The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-09-27
ATROCITIES IN BULGARIA.

ATROCITIES IN BULGARIA.
FIcndish Work of the Turks--The Terrible
Bnshi-B nzouks ut Work--Mnssncre, Ia
cendinrism. slavery and Debauchery--
One Hundred and Twenty-One Villages
Destroyed.
NJ. Ivan de Woestyne, correspondent
Of the Paris Figaro, has made an ex-
tended tour through Bulgaria and has
written several graphic letters to that
journal, in which he describes the afro
cities committed by the Turks. The
following extracts will be found e1-
tremely interesting. Although the au-
thor is evidently anti-Turk in his feel
ings, there is no reason for suprosing
that the story he tells is exaggerated.
He thus describes his experiences on
the first morning of his visit to Adriano-
pie:
At the first street corner after leaving
my hotel 1 found myself opposite a man
hanging, whose legs were still kicking
coIvulsively. He was suspended from
the door OF q shop. The feet were
fastened and the hands tied behind his
back, hut the face was uncovered and
the tongue hung from the mouth. The
feet were scratching the side wall of the
door in a vain endeavor to find a resting
place. The shopkeeper, furious that his
house should have been chosen for the
execution, was abusing the zapties,"
who went away laughing and driving
Hofora thon, {,rn 0fhnr yyrofnhnc nhNr
they were ordered to hang in different
parts of the town. The evening before,
the tribunal, which was composed of the
Turks and chosen" Christians, had
condemned u dozen Bulgarians to death
on account of the revolt which took
place three monthsago. It was decided
that three OF them should be executed in
Adrianople, and the other nine scattered
through the country, one at each cross
roa IS. + followed the soldiers who were
driving these unfortunates before them
with the butt ends of their guns, while
crowds of boys threw stones at them and
shouted Giaour."
We soon came to q g'llows constructed
of three pieces OF wood, the upright and
arm being held in their places by a sup
port from one to the other. This print
tive gallows was erected under a lamp
which had been pulled down the night
before by the weight of another man
executed there; for they hang them here
every day. In a few minutes every
thing was ready. Thecord rolled round
the arm of the gallows, ended in a rum
ming knot, which fell down to meet its
victim. One soldier placed it round the
neck Of the shorter of the two con-
demned men, and then, upon a remark
made by one of his comrades. took it off
and adjusted it on the taller. The rea-
son given by the second soldier for this
change was that it was difficult to hang
tall men from the shops, which are gen.
orally low. The man was then placed
on the scaffold, where he was kept in
position with blows from the butts of
the soldiers guns until the rope was
finally adjusted, when the scafold was
kicked from under him. They had not
even taken the trouble to fasten hislegs,
which kicked convulsively in his agony,
whilethe i'll constructed gallows screamed.
The crowd was already for distant.
At the corner of the street the cor
tege seemed to be in doubt as to which
route they should take, and the soldiers
engaged in a discussion. 1t appears
that although they had been ordered to
hang one of the prisoners at the gal
lows, yet they were free to strangle the
others when they pleased. They ad-
vanced toward a confectioner's shop,
which was somewhat larger than the
others, but the proprietor, guessing
their Intentions, ran in front of the
troops and put something into the COM
mander's hand, who, changing his d.
r~ection, went to a cafe. Here the same
scene ensued, the owner of the cafe
took the sergeant's hand, who turned to
a cafe opposite with the same result.
All the shopkeepers not caring to have
q man hanging at their door all day pay
the zapties to go further on, and the
victim meanwhile has to follow their
zigzag march under an incessant rain OF
abuse ard stones. At last the cortege
stopped. The Bulgarian had tainted.
l went away, for I had e e too much.
"Bashi" means in Turkish "head,'
and "Bazouk" "s~poiled" or dam
aged" so that bashi-bazouk is "bad
head" This official name given to
these irregular troops show that the
government has allowed them to take
the initiative. The population of Turk
ish villages, like those Of villages every
where else, are composed of men and
women, but with this difference, that
whereas with us the men are willing to
work, here they do nothing and are con-
tent to send their women into the fields,
as I have frequently seen them from the
top of my wagon in the vicinity Of the
Turkish villages, and when leaving their
work they must go home with their faces
yelled. While the women work the
men sit at the door of their cabins
smoking the excellent tobacco which
their country affords. This is kept up
during the clement portion of the year,
and during the winter the women work
in the barns and farmhouses. There
comes q call i" to arms" and everything
changes face. -
Immediately an old flag is brought
out from tho mosque, borne by q fel'
low WHO, III VIC" VI SOuo pdoo cApAO1ooj
bears the title of chief, accompanied by
priests reciting short verses of the
Koran, the religious sentiments OF which
are "Down with the inidel," and the
real meaning an Indictment to plumber
and destruction. The village is at once
full of life and activity. Old guns are
refurbished; the old fintlocks are re-
paired and reftted; the broad blades of
their knives are cleaned and sharpened;
women and children all take a hand at
the work. They are thinking of the
spoils, and the great thing is to be ready
first. 1t is also a question of staying
the giaours, for he who shall shed the
most blood will be able to aspire to the
first place or craftsmanship Of the vii
lage. Vanity governs amid savages, it
seems, as it does amid the civilized.
The same day the sub.prefect, or Kai-
makam, makes his appeal to these
patriotic () souls, every available man
ia on ro,lte for the place named for the