Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1895-12-05
STRAIGHT STORY.
First Publication OF Facts OF the
Horrible Slaughter.
About $1,000 Christians Slain
In Turkey.

| Constantinoplc, Nov. Z7.-The fol
lowing matter has been handed to tb,
European manager Of the Unite,
pres, Who 10 now in Constantinople
The latter, from full confidence in th'
American Christian men who sent i
and from careful personal observation
10 able to forward il to the American
press as an impartial statement o,
facts.
| The statement has the full endorse
ment Of Minister Terrell.
During the month Of October .
con,idersble part Of the Armenian
districts in the provinces Of Trebi
sonde, E,Ieroum, Bitlis, Van, Har
pool, Disrbakir and silva has been
laid waste and a number not fully
known Of the Armenian inhsbitsnt,
have been killed by men intent on
crushing into impotence the Armeni'
ans in Turkey.
AZ the awful tidings have come IN,
by driblets, the Turkish government
las diligently telegrsphed abroad in
regard to each place that Armenians
lad attacked MussulmAns, thus arous.
ing = frenzy Of indignation which
could not EARLY be controlled, but
that order had been restored after
some loss Of life.
The effect Of these kilograms has
been TO cultivate a belief that there
has been some general rising of
Armenisns, and that We are in the
presence of a calamity which is merely
the result Of lawle~ proceedings Of
the present Armenans themselves
Natural indignation with the Aymeni.
ans for rising at the very moment
when the reform scheme wss about to
be put in operation may be moderat.
ed when il is known that up to this
date the only authentic uprising of
Armeniaes has taken place at Zeitoun,
In the province OF Aleppc, and far
from the scene Of the massacres.
Moreover. in such cases as offer oppor-
tunities for examination several
circumstances cited in the Tuykiss
dnpsscns- ~ causes Tor the ploodshed
have been proven TO have been in
cidents and not causes Of the mas
,acres. Men who found themselves
sssailed by the mob and happened to
have arms in their houses, in . number
Of cases defended their lives and their
families 10 the last. At Disrbakir,
where the Christians are generally
armed, they made hard fight for life,
and some 500 Moslems are said to
have been killed. But aside from this
one case, the destruction OF from TO-
900 TO Is, 900 Christians has not cost
the Turks more than two or three
hundred lives.
Proper comprehension of what has
taken place depends on knowledge of
what went before. In the latter part
Of September, while the powers were
renewing their demands for the sc-
ceptsnce by the sultan Of the reform
scheme, word began to come in from
all Of the provinces that the Moslems
we're being armed, while The disarms-
mept Of the Christians was being
pressed with great determination. In
many cases Moslems were found buy
ing arms in the open market who had
no money to buy bread. In other
cases the officials sold to the Moslsms
the arms which they con6scated from
the Christisnt, thus making useful
profit. At the same time the Kurd.
Of the mountainous district rf Der.im,
lying between Erzingan and Hsrpool,
began to assemble, saying that they
| id received orders from Sekki Pssha,
the commander Of the fourth army
corps, to devastate the Armenian vii
lagos, taking the plumber for theil
pay. Whether such orders wer,
given no one knows. They promptly
begun to sieze the cattle and sheep o
the Armenisns in all of the surround
ing regions, seeming anxious to secur,
the flocks and to get them out o
harms way before the serious worl
begun.
During the early days of October
Turks in all Of the six provinces
Openly declafed they were going /,
massacre the Christians.
The Armenian patrisrchate an,
some Of the foreign embassies at Col
stantinople based on blood-curdlipI
threats, for protection from III
Moslem population. Terror reigne,
among all the Armenisns Of tn
region, because they were helpless an
unarmed in the midst Of a seethin
mass Of hate and fanaticism.
In ErIeroum about this time larg
numbers Of moslem villagers, it is ssid
began to come into rhe city, eager I
buy empty sacks. 1t was a curior
fad, this passion for empty sack
The price Of empty bags tripled. A
last the Armenian dealers began
suspect some upcsnny secret benin
dsDaSd Tor sacks' u vas afsssvar