Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1909-04-21
10000 TURKS STAY
MASSACRE OF ARMENIANs IN
MERslNA, ASIA MINOR, ts
REPORTED.
FOLLOWS MosLEMs' MURDER
Christian Committees Appeal for Help
Two American Missions Repre-
sented-Mohammedans Take Law
Into Own Hands.

sented-Mohammeda Take Law
Into Own Hands.
C0nstantinople, Apr. ia massa-
ere of Armenians was in progress yes
terday at Mersina, a seaport of Asia
Minor on the Mediterranean.
Enraged at the murder of two Mos
lens by an Armenian and the fact
that the assassin was not appre-
hended, the Mohammedan population
of Mersina, which counts a total of
10000 Inhabitants, took the law into
its own hands and attacked the Ar
menian quarters.
sina are appealing to the consuls here
for help.
Two American missions are repre-
sented at Mersina.
Not Connected with Revolt.
The trouble at Merslna is in no way
connected with the political up.
heaval at Constantinople of the last
two days. 1t involves recrudescence
OF the Armenian question, which is
religious and racial, and has nothing
to do with the internal policies of
Turkey.
There have been several minor
movements against Armenians in Tur.
key during the last twelve months,
notably at Viran-Shehr and Bagdad
last October, and religious rioting
took place at Smyrna in January and
in Jerusalem in February of this
year.
Mersina is 36 miles by rail south
east of the city of Adana. It counts
5000 MOhammedans and some $500
Christians. 1t has a station of the
synod of the Reformed Presbyterian
Church in North America and an out.
station of the American Board of Com
missioners for Foreign Missions. The
record of 1907 shows that Rev. C. A.
Dodds, Rev. R. J. Dodds and Miss
Evadna NJ Sterrett were stationed at
Mersina.
Capital Revolt Is Over.
Constantinople has assumed it's
normal aspects, and there was little
outward evidence of the political fer
ment that has marked the. previous
two days.
The new ministry has promptly re-
moved Yaver Pasha from the COM
membership of the First army corps
and given this post to Nazim Pasha.
Nazim Pasha was minister of war for
a brief period prior to the fall of the
Kaimil cabinet, and the malcontents
among the troops have urged his reap
pointment to this post. He is a popu-
lar and able officer, and the command
given him will in all likelihood be a
stepping stone to his return to the
ministry. 1t is believed that his ap-
pointment will have very good effect
toward restoring order and discipline
in the army
Threaten Slaughter in Persia.
st. Petersburg, Apr. 16.-The for
eign office has asked the war office
tc send troops Immediately to Astra-
bad, Persia, to protect the lives of the
people and prevent a threatened mas
sacre. Three Russian gunboats have
arrived in the harbor of Astrabad.
Astrabad is situated about 20 miles
from the Caspian shore, and is the
capital of the province of the same
name. The population is estimated at
10000.
Sultan Organized Meeting.
Berlin, Apr. 16.-The Lokal Anzeig-
er to-day publishes a Constantinople
dispatch in which the correspondent
says there is good reason to believe
that the sultan himself organized the
military mutiny. There are many
methods of communication between
Yildiz Kiosk and the mutineers. NAH
moud Muktar declared at the palace
yesterday that if full powers were con-
ferred upon him he would soon make
short work of the mutineers. This
statement was communicated to the
sultan, who at once caused Mahmoud
to be imprisoned.
Capital Lacks News.
Washington, Apr. 16.-No advices
regarding the massacre of Armenians
at Mersina have been received at
either the state department or the
Turkish embassy in this city. It was
stated at the embassy yesterday that
officially the representatives of the
Turkish government in this city know
nothing of the recent disturbances in
their country.
Following the revolution in Constan-
tinople, the trouble in other sections
OF the empire did not surprise men,
bers of the diplomatic corps CONVEX
SAINT with the religious feelings of the
conflicting classes and sects in Tur-
key. 1t has been more surprising that
the animosities of centuries, subdued
sufficiently since the Young Turks
have been charged with anti Moham-
medan inclinations, which may partial
ly account for the overthrow of that
faction.
American Sculptor Divorced.
Paris, Apr. 16.-t was learned here