Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-09-21
A CHAPTER OF HORRORS.

soldiers at the town OF Otluk.kul, OF
Paniguishti.
The rising occurred on the I'd OF
May. On the 18th Hafiz Pacha arrived
before the palace with a regiment OF
regular troops, two or three pieces OF
artillery, and great number of Bashi'
Bazouks. 1t would seem that the in
surgents only had about $50 men
armed with muskets or rifles. The
! rest had only knives or pistols, that
before these troubles were worn by
everybody. Que hundred and dfty Of
the best armed Lad gone out on one
road toward Tarta. Bazardjik to dispute
the way, and 100 on the other road
for it seems they did not have spies
out to see which way the army would
come. When Hafiz Pacha arrived he
found only 100 men to oppose him, and
these, frightened at the great supe'
riority of the force brought against
them, ran away at the first fire. II
does not even appear that they fired
off their guns, for there was not a
single Turk killed or wounded. The
! Inhabitants, panic stricken, had in the
meantime attempted to fly, but the
town had already been surrounded,
and they were either driven back or
cut down in the fields. I had forgotten
to state that at the approach of the
Bashi. Bazouks the inhabitants of eight
or nine neighboring villages, fear
stricken, had abandoned their homes
and taken refuge here, to the number
of I, 1000 or $4,000. and they now filled
the streets, crying and screaming
with fright. AS all resistance had
now ceased, or, rather, as none had
really been offered, Hafiz Pacha had
nothing to do but march into the town,
arrest the leaders of the insurrection
and restore order. Instead of this,
however, he brought up his artillery,
and without summoning the place to
surrender, commenced lombard.
ment. ruthlessly throwing the bursting
shells into the crowds of shriekipg
women and children.
Until midnight the din of the bonn
bardment resounded through the
streets, Hafiz Pacha was Offering him.
self concert. The hoarse roar of the
cannon, the screaming of shells, the
ear-splitting explosions, mingled with
the walls OF women and children, made
sweet music to his ears, and he pro.
longed the entertainment, He wished
to see it by night, lit up by the fires Of
burning houses and the globes Of fame
which leaped from the mouths Of the
canon. 1t was safe and harmless
kind of amusement There were no
stern-eyed men there to give him back
shell for shell and ball for ball, bu,
only women and children. who answer.
ed by shrieks and groans and he con
tinued the joyous concert Until mid
night. Then the oud.mouthed dogs
of war ceased their clamor; they
had done their work; it was now the
turn of the sabre.
During the night and the next morn
ing, the troops and the Bashi. Bazouks
entered the place, and then began q
scene of pillage, violence and massacre
only equalled by that of Batak. Nei
Their age nor sex were spared. The
town was pillaged, then fired about
one.f0urth of the houses were burned
the people were cut down on their
own d0or.steps, and in the streets, and
slaughtered on their hearth. stones
Old men and women begging for mercy;
and children aud infants screaming in
terror, persisted alike beneath the sure
and swift sabre. 1t is enough that
5000 were killed in this place alone,
about 400 of whom were inhabitants
of the town, and the rest from the
neighboring villages, who had taken
refuge here. But we were not greeted
here with the scenes of horror that
awaited us at Batak, Haf1z Pacha, un.
like Achmet Agha, had sense enough
to have the bodies buried within the
following three days, and thus to GOV.
er up his tracks.
1t has been repeated again and again
that these acts were perpetrated by
the Bashi. Bazouks only, and not by the
regular troops, and great deal is
made of the statement as showing the
massacres were committed without the
consent of the authorities. If the
statement were worth anything the
converse ought to be true-that if the
massacres were committed by the reg.
ular troops then the authorities are If.
responsible, Now, as it happens,
wherever there were any regular
troops to commit massacres they ri.
vailed the Bashi- Bazouks In atrocity.
Hele. as Mr.. Schuyler will show in his
report, regular and irregular troops
were equally cruel, pitiless, and Zero.
cious, and Hafiz Pacha is no less guilty
than Achmet Agha. The reason is
simple. They are all Turks alike. and
there is nothing to choose between
them.
These massacres were committed by
the order Of the authorities, and that
is why the men who committed them
have been rewarded with decorations
and promotions.
When we were in Panagurishti we
were shown in the ruins Of the church,
before where had stood the alter, q
black spot specked with calcined bones,
on which lay boquet of flowers.
This was the remains of priest,
Theodor Peoff, IS years of age, who
had been seized and tortured in the
hopes of obtaining money, mutilated
and maltreated in ways which only the
foul imagination of q Turk could in.
vent. then killed and burnt before the
alter. In another place we were shown
q black spot where an old blind man,
Dondje Stregleyoff, was beaten half to
death, and then thrown senseless on q
heap of wood and burned alive.
There was an old man here, Zwatko
,Boyadjied by name, q public benefac.
tor, liberal contributor to the school
fund, who in winter supported half the
widows and orphans In the place, who
was renowned for his charities to
Christians and Turks alike. He was
likew $50 seized, tortured, and maltreat-
ed. His eyes were put out, and, after
undergoing the most fearful torment,
he was thrown on . heap Of wood
fainting or dead. the people do not
know which, and burned. They seized
the priest, Nestor, and cut Of his
fingers one by one to extort money,
and 40 the poor man had none to give
them they continued BY cutting of his
hands, and finally his head.
We were shown in the yard Of 8 neat
little cottage, embowered IN trees, q
grave, beside which q woman was
meelin2 - No passed. It Was the