The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-05-27
ARMING FOR REVENGE.
Another Outbreak of Armenians
Expected Next Month.
THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE STARVING.
The Reports Of the Terrible Atrocities by
Turks and Kurds Further Confirmed by
British oficial and an American Mis-
aionarv

Turks and Hurds Further Confirmed by
a British onioIal and an American Mis-
sionary.
LONDON, May "a. The special correspon-
lent of the Associated Press in Armenia
writes as follows from Kars, Russia. nm.
ler date of April 90;
During the past three weeks 1 have had
unusual opportunity for obtaining addi.
tional confirmation of the facts contained
in my announcement of the impending
uprising of the Armenians in Turkey next
| month. 1 have travelled many miles up
and down and across the border in search
Of certain fucts, and as a result have had
the satisfaction of actually seeing and
handling some of the rifles now being
muggled across the Turkish frontier by
the revolutionary party. Moreover, the
plans of the party have been more fully
| explained to me by some of the most ac-
tive and intelligent of the leaders of the
| eastern wing of the movement, and l am
/ now entirely satisfied that unless unfore-
seen and uncomfortable circumstances
arise, the uprising will take place.
The exact date for the uprising has not
yet been fixed, for the most part to the
fact that the extreme eastern section of
the revolutionary party is not ready for
active operations. Whether or not the
central section will wait for the eastern
wing longer than the month Of May do
not know, nor has the matter actually
| been decided. am led to believe that the
eastern wing cannot be ready for hostilities
/ in May, and possibly not before July l.
| The eastern wing has been and is having
hard time of IT, owing to two ciroum-
| bo Il
control.
The mountain passes leading to Van
have been blocked with snow for months,
SO that it was impossible to forward guns
and ammunition from Russia and Persia.
Besides, the Armenians in the eastern end
of Turkey are in condition bordering on
starvation. 1t is obvious that people in
this condition cannot fight. On this point,
a leading executive officer of the revolu-
tionary party said to me three days ago:
If men have nothing in their stomachs
what can they dof We must first feed
them before we can expect them to fight
When we can get food enough on hand to
last them two months then we shall show
the world how Armenians can fight"
1t is this question of food that the revo-
lutionary leaders will find most difficult
of solution. 1t is fact that in the east
ern part of Armenia food is so scarce that
we'll -to-do and rich people have no more
than they actually need. AS for the poor
Armenians, their condition is distressing
in the extreme, and, added to the rob-
berries, outrages and massacres which
Turks and Kurds have brought upon
them, they are now harassed by famine
so terrible that many of them are actually
Idying of starvation.
Few crops were grown last summer,
owing to the fact that many of the farm
ers and cultivators were thrown into
prison by the Turks under charges of revo-
lutionary conspiracy. Then the cattle
were stolen by the Kurds, and what the
poor people had left in the way of provis-
ions or property was seized by the govern
ment officials for taxes Even the COM
monest household utensils were taken by
the tax gathers, so that the people were
left destitute
There will be no crops planted in eastern
Armenia this spring for the country every
where is suffering from q reign of terror.
The presence of the commission of inquiry
at Moosh and the indignation of the
Christian powers Of Europe have had ab.
solutely no effect on the conduct of either
the Turks or the Kurds in eastern Turkey.
am just in receipt of trustworthy ad-
vices from non Armenian source at Van
to the effect that "a massacre is'looked for
at any moment. My correspondent writes
that they are living within an inch of a
massacre" all the time.
When the new grass of spring enable.
the Kurdish horsemen to move about the
country the work of exterminating the
Armenians, which was interrupted by the
fall of snow after the Sassoun and Moost
massacres last autumn, will be begun
anew. With no crops and no cattle of theil
own, the Armenians will either die o.
starvation or flee to Persia and Russia
The famine will seriously affect botl
Kurds and Turks, as they live mainly
upon the industry of the Armenians-tht
former by open handed robbery and tn,
last named by extortion and outrageou
taxation.
1t is fact, which the British govern
. ment can verify by consulting the repor
Of Mr.. Patton, an official Of the British
consulate at Tebriz, Persia, that in seVera
cases the Turkish officials in the devas
tated district of Armenia there coult
9 hardly save the Armenians from death ant
the property from destruction; but, whel
they protested against the Rurderous raid
of the troops, the officers read to them tn
orders of the sultan, and so nothing coul
be done. In many cases the officials of tn
! villages warned the Armenians day be
fore the soldiers appeared in order that tn
poor people might have chance to escape
The investigation Of Mr.. Patton alon
the Persian border has been confirmed, 4
. a general way, the facts which have il
oidentally obtained during the past eigh
| weeks. He has collected many heartrent
ing stories of persecution, robbery, out
> rage and murder, with names, dates an
= places, and as reasonable proof that tn
|. refugees who gave testimony to him tol
o the truth it may be said that, in a genera
e way, the facts obtained in different place
|. were practically the same. The events
!. the massacre were so horrible that eve
the chronic exaggeration of the Armenia
mind fails to add anything to them.
Mr.. Patton was accompanied ON this tor
D of investigation by DR.. Wright, an Anne
L lean missionary stationed at Salma
These gentlemen took tho testimony frol
: several witnesses to the effect that whe
the Turkish soldiers ana Kurds appesre