The Washington times., 1918-09-15

which had been used for the prosperous Armenian
shops On the upper floors were large which had
been gathering places Already this house had to
be known at the Kasab Kana-the butcher house
for here the leading of the city had been called by
the Turks and slain
Shortly after the special Kaimakam s arrival soldiers
came out and summoned all the still with the Svas
exles, to a meeting with the Kamakam in the Kasab
Kama The men feared to CO. but told there would
be no more cruees that high authority was repre-
sented The men went two thousand of them and were
killed as soon they had assembled in the Kasab Kama
Soldiers in hiding the lower floors and as soon
as the men had gathered in the upper rooms the doors
were closed and the soldiers went about the slaughter
Men leaped out of the windows fast as they could but
soldiers caught them their bayOnets.
The bodies thrown out of the house later in
the day. The next morning they still piled in the
streets when the Kamakam called for the girls who had
been attending the Christian colleges and schools Svas
and the Mission at Kocheseur an Armenian city near
Slvas There were two hundred of these girls all of
them members of the better families All were between
fifteen and twenty years old The soldiers said the
Kamakam had arranged for them to be sent under the
care of American missionaries school the coast
where they would be protected
The girls were summoned to the Kasab Kama It
was then the learned for the first time what had hap
pened to the the day before They stood in line
but few yards from the great piles of the bodies still
lying in the street
The Kaimakam received them in a room on the upper
floor of the house. which still bore the stains of blood on
the walls and floors He asked them % renounee God and
accept Allah. Only few agreed-these were taken
away where, do not know The rest left in the
room by the Kaimakam and his staff. AS soon the
officers had left the building the soldiers poured into the
room, each taking possession of girl All day and night
soldiers went into and out of the house Nearly all
the girls died. Those who alive when the soldiers
weary sent away under escort of Zapteths
to the north where they could be sold the Con-
stantinople slave markets for better prices.
The third day of encampment outside Arabkiro
the hills grew white with the figures of Agha Daghf
Kurds They waited until nighta then they rode down
among There hundreds of them and when they
weary of searching the for money they began
to gather up girls and young women.
tried to conceal myself when little party of the
Kurds But l too late They took
away with dozen other girls and young wives this band
had caught They carried their horses the
valley, the hills and into the desert beyond There
they stripped of what clothes still bodies
With their long sticks they Subdued the girls who
screaming or who resisted them-beat them until their
flesh was purple with flowing blood My own heart
too ful-thinking of my poor, wounded mother could
not cry. strong enough to fight them when
they began to take the awful toll which the Turks and
Kurds take from their women captives
When the Kurds were tired of tOrturing they hob
bled u.s. still naked to their horses, each girl her hands
tied behind her back tied by the feet the end of rope
fastened around horse neck Thus they left through
the rest of the night neither the horses could