Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1909-04-30
FIRST GRAPHIC
STORY OF TERRIBLE
ADANA MASSACRE,

toned here and at Tarsus, was an eye
witness of the scenes of terror and de
structiOn at the center of the MOslem up
rising. He gives as follows the first
graphic story of the series of massacres
and incendiarism:
The entire vilayet of Adana has been
the scene during the past five days of a
terrible massacre of ArmenianS. the
worst ever known III the history of the
district. The terror has been general,
and the government is poWerless to check
the disorders. AdaEa, the capital Of the
province, has been the storm center.
'ConGitons have been unsettled for
some time and there has been animositv
between Turks and Armenians owing to
the political activity Of the latter and
their open purchasing OF arms.
Early last Wednesday morning, while
WAS in the market. l noticed the Ar
menians were closing their shops and
hurrylng to their homes. An Armenian
and Il Turk had been killed during the
night and the corpses were paraded
through their respective quarters The
sight Of the dead int1amed the inhab-
ltaEtS. ana crowds at once began to
gather IN the streets armed with sticks.
axes and knives. y few young Arme-
mans assembled IN the center Of the
covered market and began firing revol-
verS into the air. BY II o'clock in the
morning. the crowd had begun the loot
ing Of shops.
The military commander of Adana
was by my side i'll the market when the
firing commenced. He had not the cour-
age to endeayor TO dispense the mob:
he returned to his residence and did not
venture out for two days
wv llliam Chambers, field secretary of
the Young Mems Christian association.
and proceeded to the KOnak and found
h0Wiing mob demanding arms with
when to Kill the Gi;tuurs.
We then went to the telegraph office
to summon the British consul. On the
steps OF the building we saw three Ar
menians who had been massacred Their
bodies had been mutilated. While we
were in the telegraph office, a mob burst
into the room where we were and killef;
two Armenians before our eyes. The
unfortunates were supplicating the pro
lection of the vail when they We're struck
down.
We managed to make our way into
the next room, where we made repre-
sensations to the vail. This official said
he could do nothing. He was afraid Of
his own life, and he made no attempt to
protect us. Somehow we managed to
get to the interior of the Konak, where
we remained at the side of the govern
ment officials for the next forty eight
hours.
That afternoon the situation grew dis
tInctly worse The Armenians with
drew to their quarter of Adana, which
Is situated on a hill and converted their
houses that held advantageous positions
into fOrtreSses. Here the fighting went
on for two days, during which the Ar
menians succeeded III beating off their
Turkish aSSailantS.
w ednesday evening Maj. Daughty-
Nyle, the British vice consul at MeT-
sina, arrived at Adana and established
headquarters in the house of u drago-
man Of a wealthy Greek resident. where
many refugees had been received The
wife Of the British vice consul, who was
brought into Adana under ire on Thurs
day, tended personally to many wounded
women and children.
"Adana was a hell. The bazaars were
looted and set on fire. There was CON
tinuous and increasing shooting and kill
lnG III every part Of the town, and fires
ragged III many quarters.
"Moslems from the neighborhood be
gan pouring into the ci.=. and nOtwith-
standing our vehement protests, the vail
distributed arms to these men. alleging
that they were Turkish reserves.
Maj. Daughty-Wylie. at the head of
troops which he compelled the vail to
supply, went to the railway end Of the
town and was successful! in preventing
the villagers from coming into Adana
Later, while the major was attempting
to pacify the town, he was shot and
disabled.
missionaries of the central Turkey
mission had assembled for a district
conference in the center of Adana Oh
the day of the outbreak. They received
and protected hundreds OF refugees in
the American seminary for girls, and
courageouSly endeavored 10 pacify The
warning elements.
"On Thursday Daniel Miner Rogers
and Henry Maurer, American mission
aries. were killed under treacherouS cir
cumStances. On Friday the ArmenIans
yielded. since when there has been lit
tie numbering.
"Adana is in a pitiable condition. The
town has been piIlaged and destroyed
and there are thousands Of homeless
people here without means of Ilyeli
hood 1t is impossible to estimate the
number OF killed. The corpses lie scat
tered through the streets. Friday. when
| went out, l had 10 pick my way be
tween the dead. Saturday morning
counted a dozen carloads of Armenian
bodies in one-half hour being carried to
the river and thrown into the water. II
the Turkish cemeteries graves are being
dug by the wholesale.
'''The condition of the refugees is most
pitiable. Not only are. there orphans
and widows beyond number. but a great
many, even the babies, are suffering
from severe wounds.
''The situation III Adana itself is un-
speakable On Friday afternoon 25C
so-called Turkish reserves, without Off
GERS. seized a train at Adana and com,
PEELED the engineer to convey them tC
Tarsus. where they took part in the
destruction of the Armenian quarter
which is the best part of Tarsus. The
work of lOoting was thorough and rapid
1t is said that they fired the great his
! toric Armenian church at Tarsus. the
most important building in the city
They demolished marble statues lnG
shattered important historic tablets
Everything portable was carried away
hut the church itself resisted their at
tempts to burn it. Fortunately few
persons We're killed there. This was
owing to the proximity of the American
| college, where 1000 destitute and home
! less persons had sought and found shell
| ter.
| There is a total of thirty-three Ameri
| can missionaries in Syria and the Gill,
| clan district of the vilayet of Adana
| where the conflicts between Mohamme
! dams and ArmenianS are raging the
| fiercest. With the exception of d. NJ
| Rogers and Henry Maurer, who were
killed at Adana, no one of them, SO fan
as is known, has been injured. The
| Mohammedans indulgilg in massacres
| and incendiarism evidently are very care
I full to avoid killing foreigners
! Rev. Stephen r. Trowbridge OF the
/ American board of commissioners for
/ foreign missions. who is stationed al
| Aintab, was i'll Adana on the day CT the
| fercest fighting. He made a courageous
! but Intellectual attempt TO protect an Ar
menian teacher. He threw his arms
| around the mans neck and interDosed
| but the Moslems shot the Armenian dead
! in Mr. Trowhridoe'S arms