The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1878-03-21

Ihe 8allatin,
"A HOLY WAR;"
Scenes In Turkey During the Russian
NIB. Advance, --t44- I-F e

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Scenes In Turkey During the Russian
| Advance, '-a@- -l-f-
What frightful burlesque on the idea
OF "a holy war" is found in the following
extract from a London correspondents
account OF the scenes in Turkey, when the
Russians were advancing, after their great
success at Plevna
ave saw the odies OF Hungarian peas
ants with terrible wounds in the head and
neck, sometimes mutiated and disigured;
women and infants, children and old men,
both Turkish and Bulgarian, fallen in the
fields by the roadside, half buried in the
snow, or lying in the pools OF water. 1t
seems to have been one long battle between
the peasants OF both races, in which the
dead were counted equal for each; but,
while many OF the bodies bore marks of
violence, and showed CHASTITY wounds, the
great proportion OF the women and chill
dren were evidently frozen to death, for
they lay on the snow as if asleep, with the
flush OF life still on their faces, and the pink
SKIN Of their feet and hands still unblanch-
ed Side by side with these. many corpses
Of old men, full OF dignity even In death,
lay stark by the roadside, their white
boards clotted with blood, and their help
less hand fallen upon their breasts. From
the muddy water OF the bitches tiny hands
and feet stretched out and taby faces half
covered with snow. looked out innocently
and peat efully, with scarcely sign Of SUI
fering on their features. Frozen at their
mothers'breasts, they.were thrown into the
snow to tighten the burden of the poor
creatures who were struggling along in
mortal TERROR. ...
say the mystifcation increased as we
advanced, because 1t was Impossible TO see
why Bulgarian and Turk should be frozen
side BY side, or why there had been such
. slaughter. of both races. That the peas.
ants should be frozen 10 death wasJno more
than could be expected in the severe
weather, for they were travelling in miser-
able arabas, without food or shelter, and
with half-stsrved oxen. Miles of these
ARABIA trains We passed on the road, human
beings and household effects jumbled in
promisculously. Upon the jolting carts
bedding and utensils we're pied. Women
and children upon donkeys, and cattle fol-
lowed alongside, and behind tor miles was
long trail OF wretched, weary half dead
straggiers: old men and women bent
double, crawling along with the aid Of
crutches or sticks; mothers with infants at
their breasts, scarcely moving one foot be.
fore the other-all this after long months
Of flight, constant exposure, continuous
dread OF marauders and the hated Muco-
y.tes. Never did feel so utterly helpless
as in the presence o, this supreme misery.
I watched mother leading along n ai~k
child OF perhaps ten years, mile or more
behind one OF these trains. The poor girl
could with difficulty balance herself on
her naked, hal!-frozen feet. Night was
coming on, and the cold wind that chilled
US In our warm clothing, blew about the
rags from the suffering creature, disclo'-'
ing emaciated. limbs and a skeleton body,
The mother was in quite as pitiabe con.
dItion. Her face and head alone were
well wrapped up. The ARABIA train was
moving slowly out of sighton the distant
hills, A night on tho road meant death
&c both these unfortuuates, and their strag-
Cling friends coul1 give them no assistance,
because they were TOR the mort part in
similar state of misery. The mother
dragged her little one along. fast loosing
patience as the darkness came on and
finally pushed the sick child into the snow
by the roadside, and hurried on without
looking at her. This was one.of series of
similar scenes that were effected before
our eyes. r....s.. .,