Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-17
DR.. LABAREE'S DEATH
The Murder Was the Result
Of Religious Hatred.
TROOPS IN PURSUIT
BEING SECURED IN
SEARCH OF THE CRIMINALS.
Four Kurds Participated in Tragedy
Report Sent by Richmond Pearson,
Minister to Persia.

killing of the American missionary, DR..
Labaree, as a result of bitter religious
hatred, is told in The following report, dated
Teheran, April IS, just received at the State
Department from Richmond Pearson,
United States minister to Persia:
Minister Parsons Report.
at is now forty one days since the Rev.
Benjamin w. Labaree an American mis-
sionary, was murdered at Khoi almost UNI
der the shadow of Mount Ararat. / had
hoped before this to cable you that one or
more of the murderers had been arrested,
but 1 can only report at present that
large expedition, under command of an
energetic general who is highly respected
and commended by the missionaries, is act
ually securing the mountains in search OF
any and all of the gang, who are all known
and identified.
ut will be seen from the following cor
respondence that while only four men act
ually participated in the killing of Mr..
Labaree and his servant, ten other Kurds
OF the same gang were accompl1ces. They
had simply taken another road for the pur-
pose of entrap ping their prey, and must be
held guilty as accessories before the fact.
THE brutality and atrocity of the muir.
der removed any doubt to its motive,
| and eliminated entirely the suggestion in
my first cable that the motive was appar-
emily robbery The stealing of the horses
and other property was d mere incident.
The inspiration of the deed ives religious
and race hatred, without the slightest per-
sonal animosity. The fact that the chief
and leader of the criminals is a 'Seyid'-an
alleged lineal descendant of Mahomet-adds
greatly to the difficulty of arrest. These
kurdS are all Mohammedans of the Sunni
sect, and their fanaticism, which is both
ardent and sincere, added to their heredi-
tary and instructive love of blood and pill
lage, makes them a dangerous and difficult
populatio to deal with.
The Land of the Kurds.
1.-The home of the Kurds, or 'Kurdistan,
is an indefinite geographical expression,
but may be roughly understood as begin
ming at Mount Ararat on the north and
stretching south to where the mountains
fade away into the plains of Messopotamia
about Bagdad, say 800 miles. The width of
the region may be measured by the distance
between Lake Urumia, in Persia, and Lake
Van, in Turkey, something like 100 miles
The area of this region is as large as the
state of South Carolina. 1t disregards i'm
perfal boundaries its inhabitants diSre
gard imperial laws and orders. 1t extends
into Persia or Turkey according to the
pleasure and habits and wanderings of
these wild people. Nomnally subjects OF
the shah or the sultan, they are really
rulers of the region and practically "a law
unto themselves
1HSy are SnepUeTuS by pTCl0SSlOI, Dul
murderers by occupation and predlection
patience, peacefulness and idleness are
characteristics of the ideal shepherd, but
the 'drowsy tinklings' which 1ull the dis
tant folds are not sufficient to soothe the
daring and restless kurd He must have
human gore and the property of another
before his savage longings can be fully
satisfied. He prefers a horse that he has
stolen rather than one he has raised-a
modern Rob Roy, relieved of any burden of
conscience, unrestrained by any sentiment
of chivalry, but fired by the honest belief
that his bloodiest deeds against Christians
will be crowned by the highest religious
sanction and reward. Notwithstanding the
| strict laws that require passports to enter
| Turkey or Persia, the Kurd relies with con-
| fdence and success upon his rifle and scim-
| itar rather than upon paper and seals and
| vises, and SO crosses indifferently into
! either territory to commit, or to escape the
| consequences Of his crimes. This Is the
| Kurd, the creature we have to deal with
| in this case.
Strength of the Kurds.
About twenty years ago these Kurds
| arose in all their might. They mustered an
army of 100000 men, and before they were
| reduced into subsection they had slaughter
| ed 10000 Persians, mostly women and chill
| dren. They left nothing breathing or
standing in, the path of their ruthless de-
/ Struction.
| ut seems strange even sad that our mis-
| sionaries should have chosen such a dam
| gerous field for their labors, but these de-
voted men and women make personal
safety and comfort one of the last consid-
/ erations, acting upon the consoing belief
| that the greater the danger the greater the
| glory. I have been told by one of them
| that in single province, Urumia, there are
! now 10000 Protestant Christians.
| 1.-THE correspondence follows. 1 have not
| deemed 1t necessary either to edit or sum-
marize It, The efforts which have made to
secure the arrest and punishment of the
criminals and the unremitting support
| which have received from the British con-
| sui general at TabriZ. and from the mis-
sionaries will be clearly seen from a peru
| sal of the letters and kilograms, which are
| given in full and in order of the date of
| their transmission from or of their recep-
| ton at the legation
DR.. Cochran's Report.
Details of the murder of the missionary
are given by DR.. Cochran, citizen of
| Urumia, Persia. In his report to Mr.. Pear
son DR.. Cochran says:
1.-THE sources of our information are the
| Christians who reside among the Kurds
and who know pretty well what they do,
/ whether they dare tell or not; and one
| Kurd who is relative of one of the four
| teen men who made up the party OF rob-
| bers that went to Salinas. and probably
1 beyond There seems to be little doubt
| that this terrible murder and robbery was
committed by Sayid Kaffar and three other
| men from the Dasht Kurds, Said, the son
| of Jangir Beg of Ambi, and lamar Beg of
| Krriki with a servant from Ambi :
| One of the Kurds who was of the attack
| ing party tells a wonderfully straightfor-
| ward story. He said that they followed
our party as soon as it was known that
| they were foreigners and where they were
| going. but they did not overtake them al
| though they went nearly all the way to
| Khoi. Spending the night in village very
| near Khoi, they returned the next day and
| fnhn fhn dc To Col w.
nesday, March 8. when four of them, as
| mentioned above, attacked Mr.. Labaree
and his servant, shooting down the servant
| from behind and carrying Mr.. Labaree off
| for farsag or more and killing him there
, The Sayid cut his mouth to his ear and
| cut his hand, while the Kurd. Sadi, stabbed
| him twice in the chest. (These were the
| wounds he received for 1 examined him
| there.) There were few other scratches y
| These Dasht Kurds DIR. Cochran adds,
/ have killed and burned and robbed the
Christians of Tergawar have harbored
| Sayid Kaffar and have now murdered Mr.
| Labaree and his servant.