The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-06-02
LAND Of MASSACRES.
SCENE OF ARMENIAN MURDERS

Ever Since Days ~ Ajsasadsr and
Been q Reeion For, D~sstruetlon.
Whsa the shenandoah Wsnt There.
There II nothing IKE personal ia
miliarity with a locality to arouse a
real interest in news concerning 1t
even II that news be OF % startling a
character as to merit the name of a
massacre. Poor Adana, the province
In Asiattc Turkey where many Ar
menians ave recently been killed!
There was a time when I knew its
broad ,wheatields, silvery streams,
luxuriant gardens and he Wild noun
tatns hat hem the fertile valley in,
for I went there In q smart corvet
and fetched, away a marble sarcoph-
asus that had held the remains OF
a Roman princess for a thousand
years and more before It came to be
a show piece in the New York Metro
politan museum. Now I venture the
assertion that not one erson In ten
thousand who has read the late star
ting dispatches ever heard the pretty
name before or knows whether 1t be-
longs to q town or a district or where
to locate It except as Indefinitely some
where In the sultan's Asiatic dominion.
In fact, the general tenor of the dis
patches, where the name is found in
Discriminatory classed with Aleppo.
Beirut, Damascus, etc, gives the nat
ural impression that 1t IL somewhere
In Syria. II old St Pau were alive
he would surely pour out b Walls OF
his ready wrath upon any one who
dared to call him a Syrian, for he WAS
a Chilean. and the Roman province
of Cilicia Of his day Is b vilayet of
Adana today.
on to the northeast of the island OF
Cyprus, just after the mainland makes
a sharp bend from running north
along the Eyrtan coast to west along
that Of Asia Minor. lies this the finest
natural granary of the whole Mediter-
ranean coast. and its three principal
towns of Mersina, Tarsus and Adana
lie almost In line completely through
its center. Riding and camping out on
the banks of the Cydnus, our care free
band heard from the native story tell
ers traditions innumerable Of the fair
land hat is SO unfortunately located
as to have been the battle-ground of
nations since the dawn of history.
Liz A0A4C VA -
alus is claimed as that of the founder
of every, town and village. Within its
boundaries Alexander the Great won
the most famous of his victories. Pom
pey hi Great reached the pinnacle of
his fame here when his legions cap
tured the province for Rome, scarcely
thirty years before st. Paul was born.
Then the Arabian Moslems swept up
A~H o1~oe t. fro-o tho anSt. tho SOW
age Armenians from b mountains in
the north devastated it; the Christian
emperor Baldwin Of C~onstantinople
brought fire and sword from b west:
Greeks and venetians harr1ed the
coast from the south, n 30 down the
centuries the little province simply
from being a military key to surround
ing peoples wal kept In poverty n
desolation until the, great Haroun-al-
Raschid gave It the new name of
Adana and brought peace and plenty
to the land.
There was a wealthy native of Tar
sus named Aldo Dabbas, who for
many years had prospered under the
protection of an appointment as con
sular agent OF the United States, and
It so came about that in one of his
fields was unearthed a I'm marble
sa~rcophagus. which, rs a mark Of ap-
probation, b. made 4 gift to the
United States, with only the proviso
that some one should be sent to take
it. And 50 it came about that the
Shenandoah was ordered to the east
ward to pick 1t up and In due time
let 20 her anchor In the snug harbor
Of Hersina.
$1,000 >-Dc$r1fv HNH old
Aldo, beyond his dreams, to have a
man-of-war as ocular proof Of his i'm
portance, and be mad the OF it
in the best of ways. for not only were
his house and gardens placed at our
disposition. but at the frst mention to
him OF the interest that was most
natural to, see the backgrounds of
Alexander he equipped a complete
camp, even to a detachment of Turk
ish infantry, to take. US throughout the
province. Over the. campfire at night
the stories were told that, true or
false, brought to our ears. the famous
names whose victories and defeats had
alike brought only misery to a peace
full people. OF all those names SO often
heard one only, Haroun7aLRaschid, our
Arabian Nights" hero. was called
blessed.
All through the rolling plain and in
b foothills of the Taurus were in
this time of thirty odd years ago fine
fields OF grain, orchards and luxurtant
gardens, and all that should make a
people happy and well to do, but the
war storms Of nearly Q years have
stamped an indelible mark on the peo-
pie. Poor Adanai One more massa-
ere Is bu a drop In b stream
Az Tor the sarcophagus the secret of
its soul Will ' be betrayed. for 1t
bears no Inscription nor was anything
recovered from it., Probably what
ever It contained was stolen by the
In hoHora rho nnnaHfhod Il Ira milky