GRAPHIC STORY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 11

GRAPHIC STORY.

[ N.Z. MISSIONARIES.

CRISIS IN ADDIS ABABA.

ENTRY Or THE ITALIAN'S.

"We just marvel how Haile Silaesie Vas able to hold out so long against such modern warfare; it was a one-sided war, ae we can see now," writes Mrs. Clifford Mitchell from the Sudan Interior Mission, Addis Ababa, to her relatives in Auckland. The letter has been received by Mr. Mitchell's parents, who litffc at Blockhouse Bay. Formerly Miss E. Jenkins, of Invercargill, Mrs. Mitchell went from New Zealand to join her husband who has been doing missionary Work in Ethiopia since 1931.

Graphically Mrs. Mitchell tells in this letter, which is dated May 8, of the fall of the Ethiopian Government and its early morning flight, and of the rioting that followed in Addis Ababa until the entry of the Italians brought peace again.

"I know you will be glad to receive this letter from me, though you will hear within a few days, I trust, that we are all safe in Addis Ababa. The rioting happened all so suddenly, without any warning to anybody. The letter I posted to you last week was burned in the post office. Now what a 6ight is Addis Ababa!

"The Ethiopian Government has been considering going out to Gore in the west to establish itself there; but when the Emperor Haile Silassie entered Addis Ababa, he wasn't agreeable to this plan at all. The emperor has lost practically all his army, either through mutilation or desertion. During the few days prior to his entering Addis Ababa, thousands of soldiers and civilians poured into the town from Dessye, and these were fed and given coffee drinks at a large refugee camp past the? British Legation grounds. Devoted Christian workers and Red Cross workers rendered excellent service at this camp.

| "On Friday night, May 1, at midnight, ! we were awakened by the incessant honking of a motor car at Dr. Lambie's | door. It was Fitarauri Beru, former | Minister of War, who had come for his | little two-year-old daughter and her nurse, who had been staying with lJr. | and Mrs. Lambie since his daughter wasl a tiny baby. We learnt that the Gov-| eminent was probably going to Harrar, to join up with the Ethiopian force in the Ogaden area. But on Saturday we learnt that the special train, which left about 3.30 a.m., went to Jibouti with the fleeing Government, and thence to foreign shores. Town Like Bedlam. That morning, May 2, from about 5 a.m. onward, we heard incessant firing in the town. Dr. Lambie, with others, j left at the usual time to go to the Red Cross depot, but never arrived there. | The town was like bedlatn, in the hands i, of an unruly, lawless people, bent on! looting, burning and destroying every-j, thing, even life. An angry mob attempted to hold Dr. Lambie's car up, but they drove on and returned home immediately. At that hour shops, especially those of former Italian business men, were entered and people were . carrying away all the contents. Enamel- i ware and so on was falling fiom the , hands of the overladen looters and rolling down the streets. "As the day passed, so did looting and banditry and lawlessness increase. What a scene the town must have been I After the shops and homes on the main stieets had been looted, the lawless mobs set lire to them, with the exception of a few places left intact through having a good armed guard to protect them.. These were Mohammed Aly's and the bank buildings, which had machine guns to protect them. Many animals and natives were killed and some of their corpses are still lying at the sides of the streets. 1 "The rioting and dreadful scenes con- [ tinued and increased on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and we knew it was only a matter of time for it to coine to our turn. Often would we see columns of black smoke belching into j < the sky, showing to us, who were two j miles out of the town, the terrible , destruction that was rampant." White People Killed. The writer goes on to tell of the lack of communication and of the danger that lurked on the roads. Many white people, 1;

[ especially of the French legation were injured, and Dr. A. J. Melly, the head of | I the British Red Cross, was fatally shot | in the lung while he was picking up a. I wounded man on the street. Mrs.. A. R. j i Stadin, wife of a Swedish-American, was j killed by a stray bullet while she was, [asleep. There were battles on the roads j I when bands of sliiftas attacked the looters as they streamed out of the town. The occujMints of Dr. Lambie's home decided to move to headquarters, I for rumours had been heard that the I angry crowd was planning to attack the house. "Our efforts would have been futile against them," Mrs. Mitchell continues. "We had a few armed boys, and these were splendid, but only four white men, with 14 women and two babies. The j men put a little barbed wire around the [ building, and we all slept on the floor. | The incessant noise from gun firing was i ; dreadful, but no attacks were made on j us, and we lost none of our things here, i except for the bookshop, where what wasn't looted was burned to the ground. Truly God watched over us! One-sided War. j "The Italians came into Addis Ababa on Tuesday, May 5, at 5.30 p.m., and soon order was restored. Their sentries are seen everywhere —Italians and EriI trians. Over 3000 heavy 20-ton lorries 'came in laden with troops, equipment, food and animals. Then, too, were the many tanks, lighter trucks, motor cars and motor cycles. We just marvel how [Haile Silass'ie was able to hold out so long against such modern warfare, which 'ncluded as well bombing and scouting 'planes. It was a one-sided war, as we | can see now. "Peace reigns here again; but we are anxious concerning our missionaries in the provinces. Clifford (Mr. Mitchell) is still in the Sidamo Province with others, and I have not been able to communicate with him'now for a fortnight, 'and cannot until the Italians establish a | means of communication. But God surely can and will care for them as He has for us here. We think it probable that the missionaries in the North will come in with thejtalian column coming from Lake Tsana. The rainy season is commencing, and the Italian Army has made entrance in good time. "Everything is strange now," Mrs. Mitchell'adds in a postscript. "We are j taking mail to the train to-morrow, • hoping someone can take it and post it j [at Djibouti." _ J