The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-12-31
ARMENIAN HORRORS.
An American Citizens Suffer-
ings and Salvation MUIR
der and Rapine.

BALTIMORE, Dec. 81, 1895.-Dr H. K.
Poltekian, a native of Armenia, who
came to the United States seven years
ago and became citizen of this country
last May, has just returned from a visit
to his birthplace. He says the half has
not been told about the outrages per-
petrated by the Turks upon the Armen-
ians. With his wife, who is a Baltimore
lady. he had to fly from his native viii
lage of Uzerly, early in November, losing
all his belongings except those which
were contained in two small trunks A
farm which he owned in the neighborhood
of Uzerly was devastated and his fathers
home and two other houses owned by
his father were burned.
when l returned to Uzerly last July"
Dr.. Peltekian said. sit had about 300
houses and population of 1900. The viii
lage is now deserted and a heap of ruins.
On the fourth of November the village
was thrown into a state of great excite
ment by the descent of a large crowd of
Turks, probably ten thousand in number,
from the hills surrounding Uzerly. They
pillaged the farms all around the place,
taking everything they could carry
away, burning the houses and farm
buildings, cutting down the orange trees
and setting fire to the crops. All these
farms belonged to Armenians: The farm
ers who had escaped being murdered
came into the village bringing the news
that the Turks intended to massacre all
the Armenians in the four villages near
Bavass and Alexandretta and to burn
the villages.
On November r. after all the farms
in tta iohh had a.
ted. the Turks made their appearance
in the villages. and the villagers fled
to the town of Tchokmerzemen, which
contains about 1900 inhabitants. 1t has
a wall composed of piles of stones
around it. The houses and the town it
self offered better opportunities for de-
fense than any of the villages.
1.-The march to Tchoknrerzemen was a
perilous one and many who started out
for it never reached it. The Turks
pressed US hard and killed many. firing
into the crowd almost constantly.
Those who remained behind were nearly
all killed. We saw one man OF about
killed n. with an T. axe e. as he he stood in the
church yard. His head rolled out into
the road and his body fell in the yard.
population of about 1000. all Christians.
The strongest of the men and those
best able to handle the few guns tnat
to defend it from the Turks. My wife
and 1 spent seven days in a house in
which twenty other, families We're quar-
tered. We had to sleep at night on the
damp ground
United States Consul Walker at Alex
turalized citizen of the United States,
and was in great peril with my wife,
who was native Oft Of the United States.
1.-The United tates cruiser Marblehead,
at Alexandretta, a few days after we
took refuge in Tchokmerzemen The
day after she reached there l received
verbal notice from the Governor of Djeb-
elbereket, the district in which the town
and the villages around were located.
Alexandretta with my wife, and that !
would be protected. We had anescort
of four Turkish soldiers. They had evil
WelrioeIshe Were to shoot anyone anyone who made any
threatening demonstrations against us.
and they came near doing so several
times.
Der 10 and I learned that when Consul
Walker demanded that protection be ac-
corded my wife and myself my presence
that there were no Americans there.
Captain O'Neill of the Marblehead teie-
graphed to the Governor General of Ad-
Of Of Djebelbereket is part, that if my wife
and myself were. not immediately grant
ed protection and brought to Alexandret-
ia he would take steps to have US
brought there. He gave the Governor
General to understand that there was to
be no trifiing in the matter, and the Gov
ernor General understood it. We were
put on board an English steamer and
had a safe journey home.
The work of devastation is going on
all over Armenia 1 understand that all
the property of the American mission
aries in Maraah and Aintah. including
churches and seminarieS, has been burned
and that several of the missionaries
have lost their lives. Armenians are
not allowed to protect themselves. If
they are found with weapons of any
kind they are taken away from them
and they are severely punished, while
the weapons are not taken from the
Turks. There is no question but that
the Turkish Government is encourag-
ing the Turks to kill off the Armenians.
The Turkish soldiers are almost always
present when masacreS are going on
and they never interfere. 7 cannot prove
that the Turks are. armed for the pur-
pose. but the guns they have are precise
" the sort with which the soldiers are
armed and are not like the ordinary
gun that would be, kept for hunting
game Then they always seem to have
an abundance OF ammunition