_Part of a letter from Dr. Wilfred M. Post._
The number of refugees who have passed over from European Turkey into
Western Asia Minor since the commencement of the Balkan War is probably
in the neighborhood of 56,000; the large majority of these have settled
in the Broussa vilayet, a smaller number having found their way to the
Konia and Angora vilayets. Most of the refugees have traveled by rail,
their carts and oxen having been carried with them at the expense of the
government, but a fair proportion have “trekked” into the interior all
the way from European Turkey, spending several weeks on the journey.
The main distribution is along the line of the Anatolian railway, the
usual plan having been for a definite number to be allotted to each city
or large town along the line, and then sent off as fast as possible to
the villages—a few families to each village—the government hoping by
this arrangement to cause the refugees to amalgamate with the Anatolian
population, and also by allotting a few families to each village, to
throw the burden of maintenance on the people and avoid the problems
arising from concentration in large camps and settlements. This policy
has been carried out most thoroughly and the many hundreds of villages
from one or two hours to two or three days distance from the railway have
almost all received their quota of unfortunates to care for, an exception
having been made for the Christian villages, few, if any, of the latter
having been thus called upon.
About a quarter or a third of the refugees have come with some personal
clothing and bedding, and with some property in the shape of carts and
oxen, cooking utensils and money. These have been allowed to shift for
themselves, but the remainder have arrived in the interior in more or
less wretched condition, having little or nothing but the clothes they
wear, and in many cases only half-clad and in very poor condition to
meet the rigors of the cold Anatolian winter. As long as this class of
refugees remains in cities the government makes regular distributions of
bread to them, about 50 paras’ worth to each adult, and 25 paras to each
child per day, in some cases giving the money instead of the food, but as
soon as the refugees have been shipped off to the villages the government
ceases to distribute help.
[Illustration: HARBIE HOSPITAL.