NIGHTMARE EXODUS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3148, 18 December 1922, Page 7

NIGHTMARE EXODUS.

(By C -1 Ketebum, Adrianople). An endless stream of refugees is passing through this. deserted city which stands at the junction ol the Arda and Maritza rivers, just inside the border of Eastern ThracePractically all its 50,000 Greek and Armenian inhabitants have departed Entire streets with all the houses and shops lie empty, ready tor Turkish occupation. The few Greeks who remain behind religiously wear the lez signifying the new allegiance to Kemal s Government. f I saw a ten-mile-loug stream ol refugees to-day passing along the mam road after long journeys rum Bodosto, Chorlu, Lulo Burgas, and other points /south and east. They were white with Must, they had little or no food, and Uuid passed many sleepless nights. Lhey gSve a great sigh of relief when thej reached the bridge crossing the-Ma-ritza and found themselves m WesterOfficeSC<o'f the Inter-Allied Commission who meet the refugees "long the road find it impossible to convince them that the Turkish Nationalists are not on their heels. Their caravans represent in -many cases entire towns and villages. They are made up of oxen and mule teams and some cameb. The wagons are almost breaking undei loads of Furniture, farms implements and tor-

All roads round Adrianople are badIv congested under the present Greek traffic control. Matters should improve with the arrival of a French battalion shortly. Allied officers inform me that a serious problem confronts the authorities of Western Thrace, as the majority ol refugees left their homes for the long march with no more than two days food supply. The tragic plight of the refugees was strikingly borne home to me as I passed Chorlu on my way to Adrianople. The evening sky 'was made brilliant crimson by great haystacks on fire over the 'hills a few miles away. wA thousand women and children were lliddlcd together at the railway station endeavoring to keep warm while waiting'to resume their long, sleepless jouruev which will take them ultimately to a group of lonely islands in the Aegean Sea. . , The whole population ol the country seems to be in flight. A line of horse trucks half a mile long in the siding here is piled high with dilapidated furniture of every description, from stoves to pianos and multi-colored bedding. On "top of everything lie women with infants in arms." half asleep from sheer exhaustion. Tim more fortunate find berths inside the trucks, where they sit cramped and half-buried among their furniture. One woman contentedly seated on a deck chair on top of a furniture-laden truck was doing her hair in front of a mirror. . .

A square mile of furniture waiting for trams L> carry it away is scattered round the station. The owners remain leligionsly beside their goods, several women, stoutly refusing to proceed on their journey unless 'their belonging v.eut with them.