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y<»IFTY thousand Christian girls, heldcaptive now In Moslem harems in

* Asiatic Turkey and In the deserttents of Arabs and Circassians in the

* 'Syrian desert, suddenly have been givenhopes of freedom and happiness by the

\ success of a remarkable scientific experl!ment Just concluded in this country.These young women, nearly all of them

between the ages of fifteen and twentyyears, were captured by the Turks, Arabs,Circassians and Kurds during the Armenianmassacres. The majority of them are

Armenian girls and were the moat beautifulof their people. Kept by the tribalchiefs who captured them, because of theirexceptional beauty, for their own harems,they were branded, according to Arab andKurd custom, by the terrible practice oftattooing which these tribes have employedupon their Christian concubines for time

, immemorial.Imbedded in flesh and skin with secret

* Inks made from Oriental herbs, theseJ firead tatoo marks always have been intdellible.none of the usual methods employedfor the removal of modern tatoolng* have been successful in erasing these

marks of shame. The young girl thusmarked has been doomed to go throughHfe branded as th« property of her master,Or her master's tribe, much the same as

X the horses on the western plains are

J. branded with the marks of the ranch towhich theyN belong.

Z As a result of the Armenian massacres*

so many young women were marked with> the tattooed brands of their owners that

oolonoo thrftiiffhnnt thfi Phristiftn world

found Itself confronted with the human!Jtarinn task of discovering some way these^ unknown Oriental inks, used for centuriesZ "by the desert tribesmen, might be removed

from the tender faces disfigured by them.>- Otherwise there remained no hope that

£ these young women, stolen from their families,might escape some day from theircroel bondage. For should they attemptcscape, and even get beyond the clutchesof their masters, their horrid markingswould bar them from all happiness In the

' world at large.Since long before the armistice sclen;

tists in America, spurred by the plight ofw these Christian girls, sought the hitherto* unknown method of eradicating the tatooed; brands. Harvard University was the leader

among the great institutions which conductedexperiments and investigations. Atlast success seemed to be promised theboard of scientists employed by the universityto solve the humanitarian problem,and a commission of these scientistswas sent to Asia, seeking there a subjectupon whom their new discoveries mightbe practiced.Even this preliminary task was hard,

however, as no young woman thus brandedhad succeeded in making her way acrossthe desert or through the Moslem citiesalong the highways, after escaping fromthe harem where she had been imprisoned,without being caught, her ownership recitgnlzedby her brands, and sent back tobe punished.scourged to death, perhaps.Strange as it may Beem, the subject

needed for a scientific demonstration ofwhat the scientists believed would savethese Christian girls from the scars oftheir unavoidable shame, eventually was

discovered, not in her native land, but inNew York City.This was little Narglg Avsklan, eighteen

years old, the beautiful daughter of a richArmenian family of fllvas, who had beendriven from her home when the Turks deportedher people In 1&15, and sent withher father and mother and brothers and

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Nargigas Shm S«-IIform thm Brand*Warm by

ThmArrow" Arm ShownBotwmmn Hmr Eymm andBmnmath Hmr Lowmr Lip. i

At Each Cornor of HorMouth / thm Brand ofHor Matter'a TribmBotwmmn thm Tribal.J- i~ iL. r;..

Blotch » of F ur pi o

Which Stand for Fivt VDaily Prayort of liltun. W,;

Thm Data Undor HmrChin Aro S ymb o I LWhich Only tho Araba 1

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sisters Into the desert. Nargig had beenthe belle of all Slvas. She bad been educatedIn Constantinople, and was known

throughout the city for her proficiency In

music, needlework, and for her deiAurenesaand captivating charm. Many timesthe Turkish governors had cast covetous

eyes upon her, but her father was very richand powerful among the Armenians andshe was safe then from Turkish persecution.When the massacres were ordered, however,her's was one of the first homes descendedupon. All her father's property

was confiscated and he was turned out, jwith his family, penniless, and sent upon (

the long walk into exile.After many days of wanderings, during

which her mother died from exposure andher father was killed by a Turkish Zaptieh, ,

Nargig was stolen one night by a band ofKurds. They now were in the Arabiandesert, and after a time the beautiful girlwas sold, for three horses, to an Arabchieftain, the Sheikh Tashln Melaz. whosetrilie had come from the south to harrass 1

the deported Armenians. IThe Sheikh Tashin took Nargig, with ,

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others of his prettiest captives, to the city <

of Urfa, at the edge of the desert. Here f

he put her up for sale In the slave marketsof that Moslem city. She was bought by <

a wealthy Arab, Abou Seraldz, who lived Iwith a band of followers Just outsjde the Icity. Abou took her to his harem and com- '

polled her to submit to concubinage. 1It was by the orders of her master. Abou, I

that she was tattooed Abou declared his 1IlkInK for her and gave ordrrs that she be i

branded with the distinguishing marks of i

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Here Are the Four Proceaaei(1) Th* FImK Wm KnswAd withSeparated from Ike Muscles BrneaMedicated Solution, and (3) CoraSurface and Cause the Surfaca Fliof Suppuration Were Kept Tightly(4)New Flesh and Skin Grew WOnly Pal* Pink Tint* Which R*aaDisappeared Completely in from

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hin tribe, go that If she should run awayshe would be recognized any place on theArabian or Syrian deserts, where theArabs and Kurds roam, as belonging totils particular tribe. It Is one of the un-

nrlten laws of the Kurds and Arabs to returnto each other runaway slave girls.Accordingly, one morning, before the sun

rose, Narglg was dragged from her couchIn the harem and taken outaidc. Threeif her master's tribesmen held her face tohe East, where the first glints of the sun <

night fall upon her. according to the anientArabian custom when branding lilaves. IOne of her captors had within a little

^arthen bucket. In which had been ml*ed 1ho strange Inks made from herbs and .1

grasses, the secret of which the clvlllied 1

.vorld never has learned Another captor <

leld In his hand a long, cruel needle of <

ismmered steel. The third bound her feet ihat she might be easily held and pre- <

rented from squirming too much In her tigonles. i

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i of the Removal of the TattooSkilled Hand* to That the Skin Watth; Than (2) the Face Bathed with a

ipretie* Which Draw the Ink* to the*h and Skin to Diitolve in a ProcesiBandaged Around the Face for Weeka.here the Old Wai Dioohred Leavingmbled Exce*tive Sunburn* and WhichTwo to Four Week*, Leaving Nargigily a* Ever.

Just an the first ray of the gun fell uponthe party the Arab who brandished thecruel needle sank It Into the poor girl'sskin between her eyebrows. She screamedand struggled and begged for mercy, butwith the precision of a clock's ticking theneedle rose and fell, penetrated with eachdownward *'i>ke far beneath the skin, intothe flesh, and leaving behind It the indelliblepurple stain whiclj, so far as sclpneehad known since the beginning ofArabian history, could never be removed.Between the girl's eyebrows the needle

made a crude arrow of little dots. The»rrow pointed upward."to guide the girl'sFuture thoughts to Mohammed." Belowher lower lip a similar arrow, also pointedupward, "was formed, that "her spokenwords might be wafted abore with reversneeto the Prophet." Around the edge[>f her lower lip Ave purple blotches were

placed to represent the Ave dally prayersr>f Islam, The hieroglyphic representingIhe special prayer of her master's trlbowas pricked Into each temple, and the

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mmsmmmmslave girl brand of the tribe was drawn,with the needle heated to a red heat bo

the dots would form a seared line, in theflesh at each corner of her mouth. Otherdots in symbolic design were pricked intoother parts of her face and across herbody, reaching from her throat to belowher waist, the needle fixing a series ofsymbols, each signifying a verse from theKoran.These were variations of the tattooing

to which the other thousands of Christiangirl captives throughout Syria and Arabiawere subjected by their cruel harem masters.Each was marked with the brand ofher tribe among the other symbols, andthus each lost hope of ever regaining herfreedom,

Nargig, however, managed to escapeinto the city of Urfa, and to find there a

true friend who kept her hidden for manyweeks in a dark, dank cellar. At last opportunitycame for her to be spirited awayto Aleppo. From here she was taken ina caravan to Damascus, where there liveda rich uncle, who had ostensibly acceptedthe Moslem religion as a protection for hislife and property. This uncle took her inand succeedod eventually in getting herto Constantinople.

Relatives who had come to Americamany years before learned of little Narglg'splight and brought her to this country.She arrived in New York threemonths ago.

Nargig was taken at once to experts inthe art of removing tattoo marks, but eachof these told her no method had been discoveredto remove these secret inks Imbeddedso far Into the flesh. Ordinary(atoning could be erased, hut not thisbrand of the Arabs. Little Narglg thoughtshe was doomed for life to wear a heavyell whcnover she appeared on the streets;

of Shame!

bar feet and another bald bar_ bodjr,_li«^I deep in iKa landar (Ink of bar faca a redbranding ink* of tba Arab*. Ju«t as the

fall, upon bar bemarkod faca tba first crualuppoiad to lift bar thought* and all bar/

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never able to show her face except to thelmoat Intimate of friends. IWhenever strangers did catch a gllmpsoj

of her face they looked with horror anddisgust upon the grotesque markings, little '

knowing the tragedy they represented.Friends of the young victim at last were

sent to Dr. Edgar T. Strickland, a scientistattached to Sheffield University, In England,who had Joined the Harvard commissionin Asia, and who had studied firsthandthe proceases of tatoolng employedby the Arabs, and who had examined thefaces of many Armenian girls who hadbeen beautiful, hut who had been horriblydisfigured by their captors. Dr. Stricklandwas visiting in America.The scientist at once placed the girl in

charge of a New York institute at No. 330West Ninety-flfth street, where, under thepersonal direction of Professor EdithHansen, lately of the Royal CopenhacenUniversity, aoience set about its demonstrationthat the branded girl captives ofthe Turks and Arabs may eventually bprestored to their unblemished beauty. ^The method employed is one of absorptionand suppuration. Professor Hansen,

reporting the condition of the young girl'.^face when she entered Into the care of thoinstitute, said:"The penetration of the electric needle

tiar>d in modern tatooing is slight, sinkingonly into the outer skin. Removal ofmodern tatoolng. in which the well-knownChinese colored inks are used, la comparativelyan easy matter. In the case ofNargig, however, the Arabs had used a

hand needle, which was very thick, andwhich was not even sharp. Evidentlythey were too cruel to even sharpen theirneedle or use a thin one. The penetrationwas uneven. In many spots it went clearthrough into the inner flesh. In brandingthe glrl'a nose they jabbed clear throughthe two skins and into the cartilage. Theplaces chosen for marking were the mosttender spota on the face.the temples, thenose, the brow and the region of the underHp.

"First It was necessary to pack the firl'sface In compresses, medicated with a solutionwhich softened the skin, enlarged thepores and Increased blood circulationthrough the color pigment of the skin.After these compresses had been kept in

place, changed at frequent interrals, thoskin was carefully-kneaded to break itshold on the flesh beneath."The compresses were then replaced for

another stretch of days, removed periodicallythat the face might be bathed withmedicaments calculated to further softenthe skin and begin the necessary processof absorption.

"'Suppuration now set in coincident withthe absorption. Almoat every hour, dayand night, the flesh and skin was kneadeduntil it was indicated that the poisonouscolors which were foreign to the underflesh had begun to spread and slowly to

dissolve Into the flesh. There was con

slant bathing, and soon the bathing cottonbegan to be discolored. This was the signthat the colors were seeping out throughthe pores."The flesh which had been poisoned bv

the unknown inks began to dissolve'andsuppurate. Tubes were applied throughthe compresses nnd the liquidized fleshdrawn out The skin which had br. n Jpoisoned with the markings dissolved andcame away also."At last there was no trace of foreig|^^^|

colors In the little girl's face. Then beg^^^^Hthe simple process of healing Whennew skin had grown over the places wh^^^^^fthe tatoo marks had been the littlepresented the appearance of havingheavily sunburned. This 'sunburn' app^^^^^Hance will gradually disappear in fromto four weeks. Then Nargig will be^^^^^Hbeautiful as ever.more beautiful. perh^^^^^Hfor the little llnea and wrinkles thatgathered also as the natural markssufferings will have disappeared and^^^^^Hfresh bloom of youth will have been^^^^^HV