"the new york times" of september 21 carried a story from athens attributed to the associated press, reporting horton's account of events in smyrna. it opened in quotation marks with "the manner in which" he had summarized for the ap: "during my consulship at saloniki i was bombed by bulgars and germans and during my official career i have had many rough experiences with submarines and fire, but never in my life have i seen anything like the smyrna catastrophe."