The herald., 1895-02-21
An Eye Witness Describes a
Pasha's Cruel March
TERRORS OF THE SASSOUN
Many Hundred Natives Slaughtered Like
Sheep
The Story of One Village Is a Repetition of
That Told in Each Visited by the
Correspondent

st. Louis, Feb. 20.--The first descrip-
tion by an eye witness of Mooshir Pasha S
March of Blood, as it has come to be
known, has just been received by the Re-
public from Moosh Asia Minor.
The account is written by native of
the Sassoun district, and had been sent
by secret messenger through the territory
of the Sultan to insure its safe arrival.
Mooshir Pasha, the military governor
of the city of Erzenjan, started, by order
of the Sultan, into the Sassoun district
last September. Innumerabe burned vii
lagos and 1903 lives were the price of this
officials visit.
The European commission now investi-
eating have just reached the city of
Moosh, the town from which the Repub-
lie received its dispatch. 1t reads:
'Moosh, Asia Minor, Jan. T. 1895. The
number of our dead countrymen in the
four towns visited by Mooshr Pasha will
not be far short of 1900. This is from the
bodies counted and known to have per-
ished. We cannot tell how many others
there may be.
THE first town entered by Mooshir was
Shinik. 1t contains four villagcs-Shinik
Mezra, Koojook and Dopy. When our
people hers heard of the arrival of the
Pasha Father Johannis, with forty of the
leading townsmen, went to Mooshir to
beseech him to have mercy upon them
They were surrounded by soldiers long be-
fore they could get to Mooshir Pasha, and
every one was killed. Their bodies were
put in the church and burned. Then they
proceeded to burn the villages.
Si
numbered 623 and 317 from the rest of the
villages Those who escaped are now in
the villages surrounding this town, but the
villagers are themselves very poor and
many go hungry.
Mooshir Pasha left Shinik to go to the
next town in the Sassoun district. This
town is Alyon and has fourteen villages.
The people heard of his coming and that
he had twenty-four companies, each of
four hundred men, besides twenty three
cannon. They knew that it was useless
to appeal to him, so they fed to the viii
lage of Chi because of its rocks and
steppes and there they could better escape
him. They stayed in the mountains for
almost twenty days and when all food was
gone and there was nothing left to do they
fled as best they could. Two thousand
bodies were kept behind at Chi.
''Gali-Gazen was next visited, and be-
cause the town has twenty-four villages
around it Mooshir brought Kurds, Ahmi-
dies and rregulsrs numbering 80, O00 The
town was deserted, for the people, with
all the food they could carry had fed to
the mountains They stayed in their
fastness for thirty days, and at last, with
a frenzy born of hunger and despair, they
made terrible rush down the mountain
sides and attacked the tyrants instead of
waiting to be killed. Patriot Vartan was
like god and killed ten men with his
own sword before he fell dead Father
Bedoas was soldier too, and encouraged
his children, and when he was at last
killed his body was cut in pieces and given
to the dogs.
Alag was the last town that the blood
thirsty tyrant visited, and this place con-
tanned seven villages-Vereih, Chaden,
Mooravar, Eukik, Kalaxaz, Choroop and
Davidrig. The people had for the most
part made their escape, but when Mooshir
and his soldiers went their way, 1900
bodies were found. Many more were
burned, but their number cannot be
known. All bodies were left where they
fell, and those who travel this district
must risk their lives through the pestilen-
tial odors that go up from so many dead.
All who escaped from the Sassoun district
come to the villages of the plains of Moosh,
and hungry, destitute and broken hearted.
they look for hope and help and sympathy
from the civilized world to whom the
news of their terrible lot may come"