Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

king out for himself. The general confusion, the general panic stricken faces all about, the sight of refugees fleeing to the many old and already crowded ships scattered about the harbor, made a heart- rending scene. We called at the home of Cornelius Hiebert and learned there that Clayton Kratz was already cut off from coming out and had sent no word. We left word for him, and funds. From Admiral McCully we learned that neither the vessel on which Slagel was to come nor the other one on which goods had been shipped had been reported as arriving. We learned later that Slagel’s vessel entered the harbor the next morning, just as many of the refugee ships were leaving. After finding out that Wrangel was giving up the cause and that noth- ing could be done, the captain followed the international ruling of steering for the nearest safe port, which hap- pened to be Constanza, Roumania. After several weeks of waiting the supplies had to be unloaded, and it was a month before they could be reshipped to Constantinople. As to what happened to the goods on the other ship we could never find out, but we concluded that they had been dumped overboard somewhere along the Crimean coast, to make room for refugees. Our total loss through the Sebastopol debacle was less than two thousand dollars. Had the defeat taken place only a week later, the loss would have been much greater. However, it was with a THE FIRST ESSAY INTO RUSSIA 99 heavy heart that this second return across the Black Sea was made. All the plans we had made and work we had done seemed to be for naught. But often our disappoint- ments are God’s appointments. All three members of the Unit endeavored so to act that He could guide us and show us what to do. But how different things turned out later from what had been planned. More than six months were to elapse before the next attempt to enter Russia. THE MENNONITE RELIEF UNIT IN CONSTANTINOPLE Since the way into Russia was closed for an indefinite time, and since the coming horde of Russian refugees was bound to bring a desperate demand for their relief in Constantinople and vicinity, it became our conviction that we should organize temporary relief work there at once. A cable from the Committee in America a few days later confirmed this and authorized our procedure. Bv Saturday, Nov. 21, sixty-two vessels on which were crowded between 100,000 and 130,000 refugees, had arrived in Constantinople harbor. Their sudden arrival found the government authorities utterly unprepared to care for them. It was almost a month until enough camps could be provided to unload the last ship. In the meantime thousands came into the city by one method or another. And who could blame them for escaping from the ships if they could. Many of the vessels were small. All were poorly equipped, and unsanitary. All were crowded from bow to stern. On some it seemed that every square foot of standing room was taken. F