Ottoman 
 population, and through them acted on the foreigners, 
 while others concerned only the foreigners themselves. 
 Even if there were a lull for about two weeks, the 
 monotony was sure to be broken, and it seemed as 
 though nearly every six months something really 
 momentous occurred. We became accustomed to the 
 state of unrest, and those who were great-minded 
 learned to live calmly, and without undue anxiety for 
 the future. 
 
 Those were days which tried the souls of men. Each 
 was thrown back upon himself, and many a philoso- 
 
 167 
 
l68 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 pher, or a Christian, was forced to redetermine just 
 how much his beliefs were really worth. Did he have 
 faith? If so, was it strong enough to fortify him in 
 such trials? Did he truly believe that he was " bigger 
 than anything which could happen " to him, and that 
 he need concern himself with only one day at a time? 
 or was his creed merely a jumble of meaningless 
 phrases which proved of no value in the face of a real 
 crisis ? 
 
 The problems of those days were not the phantoms 
 of hysteria which could be routed by strength of will. 
 They were not passing anxieties, or inconsequential 
 perplexities, but were the very problems of life and 
 death. Some one has compared our predicament to 
 that of a band of miners trapped in a subterranean 
 clamber with every exit blocked. In such a catas- 
 trophe there is nothing that the victims can do to save 
 themselves. They must wait for rescue from without ; 
 and they know to a certainty that, if help is long- 
 delayed, it will come too late. 
 
 As the years of the war dragged out, the problems 
 which confronted us grew increasingly grave. We 
 faced our situation humorously at the beginning, in 
 the confidence that such abnormal conditions could not 
 continue many months. We branded Kitchener, with 
 his three-year plans, as a pessimist of the darkest dye, 
 and we felt that we were remarkably forehanded if we 
 bought anything with an eye to the future. Theoretic- 
 ally we all believed in preparedness, but no one had 
 any idea what to prepare for. The war had no 
 parallel in our previous experience. The longest night 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 169 
 
 must end, and the sleepless watcher welcomes each 
 passing hour in the knowledge that it brings the dawn 
 just so much nearer. But the continued duration of 
 the war brought no promise of its conclusion. " It 
 might be for years; and it might be forever." We 
 knew only that, if we hoped to endure to the end, we 
 must provide for years ahead. My uncle's advice to 
 us sounded like the Chess Queen's promise to Alice of 
 " jam to-morrow " — a to-morrow which was always 
 one day ahead. " Buy for three years," he told my 
 aunt and me, and he repeated the advice when the war 
 was three years old. It was all very well to say that, 
 but the question was: How much did one really need 
 of everything? We had never bought in quantity be- 
 fore. Those of us who had always made retail pur- 
 chases according to immediate need had no idea how 
 many pairs of stockings, how many handkerchiefs, 
 how much soap, tooth-paste, or writing paper we used 
 in a year. Even those who thought that they were 
 able to estimate fairly accurately failed to reckon on 
 the inferiority of wartime articles. Where a tooth- 
 brush had lasted two months before, it might not stand 
 one month's service now. How many American 
 housekeepers before the war knew how many gallons 
 of molasses they would use annually, if there were no 
 sugar; how many quarts of dried beans; how much 
 cooking fat; how much baking-powder? And yet 
 housekeepers in Syria had to learn these things by 
 bitter experience. 
 
 The first flurry after the outbreak of the war was 
 financial. The Anglo-American community felt the 
 
170 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 pinch almost as acutely as the Syrians, for few of 
 them had ever before experienced such a sudden 
 cessation of income, and they simply could not com- 
 prehend it. They had money in the bank. Why 
 could they not draw it as usual? Scenes which oc- 
 curred in the offices of the College and the Mission 
 Treasurers were both pathetic and ludicrous, and 
 members of the American community begged, literally 
 begged, in vain for a pound or two. The shortage 
 occurred also at a particularly awkward time, in Au- 
 gust and September, when most people wished to buy 
 supplies for the winter. This year, in view of war 
 uncertainties, every one was especially desirous of lay- 
 ing in an ample stock of provisions. 
 
 The acute financial shortage lasted only a few 
 weeks, but during the whole of the conflict we were 
 not entirely free from distress in this regard. Most 
 families felt the necessity of securing and concealing, 
 with great difficulty, a little gold to use in any emer- 
 gency, such as a complete collapse of the paper-cur- 
 rency, deportation, or an enemy occupation. During 
 the second year of the war, when gold was outlawed 
 and Turkish paper substituted, prices took a sudden 
 flight. They had been steadily increasing ever since 
 the outbreak of hostilities, but with the introduction 
 of paper-currency their rise was phenomenal and 
 wholly disproportionate. The purchasing value of 
 Turkish paper dropped as low as one-sixth that of 
 actual coin, or " hard " money. This, coupled with 
 the rise in prices, made living expenses enormous, and 
 it took no little courage to face the steadily increasing 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 171 
 
 figures in the account-books. Of course, this finan- 
 cial strain was not peculiar to Syria, but the distinctive 
 features here were four: the popular lack of faith in 
 the Ottoman paper-currency issues, the inability of the 
 Government to cope with speculation in currency 
 values, government connivance at the cornering of 
 necessary foodstuffs, and the subsequent famine prices 
 of certain necessities. For those who care to read 
 them we have appended at the end of the book a few 
 figures illustrating the almost incredible rise in prices. 
 
 Even before the Entente Powers broke relations 
 with Turkey, we felt the first slight results of the 
 combat. A German ship, the Peter Rikmers, carry- 
 ing ammunition, rubber, and other miscellaneous 
 freight, sought refuge in the port of Beirut. Her 
 cargo was unloaded as quickly as possible, and not a 
 day too soon, for a Russian cruiser came strolling 
 along the coast, caught the Peter Rikmers as she was 
 trying to escape from the harbour, and sank her then 
 and there. Not many days later the same cruiser 
 carried off from the harbour a small coast steamer, and 
 a launch called La Syrie. The ownership of the latter 
 was American, but it was apparent that the Russians 
 supposed it to belong to a Turkish subject who might 
 use it in naval warfare against the Entente. After 
 these incidents the local authorities scuttled all small 
 craft along the coast for two reasons: to spite the 
 enemy, and to remove temptation from any Ottoman 
 subjects who might so far shirk their patriotic duties 
 as to try to escape by sea. ^ 
 
 Within a few months after the beginning of the war. 
 
172 The Dawn of a New Era in SyrisT 
 
 the Turkish campaign against Egypt was in progress, 
 and later the British counter-Ccimpaign against Pales- 
 tine. We experienced practically nothing in the way 
 of actual warfare, but we were reminded of military 
 events in numerous amusing and inconvenient ways. 
 The Government commandeered all the large bags that 
 it could lay hands on, and even assessed every Otto- 
 man household with a specified number. In order to 
 comply with this military requisition and to avoid 
 trouble people were forced to use their window-cur- 
 tains, their couch-covers and even their extra clothing 
 to make bags. It was a fortunate thing for the coun- 
 try that the Government was satisfied with empty bags I 
 The Turks had had an inspiration. They were going 
 to use sandbags in the Egyptian campaign. They also 
 appropriated for army use another very important 
 household article, the indispensable oil-tin ; and in time 
 these empty cans, because of their scarcity, were valued 
 at more than their original pre-war cost when filled 
 with the best Standard Oil ! 
 
 Visitations from enemy warships were fairly fre- 
 quent during the first part of the war and, like the 
 later and less frequent visits, were sometimes accom- 
 panied with excitements. It was a popular fallacy to 
 expect an attack from the coast and a bombardment 
 of Beirut, although it was technically an unfortified 
 town. There were lively recollections of what was 
 called "the Italian bombardment of 1911," and the 
 psychological effect of the appearance of a cruiser on 
 the horizon was amusing to watch. Naturally the un- 
 educated people, especially the Moslems, supposed that 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 173 
 
 an English or a French attacking force would conduct 
 itself just as victorious Turks would do; and they 
 imagined that the entry of the enemy would be at- 
 tended with violence, massacre and bondage. Further- 
 more, the attitude of the Turkish garrison in Beirut 
 did not tend to inspire confidence either in the conduct 
 of the enemy, or of their own prowess. Most of these 
 troops were quartered in the barracks, a large building 
 on a hill near the American compound, but they had 
 also a good hiding-place in a pine-grove at the edge 
 of the city. Like the famous " King of France, who 
 had ten thousand men; he marched them up the hill, 
 and marched them down again," the officers in charge 
 of these Turkish soldiers always gave them "move- 
 ment orders " whenever a cruiser was sighted ; and 
 they were hurried, bag and baggage, from the barracks 
 into their place of concealment and safety outside of 
 the town. During some weeks they were kept very 
 busy moving back and forth. 
 
 Not only did the troops occupy themselves with hid- 
 ing whenever a cruiser appeared, but many of the 
 civil population made preparations for a hasty de- 
 parture. It was not an uncommon sight to see porters 
 hurrying through the streets with bed-bundles, or even 
 less portable articles such as wardrobes, and large 
 mirrors. A goodly number of people, especially Mos- 
 lems, left Beirut for Damascus, which, being well in 
 the interior, was generally considered a safer place. 
 Some of these emigrants returned after the first ex- 
 citement and worry were past, but many remained 
 throughout the war. Such was the popular alarm at 
 
174 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 anything which in the least resembled a warship that on 
 one occasion the Collier Vulcan that came with coal 
 for the U. S. S. North Carolina caused great con- 
 sternation. The Vulcan presented an array of der- 
 ricks which was most alarming and unusual. We 
 were just returning from an afternoon drive when 
 this formidable craft arrived, and our coachman sug- 
 gested the advisability of our at once fleeing the city. 
 I can still see the relief in his face when we explained 
 that it was merely an American ship bringing coal for 
 the cruiser. 
 
 It was not uncommon for the visiting war-craft to 
 deliver messages whose purport was either published 
 or leaked out. On one occasion the Beirut authorities 
 were reminded that any attempt to build trenches or 
 otherwise fortify the town would open the door to 
 enemy attacks. In spite of this, trenches were dug all 
 along the sea road, guns were placed in a monastery on 
 the sands which commanded the only landing beach 
 near the city, and the hills back of Beirut were trenched, 
 covered with barbed wire entanglements, and equipped 
 with gun emplacements. For a long time the Entente 
 cruisers limited their action to sinking small sailing 
 craft which, though warned against so doing, were 
 smuggling wheat from one port to another along the 
 coast. Another not unusual proceeding was for the 
 French ships to attempt the destruction of important 
 bridges on the highway along the sea. The one near 
 Tripoli which carried the Tripoli-Homs railroad was 
 an especial object of attack. The Turks retaliated for 
 these hostile acts by erasing the French inscription at 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 175 
 
 the entrance of the Dog River Pass which com- 
 memorated the triumph of the army of Napoleon III. 
 These petty bombardments and spasmodic demonstra- 
 tions did not accomplish much more than to keep the 
 Turkish forces in northern Syria and the Syrian 
 populace in a constant state of perturbation. Even 
 excitement palls eventually, however, and the country 
 became so habituated to the existing state of affairs 
 that people almost gave up hoping for a real occupa- 
 tion. 
 
 When German submarines began? to use various 
 points on the Syrian coast as their bases, the vigilance 
 of the coast-patrol was redoubled. Then we saw fewer 
 large ships and more submarine chasers. These made 
 constant calls on Juneh, a small town northeast of 
 Beirut, which was known to contain a good deal of 
 petroleum. A Russian cruiser had, earlier in the war, 
 destroyed the Standard Oil depot there, but it was be- 
 lieved apparently that there were other petroleum 
 stores in the town. We watched several spectacular 
 bombardments of this little place. 
 
 One day a trawler came hurrying along as though 
 seeking for something near Beirut. A German sub- 
 marine was then in port, and some of her crew were 
 on shore. Without waiting for these men, she dived. 
 The trawler, however, feigned ignorance of her pres- 
 ence, and went on south where she gave information 
 to a British destroyer. That night the submarine came 
 back to get the rest of her crew and more supplies. 
 Early the next morning, Sunday, we were startled by 
 sounds of heavy firing near the port, and presently a 
 
176 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 shrieking shell passed fairly low over our house. 
 Two more shells followed, and more sounds of firing 
 at the port. The British destroyer had arrived bright 
 and early in hopes of surprising the submarine. She 
 passed by the harbour entrance and headed toward 
 Juneh, but suddenly turned and boldly steamed 
 straight into the port which was supposed to be 
 heavily mined. The submarine was not quick enough 
 to escape and was wounded, although it was impos- 
 sible at the time to tell how seriously. When in her 
 course around the harbour the destroyer came near the 
 shore, Turkish soldiers on guard at the Ottoman and 
 German banks tried a little sharp-shooting at the men 
 on her deck. Her reply was several shells fired over 
 the city as a warning to the inhabitants to keep under 
 cover, and then she turned her guns on the two banks 
 which quartered these rash soldiers. Banking busi- 
 ness in Beirut was suspended for the next ten days, 
 while idle stone-masons and plasterers enjoyed an un- 
 usual run of business. After having settled her score, 
 the destroyer departed, apparently satisfied with her 
 morning's work. A few days later we heard from a 
 reliable source that a local photographer had been 
 asked to photograph for identification the bodies of 
 several German submarine sailors washed ashore near 
 the city. 
 
 I doubt whether such events caused as much stir as 
 the terrible distant naval battle which some of our 
 friends once viewed from the mountains. It was 
 about sunset and a dozen or more ships were seen in 
 deadly combat off toward the dim horizon in the west. 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 177 
 
 The firing of the heavy giins could be heard distinctly. 
 Skeptics insisted that it was all imagination, but the 
 witnesses would not be convinced. Surely they had 
 lived in Syria too long to mistake the combination of 
 a native wedding, celebrated by rifle-fire, and the fanci- 
 ful shapes of evening clouds at sunset for a naval 
 battle! 
 
 It is not to be denied that many who lived in Syria 
 during the war were upset merely because they let 
 their imaginations run away with them. Most of 
 these argued that there could be no smoke without 
 fire, and that there must be some foundation for cer- 
 tain persistently recurring reports. One of these was 
 that Beirut, as well as other coast cities, might be 
 evacuated, or at least that the foreign residents might 
 be required at very short notice to move away from the 
 seaboard. While there seemed little likelihood that 
 this would really happen, one could scarcely avoid 
 giving the matter some slight consideration as a pos- 
 sibility. The evacuation scare reached its height in 
 the summer of 1917, after we received in Beirut vari- 
 ous tales of the occurrences in Jaffa where the larger 
 part of the population was ruthlessly harried out with- 
 out conveyance, and was driven into the interior. As 
 the lack of vehicles was as serious in Beirut as at 
 Jaffa, I know one American family which made a little 
 push-cart, ostensibly for use in transporting its goods 
 to the mountains, which also would save the children 
 many weary steps in case they were expelled from the 
 city and had to travel on foot. 
 
 Another fear which caused perhaps more uneasi- 
 
178 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 ness than evacuation, was deportation. Many of us 
 had this brought very near home by the exile of a num- 
 ber of our belligerent and Syrian friends. With such 
 incidents constantly occurring, it is not surprising 
 that some families kept bags always ready, packed 
 with the necessities for a journey; although it must be 
 admitted that, except in a very few instances, people 
 who were ordered to leave had plenty of time to gather 
 together whatever they needed for their change of resi- 
 dence. After the deportation of Dr. Stewart of 
 Latakia, Dr. Nelson of Tripoli, and Mr. Dana of 
 Beirut had proved conclusively that not even Amer- 
 icans were exempt from this form of persecution, 
 those who believed in preparedness felt themselves 
 wholly in the right. This explains and largely justi- 
 fies certain suggestions made by the Syrian Protestant 
 College to its American faculty in December, 1917. 
 Besides giving numerous useful hints as to the settle- 
 ment of any business matters, destruction of papers, 
 disposal of valuables in case of need, and as to cloth- 
 ing, food and medicines for a journey, the list sug- 
 gested also having handy Turkish-French visiting 
 cards and a copy of Jemal Pasha's speech in which he 
 claimed to be friendly to the College. The contents 
 of the list of suggestions is of less importance, how- 
 ever, than the fact of its existence, which was illus- 
 trative of what one might call the state of mind of the 
 times. 
 
 It would be trite to suggest that Syria was scourged 
 by the " Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." That 
 simile has already been overworked in other connec- 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 179 
 
 tions. But we were not the only community which 
 found fresh interest in our Bibles, as we recognized the 
 striking similarity between the conditions in Biblical 
 days, and those of our own war period. For a time 
 we were able to describe our situation to friends at 
 home by referring them to certain Scriptural passages, 
 but eventually this device was discovered in the post 
 office. The Mohammedan censor, in order to hold his 
 job, became a devout student of the Bible, and he 
 waged such war against Bible allusions that he even 
 held up letters which suggested necessary corrections 
 in the proof of the new Arabic Reference Bible. 
 
 We used our concordances to good advantage when 
 we wished to describe the terrible plague of locusts 
 which swept over the land in 1915. The description 
 of Pharaoh's seventh scourge might have been written 
 in April, 1915: "And when it was morning, the east 
 wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up all 
 over the land, . . . and rested in all the coasts ; . . . 
 very grievous were they . . . for they covered the 
 face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened ; 
 and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the 
 fruit of the trees ; . . . and there remained not any 
 green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field 
 through all the land . . ." (Ex.10.) 
 
 I was driving down to Sidon when the first swarm 
 of locusts appeared, and the sight was far more awful 
 and impressive in the open country with its free sweep 
 of sky than it was in the city. The sun was suddenly 
 darkened, and looking up we saw that the air was full 
 of whirling winged forms. The effect was strikingly 
 
i8o The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 similar to a driving snow-storm, only in this case the 
 mammoth flakes were yellow and black. They settled 
 as softly as snow on field and tree, and when they 
 again took flight they left the land utterly devastated. 
 They had devoured every leaf and flower and fruit. 
 In some cases they had even stripped off the bark. 
 The ground where they had rested was bare of every 
 living plant. More awful still, they were carnivorous. 
 There were numerous instances where mothers left 
 their little children alone at home while they went to 
 the fields, and returning found little more than the 
 skeletons, clothing and flesh having been devoured by 
 these horrible creatures. The swarm would settle for 
 several days in a locality, and then sweep on leaving 
 in its wake ruin and destruction. Five or six times 
 during that summer fresh hordes descended upon us. 
 Always the first warning of their approach was the 
 din of tin pans, beaten by anxious land-owners in the 
 vain hope of frightening away the insects before they 
 settled. Not only did they destroy that year's crops, 
 but in many localities they permanently injured the 
 trees by their repeated onslaughts. Such a plague had 
 not been seen in Syria for more than forty years ; and, 
 coming as it did on top of all the hardships of war- 
 time, it convinced the people of the wrath of the Lord. 
 Man had done his worst for the country, and now 
 nature had turned cruel. 
 
 The one thing above all others which most 
 piqued the Turks was the realization that every- 
 thing which went on in the country was known 
 abroad as soon as it happened. One morning in 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements i8l 
 
 August, 1915, fourteen political offenders were hanged 
 in Beirut, and the Alexandria and Paris papers 
 of that same day published the names of those ex- 
 ecuted. This is only one striking instance of the ef- 
 fectiveness of the Entente intelligence service. There 
 was quite evidently constant signalling from the moun- 
 tains to cruisers out at sea, and the Turks were at 
 great pains to discover a wireless station which some- 
 how was keeping the enemy posted. The College was 
 subject to annoyance on several occasions while search 
 was made for an imaginary wireless outfit. When I 
 recollect two mere boys who were held for months in 
 the military prison in Constantinople on account of a 
 toy wireless, pronounced by German experts quite un- 
 usable, it makes me- shudder to think what misinter- 
 pretation might have been put on the most innocuous 
 piece of laboratory apparatus in the College. Even 
 the observatory dome was never opened during the 
 war lest the astronomer be accused of communicating 
 with the enemy. On one occasion one of the College 
 community was requested to take down the signals 
 flying in her yard in sight of the sea. In vain she 
 protested it was merely the usual weekly wash. No, 
 they were signals to the enemy's ships, and down they 
 must come! 
 
 Another cause of worry to the local government was 
 lights in the houses. The majority of the Beirut 
 houses have high arched windows opening on balconies 
 facing the sea. Foreign residents especially were re- 
 quired to darken their windows when the lights were 
 on. This was no small item of expense when the 
 
l82 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 size of the windows was only equalled by the cost of 
 the cloth necessary to cover them. On several occa- 
 sions a policeman came to request us to darken one of 
 our kitchen windows which we found especially hard 
 to reach. Our domestic would request the policeman 
 to close it for us from outside by the delicate manipula- 
 tion of a broom handle, and after a few calls with 
 similar results the policeman found it more convenient 
 to overlook that lighted square. 
 
 It was just like the Turks, however, to fret over 
 such unimportant matters and to overlook the truly 
 significant things that were going on under their very 
 eyes. Spies were constantly coming and going be- 
 tween Syria and Egypt, and it is surprising how many 
 people in Syria were in their confidence. Fishermen 
 along the coast carried on a lucrative, if somewhat 
 risky, trade in facilitating escapes by taking people on 
 dark nights out to patrolling enemy vessels. One 
 night the French head of a large commercial concern 
 disappeared with his entire household, including the 
 dog. Their unfinished supper was left on the table. 
 No one knew what had become of them, but the in- 
 stance conjured up visions of a sudden chance to 
 escape on a French cruiser. Such events as this re- 
 minded us that the atmosphere in which we lived did 
 not lack melodramatic features. 
 
 There were times when some of us almost wished 
 that a cruiser would call with orders from our Gov- 
 ernment to whisk us off. Travel for even short dis- 
 tances was made as difficult as possible. One could 
 not even cross the Beirut border for a picnic without 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 183 
 
 giving an account of oneself. The Turk was always 
 so suspicious that he made himself a tremendous 
 amount of unnecessary trouble. Frequently travellers 
 between Beirut Vilayet and Lebanon were subjected 
 to as thorough a search as though leaving Constanti- 
 nople for Europe. On one occasion an American was 
 detained at the border because the Turks discovered 
 among his papers a map his children were sending to 
 their grandmother in town. It was a sketch of a 
 favourite swimming-hole, but even such fanciful names 
 as " Fairy Dell " and " Giant Cave " struck the Turks 
 as highly suspicious. The Turk certainly does not 
 have much imagination ! 
 
 In order to go to the mountains for the summer one 
 had to have a vesika, or travel-permit, besides permis- 
 sion to transport in either direction foodstuffs and per- 
 sonal belongings. Any one not fully in the good 
 graces of the Government had to wait a long time to 
 obtain his papers. Sometimes the ofBcials saw other 
 possibilities in the matter of vesikas, as when in 1915 
 the Chief of Police, Muhhedin Bey, intimated to Mr. 
 Dana that he might have his permission to take his 
 family to the mountains if he would pay the small fee 
 of $1,000. Needless to say, we stayed in Beirut that 
 summer! By the following year Muhhedin Bey had 
 removed himself as an obstacle to any one's obtaining 
 a travel permit. 
 
 If the Turks would only apply their genius in proper 
 directions they might accomplish wonders. I doubt 
 whether any race can equal them in malicious in- 
 genuity. They are past masters at devising annoy-i 
 
184 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 ances, and no ogre ever surpassed a Turk in the 
 capacity for inventing barbaric forms of torture, or in 
 enjoying the discomfort of his victims. In May, 1915, 
 the Government achieved a regular tour de force which 
 resulted in the arrest of practically the entire Amer- 
 ican Mission. In May and December the Mission held 
 in Beirut its semi-annual meetings. It was a custom 
 of many years' standing and the Government had never 
 thought of objecting to the gathering which was known 
 to concern itself solely with Mission problems. On 
 this occasion the meeting was held in the accustomed 
 place, a large room in one of the houses in the Amer- 
 ican Compound. Suddenly the police appeared and 
 arrested the whole company. When the elders and 
 dignitaries of the Mission were haled before the 
 Chief of Police, they were told that they had been 
 arrested for violating a law which the Turks meant 
 soon to publish. The Americans should have known 
 that very shortly any kind of gathering would be 
 illegal. Of course, the Government had no case 
 against them, but it succeeded in causing much incon- 
 venience and annoyance. That being the case, the 
 Turks could afford to be magnanimous, and in about 
 two hours they released their prisoners, first taking 
 pains to escort to the city limits all the out-of-town 
 missionaries. 
 
 A little piece of malice like this, however, generally 
 cleared the atmosphere, for the Turks were usually so 
 pleased with themselves that they were quite genial 
 for some time afterwards. 
 
 Jn that same summer of 1916 we were all much dis^ 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 185 
 
 tressed by the difficulties which befell certain Amer- 
 icans who had come down from Armenia. Among 
 others who had come to Beirut in the hope of leaving 
 by sea were Dr. Floyd Smith and his family from 
 Diarbekr, and Mr. Harrison Maynard and his family 
 from Bitlis. Dr. Smith had been expelled from 
 Diarbekr because of his interest in the Armenians, and 
 both he and Mr. Maynard were known to have been 
 witnesses of recent Armenian atrocities. Both were 
 imprisoned and taken before the *Aleih Court Martial 
 for trial. Dr. Smith's trial was only half finished 
 when he was sent down to Beirut to await sentence. 
 A mistake in the police office gave him a loophole for 
 escape. Within an hour he and his family were safe 
 on board a vessel in the harbour, while the Turks 
 frantically searched for their lost criminal. It must 
 have infuriated them that within a few months Dr. 
 Smith was back in Armenia, behind the Russian lines. 
 
 Mr. Maynard was detained several days in 'Aleih 
 and probably only the facts that the American cruiser 
 Tennessee delayed sailing three days, and that she was 
 known to be waiting for him, effected his acquittal in 
 time for him to board the ship. 
 
 It was a rather homesick day for some of us when 
 we bade farewell to the Tennessee as she steamed 
 away from Beirut with her long home pennant stream- 
 ing behind, and her band playing " Home, Sweet 
 Home." It seemed the last chance for any of us to 
 leave Syria, save by the dreaded overland trip to Con- 
 stantinople. There were later opportunities to leave 
 by cruiser, but most of these were limited to American 
 
1 86 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Jews, although there were other Americans who were 
 most anxious to obtain permission to go, many of 
 whom had come from the far interior with the hope of 
 finding in Beirut some opportunity to sail. 
 
 The worst of the annual typhus epidemics occurred 
 in the winter of 1916. Not only was the death-rate 
 highest that year, but the disease attacked a number of 
 our best Syrian friends, as well as members of the 
 American community. The way in which different 
 persons were affected by the fever was pathetically 
 indicative of their interests. One brave little nurse 
 exclaimed: " I am glad I have it, for now I can nurse 
 typhus cases without further fear, and with knowledge 
 of the disease from personal experience." Another 
 sweet lady was most concerned during her delirium 
 concerning the poor whom she had been visiting; and 
 because she was under the delusion that she had robbed 
 her own family to share with the starving Syrians. 
 The American Vice-Consul evidently had the Jews on 
 his mind. He was terribly distressed because he 
 thought that he had allowed some of them to leave by 
 cruiser without proper passports, and the nurse would 
 catch him getting out of bed to write telegrams on the 
 subject to the American Consul at Alexandria. While 
 we could smile at such vagaries when we knew the 
 patients were on the road to recovery, we had to fight 
 down our horror of the disease ; and although we never 
 let the idea interfere with our daily pursuits, we often 
 wondered: who next? 
 
 No survey of our trials during the war would be 
 complete without some reference to the domestic 
 
Hysterical and Historical Excitements 187 
 
 problems. As elsewhere in the world these played a 
 part in the general stress. I regret to say that before 
 the close of the war scarcely any gathering of women 
 could take place without sooner or later the question 
 of food becoming the uppermost topic in the conversa- 
 tion. The cost of living and the food question were 
 two demons always lurking in the background. Dur- 
 ing the winter of 1916 the Government set a limit to 
 the quantity of supplies that one might have on hand. 
 It was rumoured that houses would be searched and 
 that superfluous stores would be confiscated. Such a 
 procedure on the part of the conscienceless Turkish 
 police was appalling. Most people acted on faith that 
 this was merely a threat, although they deemed it safer 
 not to keep all their provisions in one place. One 
 American lady told me recently of her dread lest her 
 family of children should not have all they needed to 
 eat. Late one night she hid wheat and other supplies 
 in an ancient Phoenician well which, in the course of 
 some repairs, had been discovered under her house, 
 and the opening of which had been thoughtfully 
 camouflaged in case of future need. The same well 
 was used to conceal some family silver, glass and other 
 valuables. This Is only one of many cases where per- 
 sonal property was hidden. Syrians gave their valu- 
 ables into the hands of Americans, and Americans 
 placed theirs in the care of Syrian friends. No one 
 could judge which would be the safer place in the 
 final outcome. Even members of our own family 
 concealed some things in our attic so well that we had 
 difficulty afterwards in finding them ! 
 
l88 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 All this is amusing to look back upon after a lapse 
 of time and when the strain is past. As a matter of 
 fact, we were not nearly so uncomfortable in some re- 
 spects as our friends in America imagined. All 
 through the whole time of difficulty there was among 
 the Americans a spirit of hopefulness and optimism re- 
 garding the ultimate course of events which mitigated 
 every passing trouble. 
 
xn 
 
 1917— THE YEAR OF HORROR 
 
 WE have previously spoken of life in Turkey 
 during the World-War as life behind a 
 curtain, but it would really be more ac- 
 curate to describe it as life in a house of many cham- 
 bers. We lived for a while in one room; and when 
 that became no longer habitable, we progressed to 
 another, the very existence of which, perhaps, we had 
 not suspected. When we were ejected from this room 
 and the door closed behind us, we stood for a moment 
 bewildered in the passageway; and then, conquering 
 the fear lest we might be entering a veritable Blue- 
 beard's chamber of horrors, we tried another closed 
 portal; and if it yielded, crossed the threshold. This 
 was especially true in the matter of relief -work. 
 
 At the outbreak of the war, the Americans in Syria 
 attempted to render relief through the tried and tested 
 channels of the Red Cross Society. For a while they 
 were successful, but at the end of a year, the Beirut 
 Government forced them to abandon this form of 
 activity ; and the work, in a slightly modified form, was 
 transferred to Lebanon. When the Armenian and 
 Syrian Relief Committee in America took over the 
 financing of relief in this portion of the Near East, 
 and the Christmas Ship of 1916 was expected, the 
 
 289 
 
190 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 entire energies of the Beirut Relief Committee were 
 concentrated on arranging for the best possible dis- 
 position of this precious cargo. The definite an- 
 nouncement that the ship had been deflected preceded 
 by only a few weeks the declaration of war between 
 the United States and Germany, and the rupture of 
 America's diplomatic relations with Turkey. The 
 American loss of neutral status provided the Ottoman 
 Government with a long-sought excuse for definitely 
 and positively prohibiting any foreign interference in 
 internal affairs, even in connection with relief matters. 
 At the end of April, 1917, when relations between 
 America and Turkey were broken, the Beirut Relief 
 Committee had only $140,000 in its treasury, and this 
 sum was used secretly through Syrian agents. When 
 this was expended, and it was no longer possible, on 
 account of the closing of mail and telegraphic com- 
 munications with America, to secure further funds 
 from home committees, the Beirut Committee dis- 
 solved, and thus permanently terminated its relief 
 activities. 
 
 The only remaining source of income from the out- 
 side world was, therefore, the Syrian remittances 
 through the American Mission Press; and these were 
 continued in spite of government opposition, and the 
 avowed determination of the Ottoman authorities to 
 deal drastically with any individual, foreigner or na- 
 tive, who should be discovered in the act of communi- 
 cating with the enemies of the Turkish Government, in 
 which category the United States was now included. 
 The charitable organizations of America were not 
 
1917 — The Year of Horror 191 
 
 discouraged, however, in their eitorts to relieve this 
 afflicted country, and the Presbyterian Board of For- 
 eign Missions arranged with the Enemy Trade Board 
 of the United States to issue Trade Licenses for the 
 amounts available for Syria. In view of the fact that 
 postal communications with the Ottoman Empire had 
 been completely suspended, the State Department 
 agreed to forward the weekly lists from the New York 
 Treasurer by official courier from Washington to 
 Switzerland or Stockholm, and thence to Constanti- 
 nople. From Constantinople onward the lists were 
 concealed between packets of paper-money, and were 
 mailed as such to Syria in sealed and insured envelopes. 
 It took some months, however, to evolve this system of 
 comm.unication ; and even when it was established, 
 what had formerly been a river of income dwindled to 
 a mere trickle. Delays were inevitable, and the neces- 
 sity for absolute disguise of the source of these re- 
 mittances, combined with the problem of securing 
 cash, made this work both dangerous and difficult. It 
 was, nevertheless, continued without interruption up 
 to the moment of the British occupation of the coun- 
 try in the autumn of 1918, in spite of the fact that Mr. 
 Dana, who had originated the system, was deported, 
 and was forced to leave before he could even see his 
 successor and explain to him certain details of which 
 no one but himself was cognizant. 
 
 When the Beirut Relief Committee ceased to op- 
 erate, the American Mission determined to assume full 
 responsibility for the continuance of the relief-work 
 thus abandoned. They held a secret meeting at one 
 
191 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 of the mountain villages in a region where so many of 
 the Americans were summering that a gathering of 
 others from outlying districts would pass unnoticed by 
 the Government. In that meeting they voted to ex- 
 pend the sum of$250,000 on faith that when communi- 
 cations with the supporting committees should eventu- 
 ally be reestablished, the Armenian and Syrian Relief 
 Committee would reimburse the Mission Board in New 
 York for the amounts advanced by the Syria Mission. 
 In lieu of positive assurance that the committees at 
 home would in reality make good such disbursements, 
 the members of the American Mission in Syria agreed 
 to assume personal and individual responsibility to the 
 Mission Board in America for this advance on faith. 
 
 When the Syria Mission learned beyond a doubt that 
 the C<Bsar was not coming to the coast of Syria, they 
 felt convinced that the cargo would be sold, and the 
 proceeds of the sale turned back to the home-com- 
 mittee. It was imperative to obtain from America as- 
 surance that these funds were in reality held there at 
 the disposal of the Syria Committee. If that proved 
 to be the case, the Mission would be able to borrow 
 money locally to continue the work. The difficulty of 
 obtaining such information was due to the hostility of 
 the Turks which made it inadvisable to send through 
 t regular channels any written message giving evidence 
 of the continued activity of Americans along relief 
 lines. The cablegram had to be so worded that if in- 
 tercepted en route it would not be comprehensible to 
 the Turks. A fertile brain, therefore, devised the fol- 
 lowing cryptogram, and a special messenger was sent 
 
1 9 1 7 — ^^^ Year of Horror 193 
 
 with it to Holland: " Calpurnia*s husband (referring to 
 the CcBsar) unable to make delivery. Can you dupli- 
 cate amount your cable twenty ($100,000), enabling 
 make purchases locally pending reaping (Stop). Re- 
 ply, using only this cable number (37)." 
 
 The scrap of paper containing the precious message 
 on which depended the lives of so many thousands in 
 Syria was safely smuggled through the repeated ex- 
 aminations in Turkey to which every traveller was sub- 
 jected, through Bulgaria, Austria, and Germany; but 
 it was discovered and confiscated on the German border 
 just as the messenger was about to enter Holland. He 
 had, however, memorized the words of the cable which 
 he dispatched from the Hague. In five weeks the 
 reply, forwarded through Sweden, reached the Treas- 
 urer of the Syria Mission in Beirut. Just the two 
 words, " Thirty-seven granted," but what a world of 
 hope they represented ! 
 
 There must have been a leak en route somewhere, 
 because, three weeks after the departure of the mes- 
 senger and only a short time before the arrival of the 
 answer, Mr. Dana was arrested and taken to the 
 police station, where he was asked who " Calpumia " 
 was, and what was the meaning of the word " reap- 
 ing." His reply convinced the Turks that Calpurnia 
 was a humble person pining for her absent husband, 
 and that "reaping" meant only a certain season of 
 the year. 
 
 Other single grants for relief were also reported by 
 the Mission Board in New York in cryptic cable mes- 
 sages through Switzerland or Stockholm. One of 
 
194 ^^^ Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 them read " Fifteen thousand merer el committee 
 mercy/' These funds were administered by the Treas- 
 urer of the Syria Mission, and represented virtually 
 a continuance of the former Red Cross work. 
 
 In January, 1918, when Mr. Dana reached Con- 
 stantinople, he discovered that the Armenian and 
 Syrian Relief Committee had appropriated an amount 
 of $50,000 monthly, beginning on July 1, 1917, for re- 
 lief in Syria, part of which was available in Switzer- 
 land. This regular allowance was continued as long 
 as the war lasted, although after the British occupa- 
 tion, first the Red Cross, and then the American Com- 
 mittee for Relief in the Near East was responsible for 
 the amount. 
 
 The program first followed in distribution was that 
 previously instituted by the Red Cross, and accordingly 
 appropriations were made to all the out-stations. This 
 was in response to the appeals of individual mission- 
 aries from villages in itinerating districts, or of resi- 
 dent foreigners, consular officers, etc. The burning 
 desire of every one who had the welfare of Syria at 
 heart was to organize a big relief-work and carry it 
 on as such; but the hostility of the Turks, bent on 
 their scheme of exterminating the Syrians, made this 
 impossible. Whatever relief was given by the Amer- 
 icans themselves had to be done under the guise of 
 carrying on their regular mission work. They laid 
 in foodstuffs for relief distribution under the pretence 
 of buying supplies for the schools, native helpers, and 
 their own Mission community. Only the stupidity of 
 the Turks in not realizing that fifty tons of wheat was 
 
1917 — The Year of Horror 195* 
 
 a superabundant supply for fifty or one hundred chil- 
 dren in a Mission school made such purchases possible. 
 Where there was no possible cloak of mission activity 
 to disguise the real motive of relief, it was impossible 
 for the Americans to appear in connection with the 
 work, and the plan adopted was to place sums for relief 
 disbursement in the hands of any thoroughly reliable 
 person who was in a position to render aid in districts 
 where the need was greatest, and where there was no 
 danger of overlapping. These agents were preferably 
 Syrians, but in some cases they were foreigners, for 
 example, a Swedish lady living in Lebanon, and a 
 German sister of charity. 
 
 Special and definite instructions always accompanied 
 these grants, as to the plan of relief to be followed, and 
 the classes of persons to be helped The appropria- 
 tions were usually delivered monthly, and the agent 
 was required to give each time a report on his methods, 
 the classes of beneficiaries, and all details connected 
 with the efificacy of the assistance rendered. It is un- 
 fortunate that these reports were necessarily all verbal, 
 as it results in placing the full burden of financial re- 
 sponsibility on the shoulders of one man, the Mission 
 Treasurer. However, the risk of written evidence of 
 relief activities was so great that no one would have 
 ventured to sign his name to a statement which, if it 
 fell into the hands of the Turks, would incriminate not 
 only himself, but the Americans from whom he had 
 received the funds, and the Syrians to whom he had 
 distributed them. 
 
 Such assistance as has just been described usually 
 
196 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 took the form of supplying destitute families with a 
 regular allowance either of funds or of food, accord- 
 ing to conditions of prices, accessibility of food-supply, 
 etc. In a district where wheat was purchasable in the 
 open market it simplified matters for the relief-agent 
 to distribute cash. In other localities, where food- 
 stuffs had to be imported from a great distance, and 
 with endless difficulty in the matter of permits and 
 transport, it was necessary to distribute the actual 
 food commodities. Money would have been useless. 
 Indeed, in some cases the people were able to pay for 
 supplies furnished by the relief -agents, but wholly un- 
 able to obtain provisions for themselves, even with 
 money in hand. 
 
 A very effective form of relief was the distribution 
 of wool, which was given out to women to spin and to 
 knit into garments, some of which were kept for the 
 family of the worker, others being turned back to the 
 wool distribution center. These were subsequently 
 sold for the benefit of the relief-work, or were sent to 
 orphanages or to soup-kitchens where they were dis- 
 tributed to people in desperate need of clothing. 
 
 The form of relief-work that the Mission, perhaps, 
 most favoured was the assuming of a fixed respon- 
 sibility for a number of orphans. There were thou- 
 sands of children bereft of one or both of their parents 
 who would surely die if they were not provided with 
 shelter, food and clothing by some charitable organic- 
 zation. The fundamental principle of selection in 
 American relief -work throughout the war was the at- 
 tempt to choose individuals with a view to their 
 
191 7 — The Year of Horror 1 97 
 
 prospective value to the country. By this test the care 
 of the children was, obviously, of paramount im- 
 portance. About six or seven thousand orphans were 
 adopted by the Mission, and were cared for in large 
 orphanages, in shelters, or in private families which 
 were willing to accept the care of an orphan in ex- 
 change for their own support by relief-funds. In 
 many cases the little waifs were fostered by mothers 
 who had already several children of their own, but 
 who considered the addition of another five or ten to 
 the family only a slight additional burden. Among the 
 lower classes in Syria the care of a child is at best a 
 rather haphazard affair, and the parents consider that 
 they are amply discharging their duty, if they provide 
 him with the same food that they themselves eat, with 
 one or two indispensable articles of clothing (not al- 
 ways those that we consider indispensable), and with 
 a bed to sleep on. Instruction in personal hygiene, or 
 in moral cleanliness, schooling, or medical care are 
 deemed quite superfluous; and the child is alternately 
 indulged and brutally flogged until he grows strong 
 enough to defend himself against corporal punishment. 
 From that day onward he is independent. It will be 
 seen, therefore, that the care of an orphan is not such 
 a responsible matter as it would be with us; and if the 
 child is given three meals a day, the responsibility 
 whether he lives or dies is not the parents' or guard- 
 ians', but the Lord's. 
 
 It was found more generally satisfactory to gather 
 the orphans into hospices and care for them en masse, 
 especially since these hospices were frequently operated 
 
198 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 in connection with a soup-kitchen, thus minimizing the 
 expenditures of both. Children who had parents or 
 guardians, and a shelter for the night were merely pro- 
 vided with nutritious food twice a day, and perhaps, 
 with certain articles of clothing. It was only those 
 who were absolutely friendless and destitute that were 
 taken into the shelters. 
 
 In a country that has been ravaged by disease and 
 starvation with all their attendant ills, it is not suf- 
 ficient to feed and clothe the body, but provision must 
 also be made for proper medical treatment. I have 
 heard a person who lived in Syria during the whole 
 period of the war state his belief that very few people 
 in Syria actually died of starvation, but rather of dis-. 
 case. In one sense this is partially true, but it leaves 
 out of account the fact that most of the malignant dis- 
 eases prevalent in the country were the result of 
 famine conditions and malnutrition. Philanthropy, 
 therefore, to be of permanent value must be carried on 
 in conjunction with a medical campaign. The doc- 
 tors and nurses deserve an ample share in the credit 
 for what was accomplished in Syria for the welfare of 
 the people. Indeed, the relief-work may be likened in 
 organization to a modern army, in which the medical 
 and sanitation departments are no less important than 
 the transport service and the commissariat. In ad- 
 dition to the support of doctors and nurses in con- 
 nection with the soup-kitchens and orphanages, regu- 
 lar appropriations were made from the relief-funds 
 to hospitals, or to Independent practitioners and nurses 
 who were limited in their possibilities of usefulness by 
 
1917 — The Year of Horror 199 
 
 the inability of the average patient to pay fees for 
 medical services or hospital care. Funds were also 
 made available in local pharmacies for the free dis- 
 tribution of medicines and drugs according to doctors* 
 prescriptions, and charity beds were maintained in sev- 
 eral hospitals. It must not be supposed, however, that 
 this line of activity freed either the physicians or the 
 hospitals from their own charitable responsibilities. 
 On the contrary, it was only a means of widening the 
 scope of their activities. They had themselves as- 
 sumed more than their full share of philanthropic ob- 
 ligations, but the need was greater than they could 
 cope with unaided. As a matter of fact, many a pa- 
 tient was turned away from a hospital, even when he 
 had friends who were willing to guarantee his ex- 
 penses, merely because there was no possible way of 
 making room for him. 
 
 The most painful of all the responsibilities laid upon 
 the handful of Americans in charge of the relief-work 
 was the necessity of selecting from a vast number 
 those who should constitute the small group that could 
 be supported by the limited funds at the disposal of the 
 Mission. It seemed that they were usurping a divine 
 prerogative when they deliberately determinated that 
 of two individuals who applied for assistance one 
 should be taken and the other left. It was literally 
 the old case of the two women grinding at the mill. 
 In general, however, an honest attempt was made to 
 predict the probable permanent value of an individual 
 to his country, and where the choice lay between the 
 young and the aged, the well-educated and the illiterate, 
 
200 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 the breadwinner of a family and the independent in- 
 dividual, in almost every case the former was chosen. 
 The resulting necessity of refusing many who had 
 every claim on our sympathy was a heart-breaking 
 ordeal, but one from which there was no escape. The 
 first principle of economy was to keep alive those on 
 whom funds had already been expended, and the sec- 
 ond was so to distribute further funds as to accom- 
 plish the greatest good. Whether the Mission suc- 
 ceeded or failed it is perhaps too early to judge. It 
 must be a satisfaction, however, to the American pub- 
 lic to know that the funds they contributed carried 
 fully 160,000 Syrians through to the end of the war, 
 each one of whom would indubitably have perished had 
 not America's generosity furnished the means of sal- 
 vation. Tens of thousands more were saved before 
 they reached the limit of utter destitution. 
 
 The fatalism of the East is proverbial, and has both 
 its good and its evil effects on the Oriental. This 
 fatalism, exaggerated during the war to positive 
 apathy by the overwhelming sense of helplessness and 
 impotence, generated a pitiful spirit in the people. 
 There is a tendency on the part of the Syrian to ac- 
 cept all the events of life, whether good or ill, as dis- 
 pensations of Providence, and the death of a child, or 
 success in a business venture are alike accepted as 
 "min-Alldh" (from God). At times one rather de- 
 plores this implicit faith, which often robs an indi- 
 vidual of the stimulating sense of personal responsi- 
 bility for his success in life. There is more incentive 
 to keen living in our English adage, " God helps those 
 
1917 — The Year of Horror 201 
 
 who help themselves.'* However, in Syria during the 
 war, I think that even the Americans were at times 
 oppressed with this sense of impotence. Every pos- 
 sible obstacle blocked the pathway of life, and even 
 the most conscientious efforts to help oneself and 
 others, and thereby merit the assistance of God, seemed 
 fruitless, so long as the powers of evil had the upper 
 hand. The struggle on the part of the Syrian people 
 to exist, over against the determination of the Turks 
 to exterminate them, seemed to me like the futile ef- 
 fort of a nation to build some tremendous edifice. 
 Stone by stone the pile was erected, but as fast as the 
 workers built the Turks destroyed. The most that 
 any one could do to assist in the unequal competition 
 was to help the builders replace on the foundations the 
 stones that were being thrown off by the despoiler. 
 In this case the race was to the swift. To-day circum- 
 stances are far different. The building is now grow- 
 ing, and there is scarcely a hand that is hindering. 
 The Turk has been ejected from the land, and Europe 
 and America have joined forces with the Syrians to 
 aid them in their endeavour to fashion for themselves 
 a place among the nations of the world. 
 
 Pessimism is not the word with which to describe 
 this peculiar mental attitude among the less intelli- 
 gent classes of Syrians. Fatalism comes nearer the 
 truth, and yet is not exactly descriptive of that strange 
 indifference, amounting almost to impersonality with 
 which the masses regarded the future. I recall par- 
 ticularly one instance which has remained vividly in 
 my memory. I had determined to walk from the 
 
201 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Lebanon village of *Aleih where I was summering in 
 1917 to 'Abeih, some ten miles further along the same 
 mountain ridge. There were no carriages or pack- 
 animals for hire and I was perplexed as to' how I should 
 transport my suitcase, which such a tenderfoot as I 
 found too great a burden. Through servants' gossip 
 it became known in *Aleih that I was to make the ex- 
 cursion, and the circumstances under which I was 
 travelling, and the evening before I left *Aleih a 
 neighbour woman came to the house and begged for 
 the privilege of carrying my bag for me. At first I 
 demurred, for I could not allow another woman to 
 carry a load which I myself could not manage. How- 
 ever, she insisted that she was strong, and being a 
 mountain woman had been accustomed to carrying 
 much heavier loads for greater distances. Moreover, 
 she was in desperate need of money, work was scarce, 
 and she was eager to avail herself of any opportunity 
 to turn an honest penny. Finally I consented, and we 
 set out together the following morning. We walked 
 slowly, for the heat was intense even in mid-October, 
 and the suitcase, while not very heavy, hindered my 
 companion's progress. As she knew a little English, 
 having served as a domestic in one of the community 
 families, we fell to chatting; and before our walk was 
 over I had learned another of the pitiful tales which 
 almost daily reached our ears. Her husband had 
 emigrated to Brazil some years before the war, leav- 
 ing her with three children, and no means of support 
 except the funds which he sent home. With the war, 
 his remittances had stopped, and she did not know 
 
1 9 1 7 — The Year of Horror 203 
 
 whether he was alive or dead. After she had told me 
 simply, and without the least note of complaint, of the 
 terrible struggle she had to keep the wolf from the 
 door, she asked me how long I thought the war would 
 continue. Naturally, I knew little more about it than 
 she did, but I had not the heart to give her too dis- 
 couraging an answer. " Perhaps we can live through 
 this coming winter, for the Americans have helped me 
 a little, and I am receiving some assistance from one 
 of my brothers who has a little shop ; but if it does not 
 finish by a year from now, I and my three children will 
 surely die." I tried to speak hopefully to her, but I 
 knew only too well that her words were quite true. 
 And her case was one of thousands — perhaps even less 
 serious than that of others, for she was receiving " a 
 little assistance," and most of the others had no aid 
 at all. 
 
 As I have just said, all the best American efforts at 
 relief were merely preventive, rather than curative. 
 We had put our shoulder to the wheel, as the figure 
 goes; but push as we might, we could accomplish no 
 more than to keep the cart from sliding downhill again. 
 We could not make it advance by even one revolution 
 of the wheel; and indeed it seemed as if even our 
 restraining efforts were fruitless, and that the time 
 must come when the cart would plunge down upon us, 
 bearing us with it to destruction. The Turks, more- 
 over, were doing their utmost to push it backwards. 
 Thousands of dollars of American money had been 
 poured into Syria, and had accomplished a vast amount 
 of good, but further tens of thousands must follow, 
 
204 .The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 else all that had already been expended would be 
 wasted. The situation would have been difficult enough 
 from the relief standpoint had there been merely 
 the economic forces to contend with, but with the Turk 
 doing his utmost to undo everything that could be done 
 for relief, directly blocking every move in advance, and 
 persecuting either Syrian or foreigner engaged in the 
 work of assistance it was well-nigh desperate. 
 
 The winter of 1916-17 was the worst that I myself 
 experienced in Syria, although I believe that the fol- 
 lowing year, when I was in Constantinople, was even 
 more ghastly. Disease and starvation spread abroad 
 throughout the land. In the city, refugees from Leb- 
 anon, driven down to the coast by the hope of there 
 obtaining work, or at least of escaping from the bitter 
 winter of the mountains, died in the streets. There 
 were days when on the walk of a mile from our house 
 to the office, Mr. Dana and I would pass as many as 
 ten or twelve people either dead or dying by the road- 
 side ; or with death only a few hours distant. During 
 the winter typhus raged, and in the summer cholera, 
 dysentery, and pernicious malaria swept over the whole 
 country. One passed four or five funerals each day 
 on any route, and the same coffin did service for every 
 corpse in a district until it literally fell to pieces. In 
 Lebanon conditions were even more distressing. In 
 the larger towns like 'Aleih, the dead were gathered 
 off from the streets in the morning, and were thrown 
 out on the hillside back of the town, where at night the 
 jackals and hyenas found them. In more isolated vil- 
 lages, especially in the high barren regions of North 
 
1917 — The Year of Horror 205 
 
 Lebanon, the whole population perished of starvation 
 and disease. There are certain hamlets where the liv- 
 ing population was completely obliterated, and where 
 to-day many of the houses still contain the unburied 
 skeletons of their former occupants. 
 
 The Government made no effort to ameliorate con- 
 ditions, although for a time it kept up the pretence of 
 rationing out flour to the poorest inhabitants of each 
 Lebanon village. I happen to know that during the 
 summer of 1916, when this particular hypocrisy was 
 being most widely advertised, in a village near Shwcir^ 
 in August the monthly rations were three months over- 
 due ; and even for the month of May, in which a distri- 
 bution had been made, no one had received his full 
 allotment. This pretence of Government assistance 
 was sustained largely by those who found this means 
 of robbery one of the most fruitful ways of preying 
 upon the unfortunate people. It also had an element 
 of zest, for it kept the poor in a state of constant hope 
 without giving them enough to preserve life. It was 
 the gossip of *Aleih that same summer that Jemal 
 Pasha had sent a carload of wheat as a present to the 
 poor of that village, and that it had been seized by a 
 wealthy Moslem in the town and sold for his own 
 profit. I cannot vouch for the truth of this story, but 
 I do know that it is typical of what actually occurred. 
 The bread which the Government distributed in most 
 cases contained no wheat at all, but was an unwhole- 
 some mixture of barley, corn, millet, and even earth 
 and tares. Certain diseases resulting from malnutri- 
 tion, such as pelagra, hitherto practically unknown in 
 
2o6 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Syria, became increasingly prevalent, and the germs of 
 scabies, dysentery, typhoid and malaria were every- 
 where. It was more than heart could bear to travel 
 about in Lebanon, and see the terrible evidences of 
 famine and death that stared one in the face. The 
 foreigner was literally besieged with requests for help, 
 which he could not grant ; and the wretched people who 
 had besought hkn turned away with the dumb pain of 
 a wounded animal, but never a word of complaint. 
 To give to one beggar in the street meant that twenty 
 would spring up out of the ground to demand alms; 
 and all of us had incurred special responsibilities, such 
 as the entire support of as many individuals as our 
 means would permit, so that we could not scatter our 
 funds to give one loaf of bread each to a hundred peo- 
 ple, when a hundred loaves would keep one person 
 alive for more than a month. 
 
 The most surprising thing to me in the whole situa- 
 tion was the absence of organized lawlessness, or even 
 of consistent raiding. I have frequently stood on 
 some mountain ridge and looked across the canyon to 
 a similar spur on the opposite side. From that bird's- 
 eye view I have marked the remote and tiny hamlets, 
 the isolated clusters of houses, even the single buildings 
 standing quite apart ; and have wondered why in such 
 a country robber bands had not sprung into existence. 
 There are fastnesses in Lebanon, both secret and im- 
 pregnable, where from ten to a hundred desperate men 
 might make their lair. Thence they could sally forth 
 to raid and terrorize, and no power of law and order 
 could have restrained them. There were, of course, 
 
1 9 1 7 — The Year of Horror 207 
 
 certain districts where brigandage was not uncommon, 
 and there were numerous cases where men were 
 robbed and murdered for their real or fancied wealth. 
 But such instances were the exception; in general, life 
 and property were respected, and it was quite safe even 
 for an individual to travel about in the mountains. 
 
 The traces of those terrible years are still evident in 
 Lebanon, and there are villages which to-day are de- 
 serted and in which the houses are falling into decay. 
 The history of the average Lebanon family during 
 the four years of the war was somewhat as follows. 
 The breadwinner was either a day-labourer or the pos- 
 sessor of a small piece of land which he had inherited 
 from his father and his grandfather, and which annu- 
 ally afforded him a scanty yield. Perhaps his land 
 was planted with mulberry trees. If so, the first crop 
 of leaves was fed to the silkworms during the spring, 
 and the later crops furnished fodder for a cow, or 
 served to fatten a sheep which was killed and salted 
 down for the winter. Perhaps he had a truck-garden, 
 whose meagre crops were only sufficient to feed him 
 and his family of six. In any event, he lived a hand- 
 to-mouth existence. He had nothing laid aside for a 
 rainy day; and when the war came and the silk in- 
 dustry ceased, and he had no money with which to buy 
 seeds for his garden, he had no alternative but to sell 
 his land, except the piece on which the house stood, 
 trusting either that he might find work in the city, or 
 that the war might end, and conditions immediately, as 
 he ignorantly supposed, resume their normal course. 
 He failed, however, to find work, and the second year 
 
2o8 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 of the war commenced. Then he sold everything in 
 his house except the beds on which his family slept, and 
 the one or two indispensable cooking utensils. Later, 
 he attempted to sell the house; but failing in this, he 
 stripped the tiles from the roof, and sold those, and 
 finally the iron or wooden beams that supported the 
 roof. He and his family moved down into what they 
 call in Syria a kubbeh, or vaulted cellar on the ground 
 level. This tided him through the second year of the 
 war. Typhus, which was raging in the village, carried 
 off his wife and one child during the winter that fol- 
 lowed. Of the four motherless children that remained 
 the eldest, a girl of ten, became the housekeeper, if 
 such a term can be applied to the woman in an estab- 
 lishment which possessed neither furniture, utensils, 
 nor a house that was intact. The baby died of dysen- 
 tery, and the father of cholera during the summer of 
 1916. The three other children were driven to beg- 
 ging, and two of them died of starvation and exposure. 
 The sole survivor of that family, a little boy of five, 
 was found at the point of death by Dr. Dray, the Eng- 
 lish doctor in charge of the orphanage and hospice at 
 BrummAna, and was nursed back to life and health. 
 About that Brumm^na work I want to tell you next. 
 
XIII 
 
 HOW AN ENGLISHMAN KEPT FOUR THOU- 
 SAND SYRIANS ALIVE 
 
 THE Brumm^na Hospice is even more widely 
 known as " Dr. Dray's Relief Work," for it 
 was originated and maintained through the 
 efforts of Dr. Arthur Dray, a member of the Faculty 
 of the Syrian Protestant College and head of the 
 Dental Department. Dr. Dray spent most of his early 
 life in Syria; and although he was an Englishman, 
 took his medical training in the United States. After 
 completing his extensive education, he gave up the 
 great career that lay before him in America to return 
 to Syria, where he believed that he might be of even 
 greater service. Not only is he preeminently the den- 
 tal surgeon in the whole of the former Turkish Em- 
 pire, but he is also licensed to practise in several other 
 departments of the medical profession. His special 
 interest, however, is in his dental work, and in the pur- 
 suit of this passion he has brought untold blessing to 
 Syria. There are comparatively few countries in the 
 world to-day that can compete with America in the 
 science of dentistry; but thanks to Dr. Dray, and his 
 associates and pupils of the Dental School of the 
 
 209 
 
210 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Syrian Protestant College, Syria may soon rightfully 
 boast that she has more skilled dentists in proportion 
 to her population than many countries more advanced 
 in other ways. 
 
 Dr. Dray's position in Turkey during the war was 
 unique. He had won the respect and confidence of the 
 two most influential Turks in Syria, largely through 
 their gratitude for his professional services; and al- 
 though he was an Englishman, and therefore an en- 
 emy, he was privileged above any other foreigner in 
 the country. The Turk is not celebrated for his hon- 
 esty, his patriotism, or his philanthropy, and his in- 
 stinct is to punish with the utmost cruelty any one who 
 possesses these qualities. He does, however, recognize 
 an honest and fearless man, and respects him, when 
 once he has satisfied himself that these qualities are 
 inherent and are not to be overcome by intimidation or 
 cruelty. There is much of the animal in the Turkish 
 nature. Figuratively speaking, a bold and steady gaze 
 will make him cringe, but the least sign of fear will 
 arouse his brute instincts and his thirst for blood. 
 
 Dr. Dray was one of the trio of British doctors on 
 the Faculty of the Syrian Protestant College who were 
 deported with their fellow-countrymen in December, 
 1914, but who later were allowed to return to Beirut in 
 order that the Medical School of the American College 
 might continue to produce doctors who could, upon 
 graduation, be drafted into the army. One midnight 
 in the summer of 1915 Dr. Dray was visited by Turk- 
 ish police who presented orders from Jemal Pasha 
 commanding him to proceed immediately to Jerusalem, 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 2 1 1 
 
 The poHce would furnish no explanation of this per- 
 emptory order, but Dr. Dray's natural assumption was 
 that the intent was hostile. It was something of a re- 
 lief, however, to be told that he must bring his surgical 
 equipment. 
 
 That night he travelled to Damascus, and upon his 
 arrival there he was told that in an hour or two there 
 would be a special train to take him on to Jerusalem — 
 a special train for a belligerent doctor, when the Ger- 
 man Commander-in-Chief was practically the only per- 
 sonage in Syria who travelled in such style! Even 
 Jemal Pasha himself preferred less conspicuous modes 
 of conveyance. Arrived in Jerusalem, Dr. Dray was 
 conducted immediately to Jemal Pasha's quarters in 
 the German Stiftung on the Mount of Olives, where 
 he was required to operate without a moment's delay 
 on an influential Turkish guest of Jemal Pasha. The 
 Pasha and his companion, who was a member of the 
 royal family at the Capital, had been driving together 
 when a shot was fired into their carriage. It had evi- 
 dently been intended for the Commander of the Turk- 
 ish Army, but it hit the other man, inflicting serious 
 facial injuries. The wound had been neglected, and 
 the patient was in a very grave state when Dr. Dray 
 first saw him. The operation proved miraculously 
 successful, and Jemal Pasha was delighted. He show- 
 ered the doctor with attentions, and returned him to 
 Beirut with a letter of highest recommendation to the 
 Governor of that city. He dropped the warning, how- 
 ever, that if he ever had cause to suspect that the mat- 
 ter had gotten out through Dr. Dray, it would go hard 
 
212 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 with him. It was evident that the Turk was deter- 
 mined that no hint of the unpopularity which had re- 
 sulted in an attempt on his life should reach his jealous 
 colleagues in Constantinople. Needless to say, Dr. 
 Dray guarded the secret as his own, and never men- 
 tioned it to any one until after the British occupation 
 of Syria, and the flight of the Pasha from Constanti- 
 nople. The great Turk's gratitude reminds one of the 
 story of Androcles and the Lion. Thenceforth he 
 could not do too much for Dr. Dray, and there were 
 even times when the Doctor was forced to remind his 
 "grateful patient** that he was himself a British 
 patriot, and therefore an enemy of the Turk. Even 
 this defiance, however, only seemed to increase the 
 Pasha's respect, and as long as he was in power he 
 manifested consistent friendliness to the Doctor, and 
 through him to the College. 
 
 The letter of recommendation brought by Dr. Dray 
 from Jemal Pasha to Azmi Bey was not at all favour- 
 ably received by the latter, and it was not until he him- 
 self was suffering from an ulcerated tooth that he too 
 surrendered to necessity and sent for Dr. Dray. From 
 that time onward he was very friendly toward the 
 Doctor, and on several occasions even commanded him 
 to dinner. Those must have been pleasant meals, for 
 although the Governor entertained his guest gra- 
 ciously, he took no pains to hide the loaded revolvers 
 which were to be found in every part of his house al- 
 ways within reach of the notorious assassin ! 
 
 All this is by way of explanation how it came about 
 that a year later Dr. Dray, an enemy of the Turkish 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 213 
 
 regime, but the friend of the Syrian people, was per- 
 mitted to organize and carry on extensive relief- 
 work in Lebanon. He had chosen for his summer- 
 residence the village of Brummt\na, about fifteen miles 
 from Beirut, one of the few summering places acces- 
 sible from the city at that time when transport was un- 
 obtainable, and one had to depend upon one's own legs 
 to carry one up and down the mountain. It so hap- 
 pened that Jemal Pasha was also summering in Brum- 
 m^na; and although Dr. Dray encountered him sel- 
 dom, it later proved a fortunate thing for the poor in a 
 great district that these two men visited in that locality 
 at the same time. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Dray were guests at the Saalmiiller 
 Hotel, which is delightfully situated on a ridge com- 
 manding one of the loveliest views of Lebanon, Beirut 
 and the coastal plain to the north and west, and the 
 ascending steeps of the higher Lebanon ranges to the 
 south and east. By reason of its pines, in a region 
 where trees are all too few, Brumm^na had become a 
 special favourite among the nearer summering places ; 
 and had it not been for the distress about them. Dr. 
 and Mrs. Dray would have enjoyed a most restful and 
 peaceful vacation. Apart from the habitations of 
 men, with the ever-lovely panorama of Lebanon scen- 
 ery to delight and refresh the soul, Swinburne's lines 
 came to mind: 
 
 " Here, where the world is quiet, 
 Here, where all trouble seems 
 Dead winds' and spent waves* riot. 
 In doubtful dreams of dreams." 
 
214 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 From the eyrie of Lebanon the war seemed incredible, 
 and trouble only a " doubtful dream of dreams " ; but 
 into such a reverie of peace the spectre of reality never 
 failed to penetrate. The solitary dreamer was startled 
 by a whine at his elbow, " God has been generous to 
 you, oh my brother ! " The very personification of 
 misery met the lifted eye. A walking skeleton clad in 
 filthy rags extended its cla\y-like hand. 
 
 The first morning in Brumm^na, the Doctor took 
 his book out under the trees, but he was followed by 
 several persons who, having learned of his arrival, had 
 come to him for help, even as the multitudes besieged 
 that other Healer when He went out from the city into 
 the hills. Dr. Dray did not dismiss them, but en- 
 couraged them to tell him of their need ; and after they 
 had gone away, he sat for a long time and pondered. 
 Here was evidently an opportunity to heal and save, 
 but before the work could be undertaken there was still 
 the problem to solve: shall I feed them to-day and let 
 them starve to-morrow, or shall I use my limited means 
 to care for a few individuals for an indefinite period, 
 until the end of the war, or until they can become self- 
 supporting? Never was there a greater test of faith 
 than the decision which resulted from that morning's 
 reflection. Dr. Dray determined to accept a limited 
 number of proteges whom he promised himself to sup- 
 port until the time of need should be past. He saw his 
 way clear for some months to come, but how he should 
 fulfil this self-imposed obligation in the uncertain fu- 
 ture he left for the future to answer. 
 
 Jemal Pasha's presence in the village rendered the 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 215 
 
 work that Dr. Dray contemplated quite impossible 
 until the former could be induced to give his sanction 
 to such a charitable undertaking. On an appropriate 
 occasion the Doctor sketched briefly the tragic condi- 
 tions that obtained, and intimated his readiness to do 
 what he could in the way of relief. The Pasha gra- 
 ciously gave his consent on condition that no males be- 
 tween twelve and sixty should benefit by the enter- 
 prise; but he brusquely stated that, if Dr. Dray ever 
 quoted him as having made that stipulation, the work 
 would immediately be terminated, and the Doctor pun- 
 ished for his indiscretion. 
 
 The necessity of excluding men from among the 
 possible beneficiaries of such work as Dr. Dray 
 planned was a matter of little importance. It was the 
 pitiful plight of the women and children — particularly 
 the children — that made his heart ache ; and to the men 
 who later solicited his assistance he replied that they 
 should by rights be serving in the army of their coun- 
 try, and that he could do nothing to countenance the 
 neglect of patriotic duties. Later the Pasha dropped 
 a remark which was interpreted as permission to em- 
 ploy a few men as labourers, but the number of the 
 men on the list of beneficiaries was always negligible. 
 
 In the beginning. Dr. Dray adopted the plan of giv- 
 ing to those few whose need he had investigated and 
 found to be genuine small amounts of money, only 
 sufficient for their daily needs. In a few days, how- 
 ever, large numbers who had heard of this relief 
 thronged to the hotel, and Dr. Dray realized that he 
 must, in fairness to the other guests, make other ar- 
 
2 16 The Dawn of a New Erain Syria 
 
 rangemcnts for his relief-work. Accordingly, he ar- 
 ranged with a woman in the village to prepare a simple 
 meal of cooked vegetables and bread for the fifteen 
 persons whom he had accepted as his proteges. This 
 experiment, however, did not prove a success; but a 
 Syrian friend, Mrs. Cortass, offered her services for 
 the preparation of the one meal a day which Dr. Dray 
 had decided to give those he was helping. Fifteen 
 partook of that first meal, but by the end of a year the 
 BrummAna Soup-Kitchen, as it subsequently became, 
 was feeding fifteen hundred or more. 
 
 The rapidity with which a charitable enterprise of 
 any nature is advertised among the people, and the 
 confidence with which the needy throng to the center 
 of assistance recalls the story of the Gospels. Every 
 day from that time until the end of the war, new per- 
 sons came with their stories of distress, each more 
 heartrending than the last, and within a week there 
 were fifty instead of fifteen to feed; and a few days 
 later one hundred. Mrs. Cortass could no longer feed 
 this crowd from her own door, and the kitchen was 
 moved to a neighbouring French hotel which had been 
 seized, occupied, and then abandoned by Turkish 
 troops. During the remainder of the summer, the 
 food was given out from this place. What this work 
 subsequently became can best be described by a brief 
 account of what it was when I visited it in October, 
 1917, about fifteen months later. 
 
 It was eight o'clock in the morning, a crisp autumn 
 day with a tang in the air that gave one a keen appetite, 
 and made one seek the sunshine. It was the hour for 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 2 1 7 
 
 the morning distribution at the Brummana Soup- 
 Kitchen, and the crowd was gathering in a small pine 
 grove a stone's throw from the distribution shanty. I 
 was sitting in this shack watching the preparations for 
 the distribution. Men were hurrying from the oven 
 carrying great basket trays heaped with fragrant 
 loaves of bread, or staggering along with enormous 
 cauldrons of steaming gruel. In a few moments a 
 young man who was standing just outside the grove 
 where the crowd was waiting began to read off the list 
 of names of those regularly enrolled for help ; and they 
 came forward single-file, down a fenced pathway, and 
 halted before the rail over which the food was served 
 only long enough to present their tickets and receive 
 their allotment of gruel and bread. Each one brought 
 his own receptacle, and the study of these vessels alone 
 was ludicrously pathetic. One had an old battered 
 enamel pitcher, another a rusty tin pail, another a bis- 
 cuit box fitted up with a flimsy handle of wire, an- 
 other an earthenware crock or jar, and still others old 
 tin cans. Some of these utensils were large enough to 
 hold the portions for a family of four or five, others 
 held only the one huge ladleful that represented a 
 single portion. 
 
 As that tragic line filed past, one of the Syrian 
 helpers deftly ladled out the gruel, and another handed 
 out the bread, one loaf for each portion. Again and 
 again a fresh kettle of soup or another tray of bread 
 was brought up to replace the one which had just been 
 emptied ; the distribution lasted nearly an hour. Out 
 of the twelve hundred fed that day, nine-tenths were 
 
2l8 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria ^ 
 
 children, and the rest were women. For reasons al- 
 ready explained, there were no men or boys over 
 twelve in that line; and fully a fourth of the number 
 who presented their empty buckets to be filled could 
 hardly reach up over the rail, they were so tiny. Mrs. 
 Dray, who was sitting beside me, watched them all 
 with motherly solicitude, and to each she gave a 
 friendly nod in return for the affectionate salaams with 
 which they greeted her. To some she addressed a 
 question, to others she hinted the advisability of 
 greater cleanliness, or presented a ticket for a new. 
 garment. She knew them all by name and history, and 
 many a fragmentary tragedy she v^hispered to me as 
 some particularly pathetic individual passed before us. 
 What impressed me most, however, and what most 
 wrung my heart was the frequency with which she 
 would point out some little tot who was entirely alone 
 in the world, the sole survivor of a family of six, eight, 
 or ten individuals. One had only to examine the face 
 and the figure to estimate how long a person had been 
 fed at the Soup-Kitchen. Those who had been pen- 
 sioners for some months were sturdy and wholesome in 
 appearance, and had lost that strained look of anxiety 
 and apprehension. Those who were newly come were 
 still emaciated, timid, and cowed. Some were shiver- 
 ing with ague or malaria, others had terrible sore eyes ; 
 but each, if only he remained on the Soup-Kitchen list, 
 had the certainty of food and medical care until the 
 end of the war. 
 
 At the end of each distribution came the most trying 
 ordeal for those in charge of the relief-work. There 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 219 
 
 were never less than fifty stragglers who were not on 
 the Hst, but who had assembled with the others in the 
 hope that any left-overs might fall to their lot. At 
 first, whatever remained was distributed as far as it 
 would go, but in time the number who depended on 
 sharing this small quantity of food became so great, 
 and fights over it were so frequent that finally the dis- 
 tributor had to refuse to give even what was left to any 
 that were not on the regular list. It was pitiful to see 
 the disappointment of the unfortunate ones when they 
 realized that there was not one drop or one crumb to 
 spare, and that they could not immediately be enrolled 
 among the lucky ones. 
 
 The food was cooked in enormous cauldrons, and it 
 was inevitable in the preparation of such a quantity 
 that a residue should stick to the bottom of the vessel 
 and char there. Although this was burned, it con- 
 tained a certain amount of nutriment, and it was care- 
 fully scraped ofif and given to the two watch-dogs that 
 guarded the premises. When the people discovered 
 this fact they went down on their knees and begged 
 that it be given to them instead of the dogs, a request 
 which could not be refused, and they devoured it as 
 ravenously as the dogs themselves would have done. 
 
 Had Dr. Dray obeyed his own great heart, or re- 
 sponded to the full need of that district, he might have 
 fed fifteen thousand daily; but his funds were limited, 
 and the most diflficult of all the difiiicult things he had 
 to do was to turn away those destitute people who be- 
 sought his aid, and who assured him, all too truly as 
 he knew, that no one but God and himself could save 
 
220 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 them from certain death a few days or weeks hence. 
 Dr. Dray pled with his treasurer for increased appro- 
 priations, and the latter in his turn did his utmost to 
 obtain contributions from wealthy and influential 
 friends. But after all, the Brumm^na work was only 
 one of many similar organizations, and the need there, 
 great as it was, was no greater than that of other dis- 
 tricts. A few cases which Dr. Dray cited as typical 
 reveal the tragedies which resulted from his inability 
 to increase his work beyond a certain limit. 
 
 One day a poor woman visited him in his office in 
 Beirut. She had five children with her, and all were 
 manifestly starving. She told the Doctor that her 
 husband was in the United States, but that she had not 
 been able to communicate with him, or receive any 
 financial assistance from him. She stated the simple 
 fact that they could not live more than a few days 
 unless some one helped them, and having heard of Dr. 
 Dray's hospice, she had come to implore him to take 
 the children in. For herself she asked nothing. She 
 was ready to die as soon as she knew they were pro- 
 vided for, and she only asked that after the war was 
 over the Doctor would tell her husband that she had 
 done her best for her children and his. The hospice 
 was already full to overflowing, and the Doctor was 
 turning away daily dozens of similar cases, but he 
 finally told the mother that he would take two of the 
 five children. He had no sooner spoken than he saw 
 his mistake, for the poor mother had then to decide 
 which of her darlings she should choose. She herself 
 must appoint the two to live in the knowledge that the 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 22 f 
 
 other three would certainly die with her. Her distress 
 was more than Dr. Dray could bear, and he finally con- 
 sented to take all five, although he did not know what 
 he could do with them. 
 
 In another case, a mother with two children, the only 
 survivors of a family of six or seven little ones, came 
 to him with the same request. This father also was in 
 America. The mother would die content, if only the 
 hospice would take her children and Dr. Dray would 
 promise to tell her husband that she had done her best 
 for them. It was impossible, so it seemed to the Doc- 
 tor then, to accept another child into the already 
 crowded hospice, but he gave the mother a letter to 
 Azmi Bey recommending her for enrollment in one of 
 the municipal soup-kitchens in Beirut. It was a cold, 
 rainy day in winter. The Doctor had walked up to 
 Brumm^na to oversee the work, and was hurrying to 
 start back to Beirut before night fell. About an hour 
 after the woman had left he himself started on the long 
 tramp through the rain. A short distance out of 
 Brummdna he came upon the mother lying dead by the 
 roadside, her weeping babes shivering beside her. 
 What could he do but turn back to Brummdna taking 
 the children with him ? 
 
 Such cases as these are what might be called the 
 fortunate ones, for at least certain members of these 
 families were finally enrolled on the Soup-Kitchen list. 
 What, though, of the others for whom there was no 
 room ? Some months later Dr. Dray took me down to 
 a little pine grove on the edge of a precipice not more 
 than thirty yards from the kitchen where the food for 
 
222 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 distribution was cooked. In that little clump of trees 
 we found the bones of three people, a woman and two 
 children. They had died there of starvation with the 
 odour of food in their nostrils, and the wild animals of 
 the hills had eaten their bodies, leaving their bones to 
 whiten on the ground. That tells the story of thou- 
 sands. 
 
 After the distribution was over, Mrs. Dray took me 
 on a tour of inspection. The work was located in the 
 extensive grounds of the hotel previously mentioned, 
 and there were two or three hundred employees en- 
 gaged in preparing the food and maintaining the estab- 
 lishment. We passed first a shed where about thirty- 
 five women were " stuffing '* sheep. Some were gath- 
 ering mulberry leaves, or chopping them up fine; 
 others, squatting on the ground hour after hour, 
 crammed the food into the sheeps' mouths. A sheep 
 fattened in this way soon becomes so heavy that its 
 legs will not bear its weight, and one feels that the 
 process is unnecessarily cruel when one sees the poor 
 beast lying on the ground gasping for breath between 
 swallows, with the inexorable " stuff er " still forcing 
 food down its throat. At the end of the summer a 
 good fat sheep weighs as much as one hundred or one 
 hundred and fifty pounds before it is butchered, and 
 yields between twenty-five and thirty pounds of dressed 
 meat. This is salted and preserved in its own fat to 
 be used during the winter when it is difficult to secure 
 fresh meat. 
 
 Afterwards we crossed the road and inspected the 
 charcoal kiln where all the fuel used in the kitchens 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 223 
 
 was prepared by the few men who were receiving as- 
 sistance. The wood for the charcoal was contributed 
 entirely by the beneficiaries of the Soup-Kitchen in 
 partial return for their support. Certain of the men 
 felled the trees, and carried the wood on their backs in 
 some cases for a distance of five, or ten miles, or even 
 more. Others cut it into lengths, and prepared the 
 kilns, over each of which presided a specialist in the art 
 of charcoal manufacture. The output of this branch 
 of the industry was for that season about fifty tons of 
 charcoal, a small portion of which was consumed in 
 the kitchens, while the rest was sold in the market for 
 the maintenance of the relief-work. 
 
 Further along was a low shed where fifteen or 
 twenty women were shaping the loaves of bread for 
 the oven. What we know as " Arab bread " is a curi- 
 ous thing. The dough is prepared just as our bread 
 dough, but after kneading it is divided into lumps as 
 large as a woman can hold in one fist. These are set 
 to rise, and then each is patted out into a thin disk 
 about eight inches in diameter and one-eighth of an 
 inch thick. These queer loaves when baked in a very 
 hot oven in close contact with the heat puff up like 
 " popovers," and when cold split naturally into plate- 
 like halves which, when well baked, are thin and 
 crusty. This is the most convenient form of bread in 
 the world. The labourer in Syria lays between the 
 layers the cheese and olives which complete his meal, 
 and thrusts the sandwich inside of his blouse. When 
 he eats, he uses one half as a plate, and pieces of the 
 other for a spoon. There is no compact American pic- 
 
224 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 nic-set which can compare with it! An Arab loaf 
 weighs about a quarter of a pound, and contains suffi- 
 cient nourishment for a meal, if there are other articles 
 on the menu, although a man, or a boy with a healthy 
 appetite, will eat as many as five or six at a time if he 
 can get them. About five thousand loaves were baked 
 every day at the Brumm^na Soup-Kitchen, and about 
 half of that number were given out over the rail at the 
 distribution shed. The employees received two loaves 
 for a meal, and a third meal each day for themselves 
 and the members of their immediate families, although 
 the regular distribution provided for only two meals, 
 morning and noon. 
 
 By far the most interesting place behind the scenes 
 at the Soup-Kitchen was the stores department. To 
 this Mrs. Cortass, who had assisted Dr. Dray from the 
 very beginning, held the keys. As a matter of fact, 
 although she and her husband had now several hun- 
 dred employees under them, the entire management of 
 the plant was in their hands — of course under the su- 
 pervision of Dr. and Mrs. Dray. Wheat, being the 
 principal staple of diet, occupied most of the space in 
 the storehouse, although only a portion of the supply 
 could be kept there at a time, since the normal con- 
 sumption of the Soup-Kitchen was about a quarter of 
 a ton a day. In upper rooms there were dried vege- 
 tables, lentils, beans, and potatoes, with onions, peppers 
 and ochra hanging in festoons on the walls and from 
 the ceiling. In great jars standing on the floor, or in 
 smaller crocks locked away in cupboards, were gallons 
 of a salt tomato ketchup used as seasoning in Syria, 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 225 
 
 by those who can afford it, when fresh vegetables arc 
 no longer obtainable ; also salted meat made from the 
 fattened sheep. In the Soup-Kitchen these foods 
 were necessities rather than luxuries, for both toma- 
 toes and meat played an important part in the schedule 
 of " balanced rations." 
 
 There was a beautifully clean dairy where the milk, 
 cheese and butter were cared for and were prepared 
 for the patients in the hospitals, or the infants in 
 the " babery," The hospice had its own herd 
 of cattle, and Dr. Dray saw to it that the dairy prod- 
 ucts were handled with proper scientific care and 
 cleanliness. 
 
 The food at the Brumm^na Soup-Kitchen was pre- 
 pared with due regard for food-values. The ingredi- 
 ents included the essentials of a wholesome and nutri- 
 tious diet: fats, proteins, acids, salt, and sugar. 
 Tomatoes and lemons supplied the necessary acid, and 
 were calculated particularly to ward off such diseases 
 as scurvy. Onions were provided as a blood-tonic. 
 Whenever fresh vegetables could be obtained in the 
 market in sufficient quantity and at a reasonable figure 
 they were used freely. The morning that I was there, 
 instead of the usual, and probably monotonous, gruel, 
 eggplants formed the piece de resistance. These the 
 people either roasted in the coals, or ate raw with salt, 
 and they were evidently welcomed as a great delicacy. 
 The noon meal usually consisted of a good, nourishing 
 stew of fresh or dried vegetables cooked with meat and 
 olive oil. Portions were ample, and there was always 
 a loaf of bread with each portion. 
 
226 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 We next visited the three hospitals, one for men, 
 one for women, and one for eye-cases, in which stu- 
 dent doctors and nurses from the Syrian Protestant 
 College gave the best of medical treatment to any pen- 
 sioners of the Soup-Kitchen who were in need of spe- 
 cial attention. Dr. Dikran Utidjian was at that time 
 the resident physician, and Dr. Dray is enthusiastic in 
 praise of his management of the medical department. 
 Most of the patients at the time when I was there were 
 suffering from pernicious malaria, scabies, dysentery, 
 or other disorders caused by malnutrition. There was 
 also an appalling number of cases of ophthalmia, com- 
 monly known in Syria as " sore eyes." There was 
 also an emergency case that morning. Two of the 
 wood-cutters had got into a fight, and one had received 
 a deep gash across the palm of his hand which necessi- 
 tated several stitches. I wondered what the penalty 
 for this misconduct would be, and was told that both 
 contestants would be " laid off " for a week, and would 
 consequently fast and have ample time to repent of 
 their sins. 
 
 Last of all we visited the three shelters, for girls, 
 boys, and babies. In each of the first two there were 
 from forty to sixty children. Not only did they sleep 
 and eat in the shelters, but they attended classes, 
 graded according to their abilities, exercised in out-of- 
 door play and gymnastic drill, and employed their 
 leisure time in industrial occupations. The girls spun 
 wool, or made it up into caps, sweaters, stockings or 
 dresses for themselves or their younger brothers and 
 sisters. The boys learned carpentry and masonry so 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 227 
 
 thoroughly that they were able to build the stone house 
 that later was used as a kitchen. 
 
 One of the most touching sights of that visit I saw 
 at noon in the boys* hospice. The lunch of vegetable 
 stew and Arab bread had been spread on long settles, 
 and the children under the leadership of a teacher filed 
 silently into the room, each standing before his own 
 steaming plate. And then, before a spoon was lifted, 
 each bowed his head; and these same children who 
 would have fought each other like savages at the mere 
 sight of food a few months earlier, and who would 
 have devoured it without delay, repeated in unison the 
 Arabic words of the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 Before we went to our own luncheon, we stopped to 
 see the distribution of wool to the women workers, and 
 the examination of the finished products. The care 
 with which this department is checked gives a hint of 
 the many possibilities of leakage, but thanks to the 
 Syrian assistants who knew their own people well 
 enough to predict in what directions they might be 
 tempted, and thanks also to Mrs. Dray's shrewdness, 
 this department was conducted with little or no loss, 
 and with enormous benefit to the employees. The 
 wool was assigned to the workers by weight, in quan- 
 tities sufficient to make a specified article. Each day 
 the worker brought her work to headquarters for in- 
 spection; and the garment, as far as she had proceeded, 
 together with the wool still remaining, was weighed and 
 checked with the amount originally assigned. I won- 
 dered to see the superintendent run a knitting needle 
 through the ball of yam, but Mrs. Dray whispered to 
 
228 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 me that one woman had been caught stealing wool, and 
 substituting a stone to make up the necessary weight. 
 The finished articles, when accepted, were turned in 
 and the worker received a ticket which entitled her to 
 extra food-allowance in lieu of wages. The hospice 
 was very proud of the fact that the most skillful spin- 
 ner in the whole establishment was a little boy five 
 years old ! 
 
 This work of Dr. Dray was begun in the summer of 
 1916 and was continued for thirty months until the 
 American Red Cross arrived in November, 1918, a 
 month after the British occupation, to take over all the 
 relief -work in Syria. The list of beneficiaries included 
 not only residents of Brumm^na and adjacent villages, 
 but also the inhabitants of more than fifty other small 
 towns in the vicinity. Some of the pensioners came 
 up daily from Mansuriyeh, about two hours further 
 down the mountain; and the only survivors of that vil- 
 lage to-day (about one-fifth of the original popula- 
 tion) are those whom Dr. Dray saved either in the 
 Brumm^na Soup-Kitchen or by the distribution of 
 funds in the village. Later, as the representatives 
 from outlying villages became more numerous, ar- 
 rangements were made to send the portion for each to 
 a center in the village, thus saving the inhabitants of 
 more distant places a daily tramp of several weary 
 hours through the mountains. People came to Brum- 
 m^na from all over the country in the hope of obtain- 
 ing assistance; and if there were any chance of being 
 enrolled on the Soup-Kitchen list, they camped in the 
 vicinity. The fame of the Muta'am, as the Syrians 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 229 
 
 called it, was published throughout the land, and starv- 
 ing people came a great distance to petition for enroll- 
 ment. Every pauper in Syria seemed to believe that, 
 if only he were in Brumm^-na, he too would be fed; 
 and pilgrims from distant villages who could not be 
 included in the already over-large list died on the hills 
 about the town. 
 
 During the thirty months that Dr. Dray was in 
 charge of this work about four thousand two hundred 
 individuals received assistance for a period of at least 
 two months. Another sixteen hundred might be reck- 
 oned in this total, if one counted those who had re- 
 ceived help for less than two months. About seven- 
 teen hundred was the maximum number that was fed 
 at any one time. More than fifty villages were repre- 
 sented. Nine-tenths of the number were children and 
 the rest women. Perhaps a score of men were paid 
 with food for their labour about the premises. The 
 total sum expended for the Brumm^na work was ap- 
 proximately $180,000 for the thirty months, an aver- 
 age of about $105 per capita. Considering the price 
 of foodstuffs in Syria during the war, this is a truly 
 remarkable record. Wheat alone, during the later 
 months of the war, was sold in the open market for 
 more than $1,000 a ton, and Dr. Dray*s success with the 
 limited sum at his disposal is little short of a miracle. 
 
 The first contributions that Dr. Dray received for 
 his relief-work in Brumm^na were items of $15, $30, 
 and $Y5 respectively, that were given him by Mr. Dana 
 from a private fund left with him for special cases that 
 he might wish to help. Later, when the work was orr 
 
230 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 ganized on a sound basis and bade fair to be a success, 
 he was regularly supplied by Mr. Dana and Mr. Erd- 
 man from relief-funds. A private contribution of 
 about $20,000 was raised also among certain wealthy 
 Syrians in Beirut. Although the Brummilna Hospice 
 and Soup-Kitchen may, therefore, be claimed by the 
 American Mission as one of its relief projects, the full 
 credit for its management belongs to Dr. Dray. The 
 idea originated with him, and he contributed largely 
 toward its maintenance from his own pocket, and even 
 more lavishly from his time. He devoted three entire 
 summer-vacations to this work ; and during the winter, 
 while he was occupied in Beirut with his collegiate 
 duties, he walked many times each month up to Brum- 
 m^na to make sure that things were running smoothly. 
 During the winter of 1916, when he himself could not 
 be on the spot all the time, Professor William H. Hall 
 of the Syrian Protestant College, who was temporarily 
 relieved of his teaching responsibilities, took up his 
 residence in Brumm^na to supervise the work. The 
 following winter (1917-18) Rev. William A. Freid- 
 inger of the American Mission was released by Leba- 
 non Station in order that he might carry on the work 
 which Mr. Hall had so ably conducted the previous 
 year. During the whole of the thirty months of its 
 existence, however, the BrummAna work was Dr. 
 Dray's special responsibility, and he was the only 
 director whom the government officials would recog- 
 nize. Hence it fell to him to make all the necessary 
 arrangements in connection with procuring supplies, or 
 dealing otherwise with the Turkish officials. 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 231 
 
 In addition to Mr. Hall and Mr. Freidinger, Dr. 
 Dray was fortunate in his associates. His Syrian as- 
 sistants were indefatigable in their efforts for the suc- 
 cess of the enterprise, and all who profited by the relief 
 owe a special debt of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Cor- 
 tass, who bore a large share of the responsibility of the 
 management. Dr. Utidjian and his assistants in the 
 hospitals have already been mentioned, and there were 
 many other loyal helpers who contributed generously 
 to the success of the work. 
 
 After the occupation Dr. Dray transferred his relief 
 unit over to the American Red Cross, which, in turn, 
 handed it over to the Syria and Palestine Relief Fund. 
 The orphanage has been continued, but it is a consid^ 
 erable disappointment to Dr. Dray, and to those inter- 
 ested in his work, that the flourishing industrial de- 
 partment has been abandoned. This great enterprise 
 has to-day dwindled to insignificant proportions; and 
 the Brumm^na work, once famous all over Syria, is 
 now of no special interest or importance. 
 
 It was a peculiar fact that the very government offi- 
 cials who were most determinedly bent on exterminat- 
 ing the Syrian people vied with each other in their pat- 
 ronage of the Brumm^na Relief- Work. Jemal Pasha 
 regarded this work as his own special protege, and the 
 Governor of Beirut, not to be outdone by his great 
 rival, was also pleased to favour it. Tahsin Bey, Gov- 
 ernor of Damascus, from whose district most of the 
 wheat used in Brumm^na was purchased, and Ali 
 Munif, and his successor, Ismail Hakki Bey, the Gov- 
 ernors of Lebanon, also visited and commended the 
 
232 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 work. On one occasion three Governors of Turkish 
 provinces made a special trip to visit the work and 
 consented to be photographed with certain members of 
 the relief-staff. This visit of these three Governors 
 marks a great event in the history of the Brummana 
 Soup-Kitchen. 
 
 There were many other soup-kitchens and hospices 
 under American management in Syria, in various dis- 
 tricts in Lebanon, and in Tripoli and Sidon. Most of 
 these were patterned after Dr. Dray's model, and 
 therefore need not be described in detail. In the 
 Sidon district a soup-kitchen was organized and man- 
 aged by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart D. Jessup. This pro- 
 vided for one hundred and fifty children throughout 
 the winter of 1916-17. Four sub-kitchens in outlying 
 districts were later established and superintended by 
 other members of the American Mission in Sidon, thus 
 increasing the number of beneficiaries to about four 
 hundred. 
 
 V In Suk-el-Gharb, Lebanon, Mr. George Scherer con- 
 ducted another soup-kitchen along similar lines, and 
 during the last two years of the war it is estimated 
 that he provided for about three thousand people, the 
 majority of whom were children. 
 
 Mr. Bayard Dodge of the Syrian Protestant College, 
 previously mentioned as a member of the Red Cross 
 Executive Committee, and now a member of the Per- 
 manent Committee for American Relief in Syria, sup- 
 ported about twelve thousand individuals from funds 
 that he personally contributed. His central kitchen 
 was in 'Abeih, Lebanon, which supplied scores of yil- 
 
Four Thousand Syrians Kept Alive 233 
 
 lages in the district ; and he had extensive charitable in- 
 terests in other localities. There is a cluster of pic- 
 turesque villages perched on the steep mountain- 
 side back of Shemlan which to-day owe their very 
 existence to Mr. " Dudj," and any one who knew the 
 history of American relief in Syria might point out 
 to the traveller dozens of other towns which he has 
 saved. 
 
 It need not be explained that such extensive relief 
 activities required not only a tremendous financial 
 backing, but also enormous purchases of supplies, espe- 
 cially wheat. How the American Mission expended 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief, believing 
 that it would, one day be reimbursed by the relief socie- 
 ties in America, and how that faith was soon justified 
 by the announcement of a regular monthly appropria- 
 tion from the Armenian and Syrian Relief Committee 
 has already been described. The tale of the way in 
 which the necessary supplies were secured would con- 
 stitute a chapter in itself, and a thrilling one at that, 
 but there is no space here to describe it in detail. In 
 the summer of 1917 these purchases for relief- work 
 became so large that the Government grew alarmed and 
 determined to put a stop to such extensive activities. 
 The Vdli of Beirut arrested Mr. Dana, who was direct- 
 ing the relief-work in Syria, and ordered his deporta- 
 tion. Later in Constantinople Mr. Dana was accused 
 of acting as the agent of the enemy in the purchase of 
 supplies in preparation for an enemy advance. This 
 was the first intimation that he received as to the form 
 of the trumped-up charge against hirtu Fortunately 
 
234 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 there were able successors to carry on the relief pro- 
 gram which he had instituted, and the work proceeded 
 without further interruption until the British occupa- 
 tion of Syria less than a year later. 
 
XIV 
 
 THE DEPORTATION AND IMPRISONMENT 
 
 OF THE DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN 
 
 RELIEF IN SYRIA 
 
 THERE is only one thing of which you can 
 always be sure in Turkey — that the unex- 
 pected will certainly happen. The summer 
 of 1917 was, on the surface, uneventful, yet we felt all 
 the time that something would surely occur ; and when 
 the actual crash came, it seemed more or less the ex- 
 pected thing. Practically all the Americans left Beirut 
 for the mountains that summer. There was little 
 coming and going between the city and the various 
 mountain homes because conveyances were few and 
 prohibitive in price. We had scarcely any excite- 
 ments, save watching an occasional aeroplane bomb the 
 city, or seeing British cruisers shell the German benzine 
 depot near the port. We heard constant rumours of a 
 possible landing on the coast. There seemed, in that 
 event, little likelihood of an advance being made into 
 the mountains, which were somewhat fortified, and, in 
 1917, contained a number of troops. However wel- 
 come an invasion would have been, we might have 
 found ourselves cut off from friends and funds in 
 Beirut, in which case we should have had the choice of 
 
 835 
 
236 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 trying to run the gauntlet into the Entente lines, or of 
 facing indefinite isolatiorx on the Turkish side. This 
 thought provided food for speculation for those who 
 cared to indulge in it. However, the summer passed 
 quietly. 
 
 The autumn was an unusually mild one, and we de- 
 cided to stay in *Aleih where we had been spending the 
 summer until after Thanksgiving Day, November 
 29th. It is futile, however, in Turkey, to plan for 
 more than a day ahead. On November 19th, immedi- 
 ately upon his return to Beirut after a week-end visit 
 in 'Aleih, Mr. Dana was arrested by six policemen. 
 Our house was searched, and all papers were confis- 
 cated. The Press safes and files were likewise exam- 
 ined. Mr. Dana was then imprisoned in his own 
 house. Friends in Beirut warned us not to try to com- 
 municate with him; but fortunately his Syrian secre- 
 tary, under the pretext of bringing him food, acted as 
 messenger for the exchange of tiny notes and verbal 
 communications during the week's imprisonment. 
 Saturday night, after six days of suspense, we received 
 the joyful news that Mr. Dana's papers had been ex- 
 amined by the police and pronounced innocuous. We 
 assumed that he would be released without further 
 delay. On Sunday morning, however. Professor 
 Crawford brought us word that, although Mr. Dana 
 had been liberated from immediate confinement, he 
 had been sentenced to exile from Syria. It was left to 
 his choice whether his family should accompany him; 
 and although he had not decided whether it would be 
 advisable to take us, he asked us to return to Beirut 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 237 
 
 with the least possible delay. After three hours of 
 feverish packing and dismantling the house we left for 
 the city. 
 
 When Mr. Dana was arrested, we had feared the 
 worst; and a mere deportation under liberal restric- 
 tions was a distinct relief. Azmi Bey had positively 
 refused to give any reasons for his action. His only 
 comment was: " You have many enemies." The chief 
 among them was doubtless then sitting in Azmi's own 
 chair. The Prefect of Police, Mukhtar Bey, when 
 asked by the Governor to sign Mr. Dana's deportation 
 order, expressed great surprise, because he said the 
 police had found no charge against Mr. Dana, and he 
 knew no cause for his deportation. What the full 
 truth of the affair was we did not learn until seven 
 months later in Constantinople. 
 
 Mr. Dana asked for a week in which to arrange his 
 business affairs, but Azmi replied, " You may have 
 three days." The American remembered that on the 
 fourth day Jemal Pasha was expected in town, and he 
 suspected that Azmi wished to leave him no oppor- 
 tunity of appealing to the Pasha for a reversal of the 
 unreasonable sentence. Then followed hectic days of 
 preparation. Mr. Dana was forced to devote all his 
 time to business afifairs, and scarcely stopped to eat, or 
 to see the scores of callers who came to say good-bye 
 or to help us in our preparations. 
 
 At four o'clock on Thanksgiving morning, after 
 only an hour's sleep, and while it was still dark, we left 
 our home to return we knew not when. Our party 
 consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Dana, three-year-old Dor- 
 
238 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 othy, myself, and the servant, who had elected to share 
 our fortunes. We had to condense our winter-cloth- 
 ing, bedding, and food into baggage which we could 
 ourselves carry if need be. Our immediate destination 
 was Konia in the heart of Anatolia, with the possibility 
 of Constantinople or Smyrna as a permanent residence. 
 Our journey from Beirut to Constantinople was pro- 
 longed to nearly two months. It is a tale by itself 
 with many amusing and many trying incidents. 
 
 The train-service over Lebanon was closed to civil- 
 ians, so we left Beirut in a German freight-lorry, 
 perched on top of our baggage. After a series of de- 
 lays we reached Reyak, the junction with the Aleppo 
 railroad. The journey which should have taken five 
 hours at the most had occupied thirteen, with a climate 
 that varied from an Indian-summer day to a cold win- 
 ter night. At Reyak there was no hotel, only shelter 
 from the bitter wind in a tiny, unfurnished shack, in- 
 tended, so we were told, as a rest-house for Turkish 
 officers* wives! The next morning we were greatly 
 relieved to find that a freight-train would leave for 
 Aleppo before noon, so we crawled into an empty box- 
 car and set up light housekeeping. A freight-car, if 
 you can have one reserved for your party, is far pref- 
 erable in Turkey to the crowded, unsanitary passenger- 
 coaches, and we realized for the first time the luxuries 
 of real " hobo " life in a " side-door Pullman." 
 
 Dorothy's illness from exposure and our need of 
 purchasing supplies for the rest of the journey delayed 
 us for a week in Aleppo, so that it was ten days after 
 we had left Beirut before we were again en route. 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 239 
 
 We had the greatest difficulty in finding places on the 
 north-bound train, but were happy and comfortable for 
 twelve hours in our hard-won quarters. At half-past 
 nine at night the police removed us from the train at 
 Marmoureh, a little village high in the Amanus Moun- 
 tains. We were taken through ankle-deep mud and 
 pouring rain to the police station, where our permits 
 were examined and our hand-baggage thoroughly 
 searched. Our heavy baggage escaped the overhaul- 
 ing as we had checked it tlirough to Kelibek. The 
 train had gone on without us, and as there was no other 
 due until the next morning we were kept all night in 
 the police station where we tried without success to 
 sleep on the hard chairs. The only one who slept at 
 all occupied the top of the commissaire's office-table. 
 The next morning we huddled into a car on a freight- 
 train bound for Adana, where we rested two days 
 with the missionaries then resident in the American 
 School. There were only three in the city at that time, 
 Dr. Cyril H. Haas, Miss Towner, and Miss Davies. 
 We left Adana two mornings later at the unholy hour 
 of two o'clock ; and in the darkness and scramble, our 
 food-bag and kerosene stove were stolen. We had 
 almost despaired of finding places on the train when 
 some German soldiers invited us to share their accom- 
 modations in a Red Cross car. These soldiers, one of 
 whom was an American citizen caught in Germany at 
 the beginning of the war and forced into the army, 
 proved very friendly, and helped us at Kelibek to se- 
 cure places in the Taurus narrow-gauge train. We 
 were lucky in the weather that we encountered on the 
 
240 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Taurus trip. It was a lovely, winter day, and the 
 beautiful ride through the mountains made up for 
 many hardships. 
 
 When we reached Karapounar, the northern termi- 
 nus of the great Taurus tunnel, we found that traffic 
 toward Konia had been greatly congested by heavy 
 blizzards along the line. The town was crowded with 
 a four days' accumulation of travellers, and there was 
 no hotel. We were fortunate enough to find places 
 for the night in the Soldatenheim, where we were 
 tolerated because we had a small child with us, 
 but were treated with scant courtesy. The ground 
 was covered with snow, and that night was bitterly 
 cold. 
 
 The next day there was a north-bound train, but it 
 could not begin to accommodate the hundreds who 
 gathered with their baggage at the station. We fought 
 our way through an ugly crowd into a third-class car, 
 the only one into which we could penetrate. How- 
 ever, we were too glad to escape from Karapounar to 
 grumble at our accommodations. Half an hour later, 
 at Bozanti, we were again taken to the police station 
 for examination of our permits and baggage. At 
 every turn one had to show permits, and ours were al- 
 ways scrutinized with extra care. A two-hour stop 
 was made there, but that time was barely sufficient for 
 the police formalities, and we only just got back into 
 our places before the train started. 
 
 About twelve hours later we ran into a blizzard, and 
 at daybreak found that our train was stalled on a bleak, 
 wind-swept plateau, near Karaman, with snow two feet 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 241 
 
 deep. We were delayed forty-five hours, just three 
 hours south of Konia. All watering stations along the 
 line were frozen solid. The weather ranged between 
 thirty-two and twenty degrees below zero. The train 
 was unheated. We had lost our stove and most of 
 our provisions, and we lived on sweet chocolate and 
 cookies for several meals. The last evening we were 
 grateful for the gift of some frozen boiled potatoes 
 which a Greek family traded with us for drinking 
 water, with which we were well supplied. The morn- 
 ing of the first day after we were storm-bound, we saw 
 the stiffened corpses of nine people carried out of the 
 train and thrown into an open coal-car. There was 
 one German soldier, several Turkish soldiers, and some 
 Moslem women and children. The second morning 
 the pile in the coal-car was increased by eleven (two 
 from our own car), and the third morning twelve were 
 added, making a total of thirty-two. As we watched 
 those ghastly processions during those three days, it 
 was a question in our minds how soon one of us would 
 suffer the same fate. 
 
 The thirty-hour trip from Adana to Konia took us 
 in all six days, during which time we never had our 
 coats off, or lay down for a single night. We had only 
 two warm meals. We dared not face the risk of en- 
 during more cold on the bleak plateau beyond Konia, 
 so we decided to break our journey at that point. It 
 was well that we did this, for we were all ill with heavy 
 colds, and Dorothy's developed into pneumonia. Had 
 it not been for the kindness of Miss Cushman, an 
 American missionary who took us into her home, I do 
 
242 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 not believe that the little girl would have won in the 
 fight that she made for her life. We spent more than 
 a month at Konia, a picturesque and typically Turkish 
 town, and we had there our only glimpse into the real 
 life of the interior of Anatolia. We had also the 
 pleasure of meeting Mr. Dana's assistant in the Press, 
 Mr. Henry Glockler, who was a British interned civil- 
 ian in Bey Chehir, and who had obtained permission to 
 visit us for a few days. 
 
 Five weeks after our arrival at Konia we were again 
 on our way. The rest of the trip occupied only three 
 days, and was luxurious compared with our previous 
 experiences in travel, for we had a cushioned compart- 
 ment all to ourselves. Our greatest asset was a neat, 
 new travelling permit, secured from the Vdli of Konia 
 who, being a special enemy of Azmi Bey, was pleased 
 to thwart him by disguising the fact that we were 
 exiles. This ruse helped us to evade the Constanti- 
 nople police, who, for six months, were unable to locate 
 the dangerous characters from Beirut. We heard 
 from friends of their repeated efforts to trace us both 
 in Konia and in the Capital. 
 
 We reached the Haidar Pasha terminus of the Ana- 
 tolian Railway late on a Saturday night, but could not 
 leave the train until early the next morning, January 
 20th, when we crossed the Bosphorus and entered the 
 Capital. We had been just fifty-two days from the 
 time we left Beirut, although in point of actual miles 
 the journey is not much further than from New York 
 to Omaha ! No wonder, after the dreary weeks in the 
 interior, that, when we first saw the Marmora, like 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 243 
 
 Xenophon's men, we wanted to shout, " The sea, the 
 sea!" 
 
 I fear that our first impressions of Constantinople 
 were merely relevant to creature comforts. On our 
 drive from the ferry to the hotel we were thrilled with 
 the sensation of being again in a real metropolis with 
 tall buildings and big shops. There seemed an amaz- 
 ing amount of meat, vegetables, fruits, and — rarer still 
 to our recent experience — candies and cakes. Months 
 later, remembering those first hours in the city, we felt 
 sympathy for some German soldiers who were coming 
 along the Grande Rue de Pera. They had evidently 
 just arrived on the Balkanzug from Germany. One of 
 them hailed excitedly a friend on the other side of the 
 street: **^Ach, Fritz, Fritz! Komm* 'mal her. Ach, 
 die Kuchen, die Kuchen! " (Fritz, Fritz, come here. 
 Oh tl^ cakes, the cakes!) Constantinople was spe- 
 cially favoured in these respects because public senti- 
 ment was so strong against the war that the Germans 
 and the Turks found it necessary to keep the city well 
 provisioned in order to avoid possible revolutionary 
 protests from the pacifists. 
 
 The ruthless extravagance of the Constantinople 
 population, especially the newly-rich, was something 
 appalling. Those who had money squandered it in a 
 most shameless fashion, and the merchants were not 
 slow to take advantage of this spendthrift spirit. Silk 
 gloves and stockings imported from Vienna sold at $10 
 to $15 a pair. Cakes at $8 a pound, chocolates at $25 
 a pound, and shoes of native manufacture at $75 a 
 pair. An after-theatre supper for, four persons, with 
 
244 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 sandwiches, wine and champagne, cost $500, and the 
 waiter's tip in proportion ! 
 
 When we presented ourselves at Tokatlian's Hotel 
 in Pera, the Management hesitated before assigning 
 us rooms, such a bedraggled, unshorn appearance did 
 we all present. For days after our arrival we revelled 
 in the rejuvenation produced by hot water, steam- 
 heated rooms, delicious meals, and the mere enjoy- 
 ment of life in a cosmopolitan center. We felt our- 
 selves in touch with the world again through daily 
 papers, even if they represented only the German view- 
 point. It was good to be in a metropolis once more. 
 Yet it never really seemed the Constantinople that we 
 had pictured either in memory or in imagination. To 
 Marion Crawford, to Pierre Loti, to the scores of peo- 
 ple who have known and written about the city, it 
 was something different. In their day, the old bazaars 
 with their blue and gold ceilings were gay with silks, 
 rugs, embroideries, and pottery. The people them- 
 selves were clad in fanciful colours; veiled women in 
 many-hued silk wraps, and men with red fezzes, green 
 or white turbans, and bright silk belts. Greeks, 
 Georgians, Montenegrins, Croats in their striking na- 
 tional garb, jostled one another on the Galata Bridge, 
 the main artery of the city. The harbour and the 
 Golden Horn were crowded with gay-coloured craft. 
 The city, piled on the hills on either side, was touched 
 with every tint that the soul of an artist could desire. 
 Altogether Constantinople of the past left the impres- 
 sion of something distinctly unique and colourful. 
 
 Not so in the years of the war. The bazaars of 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 245 
 
 Stamboul had been damaged by fire, and but few 
 brightly decorated parts remained, while all were woe- 
 fully bereft of picturesque wares. They were still in- 
 teresting, but almost too unsanitary from the presence 
 of second-hand goods exposed for sale to let one risk 
 many visits. There were very few mysterious, veiled 
 women in loose outer garments of silk. In fact, a sur- 
 prising number of Moslem women had discarded the 
 veil entirely. The prevailing colour in the crowds was 
 a dirty brown, black or gray. Brown was the general 
 effect of the shoddy Turkish uniforms. Black was 
 the sombre costumes of the women, with the short 
 cape, or charshaf, over the head and shoulders; or the 
 fezzes of the men, dyed dark for mourning. Gray 
 was the German and Austrian uniforms. The garb of 
 all harmonized and blended with the prevailing fog 
 and general wretchedness of the city. Every fourth 
 person who passed our hotel was a soldier. The Ger- 
 mans were very much in evidence, and the Turks made 
 no secret of their jealousy and hatred of them. The 
 Austrians were less overbearing in manner, and were 
 on better terms with their Oriental allies. A short visit 
 which Emperor Charles and Empress Rita made to 
 Constantinople in the early summer further cemented 
 this cordial feeling. The populace gave them an 
 enthusiastic welcome and was charmed by their 
 gracious simplicity of bearing. 
 
 Save for the foreign element, the average crowd in 
 Constantinople was stunted in size and most depress- 
 ingly depraved in appearance. The whole city was 
 ill-kempt, and poorly administered. Even its monu- 
 
246 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 ments of the past, the fine mosques, adapted from early 
 Christian churches, which are its only glory so far as 
 public buildings are concerned, were desecrated by the 
 filthy hordes of Turkish soldiers who were quartered 
 in them. 
 
 This is a pessimistic picture of the Capital, but it 
 was true only so far as the hand of the Turk rested 
 upon it in the last days of the struggle of a dying 
 Empire. The physical beauty of its location can never 
 be wholly marred by the hand of man, and is its re- 
 deeming feature now that the glory of the past has 
 faded. Nature has done her utmost to make up for 
 the deficiencies of the Turks; especially in the matter 
 of flowers she has been lavish, and she has seemed to 
 single out the most shabby and ramshackle buildings to 
 support masses of wistaria which, in early summer, 
 glorify even the dingiest quarter of the city. 
 
 In early spring we moved from the city to Con- 
 stantinople College, where Mr. Dana had been asked 
 to act as Treasurer. This institution, formerly known 
 as the American College for Girls, occupies a wonder- 
 ful site above the village of Arnaoutkeuy, on the upper 
 Bosphorus, about an hour by tram from the heart of 
 Constantinople. Its exceptionally beautiful and well- 
 equipped buildings are situated on a charming campus. 
 Mr. Dana spent part of his time in the College, and the 
 remainder in the city attending to whatever affairs of 
 the Mission and Press he could manage from a dis- 
 tance. Through our association with the Girls' Col- 
 lege, and through Mr. Dana's interests in the city we 
 became acquainted with a great many interesting peo- 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 247 
 
 pie. In Robert College, also, and the American Mis- 
 sion we soon found congenial friends, many of whom, 
 like ourselves, were, through the fortunes of war, only- 
 temporary residents in the city. These friendships 
 were a great help in time of need, and now form the 
 pleasantest memories of our stay in Constantinople. 
 
 On July first, we were visiting at Robert College 
 when word came that Dr. William S. Nelson of 
 Tripoli, Syria, had arrived in Stamboul. About the 
 time of our departure from Beirut we had heard that 
 Dr. Nelson also was experiencing some difficulties with 
 the Turks. Later we learned that he had been de- 
 ported from Syria, and ordered to the interior of 
 Anatolia. At Adana he had discovered an old friend 
 among the police, and had succeeded in spending the 
 winter with the American missionaries there, before 
 the Constantinople police finally located him and or- 
 dered him to appear before the Court Martial in the 
 Capital. 
 
 Mr. Fowle, American Attache to the Swedish Lega- 
 tion, in charge of American interests, and Mr. Dana 
 immediately called at the address Dr. Nelson had sent 
 them, not knowing that he was then under police 
 guard. They had half an hour with him, during which 
 they learned why he had been deported. An hour 
 later he was taken to the Military Prison at the War 
 Department. A kavass was sent from the Swedish 
 Legation to inquire about his welfare, but was roughly 
 repulsed, and for three and a half months he was kept 
 in a dingy cell, and was not allowed to communicate 
 with any one. 
 
248 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Azmi Bey regarded Dr. Nelson as another of his 
 special enemies because of his prominence in relief- 
 work in the Tripoli, Horns and Hama region. The 
 same week that Mr. Dana .was arrested, Dr. Nelson*s 
 private residence in Homs had been seized by the 
 Turks, and his personal effects had been confiscated. 
 He had sent a special messenger with a note to Mr. 
 Dana requesting him to bring this violation of previ- 
 ous agreements in regard to American property to the 
 attention of the Dutch Consul General in Beirut. The 
 messenger was intercepted, and Azmi seized upon this 
 incident as a pretext for arresting Dr. Nelson, and ac- 
 cusing him of suspicious conduct. He was imprisoned 
 for a month in Tripoli, and later deported to the in- 
 terior during the worst winter weather. He suffered 
 much ill-treatment, being kept in foul prisons with 
 common criminals in several places en route. Imme- 
 diately upon Dr. Nelson's arrival and imprisonment, 
 Mr. Dana had reason to expect a similar fate, and 
 though he generously spared us his suspicions, he made 
 all his preparations with this in mind. 
 
 Two weeks later, on July 14th, six military and civil 
 police arrived at the College. Our rooms were thor- 
 oughly searched, and Mr. Dana was carried off, 
 whither we knew not, or why. We later learned that 
 he spent two nights in one of the awful secret prisons 
 of Stamboul, without food or water. There were 
 more than thirty criminals in the one small cell, and 
 they were so packed together that none had space 
 either to lie or sit. Some of the prisoners had ap- 
 parently been there many days, and one of a group 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 249 
 
 of eight who were chained to the wall with their hands 
 above their heads died the first night, and was still 
 hanging there in a bloated condition when, two days 
 later, Mr. Dana was removed to the Military Prison 
 in the War Department. There he was put for a few 
 hours into an underground dungeon, but was subse- 
 quently removed to a cell in the main prison. This 
 cell already contained an Egyptian spy, a nephew of 
 the Sultan, who had killed a comrade in a drunken 
 brawl, and an insane Turk. The latter soon became 
 obsessed with the idea that the newcomer had been 
 sent to assassinate him, and during the next montla 
 made three attempts to cut his throat when he sup- 
 posed him to be sleeping. For one week Mr. Dana 
 was practically without food, and was allowed only a 
 small quantity of water once a day. He suffered 
 from dysentery, but was refused medical aid of any 
 nature. He had no bed, and the vermin and rats were 
 a constant annoyance. When we succeeded in finding 
 out where he was, we made vain attempts to see him. 
 We were put off with promises, and with lies about an 
 excellent restaurant which once existed near the prison, 
 and from which prisoners who were able to pay were 
 said to obtain meals. We did not know that this 
 restaurant was a myth, and that all his money had 
 been taken away from him when he entered the prison. 
 After a week an accommodating Albanian guard who 
 had worked in a hotel in New York smuggled out to 
 us a note from the prisoner asking for food, which we 
 at once sent. 
 
 Gradually we got an entering wedge into the prison. 
 
250 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Precedent is everything in Turkey; and although we 
 were not permitted to see Mr. Dana the first three 
 times when we called, when the officials got accustomed 
 to the sight of us, we were allowed to come and go 
 quite as a matter of course. The same was true of the 
 able young kavass from the Swedish Legation who ac»- 
 companied us as courier and interpreter, and who was 
 permitted to carry to the prisoner the food and water 
 which we sent him three times a week. The Egyptian 
 cellmate also proved a good friend, and sometimes 
 loaned Mr. Dana his brazier for cooking or boiling 
 water. While food, water, books, and clean laundry 
 reached him, they only slightly mitigated the discom- 
 fort of his surroundings. Day and night he was never 
 out of hearing of tlie clank of chains in the dungeons 
 below, or the groans of other unfortunates who were 
 being beaten, often until they died. The prison was 
 unspeakably filthy, and was infested with vermin. 
 
 One night there stood as guard at the cell door a man 
 who spoke Arabic. This fact was so unusual in a 
 place where only Turkish was known that Mr. Dana 
 made bold to address him. It seemed little short of 
 a miracle that this soldier had been recruited recently 
 from a village near Beirut, and more wonderful still 
 that his last appeal in behalf of his family which he 
 was leaving destitute had been to the American Press. 
 He recognized the Press Manager in the prisoner, and 
 urged him to flee. He was surprised that no greater 
 advantage was taken of his assistance than a quiet exit 
 to the courtyard, where, in a stone watering trough, 
 Mr. Dana had his first bath in many weeks. Save on 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 251 
 
 tKaf occasion, and on one other when he was taken 
 a few paces across the compound to the War Depart- 
 ment, he was never out of his tiny cell for over seven 
 weeks. 
 
 Every moonlight night and on special holidays Con- 
 stantinople was subjected to British aeroplane raids. 
 One of the main objectives was the War Department 
 Building adjacent to the prison. One bomb destroyed 
 two large anti-aircraft guns in the yard just below Mr. 
 Dana's window, killed several guards, and wounded 
 prisoners in the rooms on either side of his, but no 
 shrapnel entered his cell. 
 
 During all the time while Mr. Dana and Dr. Nelson 
 were undergoing these nerve-racking experiences we 
 were seeking through every channel to find out the 
 charge against them, and to learn how the case would 
 proceed. The War Department was a close secret- 
 society, and Enver Pasha, the well-known head of the 
 coterie, was particularly inaccessible and was much 
 feared. His second, Seifi Bey, was not much more 
 approachable. No Turk could be induced to meddle 
 even indirectly with War Department affairs lest he 
 incur its ill-will. There were no American men in 
 Constantinople who were in a position to help, us other- 
 wise than through advice and sympathy, so Mrs. Dana 
 and I were obliged to manage as best we could by 
 ourselves. Fortunately we had a large circle of ac- 
 quaintances, and we were fairly familiar with the city. 
 With almost every one we used French as a medium, 
 and we found the direct method of personal visits or 
 letters usually more effective than dependence upon 
 
2^2 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 others. A typical instance of this was our success in 
 getting the insane man removed from Mr. Dana's cell 
 After trying three weeks through five different chan- 
 nels, we finally accomplished it by a call, and a letter 
 in most flowery English addressed by Mrs. Dana to 
 the Commandant de la Place who had authority over 
 the Warden of the Prison. 
 
 We were often impressed by the lack of coordina- 
 tion in tlie various departments of the Turkish police. 
 This was because they had only a crude imitation of 
 the German system. Though Mr. Dana was so care- 
 fully guarded, letters were still delivered for him at 
 tlie usual address. After the first fifteen days of his 
 imprisonment we were allowed to see him, but our 
 first visit was very brief and in the presence of an 
 interpreter. As the Turks never give women credit 
 for any intelligence, we were regarded as quite harm- 
 less; the following week the interpreter was present 
 for only part of our stay, and never at any time after- 
 wards. We knew that none of the persons usually 
 in the Commandant's oflice understood English. I took 
 advantage of this fact to report the contents of letters 
 and telegrams to my chief, and he gave me instruc- 
 tions as to replies, and other business affairs. Thus 
 all the time that he was closely immured he was able 
 to direct certain matters affecting the relief-work 
 which had been the chief cause of all his difficulties. 
 
 The Swedish Legation to which American interests 
 were entrusted was frankly pronounced by some Ger- 
 mans in that Embassy as more pro-German and anti- 
 American than the Germans themselves. Although 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 253 
 
 the matter of the detention of two Americans at the 
 Military Prison should properly have been referred im- 
 mediately to the Military Attache of the Swedish 
 Legation as the proper person to communicate with 
 the Minister of War, it was not even brought to his 
 attention until the eve of his departure for Switzer- 
 land. The Swedish Minister was absent on leave, and 
 the Counsellor who was acting in his absence did not 
 feel inclined to take active interest in so complicated a 
 case. So far as we knew, he mentioned the imprison- 
 ment of Dr. Nelson and Mr. Dana in only one official 
 visit to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The only 
 response was that such a matter should be referred 
 to the Minister of War. Furthermore, the Counsellor 
 flatly refused to report the matter to the State De- 
 partment at Washington, and would not even forward 
 the telegram which we ourselves drew up requesting 
 the State Department to inform the Presbyterian 
 Board of Foreign Missions of the fate of two of its 
 missionaries. About a week before Mr. Dana was set 
 at liberty, they finally yielded to our importunity to the 
 extent of reporting the matter by letter, which prob- 
 ably reached the State Department about two months 
 later — some time after the Turkish Armistice was 
 signed. 
 
 Mr. Dana*s release on September 3rd came as sud- 
 denly as his arrest. Up to the very moment when it 
 occurred, not ten minutes after we had left the prison 
 very downhearted after one of our weekly visits, we 
 had not the slightest intimation of any such possibility. 
 We knew he had been summoned before the Court 
 
254 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Martial on several occasions. We also understood 
 that the findings of the court regarding his case had 
 been handed to Seifi Bey, Enver's second, and that any 
 resultant action rested now with the sweet will of that 
 man, who might take two days or two years before he 
 made up his mind, and in the end might either liberate 
 or execute the prisoner according to his mood on the 
 day when he made the decision. 
 
 We now know that we owe Mr. Dana's release to 
 our friend. Captain Arthur von Haas, Naval Attache 
 of the German Embassy, who was personally ac- 
 quainted with Seifi Bey, and who told him in strong 
 terms that, if Turkey considered herself a civilized na- 
 tion, she should either try and punish that American 
 or dismiss him. Dr. Nelson was not released until 
 October 18th, six weeks later, when the Turks began 
 to realize that they were playing a losing game, and 
 wanted to propitiate American sentiment. 
 
 During the five months of Mr. Dana's stay in Con- 
 stantinople before he was located by the police, he 
 came into contact through financial matters with 
 Djavid Bey, Minister of Finance, with Ali Munif Bey, 
 former Governor of Lebanon, then Minister of Public 
 Works, and with others in official circles. Ali Munif 
 Bey was one of the persons who was exceedingly 
 courteous and friendly to us during our difficulties, and 
 did what he could to help. Early in 1918 some ques- 
 tions arose in official circles in Constantinople as to 
 Azmi Bey's conduct in office, and Mr. Dana was able 
 to furnish facts regarding certain cases of bribery and 
 blackmail in which Azmi was the principal. In the 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 255 
 
 early summer, Azmi Bey was dismissed from office, 
 and after he had loitered about a month in Beirut on 
 the pretence of closing up his affairs there, he obeyed 
 the summons from Constantinople. He knew that 
 Mr. Dana was the one person in Constantinople 
 cognizant of certain of his misdeeds, and for revenge 
 he sent false papers to the Capital which caused the 
 revival of the deportation question, Dr. Nelson's fur- 
 ther deportation to Constantinople, and the imprison- 
 ment of both Americans. He tliereby caused a great 
 deal of distress until the endless ramifications of 
 Turkish injustice could be disentangled. 
 
 During all this time local history in Constantinople 
 was in the making. The old SuUan, Mahmoud V, 
 had died on July 4th, and had been succeeded by 
 Mahmoud Reshad, a man of wholly different calibre. 
 Those who saw him said that he had a calm, dignified 
 bearing, and a frank, piercing glance. He soon showed 
 a tendency to disregard time-honoured customs, espe- 
 cially as to the seclusion of the Sultan. His first act 
 of self-assertion was to attend the funeral of his 
 brother, the late Sultan, a simple act of family affection 
 which outraged all imperial traditions. He allowed 
 petitioners to approach him on the street, and he even 
 went so far as to plan an office for himself in the 
 War Department where he could see people on busi- 
 ness during business hours. He went in person to 
 several of the awful fires, kindled by incendiaries as a 
 protest against the war, which raged in Constantinople 
 that summer, and destroyed a quarter of the Stamboul 
 area. The Triumvirate, who were accustomed to a 
 
256 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 mere figurehead as ruler, soon realized that they had a 
 different problem on their hands. The new Sultan 
 had his own ideas about governing, and he postponed 
 for weeks the ceremony of the Sword Investiture, 
 which is equivalent to a coronation, until he had been 
 able to enforce certain much-needed reforms. The 
 Committee of Union and Progress endeavoured to 
 keep him practically a prisoner in his palace, but the 
 reaction against that party had already set in, and the 
 scheme to control the new Sultan resulted in the over- 
 throw of the Cabinet and the establishment of another, 
 presumably chosen from the peace party. This marked 
 the greatest day in Turkey's history in over ten years. 
 For a decade the Triumvirate had held complete sway, 
 but now the mighty had fallen. 
 
 During the first half of 1918 the Germans evidently 
 felt that they still had control of the situation in the 
 Ottoman Empire, even though they realized that 
 Turkey — that is to say the Young Turks — proved a 
 refractory ally. They had been successful in duping 
 the Turks to the point of making them believe that the 
 management of affairs was in Ottoman hands, and 
 that the Teutonic role was merely to suggest up-to- 
 date methods. The newspapers which manifestly 
 were either subsidized by Germany, or were in deadly 
 fear of German censorship, had a good deal to say 
 about Turkey's wonderful progress in the past three 
 years, the tremendous development of her natural re- 
 sources, and her glorious share in the ultimate triumph 
 of her Prussian allies. The Germans who inspired 
 the Ottoman Press did their utmost to inflame Turkish 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 257 
 
 enmity, which was all too slow to kindle, against the 
 Americans. The Osmanischc Lloyd published several 
 impassioned attacks against the American missionaries 
 and educational institutions in Turkey, which they 
 designated as the agents of American political propa- 
 ganda. There was always war news too — on the first 
 page in those days — and lots of pictures, some of them 
 fakes, posted in the official news bureaus. Constanti- 
 nople was probably the one place in the world where 
 news of events everywhere was freely disseminated. 
 We knew from hour to hour what was happening, not 
 only in Germany and Bulgaria, but also in England, 
 Egypt, France and America. The news from the 
 fronts was, so far as we could judge, practically cor- 
 rect, but so carefully worded that, unless one studied 
 the map from day to day, one could not be sure just 
 which way the real success pointed. Germany and 
 Turkey, it was interesting to note, were never defeated 
 anywhere, but always " withdrew to a stronger position 
 for strategic reasons," The morale of the Entente 
 forces was always at its last ebb, and the American 
 army was despicable, and could not contain any decent 
 men, since it had enlisted, as facts attested, such abso- 
 lute riff-raff as 13,000 negroes, some of whom were 
 even officers! Scarcely a day passed without some 
 reference to the fact that in England and America 
 there were strong parties opposed to the war, and the 
 I. W. W. and Sinn Fein outbursts were quoted liber- 
 ally as instances of popular feeling. Many of the 
 items were most laughable. Yet we watched also 
 with anxious eyes the apparent failure of the Entente 
 
258 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 spring drive in France, and the slow progress in 
 Palestine. 
 
 Then in September it seemed as though everything 
 began to happen at once. We watched the disin- 
 tegration of Bulgaria and the moral collapse in Ger- 
 many. Word came of the sweeping advance of Brit- 
 ish forces in Syria and of the British occupation of 
 Beirut on October 8th. Soon Germans and Austrians 
 whom we had known in Syria began to arrive in Con- 
 stantinople with varying tales of their flight. The 
 Bulgarian Armistice was signed on September 30th. 
 The Turkish Cabinet again fell, and a new cabinet 
 made definite overtures for an armistice. Following 
 the success of their negotiations, but before the Entente 
 forces entered Constantinople, Enver, Talaat, Jemal, 
 Azmi, Bedri, and all their most guilty associates fled 
 the city. Those were exciting days with the front 
 pages of the papers given to discussion of the terms of 
 the impending treaty, and the war news relegated to 
 chance items on the last page. The populace went 
 mad when the Armistice was signed, and the whole city 
 blossomed with flags of every nationality. We had 
 never seen such a demonstration on any other occasion 
 during our stay. All, save the Germans, Austrians, 
 and the few Turks who possessed some national pride, 
 gave themselves up to rejoicing. It was a gladsome 
 holiday, not a day of defeat. 
 
 Those last two months in Constantinople, after the 
 signing of the Armistice, were in some respects by far 
 the most agreeable of our stay in that city. There 
 was a sense of relief from the terrible uncertainty, and 
 
THE ENTENTE FLEET IN THE SEA OF MARMORA 
 
 THE FLEET AT ANCHOR IN THE BOSPHORUS 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 259 
 
 we knew that with the changed conditions we were 
 freed from further persecution at the hand of the 
 Turks. Up to the very last, the Government created 
 the misleading impression that the terms of the Armis- 
 tice with Turkey were much more favourable than 
 those with Bulgaria. They stated in positive terms 
 that there was to be no occupation of the city, but that 
 the Ottoman Government had consented to open the 
 Straits for the passage of the Entente fleet to the 
 Black Sea. A small commission of British officers 
 might take up their quarters in the Capital, as that was 
 a convenient base for operations against Russia. Con- 
 sequently, when, after the Dardanelles had been swept 
 of mines, seventy-six warships steamed across the 
 Marmora and anchored in the Bosphorus with every 
 apparent intention of remaining there, it made a pro- 
 found impression. The Turkish enthusiasts hardly 
 knew what to say. A few hours later several thou- 
 sand British troops landed and marched through the 
 streets, acclaimed and showered with flowers by the 
 non-Turkish elements — another distinct surprise to a 
 large part of the population. Whatever Turkish illu- 
 sions had been, it was evident to the impartial observer 
 that the Turkish Armistice amounted to a treaty of 
 complete surrender. The forts on the Dardanelles 
 and the Bosphorus were occupied by Entente forces; 
 the Turks were obliged to restore all foreign institu- 
 tions which they had seized; the Germans and Aus- 
 trians were interned as prisoners of war, and once more 
 Constantinople, even if still under a Moslem Sultan, 
 was practically in control of a Christian government. 
 
26o The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Materially the city at once showed tlie effects of the 
 occupation by a change for the worse. The Turks then 
 realized for the first time that they had been dependent 
 on their allies for many of the necessities of life. 
 White flour, brought from Germany and Austria at 
 the expense of the populations of these countries to 
 keep up a good appearance in the Turkish Capital, was 
 immediately at a premium. Railroad connection with 
 Europe had already been severed by the Bulgarian 
 Armistice, and now there was no German wireless to 
 bring news to Constantinople. Germans who had 
 been superintending the mines on the Black Sea coast 
 flooded them before their departure, and there was no 
 longer enough coal to provide the city with adequate 
 electricity for lighting, running the printing presses' 
 and tramcars, or for the Bosphorus steamers. Worst 
 of all, the water-pumping station was completely out 
 of fuel. The Entente had neither the means nor the 
 inclination to help Turkey while she was learning the 
 lesson of her own inadequacy. The Entente fleet 
 could not even coal its own ships satisfactorily at 
 Constantinople, and there were more important 
 projects afoot than the rehabilitation of an enemy 
 capital. 
 
 Lawlessness ran rife in the city. The civilians 
 clashed with the military. Greeks, Turks, and Ar- 
 menians seized this opportunity to settle long-standing 
 grievances, and every day literally dozens of mutilated 
 bodies were found in the side-streets. No one dared 
 step outside of his house after dark, unless he were 
 accompanied by four or five others, and all were 
 
Deportation and Imprisonment 261 
 
 heavily arnied. The employees of concerns which 
 kept late hours, like the newspapers, were particularly 
 sul^jcct to attack, although there seemed no other 
 motive tlian race-hatred for these deeds of violence. 
 
 Consequently, before we left at the end of Decem- 
 ber, we had experienced the inconveniences of life in 
 a city which had only erratic lighting, no tramcars, few 
 boats, water for an hour or so daily in the lower 
 levels, irregular newspapers; and where the prices of 
 such staples as meat, flour and vegetables were con- 
 tinually soaring. Also the third epidemic of Spanish 
 influenza in six months was raging, and the usual 
 winter typhus and typhoid were on the increase. Mrs. 
 Dana and Dorothy were both victims of the " flu *' in 
 a light form, which prevented our leaving with Mr. 
 Dana. 
 
 While the Annistice was still under discussion it 
 occurred to the Turks that it might be advisable to 
 release the belligerent subjects whom they held as 
 interns in the interior. Some of these returned to 
 their former residences in the country ; others congre- 
 gated in Constantinople and Smyrna, where they 
 hoped to obtain passage for England and France. 
 Our friend, Henry Glockler, who had been interned at 
 Bey Chehir, joined us in Constantinople; and on De- 
 cember 1st he, Mr, Dana, and Dr. Nelson left by 
 train for Salonika, t'ia Bulgaria. What should have 
 been a thirty-hour railroad journey took these men 
 six days of considerable hardship, and constitutes a 
 little adventure by itself. "All's well that ends well," 
 however, and they reached Egypt in time for Christ- 
 
262 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 mas. Dr. Nelson left for Syria the latter part of 
 December. The rest of us, Mrs. Dana, Dorothy and 
 I, delayed at Constantinople until we could travel by; 
 sea. Through the never-failing courtesy of the Brit- 
 ish officials, we succeeded in getting passage on the 
 Kashgar, a British transport, and had a most luxuri- 
 ous trip to Port Said, arriving there January 4th. Mr. 
 Dana, who was still in Egypt, met us at the steamer 
 and took us up to Cairo, where he left us to recuperate 
 from our adventures. January 20th saw him and Mr. 
 Glockler back in Beirut. About two hundred Syrians 
 met them at the dock, and Mr. Dana will never forget 
 the numerous touching ways in which his Syrian 
 friends showed their joy at his safe return. 
 
 The rest of us remained in Egypt until April. On 
 our return we found Beirut little altered in appear- 
 ance, but much changed by the occupation. Most 
 striking was the expression of new hope in the faces 
 of the people. We had been at home only a very short 
 time before we began to feel that we had never been 
 away at all. Familiar scenes, familiar faces, and the 
 accustomed work, resumed just where we had left it — 
 these were reality. Constantinople and the year of 
 exile was only a painful dream. And yet, looking 
 back on the experiences of our year and a half of 
 absence, we all feel that, while much of it was trying, 
 it was all worth while. 
 
xv; 
 
 THE DARK HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 
 
 THOSE who were in Syria during the year 
 1918 are agreed that it was the saddest and 
 hardest year of the whole war period. Con- 
 ditions were steadily growing worse, the powers of 
 resistance had been weakened, and hope was expiring. 
 The end of the war still seemed out of sight, and there 
 were certain indications that it might be months dis- 
 tant. The deportation of Mr. Dana and Rev. W. S. 
 Nelson of the American Mission in Tripoli had so 
 thoroughly alarmed the other Americans that they 
 made themselves as inconspicuous as possible, and for 
 the most part they devoted themselves exclusively to 
 their regular missionary or collegiate activities. 
 
 Rev. Paul Erdman of Zahleh Station was elected 
 Mr. Dana's successor; and when he left his home in 
 the Lebanon to live in Beirut, he knew that there was 
 a distinct odium attached to the position he was now to 
 occupy, and a possibility that he might share the fate 
 of his predecessor. No one in Beirut knew at that 
 time just what had been the reason for Mr. Dana's 
 deportation, and there was considerable justification 
 for the fear that whoever succeeded him in his work 
 might also be removed by the Government, should he 
 
 J63 
 
264 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 prove too energetic in relief activities. It is impos- 
 sible to say too much in praise of the way in which 
 Mr. Erdman accepted and discharged the onerous and 
 unfamiliar duties in Beirut, and the courage with 
 which he applied himself to the dangerous task. The 
 circumstances under which he began the work could 
 hardly have been more difficult. Mr. Dana had been 
 in the custody of the Government for the week preced- 
 ing his sentence to deportation, and was granted only 
 three days in which to close up his business and pre- 
 pare for departure. It was wholly out of the question 
 to leave his affairs in proper shape to hand them on 
 to any one else. Those last three days he worked day 
 and night, with an average of less than three hours' 
 sleep in twenty- four; but the utmost he could accom- 
 plish was to map out roughly the vital principles of 
 policy which should guide his successor. It was im- 
 possible for Mr. Erdman to come to Beirut at that 
 time. Consequently, the two men never had an op- 
 portunity to discuss the details of the work which the 
 one was handing on to the other under such trying 
 conditions. 
 
 Within a few days after Mr. Dana's departure Mr. 
 Erdman was in Beirut. The way in which he handled 
 the difficult situation was nothing short of genius. 
 His only assets, in addition to his own powers, were 
 the " good-will " of the concern he was now directing, 
 and the loyal support of the same corps of assistants 
 that had worked with Mr. Dana. He was obliged, 
 however, to win for himself the confidence of the busi- 
 ness men of the city, and to convince them that a 
 
The Dark Hour Before the Dawn 265 
 
 scholar and a teacher — a " mere missionary/' as they 
 might have said — was also a capable man of business. 
 In his delicate task he succeeded marvellously, and 
 to-day every business man in Beirut holds Mr. Erd- 
 man in high esteem, and praises him both for his 
 ability and his delightful personality. 
 
 The new Manager carried on the work of the Press 
 along the same lines as before, since he regarded his 
 administration as merely an interlude, and looked for- 
 ward to the time when the real Manager would return 
 to resume his interrupted activities. He made no 
 changes in policy or practice, continuing as usual the 
 Syrian remittances and the relief-work. Whatever 
 alterations he made were slight, and only in concession 
 to altered conditions. I mention this as an indication 
 of Mr. Erdman's exquisite tact. It is always easy to 
 inherit another man's work and alter it in accordance 
 with one's own judgment, but it is vastly more difficult 
 to seat oneself at a man's desk and carry on his work 
 in exactly the way in which he himself would have 
 done it. It was just that difficult feat which Mr. 
 Erdman accomplished to perfection ; and consequently, 
 when Mr. Dana returned, he resumed his work as 
 easily as if he had left it only the night before. 
 
 The greatest problem during the last year of the 
 war was the difficulty of obtaining cash. The Syrian 
 money-market was extremely limited; and although 
 Mr. Erdman never let an available sum go by, he could 
 not secure sufficient funds to finance the work. Mr. 
 Dana was, fortunately, able to augment Mr. Erdman's 
 amounts by the sale of his checks in Constantinople 
 
266 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 and the transfer of the proceeds to Beirut through 
 regular banking channels. The money-market in 
 Constantinople was less restricted than in Beirut, and 
 the signature of Mr. Dana was already sufficiently 
 familiar there to enable him to negotiate his checks 
 without great difficulties. During the whole time of 
 his absence from Beirut he was able to assist mate- 
 rially in financing the Press and the Mission work in 
 Syria; indeed there were times when it seemed provi- 
 dential that the Mission now had a representative in 
 the Capital, so much greater were the financial oppor- 
 tunities there during this period than in the provinces. 
 As has been explained already, the only safe mail 
 route for lists and data connected with relief pay- 
 ments was through the State Department in Washing- 
 ton, the American Legation in Stockholm, and the 
 Swedish Minister in Constantinople, and in order to 
 safeguard further the Mission interests, Mr. Dana 
 opened the Press mail in Constantinople. The lists 
 of remittances to Syrians, and correspondence from 
 the New York Treasurer were copied on plain paper, 
 so that in case of another raid on the Press premises 
 in Beirut there would be nothing to indicate that these 
 papers had originated in New York. During seven 
 months of his stay in Constantinople Mr. Dana was in 
 constant touch with his Mission, and even while he was 
 in prison, when Mrs. Dana and I visited him there, he 
 gave me instructions in regard to his business under 
 the very ear of the Turkish censor. He also wrote 
 orders covering relief appropriations which were 
 smuggled out to me, enabling me to secure funds and 
 
The Dark Hour Before the Dawn 267 
 
 forward them to Beirut. Thanks to the stupidity of 
 the Turks, although he was in the most closely guarded 
 prison of the Empire, Mr. Dana was able to continue 
 without serious interruption his assistance to the relief 
 effort in Syria. 
 
 Mr. Dana was liberated on September 3rd, and at the 
 end of September mail communications between the 
 Capital and Syria were abruptly terminated. About 
 the middle of October we learned of the fall of Beirut, 
 and chafed under our further detention in Turkey 
 when we were longing to take our share in the work 
 of reconstruction and rehabilitation in Syria. It was 
 nearly two months before our release came. On De- 
 cember 1st, Mr. Dana, Dr. Nelson and Mr. Henry 
 Glockler, Mr. Dana's first assistant at the Press, left 
 Constantinople by train ma Bulgaria, Salonika, and 
 Egypt, en route for Beirut. 
 
 The conditions in Beirut during our absence we 
 could only surmise; but as we ourselves had lived 
 there through three dreadful years of the war, we did 
 not find it difficult to imagine what the fourth year 
 must have been. During that year the food situation 
 grew steadily worse. Prices soared, and the already 
 greatly depreciated paper-money sank lower in value. 
 Flour, which before the war had sold at four to six 
 piasters per rotl for the best grade, could now not be 
 obtained for less than 250 piasters for an inferior 
 quality. In some places the price even went up to 350 
 piasters ($10.50 for 6 lbs.). There was no employ- 
 ment, no industry, no source of income, except the 
 charity remittances received through the Americans. 
 
268 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Only certain districts in the wheat-belt which had al- 
 ways been practically self-supporting were able to keep 
 up a semblance of their pre-war existence. The popu- 
 lation at large was absolutely destitute, and, for the 
 first time during the war, utterly without resources. 
 It was no longer the habitually indigent who were now 
 suffering. That class had been exterminated early in 
 the siege. It was the middle class, those who had for- 
 merly been accustomed to modest comfort and decent 
 living, who were now reduced to extremest poverty. 
 The former better-to-do stratum of society, teachers, 
 preachers, small merchants, and landed proprietors 
 were now dependent on charity for their very ex- 
 istence. They had sold every salable object. House- 
 hold furniture, kitchen utensils, extra clothing and 
 bedding, all had been sacrificed to meet the demand 
 for daily bread. They had economized and scraped 
 along with the barest necessities, and now they had 
 nothing in the world but the clothes on their backs, and 
 a single vessel in which to cook, should they be so 
 fortunate as occasionally to procure the ingredients 
 for a hot meal. Ruined and dismantled houses bore 
 witness to the fact that families in desperation had sold 
 the very roofs from over their heads. The most dis- 
 couraging feature, from the philanthropic standpoint, 
 was the fact that during this year many families that 
 had been partially supported by relief-funds died — a 
 terrible reminder of the apparent waste and futility 
 of investing money in so feeble a security as human 
 life. 
 
 However, the relief-work did continue in a manner 
 
The Dark Hour Before the Dawn 269 
 
 that was surprising, considering the former opposition 
 of the Government. For the first time in three years 
 American charity in Beirut was actually countenanced 
 by the Vdli, although he stipulated that it should be 
 carried on in an inconspicuous fashion, and purely un- 
 der the guise of private philanthropy. The work was 
 modelled after that of the Red Cross in 1914-16, but 
 was very limited in scope. Although the Americans 
 in Syria have always opposed giving relief in the form 
 of money, it was necessary to depart from their ideals 
 at this time, as it was a case of money or nothing. 
 The distribution of food was out of the question owing 
 to the difficulty of transport, and the laws controlling 
 the transfer of supplies from province to province. 
 Furthermore, the Vdli had made it very clear that all 
 relief-work must be carried on in an unostentatious 
 manner. A food-distribution, even to a limited num- 
 ber of people, cannot be conducted inconspicuously. 
 The hungry smell it out and throng to the distribu- 
 tion center — then there is the end of charitable at- 
 tempts, and probably trouble for every one concerned ! 
 There was practically no alteration in the work in 
 Lebanon. The soup-kitchens were enlarged some- 
 what to meet the increased need, but the limited re- 
 sources of the Relief Committee and the eternal prob- 
 lem of transportation added greatly to the difficulties 
 connected with their management. It is curious that 
 during this last year, when the Turks might almost be 
 said to have been in sight of success in the extermina- 
 tion of the male population of Syria, they relaxed 
 somewhat their efforts and permitted philanthropic in- 
 
270 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 terference more graciously than at any other time dur- 
 ing the course of the war. Moreover, the Germans, 
 who had suggested to the Turks this very policy of 
 annihilation, now afforded facilities in the matter of 
 transport that seemed incomprehensible. Perhaps the 
 explanation is not far to seek. Both Germans and 
 Turks knew that the end was near. Jerusalem had al- 
 ready fallen on December 9, 1917, and it was only a 
 question of time until the British forces should take 
 possession of the whole of Syria. The country had 
 already been seriously crippled, if not actually drained 
 of its life-blood. Even the Turks were satisfied with 
 the success of their plan, and they could now afford 
 to be magnanimous, especially at a time when their 
 own fate was extremely precarious. They might yet 
 be grateful for proofs of good-will toward the country 
 they had governed, and the foreigners who had been 
 resident there. 
 
 We met so few " typical Germans " in Syria that I 
 have often wondered whether the German Govern- 
 ment sent out here their more humane subjects who 
 could not be depended upon to play the role of " fright- 
 fulness " demanded on the Western Front. However 
 that may be, the German soldier as we encountered 
 him seemed easy-going, and too sluggish to be ag- 
 gressively ill-tempered. The drivers of the big freight- 
 lorries were frequently parties to charitable intrigues, 
 and seemed equally willing to aid in the rescue of an 
 orphan girl from a brutal Turkish employer, or in 
 smuggling grain out of Damascus into Lebanon. 
 This, however, was purely a matter of personal in- 
 
The Dark Hour Before the Dawn 271 
 
 clination and indicated nothing in regard to the gen- 
 eral policy. During the last year of the war even 
 Liman von Sanders, at the instigation of Dr. Dray, 
 authorized the use of German military motor-trucks 
 for the transport of grain into Lebanon for relief pur- 
 poses, although he stipulated that it should be used 
 only for women and children. Certainly Germany had 
 altered her policy in Syria — I will not say had ex- 
 perienced a change of heart ! 
 
 Politically a curious state of affairs existed in the 
 country. Jerusalem fell into the hands of the British 
 nearly a year before Damascus and Beirut were cap- 
 tured. The country lived in a state of suspense, 
 therefore, for months after the fall of the Holy City, 
 in the expectation that the army would push on and 
 complete the conquest of Syria. This the enemy failed 
 to do, and by the time that the "big drive" really 
 commenced in the autumn of 1918 the people of Syria 
 were so habituated to the anomalous state of affairs 
 that they had almost forgotten to reckon on the pos- 
 sibility that the British might one day pursue their 
 advance. News of the progress of events in the south 
 filtered through but slowly, and life in the north went 
 on just as when the enemy was more than one hun- 
 dred and fifty miles away. There was, however, in- 
 timate communication between the Arabs east of the 
 Jordan, who were armed and in effective cooperation 
 with the English, and the Druzes of southern Lebanon. 
 In fact, the Arabs with the King of the Hedjaz did 
 their utmost to persuade the Druzes, both in Hauran 
 and Lebanon, to join with them. This the cautious 
 
2'j2 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 Druzes refused to do until they were more assured of 
 the success of the British campaign. I am told, how- 
 ever, that it was an extremely easy matter to get across 
 the lines, particularly for an able-bodied Armenian. 
 In this connection my informant mentioned as one of 
 the persons who had aided in the escape of a number 
 of Armenians to the other side an old Arab who had 
 served as colporteur for the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society in the Hauran for a number of years. 
 
 The Arab party in Syria was gradually assuming 
 organized form, although political intrigues discovered 
 by the Turks were so rigorously punished that the 
 utmost secrecy was necessary. The fact, however, 
 that considerable political propaganda was successfully 
 carried on is proved beyond a doubt by the course of 
 subsequent events. When Damascus fell to the Arabs, 
 the President of the municipality of Beirut received a 
 telegram ordering him to seize Beirut for the Sherif, 
 instructions upon which he acted so promptly and ef- 
 fectively as to leave no doubt concerning the complete- 
 ness of the existent Arab organization. 
 
 Apart from their own straightened circumstances, 
 and the sorrow of the distress about them, the year 
 1918 was in some ways less wearing for the Amer- 
 icans than the year previous had been. Every one 
 lived in fear of an evacuation of the city should the 
 British advance continue, for the cities of the south, 
 notably Jaffa, had been evacuated of their civil popula- 
 tions before the enemy's approach. As the advance 
 seemed to be arrested for the moment, this fear gradu- 
 ally became intermittent and dependent upon the nature 
 
The Dark Hour Before the Dawn 273 
 
 of rumours from the south. The Government showed 
 no special antagonism toward the Americans during 
 the last few months of its regime in Syria, and the 
 year passed without startling incidents such as had 
 marked 1917. Perhaps the secret of this freedom 
 from annoyance lay in the antagonism which the Turks 
 felt for the Germans. The very fact that the Ger- 
 mans urged a measure was sufficient to make the 
 Turks oppose it with the full force of their authority. 
 It is not evident, however, just what the German atti- 
 tude was at this time. It is probable that they were 
 too much occupied with their own affairs to care much 
 what the Turks or any one else did. They certainly 
 regarded Turkey as a lost cause. The Turkish army 
 was almost a negligible quantity, and the length of 
 its stay in Syria depended upon the length of time that 
 it took the British Army to make up its mind to move. 
 The final successful British advance caused a perfect 
 stampede among the Germans, and they were the only 
 foreigners in Syria who did not rejoice in that greatest 
 event in the modem history of the country: the Brit- 
 ish occupation, and the release from the oppression of 
 the Turk. 
 
XVI 
 
 DAWN— THE DAY OF SYRIA'S LIBERATION 
 
 THE big British drive in Palestine began on 
 September 19, 1918. The combined German 
 and Turkish opposition melted away before 
 the onrush of the enemy, and the flood of occupation 
 swept northward in three columns, carrying every- 
 thing before it. The achievements of the Egyptian 
 Expeditionary Force under the command of that great 
 general, Sir Edmund Allenby, have already been 
 chronicled, not only in an elaborate report from of- 
 ficial sources published by the Palestme Nezvs, but also 
 in a number of very readable personal accounts. It is 
 not the military side as such that concerns this narra- 
 tive, but the human side of the drama: how it ap- 
 peared to those who were in enemy territory, but in 
 sympathy with the British ; and what it meant to Syria. 
 Probably the most unusual feature of the situation 
 was the fact that the population of Syria as a whole 
 was completely in the dark as to the progress of events. 
 No official report of the enemy's advance, or of the 
 achievements of the defending army was ever pub- 
 lished. The supreme aim of the Turkish military ad- 
 ministration was to keep the people in complete igno- 
 rance of what was really happening. The only in- 
 dication of events in the south was the evidence, never 
 
 374 
 
Dawn — The Day of Syria's Liberation 275 
 
 substantiated, of travellers* tales, or the fact that the 
 post and telegraph in Beirut no longer accepted mes- 
 sages for certain places known to be in the path of the 
 British advance. Neither of these channels of infor- 
 mation was reliable ; in the first place, because rumour 
 ran rife in the country, and every one who was level- 
 headed had long since adopted the attitude of in- 
 credulity toward any second-hand item of information; 
 and in the second place, because the government of 
 Beirut frequently severed contact with other parts of 
 the Empire for military reasons, in some cases resum- 
 ing the interrupted communications after every one 
 had become convinced that this or that city was actually 
 in the hands of the enemy. 
 
 Although I was in Constantinople at the time of the 
 fall of Beirut, I have heard the story from one of our 
 community who witnessed that great event. It will 
 always be a tremendous disappointment to me that I 
 was not in Syria myself when this happened, but the 
 joy of returning three months later to a Syria that 
 was no longer Turkish made up in a measure for miss- 
 ing the actual spectacle of the occupation. Whereas 
 those in Syria were entirely ignorant of the near ap- 
 proach of the long-hoped-for release, we in Constanii- 
 nople followed hour by hour the progress of the ad- 
 vancing forces. Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, Amman — 
 one by one we heard of their capture. When the name 
 of Der*4 appeared in the dispatches our excitement 
 grew intense. Damascus was the next point of attack ; 
 and when that fell, Beirut was as good as taken. When 
 we finally heard that Beirut, our own Beirut, was at 
 
276 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 last in British possession, we laughed and wept. We 
 knew that the occupation of Syria before the winter 
 set in would mean salvation to thousands in Lebanon, 
 and we were wild with impatience to be back to help 
 in the work of rehabilitation. However, our patience 
 was not put to a very lengthy test. Two weeks later, 
 October 31st, the Turkish Armistice put an end to hos- 
 tilities on this front. I am not sure now that I would 
 exchange that wonderful experience of seeing the 
 Entente Fleet in the Bosphorus, and the Entente 
 troops in the Capital for even the privilege of being in 
 Beirut on the day of its liberation. 
 
 Ten days after the fall of Jerusalem, on December 
 9, 1917, the event was unofficially reported in Beirut; 
 but it was so persistently denied by the authorities that 
 In time the public came to believe the rumour false. 
 It was some months before the fact of the occupation 
 of Jerusalem became generally accepted in the north. 
 The same was true of the advance in the autumn of 
 1918. Fragmentary accounts of British successes 
 filtered through, but were usually scouted by the very 
 people who were most willing to believe in their ac- 
 curacy. On September 19th two members of the 
 faculty of the Syrian Protestant College came inde- 
 pendently into possession of facts which, while they 
 did not coincide, convinced these two gentlemen be- 
 yond doubt that the " big drive " was on. They spoke 
 of their convictions to their colleagues, but were 
 laughed to scorn. About October 2nd, one of them was 
 so rash as to assert that he believed the British might 
 be in Beirut before College opened on the ninth; but 
 
Dawn — The Day of Syria's Liberation 277 
 
 his statement was received with jeers, and one of the 
 other professors asked him to write it down, so that 
 later he might be reminded of his false prediction. 
 The prophet failed to tell me just what he said to this 
 skeptical friend when the British entered the city on 
 October 8th! 
 
 The panic among the Germans and Austrians gave 
 the first indication that something was wrong. About 
 the first of October, the German Consul General, who 
 was summering in BrummAna, was summoned by tele- 
 gram to the city, and he and his family left BrummAna 
 secretly by night. When he reached Beirut he evi- 
 dently received reassuring news, for he returned to 
 the mountains early the following morning, with the 
 hope that no one had marked his flight. He had been 
 there only two hours when he was again ordered by 
 telegram to flee the country, and he hastily deposited 
 his valuables with friends, and left with his wife and 
 little boy. What route he took subsequently is not 
 known exactly. Some say that he went by carriage to 
 Tripoli (where all his money was stolen from him), 
 and thence by the pass to Homs. Others claim that he 
 merely pretended to take that route, but in reality 
 made a detour around Beirut, returning to the Da- 
 mascus road, and continuing to Reyak, where he got a 
 train for Constantinople. 
 
 The Austrian Vice-Consul and his family made just 
 as precipitous a descent from *Aleih to Beirut, where 
 they endeavoured to extract from the Vdli, Ismail 
 Hakki Bey, the successor of Azmi, a true statement as 
 to the actual necessity for flight. At first the Gov- 
 
278 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 cmor refused to admit that there was any cause for 
 alarm, but finally he advised the distracted official to 
 leave the country with all possible haste. In less than 
 twenty-four hours the Austrians had sold most of their 
 household effects at auction, and were on their way to 
 Reyak. I must confess that there were some in Beirut 
 who had suffered from the arrogance and discourtesy 
 of this Vice-Consul, and who had been offended by 
 the heartless extravagance of his wife during a time of 
 extreme suffering in the city, who greatly enjoyed the 
 sight of them, on top of their baggage, in a German 
 freight-lorry; and I should be willing to testify from 
 my own experience that they found this means of 
 travel far from comfortable. 
 
 ' The German flight from Syria is described by all 
 witnesses as a perfect stampede. German morale 
 seemed to be entirely broken, and fright and the in- 
 stinct of self-preservation drove the Germans and Aus- 
 trians to an exhibition of abject terror. Many Ger- 
 man families from Haifa, and the colonies near Jaffa, 
 loaded themselves and their possessions into wagons 
 and drove up along the coast, escaping in some cases 
 from Beirut northward to Tripoli and Homs, and in 
 other cases over the mountains to Reyak. All were 
 panic-stricken and demoralized, and each thought only 
 of himself and fled without even passing on a warn- 
 ing to such of his countrymen as were more ignorant of 
 the true state of affairs. Those who kept to the main 
 roads and finally joined the railway escaped in safety, 
 but one party which set off northward through the 
 mountains was killed by the Nusairiyeh north of 
 
Dawn — The Day of Syria's Liberation 279 
 
 Tripoli. This exodus occurred about a week or ten 
 days before the occupation of Beirut, and some days 
 before the fall of Reyak; and after that excitement 
 had subsided, Beirut relapsed into its former state of 
 incredulous expectation. 
 
 Those who were in the mountains were first warned 
 of the near approach of the British. Dr. Dray, who 
 was in Brumm^na, told me the following story: 
 
 " On the night of October 5th we were startled by 
 the sound of heavy explosions to the cast of us; and we 
 saw the eastern sky illuminated with an awful glow. 
 A heavy mist hung low and served as a screen to 
 reflect the glare of the deadly fireworks, and we could 
 only speculate that the British were bombing Reyak 
 from the air. All the next day the heavy cannonading 
 continued, and at night a repetition of the previous 
 night's display. 
 
 " My first concern was for the Turkish battery at 
 Beit Meri, which I knew had received orders to bom- 
 bard Beirut at the first sign of the enemy's approach. 
 This battery was composed of two naval guns from the 
 Turkish warship, the Hamidiyeh; and the Turkish 
 naval officer in charge did not understand the military 
 code, nor did his military superior know the naval 
 code. Consequently, all of his orders were telegraphed 
 to him in simple, uncoded messages in Turkish, and 
 were, through the telegraph operators, made known 
 in the village. Furthermore, this Turk was friendly 
 toward me, and himself shared with me such items of 
 military importance as he thought might prove of in- 
 terest. Through him I learned of the plan to bom- 
 
28o The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 bard Beirut. I knew that they had the exact range, 
 for a few weeks earlier the Beit Meri battery had in- 
 dulged in a little target-practice. Four or five tremen- 
 dous splashes in the sea beyond the city gave evidence 
 of the accuracy of their calculations. I was deter- 
 mined to do my utmost to prevent such a catastrophe 
 as the destruction of Beirut; accordingly, I assembled 
 the head men of the villages in that district and urged 
 them to cooperate with me in an attempt to secure 
 possession of that battery. They were enthusiastic in 
 their support, and we made up quite a little army of 
 civilians and boldly approached the battery. The 
 Turks in command were taken wholly off their guard 
 and attempted no resistance. I parleyed with the of- 
 ficer in command, and told him that as the British 
 were approaching he would best surrender the guns 
 and escape while there was yet time. I finally induced 
 him to give me a list of the pieces in the battery, and 
 of the ammunition, which list I dispatched a few days 
 later to the commander of the Army of Occupation in 
 Beirut, and for which I received official acknowledg- 
 ment. Our first plan was to disarm the two hundred 
 and fifty Turkish soldiers in charge of the position; but 
 they pled to keep their rifles, as they were certain that 
 if they passed unarmed through the country, they would 
 be massacred by the inhabitants. We finally consented, 
 on condition that they left Beit Meri immediately. I 
 heard later that they went down to the plain, where they 
 surrendered to the first British detachments that ar- 
 rived. 
 
 " One morning we looked down to Beirut, and there 
 
Dawn — The Day of Syria's Liberation 281 
 
 in the harbour lay several warships. From that time 
 onward events occurred so rapidly that I can scarcely 
 recall the exact sequence. On October 8th the British 
 Seventh Division entered Beirut, where they were 
 warmly received, and where some six hundred and 
 sixty Turks, including sixty officers, were surrendered 
 to them by the inhabitants. From our point of vantage 
 on the mountain we watched the progress of a mighty 
 army along the coast. All day long the roads were 
 black with crawling troops, and at night their bivouac 
 fires starred the plain. At daylight they would push 
 on northward, and others would come up during the 
 day to take their places. Within a few days,, every 
 village and hamlet in the country quartered British 
 soldiers. In Brummdna, Beit Meri, and the site of 
 the former battery there were seventy-five in all; in 
 other villages ten, or even five Tommies represented 
 the might of the British occupation." 
 
 To understand just what conditions existed in the 
 city during those exciting days, we must retrace our 
 steps a bit. About October 1st, the President of the 
 Beirut Municipality, Omar Bey Daouk, on learning of 
 the rapid progress of the British, addressed himself to 
 the Turkish Vdli for instructions in case the advance 
 should continue in the direction of Beirut, and the 
 Turkish officials should deem it wisest to leave the city 
 to its fate. The Vdli flatly denied that there was any 
 truth in the reports of British successes, and assured 
 Omar Bey that he need not feel the least concern in 
 the matter. Reluctantly, Omar Bey accepted this as a 
 dismissal, and returned home. Excitement in the 
 
282 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 town, however, grew, and persistent reports of Arab 
 successes greatly agitated and inflamed the Arab sym- 
 pathizers among the populace. Once more the Presi- 
 dent of the Municipality sought the Vdliy this time at 
 ten o'clock at night. When Ismail Hakki persisted in 
 denying that there was any cause for apprehension, 
 Omar Bey became convinced that the Turks were 
 plotting to destroy the city prior to their flight, and 
 his own anxiety was enormously increased. As he 
 could obtain no information from the Vdli there was 
 nothing for him to do but to return home once more. 
 Upon his arrival at his own residence he found a tele- 
 gram from the Sherifian party in Damascus announc- 
 ing the successes in that city, and instructing him to 
 seize Beirut for the King of the Hedjaz. For a third 
 time Omar Bey sought out the Vdli, but this time he 
 went with a strong support of police. He informed 
 the Turk of the turn events had taken; and an- 
 nounced that, if the Vdli were found in the city the 
 following morning, it would be the painful duty of the 
 Municipality to take him prisoner and hand him over 
 to the Army of Occupation when it should enter the 
 city. The Vdli, acting upon this hint, left that night 
 by carriage for Reyak, passing through on his way to 
 Constantinople just three days before the British cap- 
 ture of that town, October 6th. 
 
 All that night the President and the Council of the 
 Municipality debated how to enforce order in the 
 town. The following morning they raised the flag of 
 the Hedjaz over the Seraiyeh, or Government Build- 
 ing, and for two days the Administration occupied rt-* 
 
OMAR BEY DAOUK 
 
Dawn — The Day of Syria's Liberation 283 
 
 self with the institution of a new Moslem govern- 
 ment, and new laws appropriate to the occasion. This 
 kept the town interested for a day or two, and the 
 populace was so busy celebrating that it did not show 
 any alarming signs of disorder. On the fourth, a 
 British armoured motor-car entered the city> and was 
 greeted with enthusiasm as a forerunner of the army. 
 In a few hours it left, but the public expectation was 
 that the army would soon put in an appearance. Two 
 days later there were still no signs of a British occu- 
 pation, and Omar Bey Daouk, fearing disturbances in 
 the city, and even the possible return of the Turks, sent 
 an emissary by sea to Haifa to beg the British to oc- 
 cupy Beirut. The envoy brought back word that the 
 British would come the next day. All next day they 
 were expected, but failed to put in an appearance ; and 
 it was not until the afternoon of the day following, 
 October 8th, that the troops finally began to arrive. 
 The first, a cavalry detachment, came up the coast 
 from Tyre and Sidon; others later moved in from 
 Reyak over the Lebanon range. 
 
 Before the land-forces arrived, five small ships, 
 three French and two British, approached the coast, 
 and the French entered the harbour. The British an- 
 chored outside. There were no French troops, but the 
 French marines were permitted to make a demonstra- 
 tion on shore. As soon as the ships had anchored, the 
 President of the Municipality went out to pay his 
 official respects to the British units. That same after- 
 noon the British troops entered the city. Later a small 
 detachment of French who were allowed to share in 
 
284 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 the expedition assisted in the military administration 
 around Beirut. 
 
 Thus Beirut once more changed hands, and the 
 beautiful city which had known already so many dif- 
 ferent masters passed again into the keeping of Chris- 
 tian forces. The country thus liberated from the 
 Turkish yoke was organized under British Military 
 control and administered as '' Occupied Enemy Terri- 
 tory." The familiar abbreviation 0. B. T. A. has 
 come into such general use that it deserves to be in- 
 cluded in the next edition of the dictionary! Owing 
 to the fact that Jerusalem had been in British posses- 
 sion so many months before the tide of victory ex- 
 Itended to the north and east, there was ample time to 
 .organize an effective military administration which 
 could be extended to the territories later conquered. 
 " General Allenby first entrusted the administration of 
 Southern Palestine to his Chief Political Officer, 
 Brigadier-General G. F. Clayton, (C. B., C. M. G.), 
 who built up such measures of government of the 
 civilian populations as are provided for in ** The Laws 
 and Usages of War " laid down by the international 
 agreements embodied in the Hague Convention. This 
 administration was entrusted locally to Military Gov- 
 ernors. Later the work developed so greatly that in 
 April Major-General Sir Arthur Wigram Money, 
 (K. C. B., C. S. L), was appointed Chief Adminis- 
 trator of Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, 
 as the control of the administration could no longer 
 be combined with the Political Department. After 
 the successful campaign in the north the Commander- 
 
Dawn — The Day of Syria's Liberation 285 
 
 in-Chief found it desirable to divide occupied enemy 
 territory into three sectors, south, north and east. 
 The respective areas were administered under the con- 
 trol of the Commander-in-Chief, by General Money 
 from Jerusalem, by Col. P. de Piepape, C. B. from 
 Beirut, and by Ali Riza Pasha el Rikabi from Da- 
 mascus." * 
 
 Those of us who were in the country during the 
 war, find it difficult to believe that we are not dream- 
 ing when we see the changes that even a few months of 
 occupation have wrought in the land. Only time can 
 heal the wounds caused by centuries of neglect and by 
 the ravages of a four-year siege ; but the day when the 
 first British detachment advanced into Syria, the 
 rehabilitation of the country began. Hope, like the 
 Phoenix, revived from the ashes of despair; and with 
 the liberation from Turkish oppression came the 
 natural human rebound of courage and faith for the 
 future. The British army are welcome guests in the 
 land, and I believe they have learned the meaning of 
 Eastern hospitality. Yet Syria is still in suspense, for 
 her political future has not yet been decided, and until 
 that has been determined there can be no definite 
 progress toward reconstruction or toward effective or- 
 ganization for the future. 
 
 *"The Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force," pub- 
 lished by the Palestine News, 
 
XVII 
 
 THE NEW DAY 
 
 DURING the war the attitude of the average 
 individual toward the eventual signing of 
 peace was distinctly unreasoning. He argued, 
 apparently, that, just as the declaration of war had 
 immediately plui^pkl the whole world into hardships 
 and suffering, fo the termination of hostilities would 
 effect an immediate restoration of the happier condi- 
 tions of pre-war days. The conclusion of peace would 
 bring the world the same instantaneous relief that the 
 extraction of a decayed tooth brings to its suffering 
 possessor. One good sharp pull and all would be over ! 
 There were very few who realized that the world was 
 suffering from an abscess which must ripen before the 
 surgeon's knife could prove effective; and that even 
 after the incision had been made, " nature must do the 
 rest," and there would be a slow and painful process 
 of healing during which the whole system must un- 
 dergo a readjustment. I heard an intelligent young 
 man say only yesterday of the situation in Syria: 
 " The war has been over nearly a year, yet conditions 
 are no better, and in some cases even worse, than they 
 were before the British came." This is perfectly true, 
 and it is no reflectbn oi\ the British administration 
 
 M6 
 
The New Day 287 
 
 which has already wrought marvels of benefit for 
 Syria and Palestine. What is true of Syria is un- 
 doubtedly true of other countries the world over. 
 
 In Syria to-day the whole theme of national con- 
 sideration is the Future. The Past we have buried out 
 of sight, and the immediate Present concerns us only 
 in so far as it affects what is to come. Everything 
 hangs in abeyance until that one vital question of 
 Syria's political fate is solved. No one is willing to 
 enter upon any constructive work until he is assured of 
 the destiny of the nation. Everything gives evidence 
 of suspended activity. Only the mind of the nation 
 is keenly alert, and is eager to plumb the unfathomed 
 depths of the future. 
 
 What was the future of yesterday is the present of 
 to-day, and during the war it was this very time of 
 which we expected so much. In this respect we have 
 all been disappointed, for we failed to take into cal- 
 culation the length of time which must be spent in 
 convalescence. The world has been mortally ill, and 
 once the crisis is past it cannot rise immediately from 
 its bed and resume the activities of normal health. 
 Syria has lain at the point of death, and there were 
 times when it seemed incredible that she should ever 
 rally. She has drawn to the limit upon her physical 
 resources, and it will take a long time to renew her 
 exhausted powers. 
 
 A year ago we prayed for the occupation, and we 
 dared not face the inevitable and terrible tragedy that 
 must certainly ensue if no relief came before winter. 
 The autumn brought liberation from the Turk ; but no 
 
288 ^The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 military occupation, however welcome and beneficent, 
 can free a country from the consequences of the in- 
 exorable physical laws of the universe. Moreover, the 
 occupation of Syria, and even the signing of peace 
 with Germany, do not yet mean the end of the war. 
 Armies are still mobilized, and are in the field in Russia 
 and Afghanistan. Internal conditions all over the 
 world indicate national unrest; and the traveller who 
 must submit to endless red-tape in the matter of vises, 
 permits, etc., realizes that a state of war still exists 
 even after hostilities have technically terminated. The 
 British occupation of Syria in the autumn proved the 
 salvation of vast numbers during the following winter; 
 but one of the greatest fallacies, both at home and 
 abroad, is the assumption that, because the Turk has 
 been driven out of the country and the Entente has 
 taken possession, Syria can now be regarded as amply 
 provided for, and is no longer in need of assistance 
 from outside. 
 
 Before touching on the subject of primary im- 
 portance to all those who love Syria and are interested 
 in her welfare, let me first explain what I mean by 
 saying that Syria has hardly begun to recover from 
 the effects of the war, and that she still needs all the 
 sympathy, cooperation, and philanthropy which have 
 been accorded her during the past four years. The 
 most striking illustration of Syria's need which oc- 
 curs to me is the simile that some one used recently 
 in a discussion of this very problem. He was plead- 
 ing for continued American relief support, and he 
 said: "As soon as a child learns to take its first step 
 
The New Day 289 
 
 do we expect that it will thenceforth be able to walk 
 alone without further assistance from parents or 
 nurse ? " Perhaps it would be even more pertinent to 
 inquire, whether a man who is too poor to provide 
 himself with medicines or with the delicacies of in- 
 valid diet, should forgo charitable assistance as soon 
 as he is able to partake of solid food? What about 
 the expensive dainties which he must have to enable 
 him to recover his strength ? 
 
 The whole world has been hard hit by the war, and 
 there are certain regions which have suffered more than 
 others. So great is the distress in some localities that 
 American philanthropy has been forced to confine its 
 support to the cases of most desperate need. The 
 Caucasus still needs millions of dollars of American 
 money; and if one believes the reports, even millions 
 are hardly more than a drop in the bucket. In Syria, 
 however, a few hundred thousands will go a long way, 
 and will prove the salvation of numbers of intelli- 
 gent and worthy citizens. One of the members of the 
 American Relief Committee in Beirut was requested 
 by the Committee to prepare a careful survey of actual 
 conditions in the country at the present time, with sug- 
 gestions as to how best to meet the need. His find- 
 ings may be summarized as follows : 
 
 During the winter that is ahead of us (1919-20) 
 there will be an appalling number of families in great 
 distress. They are without houses, without bedding, 
 without a change of clothing, without a single cook- 
 ing utensil, and have absolutely no resources with 
 which to procure the barest necessities. They have 
 
290 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 already sold everything they possess. They have 
 worried along during the summer while they could 
 live out-of-doors, when a single garment sufficed as a 
 concession to decency, while there were fruits and 
 vegetables to be had for the asking, and while a cooked 
 meal was not indispensable. But how are they going 
 to face the winter? They have neither shelter, food, 
 nor clothing. There is no work, for the industries of 
 the country have not yet been resumed, and cannot be 
 for some time to come. These people are not the 
 habitually indigent, but may be described as the upper 
 lower class. The lowest class, representing the paupers 
 of war-days, is now better off than its social superiors. 
 It exists in a state of animal contentment. The v/ork 
 of public improvements, which was suspended during 
 the period of the war, has provided employment for 
 the physically fit, the day-labourer. The wages which 
 repay his exhausting drudgery suffice to keep him and 
 his family in food, and he is not inconvenienced by 
 cultivated instincts which demand luxuries, or com- 
 forts, or any of the refinements of life. For the mo- 
 ment, the army provides employment for the men of 
 what we might call the educated class; and as in- 
 terpreters, and clerks, they are well paid. There re- 
 mains still a social stratum midway between these 
 two, comprising those who have learned to live re- 
 spectably, who cannot go in rags, or beg, and who are 
 not physically capable of the type of manual work 
 which provides for the day-labourer. For the sake of 
 outward respectability these people have provided 
 themselves with decent clothing, even though they 
 
The New Day 291 
 
 have had to go without food to do so. They cannot 
 hold out much longer. Death is ahead, but they face 
 it bravely, and without complaint. They are too proud 
 to solicit charity, and yet they are the very ones who, 
 for the sake of the country, should be saved for future 
 usefulness. 
 
 Leaving out of account the better-to-do classes of 
 society — ^merchants, business and professional men — 
 and confining our attention to the two lower strata we 
 find that the lowest, or pauper class, is at present pro- 
 vided for. There is a second class of tens of thou- 
 sands of deserving and desirable citizens who must 
 perish unless they receive immediate assistance, but 
 who can be set on their feet by a comparatively small 
 outlay. If this class of people can be equipped with 
 the bare necessities of life, and provided with em- 
 ployment, they will soon be capable of self-sup- 
 port. 
 
 The one thing that prevents Syria from rising un- 
 aided to her feet is the fact that there is no possible 
 means by which she can provide employment for all 
 who must work to live. For the past few months, and 
 for a few months yet to come, there has been employ- 
 ment for a limited number of able-bodied men in neces- 
 sary forms of work which were deferred during the 
 war, but which must now be continued. This includes 
 the building and repair of roads, repairs and altera- 
 tions on public buildings, completion of houses started 
 before the war but never finished, repairs on walls, 
 property, etc. But all these things will eventually be 
 finished ; and until the political fate of Syria is settled 
 
29^ The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 nothing new will be commenced. Even the fact that 
 the population has decreased by nearly fifty per cent 
 only partially contributes toward solving the problem 
 of labour. While there are fewer men to compete 
 for employment, on the other hand, there are certain 
 industries which have been completely destroyed, or 
 so crippled that they can no longer provide for the 
 numbers that they supported before the war. For 
 instance, the silk industry for which Syria was once 
 famous, and which proved a source of tremendous in- 
 come, is now destroyed. The mulberry trees, the 
 leaves of which provide the one item of the silkworm's 
 diet, have either been cut down for fuel or have been 
 so damaged by mistreatment and neglect that the 
 leaves are no longer good for silkworm cultivation. It 
 was hoped that after the war, when it would be pos- 
 sible to secure good eggs from Europe, the industry 
 would revive, but this injury to the trees is a handicap 
 which only time can correct. All over the country the 
 silk factories have been dismantled, and in some cases 
 completely destroyed. The rehabilitation of the silk 
 industry will require years, and of course, considerable 
 capital. What is true of this industry is true also of 
 others. 
 
 The Lebanon Mountains, always sparsely forested, 
 are rapidly becoming denuded. During the war the 
 Turks and the Germans felled the trees for fuel on the 
 railways, and to-day the British lorries are carrying 
 hundreds of tons from the pitiful little forests in the 
 mountains. This loss of timber will eventually affect 
 the climate, and even where young trees have already 
 
The New Day 293 
 
 started, it will be decades before the forests can be 
 restored. 
 
 The only hope for the country, therefore, lies in as- 
 sistance from the outer world. Foreign capital must 
 contribute toward developing its natural resources; 
 and trade with Europe, America and South America 
 must rehabilitate the depleted finances of this im- 
 poverished land. It will be seen, therefore, why it is 
 that Syria is awaiting with impatience the decision in 
 Paris in regard to her national status. Syria herself 
 realizes that she is not at present in a condition for 
 self-government, and her one desire is for protection 
 and guidance under an acceptable mandate. There 
 are many indications that Syria deserves to be con- 
 sulted in regard to her destiny. Less than a year has 
 elapsed since the departure of the Turk, but in that 
 year changes have taken place in the country that are 
 almost unbelievable to one who knew it at the lowest 
 ebb of its existence. During the Ottoman regime 
 there was no political cohesion among the Syrians. 
 Racial and sectarian disagreements were paramount 
 over national considerations, and the true patriot 
 despaired, doubting whether anything could weld to- 
 gether these antagonistic factions. The curse of 
 Syria has always been the religious fanaticism of her 
 various sects. The increasing nationalistic tendency 
 of to-day is, therefore, by far the most hopeful sign 
 that Syria possesses latent elements of strength, and a 
 spark of that divine fire which, if properly fostered, 
 will flame into national enthusiasm and patriotism. 
 
 There is only one topic of conversation in all Syria 
 
294 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 to-day, and that is the political fate of the country. 
 Moslem, Druze, and all sects of Christians, with but 
 one notable exception, are united in their demand for 
 an undivided Syria under an acceptable mandate. 
 They have very positive ideas as to what would be an 
 acceptable mandatory power. The choice lies be- 
 tween two nations, England and America. The find- 
 ings of the Commission appointed by the Peace Con- 
 ference to study the public sentiment of Syria, which 
 visited us in the summer of 1919, show an overwhelm- 
 ing majority in favour of the United States, with 
 England as an acceptable alternative. It is probably 
 not included in the report of the Commission, but it 
 is a well-known fact in the country that any other ar- 
 rangement for the political future of Syria will result 
 in bloodshed and in a duplication of the Balkan prob- 
 lem. 
 
 Syria is only one of the many small nations that 
 has staked her future on America's good faith in abid- 
 ing by President Wilson's " Fourteen Points," and so 
 great is Syria's confidence in America's loyalty to 
 principle that she is willing to entrust her national ex- 
 istence into our keeping. The President of the United 
 States has given utterance to principles of justice which 
 offer a hope of salvation to all national units that have 
 been the victims of political oppression and injustice, 
 and Syria understands the principles which America 
 stands for and is willing to accept her guardianship. 
 
 On the other hand, she admires and respects Great 
 Britain, and sees all about her the beneficent results of 
 British rule in Egypt and India. She is confident 
 
The New Day 295 
 
 that as a British protectorate she likewise would 
 flourish. The question yet to be answered, however, is 
 whether Britain can assume any further responsibili- 
 ties than those she has already shouldered, and whether 
 she will be willing to accept another charge. Britain 
 already bears a resemblance to the Old Woman Who 
 Lived in a Shoe, and she may feel that she has her 
 hands quite full enough as it is. 
 
 There is one arrangement, however, for Syria's 
 future which will never be acceptable to the people, 
 and that is a settlement which will necessitate the 
 division of her territory. Fear of such a contingency 
 has frequently given rise to the rumour that Palestine 
 was to be constituted a separate state under a separate 
 administration, Damascus another, and northwestern 
 Syria (enlarged Lebanon) yet a third. Great has 
 been the national lamentation wherever this report has 
 been given credence. The slogan of the nationalistic 
 party is first and foremost " Syria undivided." Any 
 refusal of this demand will lead to unrest, and in time 
 to bloodshed, unless the cause of dissatisfaction be re- 
 moved. France's commercial interests have led her 
 diplomats to hope that Syria's choice might be ac- 
 corded to her ; but, except for a portion of the Maron- 
 ite sect, there is no enthusiasm for France, especially 
 since her economic condition is not such as to enable 
 her to undertake the rehabilitation of such an im- 
 poverished country. 
 
 The question uppermost in the minds of those who 
 are interested in the Syrian problem is undoubtedly 
 this: Is Syria capable of self-government even under 
 
296 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 a mandatory power? It is true that her apparent 
 weakness under Turkish administration may argue 
 her unfitness for political responsibility. There seems 
 to be only one answer to that objection, namely, that 
 the character of Turkish control was such as to crush 
 the heart out of every subject race. What has been 
 true of Syria was true of Egypt before the British 
 intervention, was true also of the Balkan provinces of 
 Turkey before they attained their independence, was 
 true of Armenia as well. One has only to observe re- 
 sults when a Syrian is removed from his Turkish 
 milieu to a more stimulating environment. Look at 
 the Syrian in Egypt. Every one who knows anything 
 about the Near East knows that he has succeeded. 
 Kitchener is said to have asserted that but for the 
 educated Syrians in the country, Egypt would be 
 forty years behind her present position. The Syrians 
 are among the most influential men in that land. 
 They hold positions second only to the British in in- 
 portance. In politics, in business, in social life the 
 Syrian community of a city like Cairo is sound to the 
 tore, and is an example to the Egyptians that they 
 might well follow. 
 
 In America the Syrians have an excellent record. 
 I have been told that police statistics in a city like New 
 York rate them among the lowest in the average of 
 crime. They take to business like ducks to water ; and 
 as far as my experience has gone with Syrian busi- 
 ness men from America, they are honest, thrifty, and 
 loyal to our Government. One of them, whom I now 
 number among my acquaintances here, was actually 
 
The New Day 297 
 
 mayor of his town in the United States. This has 
 been true not merely of exceptional individuals, but 
 of the race as a whole, and therefore it is not a great 
 strain on the imagination to assume that, if the Syrians 
 can make good citizens abroad, they can make good 
 citizens at home if given a proper chance. When the 
 fate of the country is once decisively settled, it is to 
 be hoped that the Syrians overseas will be animated 
 by patriotic responsibility, and that each will do his 
 share to help his native land. Some may best serve 
 the interests of their country by returning there to live. 
 Others may prove more serviceable where they are, 
 but it will not be in keeping with the Syrian character 
 as I understand it if they fail to support their nation 
 to the very limit of their resources in so important a 
 crisis of its history. 
 
 If, on the other hand, Syria's right to self-determina- 
 tion is disregarded, and the nation is forced under an 
 administration that is generally unpopular, it is a fore- 
 gone conclusion that the most desirable types of Syrian 
 citizens will emigrate to other countries. They have 
 suffered too long under a pernicious system of govern- 
 ment to risk remaining in the country under such 
 baneful circumstances. Then indeed is Syria doomed ! 
 
 The present crying need is a complete reorganization 
 of the administration, and the removal from office of 
 those local officials who served under the Turks, and 
 who have been allowed by the O. B. T. A. to remain in 
 office. They are, almost without exception, "grafters" 
 and " crooks." In the day of the Turk they abused 
 their power and preyed upon the people. To-day the 
 
298 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 same men, or men of the same spirit, conduct the ad- 
 ministration along Turkish lines. Syria needs a polit- 
 ical house-cleaning, and she has a right to demand that 
 the power of the country should be entrusted to those 
 who are fit to govern, and not to the worst type of 
 political " boss." 
 
 Does America realize the status of Syria to-day? 
 The Syrians represent the highest type of culture and 
 intelligence in the Arabic-speaking world, which com- 
 prises one-fifteenth of the population of the globe. 
 They are born to be leaders of the Arab race, and that 
 means not merely the inhabitants of Syria and Arabia, 
 but also of Africa, India, Persia, and hundreds of 
 colonies in islands of the East, in South America, and 
 in the United States. They might almost be con- 
 sidered the leaven of the Orient. The Arab world of 
 the future must look to the Syrian race, which is 
 capable of such great cultural development, for its 
 leaders in science, philanthropy, and politics, and for 
 the statesmen who alone can master the complicated 
 problems of Pan-Arabia. There is no country in the 
 world open to American influence where such far- 
 reaching results can be obtained as through an Amer- 
 ican mandate over Syria. Here is a nation of per- 
 haps two million people capable of developing into 
 the finest type of world-citizens, awakened to a sense 
 of responsibility, and to a patriotic enthusiasm, 
 clamouring for the right to live a peaceful and honour- 
 able life. If Syria turns to America with a prayer 
 for assistance shall we lend a deaf ear? Shall we 
 condemn her to exploitation by unscrupulous Powers 
 
The New Day 299 
 
 who have no interest in her welfare, but who labour 
 only for their own selfish ends? Shall we abandon 
 those glorious " Fourteen Points " at the first test of 
 their sincerity? Or shall we use all our influence to 
 see that Syria gets justice ? 
 
 Life in Syria is at a standstill until this vital ques- 
 tion is answered. If England agrees to assume a 
 protectorate, as in Egypt, all will be well, and a new 
 era of national prosperity and enthusiasm will open up. 
 The Syrians know and understand the British rule as 
 they see it in the countries that are their nearest neigh- 
 bours, and they will welcome a British mandate. It 
 only rests with England to determine whether she can 
 add this to the many burdens she already bears. 
 
 Or shall it be a self-governing Syria under American 
 guidance, with the backing of America's vast wealth, 
 her systems of justice, tolerance, and education? 
 America, no less than England, will be acceptable as a 
 disinterested friend, with no political ambitions in this 
 part of the world, who has laid aside her national 
 exclusiveness for the sake of lending a hand to a 
 sister-nation that is in desperate need of aid. 
 
 The time for the decision cannot be far distant, and 
 for the sake of Syria, we all hope that her fate may 
 soon be determined. There is a faint light in the sky 
 which gives promise of the coming dawn. This gray 
 glimmer has been visible for some time, and the im- 
 patient watcher wonders what has happened to delay 
 the sun. Every one knows how wearisome is such an 
 interval of suspense. Light has come, but it is still 
 too early to tell whether the sun will rise clear and 
 
300 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 fair, or whether he will be veiled in clouds. We are 
 watchers before the dawn in Syria, but we do not yet 
 know whether our day is to be one of sunshine or 
 of storm. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY WAR PRICES IN SYRIA AND 
 CONSTANTINOPLE, 1917-18 
 
 Article Amt. Pre-war Extreme price 
 
 price in dollars 
 
 Beans lib. $.04^ $0.75 
 
 Belting for dress... 1yd. .09 .95 
 
 Blankets, cotton, crib 1 .80 9.00 
 
 Candles each .04J^ .36 
 
 Caning a chair 1 .80 12.00 
 
 Charcoal 100 lbs. 1.15 9.00 
 
 Chocolate, sweet.... 1 cake .21 2.10 
 
 Coffee lft>. .23 6.00 
 
 Cotton, absorbent... 50 gms. .18 1.20 
 
 " flannel 1yd. .13 1.95 
 
 " muslin 1yd. .13 4.05 
 
 spool 600 yds. .05^ 5.00 
 
 Cream of tartar lib. .09 1.80 
 
 Eggs each .01 .45 
 
 Elastic for garters.. 1yd. .11 2.40 
 
 Embroidery cotton.. 1 skein .04^4 .73 
 
 Flour 6 lbs. .15 10.50 
 
 Hats, straw, untrimmed .80 7.50 
 
 Honey lib. .14 1.20 
 
 Kerosene 9 gals. 1.80 180.00 
 
 " retail 1 cupful 1.20 
 
 Macaroni 1 lb. .05 1.05 
 
 Machine needles each .03 .22 
 
 Matches, safety 1 small box .09(doz.) .15 each 
 
 Milk Iqt. .05 2.40 
 
 Milk, Nestle's 1 tin .35 7.50 in Aleppo 
 
 Medicines: 
 
 Alcohol Iqt. 1.60 
 
 Cod Liver Oil ... . 1 bottle 8.25 
 
 Cuticura Oint 1 box 1.20 
 
 Epsom Salts lease 22.50 1500.00 Bid, held 
 
 for higfher bid 
 
 Eye dropper 1 glass 1.20 
 
 Glycerine 30 gms. .50 
 
 Iodine 30 gms. .30 
 
 Lysol 1 smallest size 1.05 
 
 Toothpaste 1 small tube 1.60 
 
 Tooth brush 1 1.20 
 
 Quinine 2 grain tablet 1.60 
 
 301 
 
302 The Dawn of a New Era in Syria 
 
 ArticU 
 
 Ami. 
 
 Pre-war Extreme price 
 
 
 
 price 
 
 in dollars 
 
 Molasses, Native... 
 
 lib. 
 
 .16 
 
 1.05 
 
 Mosquito net 
 
 1 
 
 4.00 
 
 24.00 
 
 Nails, large 
 
 lib. 
 
 .20 
 
 7.50 
 
 Olive Oil 
 
 iqt. 
 
 .14 
 
 1.05 
 
 Onions, dried 
 
 lib. 
 
 .03 
 
 .40 
 
 Razor blades 
 
 Idoz. 
 
 1.60 
 
 4.50 
 
 Rice 
 
 lib. 
 
 .05 
 
 1.50 
 
 Salt, rock 
 
 6 lbs. 
 
 .06 
 
 .90 
 
 " table 
 
 lib. 
 
 .03 
 
 1.50 
 
 Soap, laundry 
 
 1 cake 
 
 .08 
 
 .60 
 
 " toilet 
 
 Icake 
 
 .10 
 
 2.40 
 
 Shaving Soap 
 
 Icake 
 
 .10 
 
 .60 
 
 Shoes, men's 
 
 Ipr. 
 
 
 78.00 
 
 " women's . . . 
 
 ipr. 
 
 
 45.00 
 
 child's 
 
 Ipr. 
 
 
 15.00 
 
 Stockings, women's. 
 
 1 pr. lisle 
 
 
 7.50 
 
 Silk socks, men 
 
 Ipr. 
 
 
 2.55 
 
 Socks, cotton, child's 
 
 Ipr. 
 
 
 1.75 
 
 Silk 
 
 1yd. 
 
 1.50 
 
 24.00 
 
 Soda 
 
 lib. 
 
 .15 
 
 4.20 
 
 Starch, laundry 
 
 lib. 
 
 .22 
 
 6.00 
 
 Sugar ,.. 
 
 lib. 
 
 .06 
 
 4.50 
 
 Sweater, worsted... 
 
 1 
 
 
 15.00 
 
 silk 
 
 1 
 
 
 75.00 
 
 Tea 
 
 lib. 
 
 .80 
 
 12.75 
 
 Tin bowl, 28" 
 
 
 .50 
 
 4.60 
 
 Towels, small bath. 
 
 1 
 
 
 3.00 
 
 Turkey, alive 
 
 I5ibs. 
 
 4.50 
 
 13.50 
 
 Typewriter ribbon.. 
 
 1 
 
 .50-.75 
 
 20.00 
 
 Underwear, woolen. 
 
 Isuit 
 
 
 30.00 
 
 " gauze . 
 
 1 shirt 
 
 .35 
 
 3.75 
 
 " child's gauze 
 
 1 shirt 
 
 .20 
 
 2.40 
 
 Woolen suitings .... 
 
 1yd. 
 
 2.00 
 
 36.00 
 
 '* overcoat . . 
 
 1 man's 
 
 15.00 
 
 145.00 minimum 
 
 tt u 
 
 1 ladies' 
 
 15.00 
 
 75.00 
 
 ^ N. B. — Most of the prices quoted are for Beirut. Constan- 
 tinople prices do not differ much from those in Syria at the 
 same time. 
 
 Printed in the U-**"^. States of America 
 
.— ^sr- -""•" 
 
 207rt-l,'22 
 
YC 3840'4 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA UBRARY