New Britain herald., 1915-05-11
lNFIDELS WAGE HORKlBLE
 WAR IN PERSIAN DISTRICT
Kurds and Moslen1s Claim omen As War PEzes-Dogs Prey Upon Bodies of Unburied Chra
 Missionaries Are Praised

fight of self-defence to withstand the onslaught of the Kurds. Enver Beg, it was reported, had offered the fair maidens of Urunia war prize to the Kurds and asked them to declare a holy war on the infields. It was fur ther reported to them that all Cau- casus was in Turkish hands; Warsaw in possession of the Germans whom kurds and Moslem regard as their de- lenders and brothers for what reasons we are at a loss to know. With the Kurds joined the native Moslems-the
 peridious Persian" They carae prepared to sack and plunder.
 Moslcms Select Girls
 Scenes that followed can only be left to the imagination One arrived from there says We did not know what to do and which way to turn. The Kurds were coming on horse back like flies shouting 'ya Allah," shoot l ing pell rnell. The best we could do was to lead the women and children toward the city and open the way for them at all risks. After, passing to the second village of Taka Ardheshai the 1,200 women and children were suddenly ordered to halt. The plans were divided. Had we not better wait till the Russians arrive, there they are, the sound of cannon comes from the west, they are coming" But alas it was the sound of the guns of the enemy on the rear, for soon the rol- ling of the smoke from the Gogtapa perched on the hill made it evident. Every woman was left in the hands of one man. "The number of missing fr ling. The women of Abdilakandi "a village of seventy families took ref uge in the mosque of Marangalu when Moslem youths came in and in the sight of men picked the best looking women and girls each for himself. Who can tell of their misery and pain? Will they ever return will their hus- bands and brothers ever see them alive again? The village of Shimsha- jian--eighty-fiv families--saw it's baptism of fire first, then followed Dizataka,. Babarud. Sardarud, Darba- rud, Geogtapa, Taka, Ardeshai, rep resenting over 1,200 families in suc- cession. The same thing was taking place in all other unplundered SiI- lages at the very same tme, mischief being done by Kurds and native Per sians as well, first plunder and then burning. v
 Flee to Churches.
 Tn the meanwhile those who could escape for their lives to the city to the American Mission came panic stricken. trembling and shivering, and over 5000 people mostly women and children took shelter in the American and French missions--( in the latter some 2,7o0.) There, exposed to cold, bad weather and inadequate sanitary conditions, lack of water, not a soul dared to leave and for a time they died at the rate of forty a day Sixty persons remained unburied for over a fortnight, No one could get coffins. Twenty died in the church which is supposed to accommodate 500. There were congested in it 2,000 The only beacon to shine in this dark horizon has been the presence of the American missionaries. Were it not for them, the remnant not only would die of starvation, but they would all have been massacred. The bravery of pr. Packard is unparalleled. While the fighting was going on onsGogtapa hill when part of thel village was in flames the remnant of the inhabitants had taken refuge in the two large churches on the hin. Fighting bravely against great odds after seventy men had fal- len in one trench alone; pr. Packard risked his life and with the American flag proceeded to intervene for wo- men and children, making terms of equalization, since it was no use to fight with exhausted ammunition and with all Kurdistan he succeeded at night in rescuing all left and tooh-over 1000 persons to his hospital. The rest of the village of 4Oe families was giv- en to flames and it's four churches razeds to the ground, in two of which there were large number of dead, wounded and -dy,ing-perso1is.
 s~~rviIlagcs of GulpasIan.
 ~sV--nad thought all along that the wealthy villages of GuIpashan and It's little sister Charagushi-in-a BOO families were the only ones left un- hurt by the enemy. Karni Agha the Mamash chief had made it has head quarter and lived there with his large retinue, and after accepting s5.00o in god had abstained from plundering tn, villages 1t sounded suspicious that the Kurds should be thus God fearing and sober. It was a mystery to us all. But alas our doubt was. only too true, for we have just received the following telegram from trustworthy sources" Gulpash- an is ruined, all men there shot. fe- males over four years violated. forty men, taken from the French Mission and shot. Appeal for immediate help. as there is imminent danger of mas sacre''