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Show enthusiasm that carried her through what she always called the hardest and happiest years of her life. She found the Brousa school entirely Armenian, and to her belongs the credit of making it international. She revived the Greek department, and later when the revolution of 1908 made it possible for Turkish girls to come, she began the Turkish department. She was an enthusiastic friend of the Turkish people and held the highest hopes for them. Miss Annie T. Allen was born in Harpoot, and "always considered Brousa a little too civilized for her tastes." She was in more ways than one a born missionary, trained in the life from babyhood, speaking Armenian as her mother tongue, and during her Brousa residence acquiring almost the same degree of Turkish; above all she had a genius for friendship that drew to her in lasting bonds the most utterly diverse characters, and that made her everybody's helper wherever she went. The school grew rapidly and the buildings deteriorated steadily, furlough time came for all the workers; and then we were so fortunate as to secure Miss Jeannie L. Jillson, who had worked with the W. B". M. at Smyrna. With her extraordinary executive ability, and tireless energy, she set about building up the school and raising its standard in every way. By the time she was joined by Miss Edith Parsons of California and Miss Allen returning with her aged father, it was possible to take the boarding school and all the higher departments to our renovated building, the one Miss Rappleye had put up at Kaya Bashi, while primary and kindergarten work went on at Set-Bashi. In spite of the strain of the Balkan war the school was never so large, over 200 enrolled, nor the outlook so hopeful as then. At that happy time they were visited by Miss Henrietta Brewer and her mother and sister Anne. Once before had one of our Board been there, Mrs. Susan Farnam in 1900. Then came the Great War, and Miss Jillson was in great demand for Red Cross work both in Constantinople and Brousa, among other things a weaving establishment was arranged for the poor refugee women; and for this she was decorated by the [ 48 ] |