New Britain Herald Newspaper, July 5, 1928, Page 17

U ] - AR 4 Thrilling Adventures of a Heroic American Nurse, & . Stranded in the Desert Between Bagdad and - Smyrnaand Her X Extraordinary _\ Eleventh-Hour N Rescue by Assyrian Soldiers. Edns Purviance, Film Star and Once Leading Lady for Charlie Chaplin, Who Was special cable dispatch, Miss Carr, pretty Near ast Relief nurse and native of Yellow Springs, Ohio, found herself at the beginning of 1928. Adventure is not the abstract quality for Miss Carr that it is for som: She served as a nurse i and learned the song of the 9.2 up Verdun wa; Then came peace, and civilization tried to put the brake on the tempo of life urged to racing speed by the hysteria of combat. Some succeeded in slowing down, but Miss Carr still sought adventure, so she joined the Near East Relief and went to Bagdad. On a par- ticular January afternoon there was considerable discussion and even consternation around relief headquarters in the latter city. A $10,000 fund for Assyrian relief reposed in the safe. The money was urgently needed in Smyrna, about s thousand miles away, and there was no one to take it. Miss Carr volunteered to undertake the haz- Louis Biedermann's Pictorial Impression of the Gallant Map Showing Part of the Country Traversed by Miss Carr. The Cross Indicates the Point She Reached Before She Was Forced, by the Accident to Her Automobile, to Abandon Her Journey. sights,” but so also have the sand dunes of the Syrian desert, and one of the strangest they ever did see happened recently, with a pretty and plucky American girl as the heroine. In an amazing series of adventures just re- ported by cable to the United States, Miss Alice Carr, Near East Relief nurse, had a thrilling cape from death when her automobile alm plunged from a cliff, and she braved the dangers of the desert alone, finally being rescued from the very jaws of a pack of wolves. _ The tufe of Miss Carr’s mishaps opens in old Bagdad. There, in 1928, life drones along much the same as it did a hundred years ago. Peoples of every nation swarm through the narrow and crooked streets, congregate in the bazaars, and are steeped in the gloom cast by the roofing of beams and leaves which cover many of the thoroughfares. B The hubbub of barter and exchange is inces- eant, and it is carried on in many tongues, Fierce - looking Bedouins stalk about; Moslem women shrink from the public gaze, snarling dogs and crying children are everywhere, under- foot, and at regular intervals the crowds draw back to allow passage for the equipage of some Indian prince, come to Bagdad with his vast wealth, to end his days in the odor of sanctity. From the public houses comes the ceaseless wail of Turkish music, with its nervous cadence and progression in minors. Through each semi- savage theme pulses the hollow drum-beat as a player thumps upon a skin tightly stretched over the mouth of a large jar. Toward evening the high-flung minarets of the Kazemain Mosque stab like barbed darts into an opalescent sky, and the solemn call to prayer sweeps like the spirit of peace over the restless city. The faithful have left off work, and having made their peace with Mohamet and Allah, they eed to amuse themselves after the leisurely ol on of the Orient. Far out upon the muddy [Y Tigris colored lights blink and glow as British or Turkish steamers wheeze up or down the river. The orange curve of the moon peeps serenely over the rim of the horizon, silhouetting the mys- terious architecture of this Eastern city, and niiht has come to Bagdad. 66 THE northern lights have seen strange t was in this setting that, according to @ ardous mission, and although some of the execu- tives objected strenuously to exposing a woman to the dangers of such a trip, the exigencies of the situation forced them to accept her offer. Accordingly she set about making preparations, and early one morning drove out of Bagdad alone, threaded her way through the cemeteries where the faithful are buried on their sides, facing Mecca, and started for Smyrna. In her automobile Miss Carr carried camping equipment and provisions. The first part of the journey was not difficult of achievement, and she hummed happily when the end of the first day chowed a satisfactory number of miles on the speedometer. Her good fortune continued for several days, but then luck deserted her. The car plunged into a stretch of road made of soft sand, and try as she might, Miss Carr could not hold the auto- mobile to its true course. After several hours of s'ruggling the car gave a sudden backward leap toward the brink of a lofty precipice. Miss Carr twisted the wheel hard over the other way. The automo- bile responded, headed up the bank, and the motor raced. But it was no use—the sand was too soft, and the car slid slowly back and down until the back wheels hung over the cliff. Miss Carr waited in agonized suspense. Fortunately the floundering car came to a halt. The right-hand wheel caught on a tree stump which supported the automobile in this precarious position. Miss Carr climbed out, sur- veyed the situation, and sat down to think. Apparently there was no way out of the diY!mml. Cer- tainly she could not budge the car. The driving power of the automobile itself was of no value, for the hind wheels were over the cliff. An attempt to drive the automobile would be more likely to send it crashing into the valley than anything else. Looking about her, Miss Carr saw that the accident happened in a particularly un- Flight That Miss Carr Waged Against the Savage Wolves Which Surrounded Her, and from Whom She Was Rescued by a Passing Cavalcade of Assyrian Soldiers. “Shot” from a Motion Picture 8hcwing an Actor Struggling with a Wolf. Sometimes These Beasts “Go Native” with Alarming Results. Bevipeper Fosturs Sesvien, 1038 The Barrea Wasteland Where Miss Carr's Automobile Broke Down. The Photograph Shows an Arab Standing on the Cliff from Which the Car Almost Plunged. favorable spot. The country was wild and barren. The road was hardly ever used, and it might be weeks before anyone came near enough to perceive her plight. Mean- while a merciless sun beat down upon her and a stifling heat rose from the baking sands. Taking stock of the situation, the Amer- ican nurse decided that the only chance for rescue lay in finding one of the roving bands of outlaws who live on the plains. It was not an attractive prospect. If she was lucky she might get off with her life, but she was al- e most certain to lose the car and its equipment. She, of course, had de- termined to say nothing of the $10,000, hoping to conceal this if she was fortunate enough to find aid. Accordingly Miss Carr set out on foot. She took her bearings, so that she might return to the car if she wished. Night found her some miles away in the dreary wastes. She ate a little, drank sparingly of water, and lay down to sleep. The next day she pushed on aga:n, but no welcome, moving specs loomed on the horizon. Up and down tha dunes she trudged, shielding herself as best she could from the blinding sun, and hoping against hope for rescue. At the end of the second day Miss Carr found her strength failing. There was no further o i ng on into the desert. She woul just much chance standing by the car. cordingly she turned and retraced her After spending three nights beneath the she again reached the stranded automcbile. That night the pretty American nurse was troubled by strange dreams. She seemed to hear a8 mournful moaning, yet could not imagine whence it came. In the morning she found out Gazing across the desert, she saw a gray hody move silently over the crest of a dune. It was followed by others, and they were all headed toward HER The trail of this human being and the sup plies which she carried had been picked up pack of roving wolves, Ordinarily the w wonld not attack a human being, but this par ticular pack was half-starved. Goaded to fury by the pangs of hunger, and led by an un 1y ferocious chief, the animals decided to attack. They were upon Miss Carr hefore she realized it, and she had no opportunity to get her weapons from the interior of the automobile. Instead che had only a slight club which she happened to be holding at the moment, with which to fight off the mass attack of snapping, snarling wolves, out to kill. For a few moments she fought them on the round, but it soon became evident that her attle was a losing one, and that it was only a question of minutes before she would be torn to pieces. Determined to sell her life as dearly as possible, Miss Carr looked about for some way of escape, and hit upon a daring scheme. atching her chance, she leaped for the auto- mobile, and succeeded in scrambling on top of the car before the nearest wolf reached her. Here was a measure of temporary safety, no mat- ter how dubious. The wolves could not reach her i F rink “On top of the ear she found a measure of doubtful safety, but it just postponed the death which she feared was inevitable” @ so long as she fought them off. But if she relaxed her vigil for a moment they would be upon her. Then, too, at any moment the ght plunge over the cliff and carry her to death. Apparently she had gained no real advantage, had only postponed for a few hours the ‘end h awaited her. Nevertheless she continued t, and two or three of the vicious animals t temporarily out of the battle by her -wiefded club. Already tired out by her foot journey in the rt, Miss Carr grew steadily weaker. The ed and waited, sure of their prey. For there is no doubt that the ferocious ani- mals recognized the sad plight of their victim. Miss Alice Carr, Pretty Near East Relief Nurse, Who Was Rescued from a Pack of Ferocious Wolves. The gray wolf of the deserts is recognized by studen f Is as the craftiest of four- “ases are recored where one wolf ched door to allow his mate to enter fevour a defenseless child. Wolf adonted the young of other wolves and :nqumtf; the hunter, re- nis trap line, will find that the cunning wolves have broken into his locked cabia and ransacked his supplies. But now came a surprise for both. A horse man appeared a s the desert. He was fol- lowed by oth: On they came, and Miss Carr breathed a groan of £ The men wer were commanded by a ence at the psychol m cidental, but none the less effective. Even in the face of armed soldiers, the wolves refused to up their prey, and every wolf had to be diers and they icer. Their pres- ent was purely ture, Miss Carr neve relief fund, and the N another star to its record of self-sacrifice and brave service in the interests of others. BT