GRIM FAMINE AT SMYRNA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1012, 14 November 1917, Page 5

GRIM FAMINE AT SMYRNA.

FAMINE AT ITS~~ACUTEST STAKE. Australian-New Zealand Cable Associpftion. Received November 14, 9.20 a.ml ATHENS, Nov./ 13. A terrible famine prevails at Smyrna bread being entirely lacking. The death rate ia enormous. Starvation, which has provailed for months, is now at its acutest, stage.' i [Smyrna is the most important seapoi/t in Asia Minor, and is located at the her>l of the Gulf of Smyrna. The Europe-in quarter, which faces the lino of quays (t (venules long), and the harbour, are b-ith .lighted with gas and electricity, but flie I town is badly drained, the climate_ uncertain and the heat in summer is intense. It is the seat of Roman Catholic, Gil.ek and American Archbishoprics, and'the terminus for two lines of railway which krun eastward up the Maeander and Her? mis Valleys. It had, prior to the wan, a : population of about 250 000, of whom /half were Greeks. Originally a Greek'settlement, it was captured by the lur rf in 1424 and has remained under lurkish. juil ever since] ;