New-York tribune., 1890-08-30
RIOT IN A CATHEDRAL.
ARMDNIANs SEEK TO DRAW AITEN tio" ~

az 1-, = noise No other explanation than that Of
deliberate scheme to arrest the attention oi Europo
can bc given to the recent iiot at the Aihi'hian
patrIarchs Cathedral in Koum-Kapou in stamooai'
A marty of young men claiming to speak IN thc name
o the oppressed Of Armenia proceaded to ihVile 'c
patriarch after morning service to read or TO allow 10
mo read I'm the Cathedral paper wDlch lucy tiu
drawn up avowedy for the purpose OF hrn'S 'i'0
nonuar heart The Patriarch. aware that the process
~ firing the popular bcat Is rather dangerou' oi0
in Turkey declined. The men then proauceu ro
volyers and said that the paper should pc read any
,av rpon the first sign OF yielding on the part OF
the Patriarch another set of sprang forward anu
declared that the paper should not be reai' Ihefe
followed pretty Lively siirmsh In the Catedrdi' 'n
the midst OF hcl the Patriarch was Ike ewo'inio
over whose body hungry wolves are fighting. bS 'nS
time that some rcvovers had been fired he though.
il time 20 leave the place and retired across t' su
70 his palace Tile discovery Of the PatrlarchS hls'
appears 10 have ended the fight In the church some
| Of the rioters rang alarm OF the ohurh De'is'
Others climbed to the roof Of the Cathedral ana De
gan firing into the windows OF the Patrlarchatc, wie
| others assaulted the gates Of tie palace.
The Patriarch OF tie Armcnians is the head OF the
| Armenian Church in Turkey, and is nominalV only
| subicct TO the universal head Of the Church, or
Catholics, who lives a. EtchmlaGSin. in RusSa Inc
present Patriarch is not particularly nked' in Iact
| no Armenian Patriarch Is particularly hKeu w 't7
people after he has been In office for year. Tic Is
| always inducted into the Office with plaudltS as
dcllycrcr but Is commonly hustled out with curses as
an unparalleled delinquent. The tronble win the
present Patriarch is tint he is TOO religious. The
people say or their spokcmen do that they want not
a religious man bat a politician for the head OF their
church at this juncture In this particular emergency
the Patriarch fed TO his palace. II at the sight o the
| revovers his heart had melted like wax on losing
sight OF them ii rcgaincd something OF It's former con
| sistcncy. 30 when the rifans of the mob at last
| thair init Tho uala
the Patriarch should at least with them bearing the
| famous paper offered TO him at the Cathedral and
should present II TO the Sultan In person, he fatty
refused TO CO. The proposal was ridiculous and the
men Of knew that 1t was impossible to put 1t
into effect. To budoze the Sultan IS an operation
Of such dcicaoy that Lord StratfOd dc Redcihe
with Great Britain at his back he were alive to-day.
| would think twice before undertaking it. But the
young lrceatcrs who had set out to have hrstclass
low made personal attack upon the Patriarch, and
| the poor old priest knocked about pretty roughly
and finally cowcd through the influence Of his environ
mcut OF ocntralfre revovers. Again he Yielded and
the party forth amid the din Of the church bells
and the cheers Of the vast crowd Of spectators.
Tho day tho first day Of the Mahomctan Feast
| Of the Sacrifices, which commemorates the sacrifice
Of Abraham on Mount Morah. For the great state
function Of the occasion all the troops Of the city had
been concentrated with the greater part Of the police
at the Mosque OF Beshkash. four miles away, 10 do
honor to the sultan. \ squad Of police attracted
by the noise the Cathedral at Koum Kapou but they
could do nothing with the crowd and prudcnty retired
for rclnforccments. Meanwhile the Patrarc's captors
got him into carriage and started their way to the
outan's palace They had only gone few rOds when
| they met a battalion OF military hrcmcn coming on
the double quick TO the Of action Tho soldiers
rescued the Patriarch and put hin in place OF safety
aud then set out 10 dispcrsc the mob. They had no
| difficulty In doing this. for the mob composed Of
| sight ,ecrs. The Dozen or 50 Of wild young fellows
who had gotten up the demonstration fired their re-
yovers again. Two three Of the soldiers were killed
| haI dozen wounded. and three or four Arineuians
were bayoncted. aud then the whole affair over.
| Tho vast crowd which had been called out by the
ringing Of the bells got out OF tho way OF the soldiers
quickly enough. but soon as the soldiers had passed
on they closed In about them, and stood gaping al
the wonders qf the day without the least participation
IN the Interest of the OCCASION although they were all
| Armcnan,. The Grand Nzlcr. the Minister Of Police
| tie Minister Of War and more troops came 10 the
spot and stood around for the rest Of the day. But
they could nud 10 marks Of any conspiracy and could
| not do much at arrcstng who were merely
oohcIs-on Of the most poaceablc sort
The object Of this absurd demonstration certainly
gained II II was To attract attention 70 the Armenian
| question. The Turks thoroughly alarmed. and the
| European Governments are awake 10 the fact that
| Annenans exist element Of Eastern politics
The Armcna Of the city, too have been walked up by
the occurrence aud full Of boastng Of what they
|
would have done would have been Just what the
rest ~ their Ompatrlos did they would have looked
on while the police and the troops had theiT tus1Ic
with the gettcr,.up Of tho demonstration. Yet the
anrr f. apt 10 have fruit IL IS very evident that
the tendency Of this ot the Erzroum affair few
weeks ago. Is TO conhrm inc ArHehiahs every @ WneII
in tho purpose 70 look to Russia as the natural
savior Of tler race. For centuries they have been
They have enjoyed IN Turkey many liberties whcl!
& can Sr neysr ey II S of P1si Per USSr cSrS c ora rS
tlon has included the admission that the Church has
i were separate body polite. Tho Patriarch ha,
been the ruler under the sultan. and has ruled hs
Until recently the Armenian young men have
been content to serve a. clerks In the Turkish
furnish such Intellect as the Moslen head Of the dc
parncnt has used aud for which he has received The
titles decorations which bring with them no clcya
tion above the ilunkey Ism in which the Noalin ca
keeps his Christian subOrdt atcs All the drawbacks
OF such u ltc, like hs r!berleS and outFascS perpc
tratcd by the koufd, or their brethren OF ne lan
r tCr.u ud a. IS NJ t1cT wlI1 c"d ia,ni"" or mall
pox. They have supposed oppression To he
oental part Of government evcrywerc Within twentl
AYE & o IN ,hs yoDd ,b 10 d1trc"n SS III thc
Middle Ages between u vanduishcd raco and IT. con
Young men can hop, for carer suited TO ther capa'
GscoyerG HAT cVerywhe tn In Turkey robbercS and
outages regarded crimes by the government
regardless Of the religious bcof OF the victim and that
Lin hardly another section of the carths surface /,
submission to such outrages in the aweslruck silence
With which men submit To the DEGREES OF Divine Pro
violence deemed an essential token of loyalty 10 The
J sovereign who III Ia tolerate their
With all the Hight Of travel and study bringing
these facts home 20 tho Armenian people, il l. moi
surprising that they begin 10 think that the sacrifice
| Of the personal liberty demanded by allegiance "a
Russia will be compensated for by real gains by pro
tccton from lawlosncs and by tn, opening OF
! | besides those OF the shopkecpcr and the money
| changer and the laclcv to great officials.
| Whatever the complications to be passed through
before the result Is accomplished the result Of thcso
affairs at ErzrOum In June. and AZ COnsnntinoplc In
Jny. Will be to educate the Armenlans into out
cry for the protection Of Russia which will a.
r the ground for another annexation OF Turkish ter
riory before many months passed There IS. more
good reason 10 believe that this annexation may
be accomplished without general Itrssia has
been taking lessons Of Austria in Bosnia ami Of Eng
land In Egypt Both OF these provinces yet
provinces Of the Turkish Empire. occupied by foreign
powers I'm friendly I'm order to relieve III" Sulta
from the difficulty Of maintaining order. when Rus
sia anncXcs Armenia It will probably BE- In the sam.
frlcndy and TEMPORARY nanncr. morely :" so. as e