File No. 867.00/705
The Consul General at Beirut (
Hollis
) to the Secretary of State
American Consulate General,
Beirut
,
October 8, 1914.
[Received November 9.]
No. 857]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith
enclosed to the Department three copies of a letter dated the 1st
instant which I have received from Rev. James S.
Stewart, the leading American missionary [Page 770] at Latakia (a village on the coast about
100 miles north of Beirut), and to report that his account of the state
of affairs there was fully borne out by identical letters received by my
British, French, Italian, and Russian colleagues from their vice consuls
and agents there. Back of Latakia there is a large and savage tribe of
totally uncivilized Moslem natives, known as the Nusariehs, who are the
direct descendants of the notorious old tribe commonly known as the
“Assassins,” and these people would like nothing better than an
opportunity to attack and loot Latakia and massacre its non-Moslem
inhabitants. I laid this state of affairs before the attention of
Captain Oman of the North Carolina, and he
decided to call in at Latakia on his way to Mersina and Alexandretta,
for which ports he departed at sundown yesterday. All of the Consular
Corps here are unanimously of the opinion that this visit will be of
great benefit to all of the foreigners residing at Latakia, and to the
peaceable and respectable native elements there as well.
I am reporting directly on this matter to the Embassy at
Constantinople.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The Reverend
James S. Stewart
to the Consul General at
Beirut
Latakia
,
October 1, 1914
.
Dear Sir: Our city has been in a state of
excitement and fear for several days. Many of the better class
Moslems have sent their families and their valuables back into the
country, giving as a reason that some foreign power was about to
sack the city. But within the last two or three days a plot has been
unearthed which contemplated the destruction of the entire Christian population of the city by
the Moslems. The Consuls have prepared a joint report to be sent to
their superiors in Beirut by the Khedevial to-morrow, and I hope
that you may have a chance to confer with them and see the
report.
The mutaserrif and the commander of the troops
were promptly informed of the situation, and it is said have taken
steps to preserve order and life. We could scarcely believe the
story at first, although we knew that the Christians were becoming
terror stricken, but now there seems to be no good reason to doubt
that such a diabolical plot was under way. In view of the situation,
we would like to urge that the appearance of a foreign warship
occasionally would be a very great blessing to us.
The Americans are all now at home in Latakia, and also our British
associates. We are out of funds and have very little prospect of
getting enough to enable us to open our boarding schools, or even to
keep our employees from the poorhouse whither we are drifting
ourselves. If you have any advice to give us, or better still if you
can cash our checks, we would be very glad if you would write
immediately, or send a kavass down to tell
treasurer Dana.
The French post office here was closed to-day by order of the French
Government, so we shall have to confine ourselves hereafter to
family gossip. Late this evening I hear that the Moslems are still
sending their families to the villages, and that many Christian families are going to sail
by the steamer to-morrow for Larnaca, if the authorities will let
them depart, which I very much doubt.
With kind regards, [etc.]
James S. Stewart
