The Washington herald., 1918-10-27
EIGHTH INsTALLMENT.

EIGHTH IN
Enver tried to mitigate the barbsr-
ity of his general attitude by show
ing mercy in particular instances.
made no progress In my efforts to
stop the program of wholesale mas
sacre, but / did save few Arrne-
mans from death. One day received
word from the American consul al
Smyrna that seven Armenians hao
been sentenced to be hanged. These
men had been accused of committing
some rather vague political offense In
1909; yet neither Rahmi Bey, the gov
ernor general of Smyrna. nor the mill
tary commander believed that they
were guilty. When the order for exc
cution reached Smyrna these authort-
ties wired Constantinople that under
the Ottoman law the accused had the
right to appeal for clemency to the
Sultan. The answer which was re-
turned 70 this communication well H.
lustrated the. extent TO which the
rights of the Armenians were regard
ed at that time
Technically you are right: hans
them first and send the petition fol
pardon afterward."
visited Enver in the interest OF
these men on Bairam, which is the
greatest Mohammedan religious festi-
val: IL is the day that succeeds Ram
azan, their month Of fasting. Bsirarr
has one feature In common with
Christmas, for on that day IL is Gus
tomary for Mohammedsns to exchang.
small presents. usually sweets. Sc
after the usual remarks OF felicita'
ton. said to Enver:
To-day is Bairam and you haven
given me any present yet"
Enver laughed.
What do you want? Shall send
you a box Of csndies'"
"Oh. no." / answered, Il am not 81
cheap as that. want the pardon ot
seven Armenians whom the court.
martial has condemned at Smyrna"
Thought II Was Funny.
The proposition apparently struci
Enver as very amusing.
That's a funny way OF asking FOL
a pardon" he said. However. sine,
you put it that way. can't refuse.
He Immediately sent for his aid
and telegraphed 10 Smyrna, setting
the men free.
Thus fortuitously is justice admin
istered and decision involving human
lives made in Turkey. Nothing coulC
make clearer the slight estimation II
which the Turk holds life, and tn,
slight extent to which principle con
trols their conduct Enver sparet
these men. not because he had tn,
slightest interest in their cases, bu
simply as a personal favor to me snC
largely because of the whimsical man
ner in which l had asked it. In al
nv talks on the Armenisns the min
lister of war treated the whole matte
more or less casually; he could dis
Cuss the fate of a race in a parenthe
sis. and refer TO the massacre o
children as nonchalently as we woul,
speak of the weather
One day Enver asked me to rad
with him in the Belgrade forest. A
I was losing no opportunities to influ
enCe him. I accepted this invitation
We autoed to Buyukdere. where fou
attendants with horses met US. Il
our ride through the beautiful fores
/ Enver became more communicative Il
! his conversation than ever before. II
spoke affectionately of his father an
mother. when they were married. h
said. his father had been sixteen an
! his mother only eleven. and he him
| self had been born when his mothe
was fifteen.
Fond of His Wife.
In talking of his wife. the imperia
! princess. he disclosed 2 much softe
side to his nature than had hithert
seen. He spoke Of the dignity wit
which she graCed his home. regrette
that Mohammedan ideas of prophet
prohibited her from entering socia
| life. but expressed a wish that sh
4 and Mrs. Aorgenthau could meet. X
was then furnishing a beautiful neN
| palace on the Bosphorus; when thi
J was finished, he said, the princes
would invite my wife to breakfas 81
| Just then we~were passing the hous
and grounds OF Senator Abraham
Pasha. a very rich Armenian. Thi
man had been an intimate friend n
the Sultan Abdul Aziz. and, since /
| Turkey a man inherits his father
, friends as well as his property. tn
I Crown Prince of Turkey. a son % hb
/ dul Aziz. made weekly visits to thi
, distinguished senator. AS we passe
through the park Enver noticed wit
/ disgust that woodmen were Cuttin
down trees and stopped them. Whe
/ | heard afterward that the ministe
! of war had bought this park. I un
I derstood one of the reasons for hi
anger. Since Abraham Pasha was a
Armenian, this gave me an oppor
tunity to open the subject again.
I spoke 10 him of the terrible treat
men from which the Armenian wome
were suffering.
You said that you wanted t. Ire
tect women and children" I remsr L
ed. but know that yoIr orders ar
not being carried out"
| Those stories can't be truc.' n
said, Il cannot conceive that a Turk
ish soldier would ill-treat a woma
who is with child"
Interested In Saddle.
Perhaps il Enver could have rea
the Circumstantial reports which wer
! then lying in the archives of tn
American Embassy ne might hav
changed his mind.
Shifting the conversation once NOR,
/ he asked me about my saddle, whic
was of the well-known General Nc
! Clellan" type. Enver tried It an
: liked 1t so much that he afterwar
borrowed it, had one made for hi
own use-even including the numbe
in one corner-and adopted IL for on
of his regiments. He told me Of tn
! railroads which he waS thau buii.- -
in Palestine, said how we'll the cabi
net was working, and pointed OF
that there were great opportunities i
/ Turkey now for real estate specula
: tion. He even suggested that he an
] JON hands in buying land that wa