The daily progressive-miner., 1917-10-31
REV. HENRY H. RIGGS
 TELLS EXPERIENCE
 AMONG ARMENIANS

NEW YORK. Burial alive Of bab- 1 ies in trenches with the bodies of their mothers. who had been slaughtered or allowed to perish from exposure. was practiced by the Turks in their work ' of eNterminating the Armenians, 1t was declared here today by Rev. Hen " H Riggs. missionary of the Ameri- can Board of Commissioners for For eign Missions to Harput, Turkey. who recently came back to this coun- try. A trench was dug beside camp of Armenian women. he said. and as they met death the survivors were forced to drag their bodies to it and bury them.
 The gendarmes said they could not take care of x, habies that were left behind so many of those were buried with their mothers" Dr. Riggs said When I visited this camp frequent ly 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 rath- er than allow them to be taken 10 Mos lem homes Many more threw them selves into the river to escape a bon dage Of shame worse than death.
 About fifteen miles from Harput is a lake hidden from sight with many ravines about it. We were told that the Armenian exiles were being killed and left in those rayines. Two Amer jeans investigated and brought back photographs and actual facts. They saw in twenty miles ride 10000 hum an bodies, most Of them killed by the bavonet With few exceptions they were women and children and the man gled condition ot their bodies showed ,he horrible fate that has been theirs |"
 The story of the deportation of the Armenians or Harput is one of per idv. violence and murder" pr. Riggs g.ent on. adding. Tt is nearer 10 the -~,'-h 10 say the Turkish government rlSok the extinction Of the Ar manian population" After the issue Q. an edict for all Armenians 10 go to Mesopo.amia. he said. there came the
 -ssI of all the men Of standing.
 They were sent out on the road tied together in groups Of two 10 five" he said driven and beaten by the gendarmes Of the first party 500. one young man survived to tell the story Of what happened. The party was talk en into 2 ravine and ordered 10 sit down. he told me Then the gend- armes climbed up on the surrounding rocks and fred with their rifles into the crowd of bound prisoners as long a they showed signs of life.
 The man who told me the story succeeded in getting his knife and cut ting himself loose. As he made his dash for liberty he was followed by 2 volley Of shots but got away un, sca-hed All the other men of that ! and similar parties were ruthlessly bu,chered.
 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 10 wander about until the sum- |. ner heat and diseases wasted away the majority No transportation was { provided. I saw one old man. who had traveled POO miles, start out to go the remaining 250 miles carrying on his back his pack of quilts and clothes and on top of that his aged. palsied wife. who could not walk.
 ] "Otten the routes chosen took the people over waterless deserts where thousands perished from thirst I passed through such a region where thousands of bleached skeletons each l side the way told the story of water less journey across the plains in Au- gust.
 The people whe passed through Harput from the north usually spent two or three days in camp within sight Of my home The sights We saw there can never be forgotten. They were absolutely without shelter, day or night, from heat or cold. The air was unspeakably foul from dead bodies ly- ing near As we approached the wo- men and children came around us like hungry wolves, all restraint lost in