The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-06-02

Fl
pressed into service for Transportation
OF troops, testified 20 facts which Turk
ish soldiers bOnsted Of openly as To their
awful butcherles Whole villages were
laid waste with no living being left,
and the stencil from the uDburlcd or
unburued bodies was almost unendura-
bio. though thousands had been burned
or buried.
Hundreds OF periahlng people would
come 10 commanding OfjioerE and throw
themsclve8 upon their mercy, but each
day after shutdown they were driven
off together 10 I've slaughtered, their
cries tllipg the air one long line OF
prisoners bound together, was led to
french and there cut down, one AFTER
the other In cold blood, TO tumble Into
the ditch and be buried dead OF alive.
The larger Armenian cities We're the
scenes OF lndescrlbable diabollsm. In
one instance the soldiers requested rs
many as 5000 Christians TO crowd into
O church, pretending that they would
be protected there.
The doors and windows were then
barricaded to prevent escape, the build
ing flooded with kerosene from the
roof and fired; only about sixty per-
SONS escaping from this fearful hoio-
caust.
Turkish T0rtursF.
Christians were crowded into their
despoiled homes and their houses fired,
while the tends without flung back
upon their bayonets those who tried to
ny from the lames
While the cruel Eurds prefer to Kill
people with bullets and dagEers, the
Turks delight In torturlnG them to
death, cutting their veins open. gouglng
out their eyes. and pulling out their
tongues, tearing or their ears, severlng
their hands and their feet, iaylng them
alive, branding and burning. them with
red-hot irons, tearing out their teeth
cutting off their fingers and toes ore
at time, siiclng of portions OF flesh,
and leaving them to linger until re-
lieved by death.
one witness testified to seeing a
Turkish officer bind an aged Armenian
head ownwards, then slowly cut him
through With nm axe, while from the
same hiding place he saw soldiers tor
turing two priests, one OF whom was
his own father. After falling to force
them to deny their faith, they gouged
out thelu eyes, then compelled them to
dance while they beat and gashed them
hrutally, and after death the body of
one was found with neither eyes, nose,
ears, lips nor skin left upon his head.
Long trenches were dug and hundreds
OF wounded, dying and dead were flung.
in together, to get them out OF the way,
but dreadful as such burial alive must
be, It was a mercy compared to a Turk
ish prison.
The most horrible death imaginable
would be delight, and the most terri
bic massacre conceivable would be
mercy in comparison to Mohammednn
trial or captivity for a Christian pris-
oner.
The Christian conception OF perdtlon
becomes a paradise when compared to
the combination pest holes, torture pens
and dungeons OF death called prisons,
into which refined Christian captiVes
are crowded.
Plteous means Of manged belngs,wlth
shattered arms, and broken legs, ana
bruised and bleeding bodies. aEonizing
groans and shrlkes OF the tortured who
refuse to renounce their faith or betray
their friends 40 the same Internal fury:
the demoniacal laughter OF the dull eyed
bestial Turks tormentinS some chris
tian boy or girl pleading In vain for
mercy, till these flends actually OUTRAGE
him or her TO death, the dying dellrlum
Of some fever racked sufferer, and the
expiring gasp OF some poisoned prisoner
convulsed In death,
sentry boxes lined with sharpened
spIkes into which helpless victims are
thrust to stand for days, motiOnless,
without food or drink, to be revived by
brutal blows when falling faint upon
the bloody floor, till carried out uncon-
scious or dead,
Women are dishonored before their
husbands, and daughters violated be-
fore their fathers, and children outrag-
ed before their parents, who are orten
bastlnndoed till their agonillng cries
cause more awful anguish TO the tender
loving hearts OF dear ones than physical
agony could iufiict, as in the following
Instance of official record:
From onloial Report.
The body was bound in the shape Of
living cross and so cruelty tortured
that the victim tried to beat his brains
out against the pillar to which he was
tied, but was prevented.
Being commanded repeatedly TO pc
tray his fellows and renounee his taitn'
he replied; 80, -
blood OF Innocent people. ] am Chris
tian!" Then plncers we're brought TO
lear out his teeth. Amid roars OF mer-
rlment, his moustaehe was plucked out
one hair at q time. a red hot iron was
then held against the palms OF MS
hands and applied to his breast, pack'
face. feet and other parts.
Then they forced his mouth open ana
burned his tongue with red hot plncers.
When he tainted he was revived, nut
remained firm, and refused TO recant or
Incrdminate the innocent, When the wo-
men and children tried 10 fly for help,
they were crushed back and compelled
10 hear his heart-rending cries till they
tainted, terrified, but this was only
case on record before the massacre be-
gan. in the village OF Semal during the
regular condition Of affairs, under tull
official control,
This case Is contained In an official
report OF tho British Vice Consul OF
Erzeroum, copies OF which are Kept by
the diplomatic representatives OF the
poweFl at Constantlnople, and occurred
IN ordinary times before the great mas
sacres began, because this man would
neither renounce his faith nor falsely
accuse other Christians Of conspiracy
II demons from the internal regions
could outdo the diabollcal torments or
Mohnmmedau imprisonment, then hu- .
man ingenuity and Imagination must be
impotent.
100 Terrible TO Tell.
The coumlngllng cries OF exquisite
anguish. and roars of devlllsh laughter
the singing OF the vIlest songs of de-
bauchcry, drowning out the death
proans and prayers of the victims OF
these awful orgies; the pestllential
stencil, the putrld filth OF rsek!nE oltal