The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-07-18

VAN, June 3.-CFrom the Associated
Press Correspondent in Arnenia)-The
prison of Van, where the Armenian
prisoners are confined, is located under
the shadow of the city wall and at
point where the ground is so low as to
receive the drainage of the rest of the
city. Like the other buildings of the
city it is built Of sun-dried brick, laid
in the mud. The prison is only a one
story building and with no provision
for keeping it dry.
Not FIT for Vermin.
The inner prison consists of six long,
narrow rooms, three on each side of a
common passageway, into which they
open. Each room is about twelve feet
wide, and from thirty TO forty feet
long, has two windows at the outer
end and two small windows and a door
at the inner end, opening into the pas
sage. During the last winter, from
thirty to forty men We're crowded into
each of these rooms, sleeping on the
or. a row along each wall, so that
II their feet were q. little more than
ordinarily extended the two rows
would interfere with each other Some
times there were twenty-five men in
each row, allowing only about eighteen
5rcheS for each person.
The five small cells mentioned are
damp. dark and entirely unwarmed for
winter. A prisoner, Karakeen Pa
gheShtscan by name, was kept in one
of these cells fourteen consecutive
months with foot letters all the time
and with hand and neck letters much
o. the time. Afterwards he was re-
moved to one Of the inner cells, which
are even worse, and where he now is.
He was logged on an average of once
day.
Most Pea;nfuI Features.
Apart from the actual butchery of
Sassoun, the most painful feature of
the Armenian situation is the position
of Armenian women, One cannot in
vestigate this phase of the subject
without feelings of rage and horror
over the insults and outrages to which
these poor creatures are subjected.
After most careful personal inquiry,
the correspondent is able to state that
tn hundreds of villages in Armenia
there is hardly one woman, young or
old, who IS not from time to time made
the victim of the passion of the Kurds
and Turks, In al the villages OF Ar
menia. the Christian women, both old
and young. are absolutely at the mercy
of their Kurdish and Turkish neigh
bors. This is rot the case in the
larger cities of Van Bitlis, MOush and
ErzerOum, because in these cities the
large Armenian population is in itself
a protection to the women, but in the
villages where the ArmenianS are in
the minority protection is not possible
and the women are at the beck and
call of any Turk or Kurd who happens
70 take a fancy to them. Moreover
this state Of things is said to be well
known to the Turkish government.
Virtually Buy Women.
It is the custom Of the government
&c sell to the highest bidder the tax
privileges of the various villages, the
purchaser having the right to collect
all Of the taxes from the people. IN
very many cases the number of young
Armenian women in a village has a
great deal to do with the price paid
for the tax privilege. When the pub
lie sale is made of the tax privilege
1t is no uncommon thing for the auc-
tioneer to call out in the market place
so that all may hear that so many
girls are available in the village. When
a man has purchased the tax privilege
of a village he considers that he also
bought and paid for the women Of the
village and an attempt on the part of
the husbands, brothers or fathers to
resent this Interpretation of the law
is looked upon as high treason, pun
ishable with death If the ArmenienS
object to this treatment Of their wo-
men they are beaten and driven from
the villages and in many cases killed.
Making Extra Profit.
The tax purchaser is able to make
an extra profit out Of his village by
renting out to his friends among the
Turks and Kuris the privilege Of max
:rg Use of such women as he does not
want for himself and Kurds who can
not afford TO pay for this privilege
content themselves with taking the
women by force when the owner of
the village is not present.
The women who suffer the most are
the brides.
Kurds and Turks think it great sport
to carry off a bride from the very arms
of her husband and to keep her in their
houses until they have become tired of
II presence. y