This is an excerpt from a letter were written by Kate Jackson, the wife of A.V. Williams Jackson, to her sister-in-law Mrs. William N. Pratt, of Savannah, Georgia, while she and her husband were on their way around the world as members of the American-Persian Relief Commission in 1918. In 1920, Jackson published her letters that are very interesting for their immediate nature, personal character and insights into unusual conditions in regions that the Jacksons had visited.
Unfortunately the couple reached Georgia only at the end of their journey and therefore did not stay long here. Instead they proceeded to the Black Sea coastline where they boarded a British warship to return home.
Batum, 14 December 1918
[...] we reached Baku, and one of the British General's aides met us and took us to the hotel. There have been Turks, Bolsheviki and Armenians and Tartars, all fighting there, so the town was rather a sorry looking place; still it had pavements and at present was quiet, and I had the pleasure of walking, and sometimes, by myself, quite unusual after Persia. There Will had no time to walk with me, and it was so little fun having our servant go with me, I used to stay at home.
In Baku and the adjacent country, the Tartars and Armenians loathe each other. Last September, the Tartars massacred some twenty thousand Armenians as a return compliment to the Armenians who last March killed twelve thousand Tartars. One Armenian boasted of having killed sixty-six, but in a report of the Bishop, great stress was laid on the horrible cruelty of the Tartars and their fearful September massacre, while the Armenian massacre last Spring was called "the events in March "!
There is tremendous work to be done out here by the British and other Allies before certain parts of Asia are fit to live in. The British have some splendid men in Baku, their Chief, General Thomson who is only thirty-eight, being one of the best all-round specimens of manhood I have ever known. Will and I had tea with him and his staff the afternoon before leaving Baku. He sent his aides the next morning to put us on the train, and six Tommies, who to their intense joy are being allowed to go home, accompanied us as guards and servants. We had a car to ourselves and proceeded in most leisurely fashion expecting to come straight on to Batum; but the Government of Georgia begged us to stop over as their guests at Tiflis.
We arrived at Tiflis at 8 a. m. and found the town all decorated, as it was the first anniversary of the National Guard. We did not like red flags everywhere, but the more moderate natives assured us they were not as socialistic as they seemed.
Tiflis is the Capital of Georgia and notwithstanding the fact the country became a part of Russia and was almost Russianized, the natives still retain their language and their love of country. They are crazy now to have a Republic, one of the many this war will produce, and they point with pride to the fact that Georgia is the only part of Russia where Bolshevism was kept out. They have also been Christians since the third or fourth century and one thing that impressed us all, is their great respect for women. As Dr. Judson says, they have a home life, something their Mohammedan neighbors lack. The Committee that took charge of us was composed of very pleasant people, among them a Prince and Princess of old lineage, a general who had been in the Russian army, a very attractive man, a doctor, etc. They gave us three delicious meals, rooms to rest in, and took us sight-seeing, finally bringing us to a train which carried only us, at 11 p. m.
We reached here, Batum, the next night and had to stay— such a hotel! quite the filthiest I have ever seen. We all slept on camp beds as a precautionary measure! Mr. Balfour has ordered a British man-of-war to take us to Taranto, and at daylight Dr. Post knocked at our door and said the boat would be ready for us in three quarters of an hour. We promptly got ready for the boat, which did not arrive till later and which cannot sail till to-morrow. We can scarcely wait till the time comes, and in the meantime, have cast many grateful glances at the Black Sea, the connecting link between us and home.
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