New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-07-28


hardly knows which TO execrate the more these COW
ardly mscreants who deserted the women, or
those cowardy wretchcs who forced the church
doors and did what they would with the poor crca-
lures within and then stripped them of tleir cloth
ing and loaded mp their pack-horses with the booty
for the iercc-eyed Kurdish women of the noun
tains In the city of Nan the Kurds have full con-
troll The CHRISTIANS dare not 90 out of sight oil their
houses without a guard and even when they have
one the Kurds often strip him and the Christians
too The Circassian's inordinate love is for shoe
gear That Of the Kurds is for clothing They
halt man, make him strip, and carry OF his
clothes to search his pockets at leisure. An Arrnen-
ian merchant stripped in this way the other
day in one of the suburbs of Van and managed to
get an old cloak TO cover hr:self wlthal, while he
fastened to complain TO the Governor. At the gate
of the city he halted by another party of KuTds
VINO stripped him a second time, and he gave mp his
quest after justice The American missionaries of
Van have sent their wives aud children TO the Patr
archal Island Monastery i'll the lake. As they we've
about TO GO about 200 Kurds surrounded them at
the wharf, insisting that they must be Russians.
and such ought TO be plundered. Ii required all
the persuasive eOquence of the guards whom the
Pacha had sent with them. and of the Kurdish ser
want who accompanied them, to induce these ruff
fans to stay taeir hands. The Americans were
The Kurds are daft the subj ct of Russian spies
They came near killing one poor wretch the other
day. after a very democratic couIt-martial, in which
the prisoner was lying On his back and his captors
were literally sitting on him. The Only prof of
guilt in this the fact that the man mad
long beard. which II appears not III style In Nan at
least except for Russian spies At Bitlis, on the
other side OF LakeVan, matters are not much better
There is American family residing there with
two young Women They closely confined to
their house if in prison, because it is unsafe 10
venture into the street. -Four villages in the out
skirts of Bitlis have been plundercd lat"ly. The
pass in the mountains on the road towards ErzaUn
is regularly occupied by Kurds. who plander every
caravan that tries to get through. messenger
with letters and money for the army was robbed the
other day by these fellows with a high-toned impair
TALLY. The Governor of Van is a good man, honest
aud capable. Wherever he has been he has Away,
borne an entirely exceptional reputation for justice
and integrity. He is, however, helpless her The
Kurds insdt him to his face He has 10 tro'rs 10
control them with. and troops cannot he spared
from the battlefield for any secondary work like
protecting the Christian villages In fret, unless
the Russians advance soon, there will shoIdTbe no
villages to protect. The only possible salvation
for them would be in the armng by the Government
of the villages-a measure which the Government
has not the courage to adopt.
From one point of view the anarchy which the
Russians expect to profit 10y would. seem To he
rapidly approaching. Not only far East. but even in
the very outskirts Of ConStalinople the roads are
unsafe Circassans seize every horse and every
pair Of shoes they meet and all about crops
are standing uncut. because the farmers have los,
their horses or because they fear to them in the
fields And the Government has no power to stop
this robbery This would be anarchy elsewhere.
but is only step toward il here. The cohesion of
a Turkish social organization is not relaxed by any
such slight shocks
The Ministerial ring is waging war upon the news
papers. The Ler0Rt HcrqH has been followed on the
retired list by the principal Armenian paper. ibe
Man-OumG Eftiar, besides two Turkish newspapers,
and a very good Bulgarian daily, The Ndpcdok. The
editors have been tried by courmartial and some OF
them have been punished with great severity. The
Ministry have been occupied with a more wcighty
question than the freedom Of the Press. They have
fallen foul of the question of womau's dress Some
weeks ago, after full council on the matter, they
issued police order restricting Turkish women to
the use of wells having not less than 12j threads to
the inch They have now taken the matter into Sc
rious consideration again, and have decided that
no woman NAV wear the sheet IN the street.-the
sheet beng great square Of cOlored cotton silk
cloth which envei0ps the head and whole person in
IFS folds. On this point the women, however, are
making stand. and more sheets than ever have
appeared ON the streets since the order. The Minis
teria objection to the sheet is that the women have
a way of letting fail corner of it occasionally
and re- vcaling-beautllul things, unlawful TO be
seen of infdel eyes.
Crcassiaus and Zebeks, to say nothing of
Kurds fill our streets, and robberies are
becoming more frequent The police IS not
very efficient in the presence of Circassan
who draws his sword in a crowded thOrOughfare,
and threatens to kill any one who touches him. As
all the Circassians are exactly alike, there is no
identifying a fugitive culprt Some American
surgeons have taken service III the TUrEsh Army,
and on arriving here from Paris, where they had
been engaged by the Turkish Ambassador, they
found that that gentleman had Informed the Minis
ter of War that they DESTROYS of serving without
pay as volunteers. Gen. Kendall, the English
attach6 in the Turkish Army at EIZeTum, finds it
difficult to communicate with his Embassy, as the
Turks will not transmit cipher dispatches any
longer. His last telegram to Mr. Layard was in
these words: "The Russians have attacked the
Turkish right wing. See l. Samuel xi. H." The next
day the Grand Vizier sent and to Mr. Layard, pO
litely desiring to be informed who Samuel is.
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THE SARATOGA RACES.