The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-09-15
HEROD OUT.HERODED.

The Butchers In Bulgaria-Graphic Ac-
count OF Visit tn an Obliterated VII
lsge-Thousands of Corpses Rotting In
the sun or Devoured by Dogs.
The London Daily Ne,0s' special cor
responder I in Bulgaria, Mr.. Macgahan,
has paid q visit to Batak, the scene of
the Turkish atrocities, in company with
Mr.. Schuyler, of the American lega-
ton. His report is long and interesting.
approaching Batak they found the hills
covered with wheat and rye, ripe, but
rotting in the soil from absence of
harvesters. A numoer of dogs ON a
slope Overlooking the town attracted
their attention. The writer says They
barked at us in an angry manner, and
then ran off into the adjoining fields. l
observed nothing peculiar as we mount
ed, until my horse stumbled, when
looking down / perceived he had step
ped on human skull partly hid among
the grass. 1t was quite dry and hard,
and might, to all appearances, have
been there for two or three years, SO
well had the dogs done their work. As
we assembled, bones, skeletons and skulls
became more frequent, but here they
had not been picked so clean. At last
we came to kind of little plateau or
shelf on the hillside, where the ground
was nearly level. All suddenly drew rein
with an exclamation of horror, for right
before us, almost beneath our horses
feet, was sight that made us shudder.
1t was heap of skulls, intermingled
with bones from all parts of the human
body, skeletons nearly, entire rotting,
clothing, human hair, and putrid flesh
lying there in one foul heap, around
which the grass was growing luxuriantly.
1t emitted a sickening odor, like that of
a dead horse, and it was here the dogs
had been seeking hasty repast when
our untimely approach interrupted
them. In the midst of this heap could
distinguish one slight skeleton form still
inclosed in chemise, the skull wrapped
about with colored handkerchief, and
the bony ankles incased in the en-
broidered footless stockings worn by the
Bulgarian girls. We looked about us.
The ground was strewed with bones in
every direction, where the dogs had
carried them off to gnaw them at their
leisure.
All the skeletons were thoseof women.
From his saddle the correspondent
counted about 100 skulls, nearly all of
which had been severed from the bodies,
evidently by decapitation. The village,
one of some 900 stone houses and s, 900
or 5000 inhabitants, had not one house
that was not shattered or burned. A few
women only remained, who were keen
ing for their dead.
A little further on we came to the
skeleton of young girl not more than
Is, lying by the roadside, and partly
covered by the debris of fallen wall.
1t was still clothed in chemise; the
ankles We're inclosed in footless stock
ings, but the little feet, from which the
shoes had been taken, were naked, and,
owing to the fact that the flesh had dried
instead of decomposing, were nearly
perfect. There was large cash in the
skull, to which mass of rich brown hair
nearly yard long still chung, trailing
in the dust.
At the next house man stopped us
to show where blind little brother had
been burnt alive, and the spot where he
had found his calcined bones, and the
rough, hard visaged man sat down and
sobbed like child.
On the other side of the way were the
skeletons of two children lying side by
side, partly covered by stones, and with
frightful saber cuts in their little skulls.
The number of children killed in these
massacres is something enormous. They
we're often spitted on bayonets, and we
have several stories from eye witnesses
who saw little babes carried about the
streets, both here and at Olluk- gui, on
he points of bayonets. The reason is
simple. When Mohammedan has killed
!, certain number of infidels he is sure
IF Paradise, no matter what his sins may
De. Mohammed probably intended that
only armed men should count, but the
ordinary Mussulman takes the precept
N its broadcast acceptation, and counts
and children as well. The ad-
vantage of killing children is that it can
De done without danger, and that child
counts for as much as an armed man.
Here the Bashi- Bazouks, in order to
swell the count, ripped open pregnant
and killed the unborn infants.
There was not house beneath the ruins
Of which we did not perceive human re-
mains and, the street beside was strewn
with them. Before many of the door
ways women were walking up and down
walling their funeral chant. One of
them caught me by the arm and led me
inside of the walls, and there i'll one
corner, half-covered with mortar and
stone, were the remains of another
young girl, with her long hair flowing
wildly about among the stones and dust.
And the mother fairly shrieked with
agony, and beat her head madly against
the wall. A few steps further on sat a
woman on doorstep, rocking herself
to and fro, and uttering means heart
rending beyond anything l could have
imagined. Her head was buried in her
hands, while her fingers were uncon-
sciously twisting and tearing her hair as
she gazed into her lap, where lay three
little skulls with the hair still clinging
TO them.
And now we begin to approach the
church and the school house. The
ground is covered here with skeletons,
to which is clinging articles of clothing
and bits of putrid flesh the air is
heavy with faint, sickening odor, that
grows stronger as We advance. The
school is on one side of the road, the
church on the other. The school house,