St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-11-17
'TWOUlO SHOCK NERO
Horrible Tale Of Slaughter
and Outrage in Ar
menia.
ATROCITIES OF THE KURDS
Beyond Belief in This Latter
Decade Of the Nineteenth
Century.
ATROCITIES OF THE KURDS
BLOOD RAN IN STREAMS.
Even the Women Slaughtered
After Enduring Frightful
Indignities.

LONDON, Nov. 16.-The chairman of
the Armenian Patriotic association. q.
Hagopian, has sent the following letter.
received from an Armenian whose name
is not given because it would jeOpardiZe
his life. to the Earl of Kimberly, the
secretary of state for foreign affairs.
The letter is accompanied by one from
HagOpian, in which he says: II have
no reason to doubt the authenticity of
the "details. They will be borne out by
fuller official reports which have been
or which will soon be received from the
British agents in Armenia. The events
reported are the re-enactment of the
Bulgarian 'atrOcitleS .lth all their most
sickening details of ieniish lust and
AtrociOus Cruelty
on unarmed Christians and defenSelesS,
innocent women and children, delib-
erately planned and ruthlessly executed
under orders received from CONSTANT
nople."
Hagopian concludes by saying that
the time has come to abolish in toto the
existing administration of Armenia,
and replace it by another regime ap-
proved by Great Britain and other sign
atOries or the treaties Of Berlin, and
worked under their immediate super
vision.
The letter of the Armenian. thus pref
aced, is dated Bitlis, Oct. 9. After
saying that the chief magnate appears
to be second Nero, the writer con-
tinueS:
"fhe so-called rebellion of the Ar
menians in 1898 was gOt-up affair for
the repression of which the chief mag
nate got decoration.
"This year the Kurds carried off
Armenian oxen, and the Armenians' APP
peal for their restoration was refused.
A fight ensued, two kurdS were killed
and three were wounded. The Kurds
Immediately carried their dead before
the governor, declaring that the Ar
menians had overrun the land, killing
and plundering the Kurds.
"This furnished pretext for massing
the troops from far and near. The
troops were commanded by pasha and
a marshal, and were hurried to the dis
trict. The pasha Is said to have hung
from his breast, after reading it to his
soldiers, an order from Constsntinople
to cut the Armenians uprOOt and branch.
and adjuring them to do SO if they loved
their king and their government.
"Nearly all these things were related
here and there by soldiers who took
part in the horrible carnage. Some of
them. weeping, claim that the Kurds
did more, and declare that they only
Obeyed the orders OF others.
alt is said that 100 fell to each of them
to dispose Of No compassion was
shown to age or sex, even by the regu-
lar soldiers, not e7en when the victims
fell suppliant at their feet.
''Six to Ten Thousand Persons
met such fate as even the darkest
ages of Africa hardly witnessed, for
there women and tender babes might at
least have had chance Of life of sla-
very, while here womanhood and inno-
cency were but mOckery before the
cruel lust that ended its debauch by
StabDlng women 10 death with the
bayonet, while tender babes were i'm.
paled with the same weapon on their
dead mothers breasts, or perhaps seized
by the halr to have their heads Topped
off with the sword.
SIN one place three or four hundred
women, after being forced to serve vile
purposes by the merciless soldiers, were
hacked to pieces by sword and bayonet
in the valley below.
"In another place some 200 weeping
and wailing women begged for COM
passion, falling at the commanders
feet; but the blOodthirsty wretch, after
ordering their violation, directed his
soldiers to dispatch them in a similar
way.
I'm another place some sixty young
brides and the more attractive girls
were crowded into a church, and after
violation were slaughtered, and human
gore was seen flowing from the church
door,
Sat another place still. large COM
pany under the lead of their priest fell
down before them begging for compass
sion and averring that they had nothing
to do with the culprits. But all to no
purpose. All were called to another
place, and the proposal was made to
several of the more attractive women to
change their faith, in which case their
lives were to be spared. They said:
why should we deny Christ? We are
no more than these'-pointing to the
mangled forms of their husbands and
Dr0tnerS-'klll US, TOO, ana they did SO.
A great effort was made 10 save one
beauty, but three or four quarreled over
her, and she sank down like her sisters.
"But why proIong the sickening tale?
There must be God In heaven Who
will do right in all these matters or
some of US would lose faith.
Zone or more cOnsulS have been or
dered that way to investigate the matter.
LIZ the Christians instead or the Turks
reported these things in the city of
Bitlis and the region where have been
touring. the case would be different.
But now we are compelled to believe It.
The magnates are having papers cir
cplated and are trying to compel the
Christians to sign them, expressing
satisfaction that justice has been dealt
to the rebels, and thanking the king and
the Chief magnate himself. The Chris
tians of Bitlis will not sign, though it
II is said that in some Of the outlying
districts some Of the Cbristiaps have
signed The circulars have not been
offered to Protestants, and as yet the
Protestants have not been thrust into
chains or blackMailed very much,
though lately things are beginning to
look that way" Another letter says
that some of the regular soldiers them
selves admit that they killed loo per-
sons each In a fendish manner, aud
that raD6 was followed by the bayonet.