FAMINE SCENES IN ASIA MINOR.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2012, 16 June 1875, Page 3

FAMINE SCENES IN ASIA MINOR.

VH correspondent'of the-Levant Herald, writing from Talas on February 26, t ay g - : —Some*' httndfed' persons ; from Gruemerek alone removed frop the neighbourhood oF AdatiaV and 'almost'half of them perished. Of three families, for instance* 1 composed" oft fifteen members, only three are alive. t Nowthere are in Gue'nierelc:( more' than •■' three, hundred refugees, almost naked and on the actual ferg le'-of;:' Ist'arTati6n.; -Many* of 'these having no other shelter for, the, night, are obliged-■f6!;sleep''in"stables -and exposed places,, almqst without .covering. t The abundance of grain" in the Sivas region, instead.of .being a r blessing to these poor villages', has' proved'a curse 1; because on accountr of, their^being under, ther Siyas vilaet,'they HaTe received'no"lielp from any,source,,and ihaye not pven shared,the leniency of the'tax-gatherers shown" to oj;her _„^aminejs < tricke,n . pillages.- -■"The poor "are' so "despondent that they dp f not; know ..,tp „whom ..ry to „ apply for aid.' I am sure that hundreds would .have; died ,if some help ;had not been furnished through'the efforts of the English Central Relief, Committees ' It is heartrending if or any one who visits these yillageß.-.tp.-se^..t]ie. suffering,.the nakedness, thY pallid hue'of starvation on the pounj&naDice,; Whp;knowshoW'^nanyare dying "from sickness and misery caused by ; destitution-? r.vlfkoow rthree; brothers who are young and strong, but for want off .work, can onlji beg.from door to Idoor. Those who have long suffered from famine/lMcbme'Treduc'ed-:almost"• to 'the level of the brutes. Family ties are disregarded; aid;men will'selt their children for bread and commit the f , most, atrocious crime!, almost'-without a"'reproof of conscience. Such moral degradation^ fearful. Yet, while'th'ey-'are". in this 'condition, tax-gatherers and the agents for multezims are collecting money, beating and throwing into. prison those who, are not able to pay'the 1' debts. •