The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-28
SLEW AN ARMENIAN
POLITICAL MURDER OCCURRED IN
BRITISH CAPITAL.
THE VICTIM WAS THE HEAD
OF ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY
SOCIETY.

As SnGouni WINS Entering His Resi-
dence He Was Shot DOwn-NIan
who KILLED Him Made His Es-
Dropped BY Him I'm His Flight
Speculation AS to the Motive for
the Crime.
London, Oct. 27.-Sagatol Sagouni.
president of the Armenian Revolution
airy Society in, London, was murdered
in the suburb of Nunhead late yester-
day evening.
The crime has created a sensation,
as it has every appearance of being of
a political character, and has been pre-
coded by the assasina lions of other Of
ficials of branches of the same society
of the continent.
Sagouni, who only returned to Lon
don yesterday, was entering his resi-
dence, when a man rushed across the
road and fired four shots at Sagouni
in quick succession, the last bullet en-
tering the region of the heart.
The murderer, who appeared to be a
foreigner, fled. The only clues to the
man in possession of the authorities
are a felt hat and silver-plated re-
volver. both made in New York, which
he dropepd in his flight.
Devoted to His Country.
The murdered man, who was a min
ing engineer, became wealthy in the
Caucasus and devoted his money to
the Armenian cause. His society was
entirely passisve and opposed to vio-
lence, and it is thought by some that
this attitude ins1ired the advanced
section of the Armenians with the de-
sire for vengeance.
Sagouni is said to have moved to
England from New York early in 1902
Sagouni's friends attribute the murder
to the Alfarist section of the Hent-
chakist Society. This section, headed
by man named Altar, was expelled
from the society after the split in 1885,
when, it is alleged. the Elfarists were
paid spies of the Sultan of Turkey.
The feud became more acute in 1902,
and an attack on the editor of the
Boston edition of the Hentchak fol-
lowed. A former editor of the Hent-
chalk, Nazarbeck, was stabbed last
week at Lausanne, Switzerland, by an
Alfarist.
Man Arrested. but Released.
A man was arrested on suspicion of
being the murderer of Sagouni, but
later was released from custody.
The police are of the opinion that the
assailant of Nazarbeck at Lausanne
and the murderer of Sagouni are iden-
teal
1t is stated that Sagouni's life had
been threatened on account of his par
ticipation in the exposure by the editor
Of Boston newspaper, Young Arme-
MIA, of the incorporation of funds
by faction of the Armenian revolu-
tionists. These men are alleged to have
collected $4,000 in America in 1902 and
put the money in their own pockets,
instead of pushing the propaganda for
the emancipation of the Armenians,
for which the money was subscribed.
How Armenians View 1t.
The murder OF Sagouni is not re-
garded as being of great political sig
nf1Cance by Armenians in this city, but
rather as a result of a bitter feeling
which exists between the two factions
Within the revolutionary party itself.
In support of this view was cited the
recent attempt to assassinate an Ar
menian editor, Peter Kuregian, in this
city, by members of the revolutionary
party. said to hold socialist views,
which Kuregian opposed At the trial
of the case an officer of the order te@ti-
fed that the socialist wing had taken
oaths to remove all distractions" in
spreading their views. '-N