The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-15
ARMENIAN BABES BURIED ALIVE
WITH THEIR MURDERED MOTHERS
PARTY OF AMERICANS IN TWENTY.MILE RIDE VIEW
TEN THOUSAND HUMAN BODIES, KILLED WITH
BAYONET, PROSTRATE BESIDE ROADWAYS-
PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TAKEN OF APPALLING
SCENES-NATlON NEARLY EXTINCT.

New York. Oct. i5.--Burial alive OF
babies in trenches with the bodies OF
their mothers who had been allowed to
perish from exposure. was practiced by
the Turks in their work OF exterminat.
ing the Armenians. II was declared here
today by the Rev. Henry II. Riggs,
missionary OF the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions to
Harput. Turkey. who recently came
back to this country. 4 trench was
dug beside a camp of Armenian wo-
men. he said and as they met death
the survivors were forced 10 drag the
bodies to 1t and bury them.
The gendarmes said they could not
take care of the babies that were left
behind, so many of those were buried
with their mothers" Dr. Riggs said
When / visited this camp | frequently
saw Turks wandering about among the
Armenians picking out pretty girls and
little children To take away to their
homes. Some mothers told us that they
had themselves thrown their babies into
the Euphrates river rather than allow
them to be taken to Moslem homes.
Many more women threw themselves
into the river To escape "A bondage of
shame worse than death.
About fifteen miles from Harput is
a lake hidden from sight. with many
ravines about IL. We were told that
the Armenian exiles We're being killed
and left in these ravines Two Ameri.
m aafi iUnf tod nd h., nh
tographs and actual facts. They saw
in twenty mile ride 10000 human bod.
les, most Of them killed by the bayonet
With few exceptions they were wo-
men and children and the mangled con-
dition of their bodies showed the horri-
bic fate that has been theirs"
The story Of the deportation of the
Armenians of Harput is one of per
fidity, violence and murder" DR.. Riggs
went on. adding, 1T is nearer to the
truth to say the Turkish government
the extinction of the Arme.
nian population" After the issue of
an edict for all Armenians to go to
Mesopotamia, he said, there came the
arrest of all the men of standing.
They were sent out on the road tied
together in groups of two to five." he
said. driven and beaten by the gen
darmes. OF the first party of 500. one
young men survived to tell the story of
what happened. The party was taken
into ravine and ordered to sit down,
he told me. Then the gendarmes climbed
up on the surrounding rocks and fired
with their rifles into the crowd of bound
prisoners as long as they showed signs
of life.
The man who told me the story sue.
ceeded in getting his knife and cutting
himself loose. As he made his dash for
liberty he was followed by a volley of
shots. but got away unscathed. All the
other men of that and similar parties
were ruthlessly butchered.
The women and children were then
started on the road toward Mesopota-
mia in companies of two or three thou
sand. By indirect routes they were
forced To wander about until the sum.
mer heat and disease wasted away the
majority. No transportation was pro
vided. saw one old man. who had
travelled 200 miles, start out to go the