The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-02-27
THE MURDEROUS MoOSHlR.
An Eye Witness Tells of the Butchery Of
Thousands of Christians.

An Eye witness Tells OIL the butchory OF
Thousands of Christians.
Boston, Feb. 22.-The. Globe pub
fishes the following from Moosh, Asia
Minor, which, it says is the first des-
cription by an. eye witness of Mooshir
Pasha's, march, of blood" (Mooshir
Pasha is the military governor of Err
zerjan and started, by order of the Sui
tan into the Sassoun district last Sep
tember. Innumerable burned villages
and 1898 lives was the price of this
official VISIT
Moosh, Asia Minor, Jan. 1.-THE
numbers of our dead countrymen in
the four towns visited by Mooshir
Pasha will not be far short of $500.
This is from the bodies counted and
known to have perished. We cannot
tell how many others there may be.
The first town entered by Mooshir
was Shinik. It contains four villages,
Shinik, Mezera, Koojock and Dopy.
When our people here heard of the ar
rival of the Pasha FIR. Johannis, 240
Fof the leading townsmen went to meet
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. The number killed from
Shinik proper number. 623, and BIZ
from the rest Of the villages. Those
who escaped are now in the villages
surrounding this town, but the villag-,
ers are themselves very poor and
many 60 hungry. 49,.
Mooshir Pasha left Shinik to. 60 to
the next town in, the Sasosun district.
This towns Alyan, and has fourteen
villages. The people heard of bis COM
ing and how that he had twenty-four
companies each400 men besides twenty
three cannons. They knew that it was
useless to appeal to lin, SO they fed
to the village of Chi because of its
rocks and steepes, 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 fedas best
they could. Two thousands bodies
were left behind at Chi.
Cali -Gazan was next an because the
town has twenty-five villages around
it, Mooshir brought Kurds, Ahmidie
and Irregulars, numbering 80, 600. The
town was desreted, for the people,
with all the food they could carry,
had fled to the mountains. They,
stayed in their fastnesses for thirty
days and atlast with frenzy born of
hunger and despair, they made a ter
rible rush down the mountain sides
and attacked the tyrants instead OF
waiting to be killed. Patriot Vartan
was like god and killed nineteen men
with his own sword before he fell dead.
FIR. Bedras was soldier, too, and en-
couraged his children, and when he,
was at last killed, his body was cut in
pieces and given to the dogs,
Alpag was the last town that the
bloodthirsty tyrants visited, and this
place contains eight villages-Verient,
Chaden, Moodavar, Eukfk, Kalaxaz.
Choroop, and Davlorig, The, people
had for the most part made their es-
cape, but when Mooshir and his soldi-
ers went their way 1,300 bodies were
found even here Many more were
burned, but their number cannot be
known.
All bodies were left where they were
butchered and those who would travel
this district must risk their lives
through the pestilential odors that go
up from so many dead. All who es-
capped from the Sassoun district came
to the villages and 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.