THE
destroyer reached Piraeus very early in the morning, and I obtained, after some
negotiations, permission from the authorities to land my colony. I was soon
convinced that I had made no mistake in undertaking this task myself. I herded
my refugees temporarily in the compound of the custom-house, and immediately
appointed a committee of the most capable to attend to the details of obtaining
provisions, etc., and to distribute among the families the necessary sums for
their daily needs from a small amount which had been provided at Smyrna for
immediate necessities by the representatives of the Near East Relief. I then set
about finding lodgings for my people and telegraphed to Washington an account of
the situation and asked for funds. I found Piraeus, as well as Athens, already
crowded to saturation with refugees from Turkey. It soon became apparent that it
would be next to impossible to find lodgings for these new arrivals. After
running about frantically all day, toward evening I obtained permission to make
use of a large steamer that was undergoing repairs in the
harbor.
My
appeal to Washington for financial help brought an immediate telegraphic order
for two thousand dollars, and about two weeks later, Consul Oscar Heizer arrived
from Constantinople with ample funds. A small room in the basement of the
American Consulate at Athens was accorded to the personnel of the Smyrna office.
This was crowded all day with refugees and their innumerable
relatives.
It
was necessary to study carefully the case of each and determine to what extent
he was entitled to relief from the American Government, a matter rendered doubly
difficult by the lack of essential records. The painfulness of the task was
augmented by the fact that while American citizens could be repatriated, many of
those dependent on them could not be sent to the United
States.
The
consular officials were obliged, therefore, actually to engage in the gruesome
business of tearing families apart, even to the extent of separating aged
parents from children, and to act as the agents of an uncompromising system
which was not rising to the emergency. A more pleasant feature of the task was
that of helping in the reuniting at Athens of scattered families and in
obtaining news of missing relatives. This work, begun by me, was developed into
an efficient system later by the Athens Red Cross.
It
was very painful to me to be thrown into daily contact with the beggared
inhabitants of Asia Minor, whom I had known such a short time before as
self-supporting and prosperous. I remember with peculiar distinctness the old
guide of my hunting expeditions, an industrious small farmer from the village of
Develikeuy. Many an unforgettable day have I spent in the pinewoods with him,
shooting woodcock and hare and swapping Greek and American bunting yarns in his
native tongue. The day before I left Athens, I met him wandering about the
streets in a dazed condition. He told me that his beautiful and intelligent
young daughter, who was soon to have been married, had disappeared; he feared
that she had suffered a fate worse than death.
Mr. Heizer, on taking over the
work, asked me the peculiar feature of the job. I knew he was a very competent
man, as he had done most of the work of the Constantinople Consulate for years,
so I replied, “The quality most needed in this task is a human heart and not to
try too much to repress its promptings.”
From his reply I understood that he
was aware of this requisite and agreed with me. I therefore left my people with
him without apprehension and sailed to the United States on leave granted me by
the department!
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