Evening star., 1902-02-15
MISS STONES FATE
Calls Attention to Many Other
Sufferers.
TURKISH ATROCITIES
SEVERAL TERRIBLE CASES OF
CRUELTY CITED.
Bulgarians are Frequently Subjects
of Slavery and Tor

andiCnc&i conditionS IN the Turkish domn- I
ions. while the hopes of those directly in
terested in seeing some bettcrment brought |
about are newly revived.
1t is matter of great significance, and /
one through which diplomatic fairness |
could well be tested. to note that the ex- |
citement this time should have been pro-
voked to such degree by the wronging OF |
one lady who happened to belong to a for
eign and powerful country. when brigand-
age, robberies, murders. outrages on wo-
men. and other atrocities are perpetrated
by scores every day upon the defenseless
native Christians. of which the outside
world either knows little, or cares less,
The wholesale slaughter Of Armenians only
a few years ago, which could have been
stopped by one positive word from any Of
the powers is still fresh in our minds But
barbaritieS nearly as bad wholesale
slaughter are experienced every day by the
Christian inhabitants, for instance. of
Macedonia. Still the English, Germans and
other leaders Of civilization. who twenty
TWO years ago turned that unfortunate
province into the hands Of Turkey again,
because they thought their interests re-
qufred 1t, who keep the Turk in Europe for
selfish ends, and who pose defenders OF
the weak under that so-called rule have
been standing and apparently looking at
the affairs almost If at a pleasing spec
tacl". Indeed one feels tempted to say
it seems good thing to have persons like
NJ IS Stone fall into the trap in order to
waken the necessary interest In the CON
ditions that prevail. 1t counts little who
Miss Stones abductors are. Sufficient IL
is to know that they a product Of
Turkish miSrule.
Three months ago the writer happened to
be III the immediate vicinity of where Miss
Stone was captured. Bulgarian women
with trembling voices narrated how unsafe
1t was for them to go out of their villages
hni til
how even then it was not without danger.
Shortly after Miss Stones abduction seven
cases OF outrage We're reported in the i'm
mediate region, comprising about 5000 peo-
pie. viz, four peasants We're murdered and
robbed two women forcibly outra gesl
Christian houses and stores pifiaged and
Buigarians forced to work for Turks with
out remuneration. The names and places
of each of these outrageS were specified and
published in the Bulgarian press but these
We're only the reported cases. BY extend
ing these prosecutions from 1000 to I RtN-
600 people and from a fortnight to fiftv-
two weeks one can easily form an opinion
to how the Ma cedonian Christians pass
one year under Turkish rule.
A Hard Fate.
Another specific case might be Of interest.
A young Macedonian, friend Of mine, is a
teacher in Bulgaria. When l first saw him
on my visit last summer he told me- with
a broken heart, that his three brothers
one only fourteen years old-and his ather
had been imprisoned because in a letter
which he sent to them he wished. among
other friends, to be remembered also to
one whom the Turks happened to have been
suspecting as a revolutionist. AS a matter
Of fact. however. they We're arrested be-
cause the county chief or kaimakam knew
that some money could be extracted from
them Their Imprisonment lasted four
months For more than half of the time
their food was brought from their own
homes, about twelve miles away. The re-
mainder of the time they We're supplied
only with bread. During the four months
they were transferred thandcuffedD several
times to other prisons In one of these
lengthy Journeys the youngest brother be-
came exhausted and finally his pitiful
cries. caused by his wounded hands and
the fatigue Of travelling through rain and
mud. moved his tormentors to release his
hands from the chains.
They were liberated at Adrianople after
sufficient money had been collected against
their property, and spent among the Off
cials. no one knows exactly how. Just
three months ago one Of these prisoners
had come over to see his brother in BuI-
garia, and told us the long and heartrend-
ing stories OF their sufferings and of
hundreds other prisoners with whom they
had come In contact.
Afraid of More Trouble.
I desired greatly to secure his picture and
quote his name, but he positively denied
both requests, as it might lead to worse
prosecutions. But what avail to repor,
specific cases, when there is no end of
such. I was old enough to observe and
remember identical cases of persecution in
the independent part Of Bulgaria I little over
twenty-five years ago. I remember for
instance, how two Well-armed Turks on
horseback came morning to take our
neighbOr's horse away, and when he. with
his wife and neighbors, hung on to III.
animal hnninO To
her, he was shot dead. l remember how
a Turk came to our country cottage once.
and when my father went out to protect
him from our shepherd dog. he thrust his
big dagger into his face for not doing SO
more quickly. I remember how several
Turks came in daylight once TO appro-
pirate the horse of another townsman of
ours. and 1t was due only to the com
bned force of bowling women that the
horse was rescued. l remember the face
of one miller who was killed by a Turk
simply by sudden whim, in which h.,
said Say. let me kill you, Lalyo.' | re-
call how Turks would often come to our
cottage in wild rage demanding fresh eggs
chickens and butter to eat and carry away
and we received as pay threats and curses |
instead of thanks day of special terror |
each year to our town was when a proun
of young Turks from a neghboring village
were selected to be enlisted in the army |
Ihey would pass through Christian country |
towns piiiaging chicken coops and taking |
with them almost anything they thought |
tney could make use of. The only salva- T
ton for the women and children from ALI |
imaginable abuses rested in locking uD the /
houses and hurriedly absenting and secret |
ing themselves.
Acknowledged Sometimes.
The affairs in Macedonia today are much
the same. If not worse. 1t is great rarity
for a Turk to acknowledge and condemn
crimes committed by his fellow Mohamme-
dams. and when one does So 1t is a sufi-
cfent sign of the evil over1owing Ahmed
Risa. Turkish nobleman, is quoted by
frankfort Freiewort" as follows:
Moral anarchy prevails. organized theft
rules and justice is for sale to the highest
bidder. The whole country suffers and is
aespairing. The once beautiful land lies
N ruins. made uninhabitable by TYRANNY.
Notwithstanding all this, the sui
tan is not deferred from creating new mar
shais and distributing among them yearly
three hundred and fifty diamond medals
The sultans sole theory of finance
IS the exploiting of the people and the sys-
fematic pumping OF the banks. To develop
the natural resources Of the country and |
10 curb expenditures, he has not thought
even in his dreams.
Ihe schools are considered hostile to the