THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph from C. W. Whitehair 



LADY AIXENBY GIVING AWAY THE PRIZES AT A Y. M. C. A. ATHLETIC 



MEET : PALESTINE 



While the Y. M. C. A. has been chiefly instrumental in providing entertainment and diver- 

 sion for the Twentieth Century Crusaders in the Holy Land, it has also helped the British 

 authorities in solving some of the vital sanitary problems of Jerusalem. It was this organiza- 

 tion which secured engine, pump, carts, and wagons for the first sanitary equipment installed 

 in the city. 



The first British military governor of 

 Jerusalem was the Postmaster-General of 

 Egypt, Borden Pasha ; but he had to re- 

 sign because of illness, and Colonel Ron- 

 ald Storrs assumed the title and duties of 

 Governor of Jerusalem on December 27. 

 When he arrived he found that the city 

 was on the verge of famine, and imme- 

 diate action had to be taken to avert it. 



SAVING THE CITY FROM STARVATION 



Jerusalem in the past had two main 

 sources of food supply — the first from 

 the sea by Jaffa, which was cut off at the 

 outbreak of the war ; the second from 

 the districts east of the Jordan. The 

 latter was interrupted by the Turks when 

 the British captured the city. 



No supplies were coming in from the 

 surrounding country, as in December the 

 roads are very bad, and because nearly 



four years of Turkish military occupa- 

 tion had stripped the country of all avail- 

 able food resources. 



An order was issued requiring the dec- 

 laration of all grain in the city, for nearly 

 25,000 people were absolutely destitute 

 and the number was increasing daily. 

 Hundreds of tons of supplies were 

 shipped in and relief work was carefully 

 carried forward under the personal su- 

 pervision of the Governor and his staff. 



The Turks on evacuating Jerusalem 

 took special care to deport all persons oc- 

 cupying important civil offices, such as 

 heads of communities, magistrates, chief 

 accountants, the chief of the police, and 

 other prominent citizens. They had 

 closed all schools, disbanded the police 

 force, and destroyed or carried away 

 every important document or register 



