Two-page report from Clinton W. Crew, Director of NER Mersine, dated Mersina, Turkey, July 24, 1923, on the evacuation of Greek and Armenian refugees aboard the SS Propontis. The steamer, due July 19, did not arrive until the evening of Saturday, July 21; embarkation by row boats began the next morning at 9 A.M. and continued, with confusion and delay, until 5 P.M., when 5,166 refugees — including about 500 Armenians — had been packed aboard with their unexpectedly large baggage, jamming the decks and lifeboats and delaying the anchor weighing until 11:30 P.M. when the ship stood off for Cyprus.
Crew reports unprecedented Government cooperation in moving columns from the three refugee concentration points to the pier, the absence of the customary robbery of refugees during evacuation, and the distribution of a six-day food bag (bread, plus olives, tomatoes, and condensed milk for children and the sick) to each refugee; he wrote formal letters of appreciation to the Mutessareef and the Captains of Port, Police, Customs, and Health. On July 23, he executed a paper at the Mersine Branch of the Banque Imperiale Ottomane, returning the unused Ltq. 1,000.00 credit to NER Beirut, and he reports the chauffeur was badly burned fighting a gasoline fire that threatened the truck, delaying the planned trip to Caesarea by two weeks.
