The record-union., 1894-12-04

| copyrighted, 1894, by the Associated Press. !
ATHENS, Dec. 3.-The az Associated
Press, exclusively, has been able to give
to the world the facts of the terrible
atrocities perpetrated upon Armenian
| Christians in Asia Minor, and to-day
| representative of the Associated Press
succeeded in securing additional informa-
ton confirming the previous statements
made.
The representative to-day met twenty
Armenian refugees who arrived here
from Armenia after a journey full of
hardships and suffering. Securing the
| services of first-class interpreter, he
gathered the Armenians together at
convenient place, and having relieved
their pressing necessities, the Interpreter
questioned the refugees concerning the
| terrible events of which they had in
number of cases been eye-witnesses.
This party of Armenians is the first
that has escaped from the districts where
the massacres occurred, and it is be-
! lleyed that even worse remains to be
| told, as the horrors described are under
stood 10 have lasted for long time after
| this party left. Most Of the persons who
told their stories to-day escaped from
| Moosh, Bitlas and Sassoun, taking with
| them what little they could carry, and
| making their way with the greatest diff
| Guilty to the RuSso-Gurkish frontier, and
going to Eryvan and Etchmiadzin. Sew
eral Armenian women escaped from the
| villages with this party, but when near
| ErZeroum they died from the effects of
! saber wounds inflicted upon them before
| their escape.
For about eighteen months, the Ar
| menians say, the Province Of Sassoun
| has been surrounded by Turkish troops.
until nobody has been allowed to enter
or leave. About four months ago the
| Turkish authorities learned that The in
| habitants OF Nartemis, a village outside
| the frontier of Sassoun, were sending for
| the necessarieS of lie to the village of
| Dalvorig. Such communication between
the two villages being prohibited, the
Turks massacred nearly all the inhabi-
tants of Nartemis. This was the second
massacre to occur. The first took place
about year ago.
One of the refugees, man named
khauJI2, states that his uncle and aunt
were both killed, the latter being violated
previous to being put to death. An Ar
menian priest was killed for refusing to
celebrate Turkish rites in his church at
Vartemls. The village contained 325 r.
menian houses before the Turks attacked
it, but when the fugitives left only
twenty-five houses remained standing.
DalvorIg, 1t appears, is the largest viii
lage IN the Province of SaSSOun, and It's
inhabitants, when they learned of the
horrors perpetrated by the Turks at Var
tennis, attacked the Turks on the frontier.
! The Turkish commander eventually sent
twelve soldiers into Dalvorlg to learn
what had occurred. The Armenians, filled
with indignation at the atrocities COM
mitted by the Turks at Vartemis, at
tackled this detachment of Turkish SOL
diers and put them all to death.
When the Turkish commander heard
of the death of his soldiers he deter
mined on vengeance in the most bloody
manner possIb Die. a strong force of
Turkish troops was sent to the village
with artillery and the massacre begun.
The guns kept up continuous fire upon
Dalvorig until practically not one stone
was left standing upon another.
Selo, the Bey of Initzoun, a kurd, with
a detachment of Kurdish cavalry, went
with the Turkish soldiers to the village
OF Semal, and torcibly took the Armenian
priest from his church. after disgustingIy
detiling The sacred Vestments and the
priests hands. They then bound him
on donkey, which they drove distance
of few yards. The soldiers then fired
at the priest, and killed him and the beast
he was bound to. In the same village
the Turkish soldiers entered an Armen-
ian house and violated woman and her
daughter, the latter being ii years of age
From this village Selo forclbly took eight
Armenian girls and sent them to his
harem at lnitZoun.
Further atrocities were committed by
the Turks at the village of keliehuesen.
Before dawn this place was surrounded
by soldiers, and while the inhabitants
were still asleep 1t was set on fire. The
brutal soldiers entered the residence of a
man named Araket, who was asleep with
his wife, and tortured them both in a hor-
rible manner with red-hot irons At
this village the soldiers killed the Ar
menian priest Margosa, with twenty
other inmates of a house. They were
burned to death, the soldiers preventing
anybody from escaping from the burn
ing building.
The chief of the village of Cheneg was
captured by the soldiers and bound to
his two daughters. All three were then
scalded to death with boiling water A
detachment of twenty-five regulars of
the Turkish cavalry after committing in
expressible horrors at the village of
Sebghank, went to the village school
and ravished the girls found there, and
then devastated the building.
Ibo Boy, the notorious kurd hrigand
of the village OF Djibran, and Colone!
In the regular army, went with a detach-
ment of Turkish troops to the villages of
Bahlou, Hatezgent and Komoka. and at
0dCH p4dCc every crime there
Is to commit. After driving out the men
they collected the female children of
BahIou together, about 200 in all. and.
after ravishing them, killed them ali
with guns and swords. After this massa-
ere the Turkish soldiers regaled them
selves with wine and whatever else they
could find in the village.
The Kurdish regular troops Khan and
Bahran entered the Armenian villages of
AlIanoZlg and Aghleg, killed the inhabit-
ants and wrecked their houses.
The number of villages devastated in
this manner is said to be over thirty-two.
| The Armenians fled in every direction
but many of them were captured by the
Turkish troops before they could get
| away, and were taken to prison.
khadlJak. who was the principal smokes
man for the Armenian refugees told tho
whole story i'll a most CONVINCING man
ner.
DR.. @. Thoumain, well-known Arme-
nian. has just received a letter written on
September 18th from Todorian, village
near Erzeroum. The writer says: How
can write such horrors of our life for
the days since the l4th. Mounted rob
bers rode up to this village an hour after
sunset, and Immediately began an indis-
criminate attack upon the Armenian in
habitants. Over 200 shots were fired at
| the house of the Rev. Mr.. Zookis. pastor
OF the Protestant community, who was
absent from Erzeroum. Three balls