The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-02-09
Iii a Horrible Manner in Ar
menia as Shown by Sar-
qiS'S Description.

PEI ROGItAD, req. J-.'DT. jaw
Sargis, an American Methodist me-
dlcal missionary. who has arrived In
Petrograd after narrowly escaping
death at the hands OF the Turks and
Kurds in Urumiah. Persia Armenia,
asserts that among the outrages COM
mitted against the Christian refugees
was the burning to death Of IN Am
erlcan doctor named Simon or SHIN
nun, rs he was known there. His
identity was not further established
but the stoy OF the outrage. az told
by DR.. Sargis, was as follows:
DIR Shimmun was in the village
OF Suprghan when the Turks ut
tackled that place. He was among
those who took refuge on mountain
near the lakes. He was captured
and told that since he had been n
good doctor and had helped the
wounded, they would not kill him
but that he must accept the Moham-
medan faith He refused, as almost
all Christians did. They poured oil
on him and, before applying the
torch, they gave him another chance
to forsake his religion. Again he
refused and they set his clothes
anre. While running in agony from
the flames, the Turks shot him sew
eral times. After he fell to the
ground unconscious they hacked his
head off. Mr.. Allen, an American
missionary, who went from village
to village burying the victims Of this
butchery. found the body OF Shin
nun half eaten by dogs.
Catholics to Rescue.
THE Catholic mission there took
$50 Christians OF all sects and kept
them in n small room and tried to
save them. but at least forty-nine
of them. among them one Bishop
Dinkha Of the Episcopal mission,
were bound together one night, and
taken to Gagin mountain and there
shot down"
DR.. Sargis was born In Persia but
went TO America in 1893, and was
educated there by assistance OF DR..
W. F. Oldham former bishop OF
India. He is a graduate Of Ohio
Wesleyan and Ohio Medical Unlver-
sity and was for time resident ply
stefan of the Protestant hospital at
Columbus, o.
DR.. Sargis was doing relief work
in Urumlah on January 1, last year
when the Russian army retired from
that city, followed by $4,000 re-
fugees from Urumiah and a hundred
surrounding villages. The hardships
and sufferings endured by those re-
fugees were described in Associated
Press dispatches. There were still
left in Urumlah and the villages AS
600 persons. chiefly Armenian re-
fugees when the Turks and Knrds
entered The latter at once began
the work of determination Of the
Christian population. In one town
alone, Gularchin, in one night, ac-
cording to DR.. Sargis. seycnty-nine
men and boys were tied hand. to hand
taken to a hill outside the village
and shot. Their wives and daughters
were distributed among the Turks.
Kurds and Persian Mohammedans.
Men Used as Beasts
DR.. Sargis' story continues:
con the second day after the Turk
ish officers came they had a good
many wounded and sick. As soon as
they heard that I was an able ply
sican. they took me, gave ME body
guard and put me in charge Of Uru-
came to learn most
miah hospital. That was how I
came to learn most OF their secrets
| helped their wounded and sick.
One day there were sixty men
brought from Ashkai, all well-to-do
citizens, some of them noted men OF
that place. They were used as beasts
of burden, forced to carry rolls of
barbed wire into Urumiah. The next
day they were all taken to the Castle
of Ismayil and every one was shot Or
hacked to death.
about that time Nurl, the COVER
nor of Gavr, told me that he had
received word from the Turkish COM
mander, to kill all the Armenian SOL
diers in the Turkish army He said
that for my sake he would not do
it, but that somebody else would.
Twenty-nine were killed about if
teen miles from Urumiah at Karmad.
We had eight OF them in the city,
fine fellows, some Of them educated
in Beirut. They had been disarm-
ed. and one night they took them to
the suburbs and shot them, But one
of them, named Asian, escaped. He
dropped with the others but was not
hit. After the butchers left he made
his way to the Presbyterian mission
college. was notified and asked to
take care of him. l kept him until