File No. 867.48/608
The Assistant Secretary of State ( Phillips) to the Spanish Ambassador ( Riaño)
My Dear Mr. Ambassador: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your note of May 2, stating that you have received a telegram from the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Madrid in which he says that in order to organize a service for the relief of Christians in Syria he would like to know what quantity of foodstuffs the Joint Relief Committee is prepared to send to Spain, as a ship must be selected to transport it from Spain to Asia Minor.
In reply I beg to inform you that the character and quantity of the relief supplies contained on the U.S. collier Caesar, according to the statement made to the Department by the American Red Cross, is as follows:
| 5,000 | gallons cottonseed oil |
| 825,000 | lbs. whole wheat |
| 1,000 | cases condensed milk |
| 200,000 | lbs. sugar |
| 13,640 | cu. ft. donated foodstuffs and clothing |
| 80,000 | lbs. beans |
| 980,000 | lbs. flour |
| 100,000 | lbs. crushed wheat |
| 300,000 | lbs. rice |
| 5,000 | gallons kerosene oil |
| several cases chloroform and ether | |
| several cases containing food and wearing apparel for the American colony in Beirut | |
| 458 | cases hospital supplies |
The Navy Department has informed the Department that the above-mentioned supplies occupied 81,500 cubic feet in the hold of the U.S. collier Caesar, and that a small, unmeasured quantity of supplies was carried on the deck.
In a despatch dated March 21, 1917, Mr. Hoffman Philip, Counselor of the American Embassy at Constantinople, who was detailed to accompany the Caesar to supervise the distribution of the relief supplies, reports concerning a slight damage to the cargo during its [Page 546] voyage from New York to Alexandria. The summary of his report is as follows:
Cargo Submitted to Jettison
| Cottonseed oil | 285 | cases |
| Kerosene | 417 | “ |
Cargo Destroyed as Unfit for Use or Sale
| Rice | 4 | Bags |
| Crushed wheat | 9 | “ |
| Flour | 8 | “ |
| Wheat | 7 | “ |
| Miscellaneous: | ||
| Epson salts, farina, etc. | 12 | cases |
Cargo Sold
| Sugar | 840 | bags |
The American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief and the Red Cross understood that the Navy Department was to furnish them with more tonnage on the Caesar than was actually the case, with the result that much greater quantities of supplies were purchased than could be transported, and a large quantity of supplies intended for relief in Syria remained in storage in New York. The Department has no information as to the exact quantities of these relief supplies still remaining in New York, but will obtain it for you if the Spanish Government is considering the sending of a ship to New York for the transportation of relief supplies from that place to Syria.
In February, 1916, the U.S. collier Sterling transported from this country certain medical supplies intended for the Jewish hospitals at Jerusalem. The Navy Department informs the Department that the report of the commanding officer of the ship to the Navy Department states that there were about 25 tons of medicines and chemicals for Palestine on this ship. The Sterling was unable to land these supplies at Jaffa, and instead they were landed at Alexandria, where they have since remained.
I am [etc.]