Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1895-02-26
THE MARCH OF BLOOD.

A Graphic and SOUL Narrowing Descrip-
siou OF the Massacre of the Armenians by
an Eyewitness of the Merciless Tyrants
Raid Through sassoun-Dseds Of Heroisn
Born of Dsspair-A Land of the Dead
BosToN, Feb. 21.-The Globe pub
fishes the following from Moosh, Asia
Minor, which, IL says, Is the first de-
scription by an eyewitness OF Mooshir
Pasha's March of Blood"
"Mooshir Pasha is the military gov
ernor of the city of Erzeroum, and
started, by order of the sultan, into
the Sassoun district last September.
Innumerable burned villages and
1898 lives was the price of this official
visit:
"MoosH, Asia Minor, Jan. z.
"The number of our dead country.
men 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 can
not tell how many others there may be.
The first town entered by the Moo
shir was Shank. 1t contains four vii
lages-Shinik, Mezra, Koojock andDopi.
When our people heard of the arrival
Of the pasha, FIR. Johannis, with 24O
of the leading townsmen, went to meet
him, to beseech him to have mercy
upon them. They were surrounded by
soldiers long before they could get to
Mooshir Pasha and every one was
killed. Their bodies were put in the
church and burned.
Then the soldiers proceeded to burn
the villages. The killed from Shank
proper 623, persons, and 3l7 from the
rest of the villages. Those who es-
capped are now in the villages surround
ing this town, but the villagers are
themselves very poor aud many go
hungry.
Mooshir Pasha left Shank to go to
the next town in the Sassoun district.
This town is Alyan, and has fourteen
villages. The people heard of his COM
ing, and heard that he had twenty
four companies, besides twenty-three
cannon. They knew that it was use
less to appeal to him, and so they fed
to the village Of Chi, because of its
rocks and steppes, and there could
escape him. They stayed in the noun
tains for almost twenty days, and
when all food was gone, and there was
nothing left to do, they fled as best
they could. Two thousand bodies
were left behind at Chi.
Gali-Gazan was next visited. and be-
cause the town has twenty-five viii
Kurds, Ahmidie and irregulars num-
bering 80, 600. The town was deserted,
for the people, with all the food they
could carry, had fed to the mountains.
They stayed in their Businesses for
thirty days, and at last, with
frenzy born of hunger and des.
pair, they madca terrible rush down
the mountain sides and attacked the
tyrants instead of waiting to be killed.
Patriarch .Varlain was like a god,
and killed nineteen men with his sword
before he fell dead. FIR. Pedras was a
soldier, too, and encouraged his chill
dren, 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 tyrant visited, and this
place contains eight villages-Veren,
Chaden, Moodavar, Eukik, Kalaxaz.
Choroop and Dawlorig. The people,
for the most part, made their escape,
but when Mooshir and his soldiers
went their way, 1900 bodies were
found even here. Many more were
burnei 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 of the plains of Moosh,
and, hungry, destitute and broken
hearted, they look for hope and help
and sympathy from the civilized world.