The Washington herald., 1918-10-22

ktanty- The eerosrncs snoNc1s
particular desire 10 snnihilsss BE
educated and the influential. F-on
American consuls and missionaries 7
was constantly receiving reports OF
such executions and many Of The
events which they described Will never
fade from my memory. At AnsOra
all Armenian men from Is 20 20 were
arrested. bound together IN groups -pf
four. and. sent on the road in the n
rection OF Csesaria. When they had
Travelled FIVE or six hours and had
reached a secluded valley. gtob of
Turkish peasants feu upon them Eith
clubs, hammers. ares. scythes. spades
and saws such instruments not only
caused more agonizing deaths than
guns and pistols. but. as the FORKS
themselves boasted. tbsy-Yere maze
economical. since they did not involve
the waste OF powder and shell In
this way they exterminsted the whole
male population OF AnRors. inclU,ffns
all its men Of wealth and breeSinE.
and their bodies, horribly mutpEted.
were left In the valley. where they
were devoured by wild beasts E1ter
completing this destruction. the Ssees-
ants and gendarmes gathered W
the local tavern. comparing notes
and boasting Of the number Hof
"giaours" that each had siaiH In
Trebizond the men were placed o.
boats and sent out on the Black Sea.
gendaTmes would follow them In
boats. shoot them down. and throe
their bodies into the water. -
Innocent Victims Moved.
When the signal was given for -tss
caravans TO move. therefore. they al
most invariably consisted OF women.
children and old men. Any one s-sso
could possibls-have protected thesn
from the fate that awaited them -bkd
been destroyed. Not infreaUeRtly the
perfect Of the city. as the mass start
ed on its way. would wish them q de-
risive pleasant journey" Before the
caravan moved the women were some
times offered the alternative Of be-
coming MohammsdaBs Even though
they accepted the new faith. which
few OF them did. their earthly troo-
bles did not end. The converts yer<
compelled to surrender their children
TO a so-calied ''Moslem Orphsnsger
with the agreement that they should
he trained a. deVoUt followers Of ths
Prophet They themselves must show
the siencrity Of their conversion BY
abandoning their Christian husbands
and marrying Mosiems II no good
Mohammedan offered himself as a
7 husband. then the new convert was
deported. however strongly she might
protest her devotion to Islam.
At first the government showed
some inclination 10 protect these de-
parting throngs. The officers usually
divided them into conveys. In sozT,e
r A..
others several thousand. The civil
authorities occasionally furnished OK
carts which carried such household
furniture as the exiles had succeeded
in scrsmblinE together. guard OF
sendarmes accompanied each CONVOY.
ostensibly to guard and protect f.
Women. scantilv clad. carrying babies
IN the arms or on the backs, marched
side by side with old men hobbling
along with canes. Children would
run along evidently regarding the
procedure. in the early stages. as some
new lark A more prosperous member
would perhaps have horse or a
donkey. occasionally a farmer rad
rescued a COW or a sheep. which
would trudge along at his side. -snd
the usual assortment OF family pets.
dogs. cats. and birds. became paris
OF the varieEated procession. Prom
thousands OF Armenian cities and viz
iages these despsirinE caravans now
Get forth. they filled all the roads
leading south. everywhere. as they
moved on. they raised a huge dust.
I and abandoned debris. chairs bIsnlsts.
| oedclothes. household utensils. and
other impediments. marked the course
OF the professions When the cara
vans FIRST started. the individuals BON
some resemblance TO human bsingxs
IN a few hours. however. the dust OF
! the road plastered their faces and
clothes the mud caked their lower
member. and the slowly sSvsncing
mobs. frequently bent with fatigue
and crszed by the brutality Of their
Z protectors, resembled some new
and strange animal species. Yet for
the better part OF six moH-As--- from
April to October. 1915 practically All
the highways in Asia Minor were
I crowded. with these unesrthly bands
Of e1iIes They could be seen winding
In and out OF every valley and climb
ing up the sides OF nearly eyery
mountain-movinE on and on. thev
scarcely knew whittier. except that
every road led TO death Village after
Village and town after town was
{ evacuated OF its Armenian population.
under the distressing CircumEtances
already detailed. In these six months.
as far as can be ascer1sined. about
l.eOO. 600 people started on this journey
to the Syrian desert
Pray for us" they would say as
they left their homes-the homes II
which their ancestors had lived Tor
300 years. We shall not see you in
this world again, but sometime we
/ shall meet Pray for US
tn Re Continued Tpmor-r~