The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-09-07
NUMBER 10.
Report on the Atrocities In Bulgaria.

The following is the text of the report
which Mr.. Bourke read to the House of
Commons from Sir III. Elliot's agent in
Bulgaria: The sale of women and chill
dren in Philippopolis and Tartar Bazaar
dix is, have no doubt, a pure invention;
the most independent testimony leads
me to the belief that no such traffic has
been carried on here. What has hap
pened is this: Families have been scat
tered, and children have often been taken
into the houses of persons of all religions
out of pure charity. Of course, under
the circumstances, it is not easy for the
parents to trace them, and consequently
the rumor goes abroad that they are sold
into slavery. AS regards the young girls,
l am told that it is very probable that,
after the sack of the villages certain
number of them were taken to the houses
of their captors, but do not believe that
anything like open sale took place. There
is not, believe, one word of truth in the
wild fable about the carloads of heads
being paraded in the streets by Albanian
Bashi Bazeuks, of whom, by the way,
there are extremely few, most of the IT.
regulars who committed the atrocities
in these provinces being Circassians, gyp-
sizes, and Tamoks. As regards the num-
Der of killed, till have visited the viii
lagos hardly dare speak, but my present
opinion, which l trust hereafter to be
able to modify, is that about twelve
thousand Bulgarians have perished. The
number of Turks killed is equally difficult
10 understand the authorities put the
figures at above one thousand, but my
information leads me to believe that this
is a gross exaggeration; about half that
number would probably be correct; but
there is no doubt that the deaths of
many Of them were attended with cir
cumstances of great cruelty. Some sixty
villages have been wholly or partially
burnt, by far the greater portion of them
by the Bashi Bazouks, though few of
them-perhaps ten-have been destroyed
by the insurgents. Some great horrors
have come to my ears respecting the cir
cumstances which attended the entry
into Philippopolis of four hundred pris-
Oners coming from Tata- Bezerojik. They
were heavily chained for hours, and, as
after their journey they were sinking
with fatigue, they were driven like cattle
by the zaptiehs, who used the butt end
of their guns without mercy, while the
Circassians fOgged them with whips.
One thing is perfectly clear, viz: that the
province is ruined, as the government
will discover to its cost when the 1.-THE is
collected. 1t is stated that the loss to
the Treasury will amount to f100, 900
Turkish "a sum which can now be ill
spared. 1t seems to me that there is but
one course. open to the government if it
wishes to bring it back in any way to its
normal estimation, viz, to give some
slight aid to the inhabitants of the vii.
ages which have been destroyed. Large
numbers of horses, oxen, sheep, and cows
have been driven off by TOmaks and
others, and it is the duty of the govern
ment to oblige the latter to return them
to their owners; a little help could also
be given in providing material for re-
building houses, and seed for the fields
should also be given. 1t is true that at
the present moment the Imperial Treas
ury could ill afford the smallest strain,
but still less can it afford to lose the
sums which originally flowed into it
from these districts, and which, if the
autumn and winter be allowed to pass
without anything being done, may be
considered as lost forever.