The record-union., 1896-05-18
FIVE MONTHS OF HORROR.
GRAPHIC LETTER FROM AN AR
MENIAN In AINTIB.
Nothing Remains to That Oppressed
Race But Endurance, Embracing
lslamism or Emigration.

OMAHA CNeb.), May 17.-Mrs. A. N.
Peller of North Bend has just received
man adV1ceS from a friend in Alntlp,
turkey, which is of particular interest
at this time in rejecting the feelings
or a down. -trodden race-the Armenl-
ans The name of the writer is with
held, as it might endanger life. EX-
tracts from the letter read as follows:
Alntib, March 19-It is now more
than five months that sword and fire,
famine and cold, have been doing their
fearful work among us. Not less than
2O0,OOO of our people, largely men and
from influential and productive classes,
nave fallen victims of the fury of our
prosecutors. More than 10000 of our
number have, under threats of instant
death, professed IslamiSm. Thousands
OF our sisters and daughters have been
violently carried off to the harems or
Turks and Kurds. Not less than 5000
or our principal men, including many
Gregorian priests and Protestant pas
tors and teachers, are languishing IN
turkish dungeons, arrested on utterly
oaseless charges and given no oppor-
tunity to vindicate themselves.
Nor do we see any signs of marked
Improvement in our condition. 1t is
true massacre and open plunder have
been forbidden, but most of our neigh
bors are still maintaining a most in
sulting and threatening attitude to-
wards us as race, and even were they
constrained to abandon their bloody
purpose, the fanatical fury of the Mos
lem people among whom we live hav-
ing been SO fiercely infiamed, is quite
Suff1clent, even against any feeble ef-
forts the Government might be con-
strained to make, to complete the work
of destruction SO far accomplished.
Three possible courses of action are
open to us. First, we can surrender all
that our fathers have clung to during
their many years of oppression and suf-
fering; We can abandon our faith, pro-
fess Islam and lose ourselves and our
children in the mass Of our Moslem
masters, or second, we can go on pa
tiently dragging the chains of our op-
pressors and bearing the insults and
abuses, wasting away our lives and our
strength in ignoble servitude; or, third,
we can seek in other lands and among
liberty-loving people new homes and
new hopes of enterprise and hope.
Some of our people have already
tried to adjust themselves to the first
condition named, but even now their
walls of anguish and remorSe that is
making their lives an insupportable
burden warn US that death is a thou
sand times to be preferred to life so
basely purchased. The second alterna-
tive is no doubt still open to us; we
can repudiate all our claims and aspl-
rations for manhood; we can surrender
all hope of progress and take up again
the old servile life of the past We
should perhaps be allowed to retain our
name, our traditions and our faith, but
how dwarfed, cramped and corrupted.
Meanwhile other and Christian lands
open hospitable doors to us and ex-
tend US sympathy and generous aid
and bid US welcome to share with them
the heritage of Christian liberty and
civilization.
"Will our Sultan permit US to emf
CRATE? He evidently regards us as a
dangerous and pestilent people in his
empire. Rather than further disturb
the peace of his subjects by continued
efforts to crush and destroy US, will
he not graciously permit us to with
draw and leave him and his people to
the undisputed possession of this land?
More of our blood certainly cannot be
needed to appease his wrath, and as
for our property we will be content with
whatever his magnanimity will allow
us. We should be glad if arrangements
could be made by which we could Sc
cure for our future use some reasona-
Bile part of the property we leave be-
hind.
1.-THE facts concerning the massacre
at Kills are these: Kills has a popula-
ton of about 10000, of whom some
1900 are Armenians and 1000 Greeks
and Jews. The rioting began without
warning or apparent cause at about
10 o'clock on Friday morning and con-
tinued until 2 p. m. on Saturday One
hundred and two persons were killed,
OF whom one was Greek, three Zone
a priest) Catholics. Forty were wound
ed and thirty prOfessed Islam. Nearly
all Christian shops and about 10000
houses were plundered. All along the
road Armenians were in the greatest
terror and we found one of the princi-
pal khans on the Aleppo road had been
plundered and expressions of hatred
of Armenians and Giaours generally
were frequent and ominous."
nYyYry nYCEEnrEJrY,