Kanawha Valley star. [volume] (Charleston, Va. [W. Va.]) 1856-1861, 1860-07-23
civil Var In Syria-grsat Destruction
q Life and Property,

Civil Naf tn Nyfla-bfeat Destruction
q Life and Property.
A correspondents iof slhe Boston Tray
eler. writing from Beirut under the date
Of June 6;h, gives an account Of the civil
War non raging pear that city, SHe says !:
Druses and Christians. numberihg
hundreds Of thousands. are now engaged
10 Wholesale murder, arson and pillage,
ia which fendish work they are aided BY
Turks, Moslem Arabs, and The people
known as the Meiswalies.
From my window last week / counted
from fHsnty u thifty burning Villages
upon the mountain few miles from Bel
rut, from whence the flash Of Musketry
may easily be seen, ppd the1volley sIheafd
one after another 10 rapid succession; as
they echo through the valleys. The dy-
ing land the dead are brought daily into
the town ID large numbers. and the Wild
ows and the orphans may be seen in
great crowds weeping and wailing about
the streets. 81 = ia afsT
The barbarity Of this war is truly
shocking. Men, woman and children
are pysriaken while fleeing for refuge and
without arms. and ralhlessly slaughtered
while praying for quarter.
The Christians have thus Ear suffered
most terribly. Their villages have been
burned their crops destroyed. and greAi
numbers have been bfntRlly. murdered
while the Druses, ghoare better warriors
and farimore courageous are assisted BY
the Turks, Moslems. and Metawalies, and
up 70 this lime have proved successful.
Z This bloody war, which is waged on
both sides as war of determination, has
IL origin In religion and political caucus
es. The Christians and Drnses hats
each other with deadly hatred on ac-
I count OF the difference ID thair religious
faith and the chri5tians hate the Druses
j with 4 special hatred. because The Druses
,aFe. in . great many of the mountain
Christian disiricts3 feudSlE chiefs and
rulers over the Christian or Maronite aud
Greek Catholic villages. si
The American missionaries 10 Mount
Lebanon have been greatly exposed, but
IS Jet only for waEt Of provisions.
Upon The breaking out Of the war. Mr..
Consul johnson sent guards for their
protection, and in some cases provisions.
Come Of the families of the Missions have
come down 10 Beirut under an escort
furnished BY the Consul, and others are
daily expected. No danger personal 70
the Americans in Mount Lebanon is ap-
prehendsds As they are we'll known and
well protected, but their works is stopped
by the war. their homes become assy-
lums for the wounded and the fearful /;
in fact, they are crowded out BY the peo-
pie who seek their protection for where
ever the American Hagis seen waving on
the housetop, the people flock in great
numbers for admission.
The humanity shown by the Ameri-
cans in Beirut ID the wounded ,ihe home
less and the starving refugees from the
mountains. will long be remembered by
the natives Of the country.
The American Mission premises are
crowded day and night By women and
children crying for bread, which they re-
ceive with comfort and consolation from
the American missionaries. q II
Information IL daily received of fresh
cases Of the most horrible butchery Of
native Christiops, and it would seem as
If the Druses and Moslems were leagued
toekterminale them, root and branch
This morning we learn Of . large num-
Der lof peasanttY having been induced to
return TO their Villages, where they were
all Killed in. cold blood, and Of the mur-
der of Eve ecclesiactics Of the Latin
Church. who were shot down near the
walls of Sidon. i4s-
The success Of the Druses has I'M
doubtedly stirred up an the Moslem hos
tility TO Christians, and a general ipsur-
rsciion seems 70 be trembling in The bal
ance. The presence of Russian frigate
Of thirty guns gives the feeling Of securi-
81 10 the Frank population Of Beirut, and
the expected arrival Of d French feet Is
generally hailed with delight,
The absence Of an American vessel Of
war il deeply regretted at this time.
The United States steamer Iroquois is
somewhere mi the Mediterranean sea, but
il IL supposed sbA IL detained At Sicily