A ROBBER BARON OF PALESTINE Beirut is a city of about two hundred thousand inhabitants, half of whom are Christians and the rest Mohammedans and Jews.

The pinch of hunger was already felt there.

Bread was to be had only on tickets issued by the Government, and prices in general were extremely high.

The population were discontented and turbulent, and every day thousands of women came before the governor's residence to cry and protest against the scarcity of bread.
The Allies' warships often passed near the town, but the people were not afraid of them, for it was known that the Allies had no intention of bombarding the cities.

Only once had a bombardment taken place.