The Washington herald., 1918-10-22

AS a preliminary to the searches
everywhere. the strong men of the
villages and towns were arrested and
taken to prison. Their tormenters
here would exercise the most diiboli-
cal ingenuity in their attempt 10
make their victims declare themselves
10 be "revolutionists" and to tell the
hiding places Of their arms. A COM
mon practice was to place the pris-
oner in room, with two Turks sta
TONED at each end and each side. The
examination would then begin with
the bastinado. This is a form OF tor
ture not uncommon in the Orient; IL
consists of beating the soles OF the
feet with a thin rod. At first the pain
is not marked; but as the process
goes slowly on. II develops into the
most terrible agony, the feet swell
and burst, and not infrequently. after
being submitted to this treatment.
they have TO be amputated. The gen
darmes would bastinado their Arme-
nian victim until he tainted; they
would revive him by sprinkling water
on his face and begin again. II this
did not succeed in bringing their VIC
tim TO terms. they had numerous other
methods OF persuasion. They would
pull out his eyebrows and beard al
most hair by hair; they would ex-
tact his finger nails and toe nails /:
they would apply red-hot irons to his
breast, tear off his flesh with red-het
pincers. and then pour boiled butter
into the wounds. In some cases the
gendarmes would nail hands and feet
to pieces Of wood-eyidently in imits-
ton of the crucifiNion, and then. while
the sufferer writhed in his agony, they
would cry:
Turks Drown Screams.
Now let your Christ come and help
you"
These cruelties-and many others
which ! forbesr TO describe-were usu-
ally inflicted in. the night time. Turks
would be tationed around the prisons.
beating drums and blowing whistles,
so that the screams OF the sufferers
would not reach the villagers.
In thousands of cases the Arme-
mans endured these agonies and re-
fused to surrender their arms simply
because they had none TO surrender
However. they could not persuade
their tormenters that this was the
case. 1t therefore became customary
when news was received that the
SNdl "tlt lpdNlAlilhs AOi ~
menians to purchase arms from their
Turkish neighbors so that they mig ut
be able to give them up and escape
these frishtful punishments.
One day ! was discussing these pro-
ceedings with a responsible Turkish
official. who was describing the tor
lures inflicted. He made no secret OF
the fact that the government had in
stigated them. and. like all Turks OF
the official classes. he Enthusiastically
approved this treatment OF the de-
tested race. This official told me that
all these details were matters OF
nightly discussion al the headquarters
of the Union and Progress Commit
tee. Each new method of inf1icting
pain was hailed as a splendid discov-
cry, and the regular attendants were
constantly ransacking their brains in
the effort TO devise some new torment.
He told me that they had even delved
into the records of the Spanish Inqui-
sition and other historic institutions
Of torture and adopted all the sugges-
tious found there. He did not tell me
who carried off the prize in this grew
come competition. but common repu-
tation throughout Armenia gave 4
pre-eminent infamy to Djevdet Bey.
the Vail of Van. whose activities in
that section ! have already described.
All through this country Djevdet was
generally known as the "horseshoer Of
Bashkale" for this connoisseUr in tor
ture had invented what was perhaps
the masterpiece OF all-thst Of nail
ing horseshOes TO the feet OF his Ar
menian victims
Yet these happenings did not consi-
tute what the newspapers OF the time
commonly referred to as the Arme-
nian atrocities; they were merely the
preparatory steps in the destruction
Of a race The Young Turks displayed
greater ingenuity than their prede-
cessor. Abdul Hamid. The Injunction
Of the deposed Sultan was merely Ito
kill. kill" whereas the Turkish democ-
racy hit upon an entirely new plan.
Instead of massacring outright the
Armenian race. they now decided TO
deport It. In the south and southeast
ern section OF the Ottoman Empire lie
the Syrian desert and the Mesopota
mian valley. Though part Of this
area was once the scene Of a -four
ishing civilization. for the last fye
centuries it has suffered the plight
that becomes the lot of any country
that is subjected to Turkish rule: and
1t is now a dreary. desolate waste.
without cities and towns OF life OF