The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-30
UNFORTUNATE ARMENIANs,
Destitute In France and With No
Hope Apparent.


Hope Apparent.
MARSEILLES, Sept. 29.-There exists
a condition Of affairs in this city at
present which seems to be disgrace
to Europe, and to the Armenian asso-
Citations generally throughout the
world. Subsisting upon government,
municipal or private charity here, are
300 unfortunate Armenians, men, women
and children, young and DID, healthy
and sick, who have succeeded in es-
Gaping from the bloody massacres at
Ccrstantinople and who were one and
all buoyed up by the hope on landing
here. of being able eventually to reach
the lard of freedom, the United States
But weeks have already elapsed and
nothing definite appears to have been
done for their relief, much less towards
finding them homes, by any Of the
many associations for the relief Of suf-
fering Armenians which have been oa-
ganiZed in England and America.
These unfortunates, however, seem
to be the very class to which the hand
of charity should be first extended.
They are homeless, nearly all are pen
niless, many are enduring the pangs Of
hunger, and yet nobody seems willing
to step in and guide this band of ref
ugees to some place where they can be-
gin life anew and under more prom
ising circumstances. Large amounts
of money have been raised in the past
for the destitute Armenians in Arne-
MIA, but the situation of the latter is
not whit worse than that of the half
starving people here, If as bad. The
Armendans in Armenia certainly had
their coreligionists and fellow country
men to fall back upon, but the poor
people here seem to have no friends
in the wide world, yet they are as hon
est and industrious class as YOU can
find on the shores of the Mediterra-
mean.
The tales they tell Of persecution and
massacre would, it seems, soften the
most hard hearted They admit that a
band Of some forty Armenians. about
month ago, captured the Ottoman
bank. killing the Turkish gendarmes.
The Armenians claim that this demon
stration, like many others, was only
Planned to compel Europe to redress
the wrongs from which they are suf-
fering. Then, however, followed the
terrible massacres in the streets Of
Constantinople and its suburbs in
which from four to six thousand per-
sons were butchered or drowned. Hun
dreds were driven into the police and
military depots, at the point Of the
bayonet, only to be carted out dead at
the rear doors Of these buildings and
buried In long trenches dug for that
purpose in various cemeteries.
Hundreds upon hundreds Of unarmed
fleeing Armenians were beaten to ath
in the street with bludgeons furnished.
there is no doubt, to the populace by
the Turkish authorities. The slaught-
erers went about in gangs, directed by
agents of the Turkish officials, killing
all Armenians they caught sight Of
Carloads of dead bodies were con-
stantly crossing the bridges to the
burying grounds, many hundreds of
living Armenians were taken In boats
to the Bosphorus and drowned. and
countless others were taken in ships
to the Black Sea, from which trip they
never returned. While this terrible
work was in progress, the Turkish
troops looked on unconcernedly, and
the guns of the foreign warships were
silent. say the Armenians with sorrow
full emphasis.