Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-01-14

~
A KURD SOLDIER.
own. Turks, Kurds, Persians, Tartars
savage tribes akin to the races of hardy
mountainers that people the region
from the Caspian to the confines OF
China, they are all alike in one respect
thirsty. and all are inspired by bitter
hate of anything Christian. The name
seems to rouse among these savage peo
pies all the innate ferocity of untamed
human nature.
To do them justice, however, the
Christians so called, of Armenia, are
not much better than their Turkish
and Kurdish neighbors. They have
been hardened and brutalized by ages
Of oppression and suffering; they re
gard the Turks as their natural enc
mics, and are just as ready to fight the
0ttomans as the latter are to fight
them. Unfortunately for the Chris
tians, however, they are hopelessly In
the minority. and so from time to time
the world is shocked with these nara
tives of Turkish atrocity. In cold fact
there is very little choice between
Christian and Moslem in that part OF
the world, and the swarms of wander
ing bandits sometimes consist of both
Christians and Moslems, who rob both
parties with strictest impartiality.
The cities of Armenia are not very
numerous nor very populous, neither
are they very prosperous. The best
among them are Kars, that has stood
more than one historic siege from bott
Russians and Turks; Erivan, n for
tress from Roman days, and the capi
tai of one province; Erzeroum, which
once boasted population of 10000
but now has hardly more than 10000
If SO many, the reason of the decline
being the same as that for the depres
sion in every other part of the coun
try. Erzeroum, the seat of the Turk
ish Pasha who misgoverns the country
is well fortified after an Oriental fash
ion, having great massive walls that
have been neglected until they are
ready to fall down of their own ac
cord, big wooden gates covered with
plates Of iron, closed every night at an
hour after sundown, when belated
travellers are supposed to be com
PEELED to remain outside, which, in fact
however, they rarely do, but simply
walk along the wall until they find o
place where it has fallen down enough
to enable them to climb over, and then
enter and go about their business. Err
zeroum was once city of grand pro
portions and great commercial con.
sequence, but its glory has departed
Situated as it is on the high road be
tween Teheran and Mecca, the annual
caravans of pilgrims from Persia,
Afghanlstan and India all pass through
1t, but in greatly diminished numbers
from those of former years. The In
dian pilgrims now go by steamer
through the Red Sea, SO do not few
from Beluchistan and Persia, and only
few from the interior now pass
through the once famous city that still
presides over the destinies of the old.
est land in the world. Like all other
Oriental, and particularly Turkish,
towns, Erzeroum presents from dis.
lance an imposing appearance that is
by no means confirmed on a nearer ap.
proach. From few miles distance,
nothing can be prettier than a Turkish
town. The white walls glitter through
the dark green foliage of the cypress
trees that abound in the surrounding
cemeteries, while the minarets and
domes rise above the houses like points
of vivid light. A nearer approach dis.
pels the illusion. The marble walls are
Of whitewash, the minarets and domes
are gaudy and flimsy, the streets are
filthy enough to breed pestilence,
and everywhere savage dogs go to and
fro In troops, and fight with each other
for the offal that Is cast out of the doors
and windows of every house into the
street
But there Is hope for Armenia. A
brave people like the natives of this his.
toric land can not always be kept in
subjection to n degenerate race of
thieves and murderers like the Turks.
The incompetence of the latter to gov.
ern anything has been so plainly shown
for century and n half that the world
has ceased to expect anything from the
Ottoman power. But for the half.
crazy fear that the English display
whenever anybody raises the cry of
Russian wolf Armenia would long ago
have been delivered from the rule of
the Turk. Twice in the present cen
tury has Russia been ready to occupy
the whole province, and twice has the
deliverance of Armenia been postponed
by the trickery of British politics and