The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-03-29

They Were Far More Brutal Than
Their Kurdish Allies.
ANOTHER CHAPTER OF HORRORS.

Interviewed by Trustworthy Corre-
spondent of the London Tlmes-The Ter
rIbIe Death Pit at Djellyegoozan.
LONDON, March 29.-The Times pub
fishes a long report on the Armenian
atrocities written by competent and
trustworthy man, who made personal
investigation on the spot. This report was
written in January, but only arrived in
London yesterday The writer says he is
convinced that both in 1898 and 1894 the
Turkish government gave both oral and
written orders to the Kurds to attack the
Armenians, promising them the booty and
relieving them of the responsibility for
the consequences In the first attacks
made upon them the Armenians defeated
the Kurds. Undoubtedly but for Turkish
help the Kurds would have been unable TO
have gained a permanent victory. The
Kurds in the earlier skirmishes did not
harm women and children. Even when
melted by the Turks they did little in
comparison with the latter.
The account proceeds to confirm the pit
incident and the report of the governor OF
Bitlis reading at Djellyegoozan the sui
tan's f1rman ordering the Kurds to destroy
the disaffected villages, sparing nothing,
for their sultan and prophet. This oc-
Cured about the middle of August, and
the massacre which followed beggars all
description The occdentals of the nine
teenth century cannot comprehend it,
Youths were bound, covered with brush
wood and burned alive. Others were
hacked to pieces. At Shenig house filed
with fifty men, women and children was
set on fire and all were cremated. The Of
| flcers forced their men to acts of cruelty
| from which the latter shrank. young
| priest at Dalvorig persuaded seventy of
his followers to yield. They were ordered
| to dig trench, and when enough earth
had been thrown up all were hacked to
| pieces and cast into the trench. Priests.
| suffered horrible deaths. One was throw4
into the air and allowed to fall on a nItH
/ Der of bayonets that had been stucHSup
right into the ground.
A correspondent investigating5ghe cir
cumstances of the atrocities pespetrated in
Armenia recently telegraphsdan YER
sion of the story concerniwgethe death pit
at Diellyegoozan. He saidthat the refugees
on Mount Andok were Sfnveigled back to
the village on the assistance that the au-
thorities desired tbs re establishment of
peace in the distriB Hearing this Priest
Ohannes went With about 300 persons to
the camp, whaiB they were well received.
They were,4sked to remain few hours in
the camp. 9Meanwhile soldiers were busy
digging & big pit behind the house of a
villagexider, man named Bedo
About o'clock in the evening Priest
Ohs,Bnes was taken, and the cross and the
GOSPEL were flung at his feet, and he was
iqrdered by the Turkish officer to trample
/ Ion them He refused, and the officer or
fEdered the soldiers to gouge out his eyes
Then they gave him pocket hG 1dkerchiei
and commanded him to dance Next Ar
menians were distributed among the sol
diers and killed with bayonets and flung
into the pit, dead or dying. The only two
Armenians who escaped were merchant
named Avak and Pia Ohan Zoroyan, the
latter getting away after he had received
twelve bayonet wounds.
The correspondent attached great i'm
portance to the statement of a Kurd ''whC
killed many innocent women and children
in Sassoun,' and with whom he lex
changed daggers" The correspondent
took this mans deposition before respect
able non-Armenian witnesses, and from
this deposition he telegraphed the follow
ing blood curdling extracts:
'The Turkish soldiers took little childrel
by the feet and dashed them against stones
l saw an Armenian priest Soldiers tor
tured him, squeezing his neck gouging
out his eyes and tearing of his flesh witt
pincers. We hate that; we only stab o
bayonet or cut off heads. We dislike need
: less pain 1 saw Turkish sergeant binC
an old Armenian head downwards to tive
or three branches and slowly cut hin
. | through with an ok.
"Armenians who implored protection
= and surrendered were butchered at night
I saw it done. The soldiers stood il
\ double line of three on each side. TIL
Armenians were marched in, their hand
. tied, and they were then bayoneted an
4 flung into the pit Not all were dead whe
= thrown in the pit. L saw soldiers take
I woman and stand around her joking an
( making bets as to the sex of her unbor
child She was then cut open and til
money was paid to the scoundrel who ha
guessed rightly.
"The Kurds killed people with bullet
and daggers, but the soldiers delighted
torture They put some to death wit
scissors, QUITTING them and opening vein
, in the neck. Others were sawed othel
had the tongue cut out, eyes gouged ou
Il. and several fingers cut off before death.
saw men and women thus mutilated, an
= they lay about the camp for two hours b
fore they were killed"