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!
Next: Chapter XIX | Previous: Chapter XVII | Book Contents | Book main page