The Washington times., 1918-10-06
VIII-In the House of Hadji- Gl
By
Aurora
MardigGnian.

side the city We halted and there was great excite
ment The city longer in sight, only the great
empty plains and mountains and valleys All feared they
had been led into trap Of knd-that something
terrible was to happen This feeling increased when
the soldiers guarding our apostasiEed party took
further down the road and made rest hereaway from
the others.
1t was almost shutdown when q great cry went up
We looked to the east, where there wide pass
through the hills and saw a band of horsemen riding
down upon u.s. They were Kurds could tell from the
way they rode. The villagers shouted-"h is Kerim
Bey the friend of Debbar It is well for to scatter"
With this the villagers scrambled back into the hills
afraid it seemed the Kurd chieftan would not welcome
their foraging among his charges.
To say that Kerim Bey was ga friend of Djebbar"
explained his coming with his band and what after
Djebbar Efend as have told before, military
mandant of the district sent by the Sultan to Cypress the
Armenans during the deportations His word was law,
and always it was cruel word Kerim Bey the most
feared of the Kurd chiefains-he and Musa Bey from
whom had escaped, as have told Both were of the
Aghja Daghi Kurds. Kerim Bey and his band Ruled the
countryside and frequently revoted against the Turks
To keep him ally Djebbar Effend had given into his
keeping many companies of exed Armenians sent from
Malaa to Diyarbekir and beyond Kerim Bey to be
our keeper for hundred miles
There. were hundreds of horsemen in Kerim's band.
They had ridden far and tired too tired to take up
the march in the moonlight but not too tired to begin at
once the nightly reves which kept terrorzed for
many days after Scarcely had they hobbed their horses
in little groups that stretched along the side Of the column
of refugees when they began to collect their toll Screams
and for mercy and the goans of mothers and sisters
filed the night
saw terrible things that night which cannot tell.
When them in my dreams now scream so even now,
safe in America, my nights not happy group Of
Kurds were so torturing young woman that the
women who saw became crazed and rushed In body at
the wicked men to save the girl from misery For
the Kurds tramped under the feet OF the
maddened women, and the girl was hurried away.
When they recovered themselves the kurds drew
their long sharp knives and set upon the women and
killed them all I think there must have been fifty OF
them They piled their bodies together and set fire to
their clothes While famed the blaze, others
searched for the girl who had been rescued but they
could not find her So baed in this they caught another
girl and carried her to the flaming pile and threw her onto
it. When she tried to escape they threw her back until
she was burned to death
When the Kurds approached my party, the apostates
the soldiers with us turned them away You may do
Won wish with the others-these protected said the
Turkish officer in charge of 1T is the command OF
Djebbar Eendi" But this officer was not content
to be without his amusement while the kurds were reVe
ling
Five soldiers came from his tent and sought young
woman they thought would be to their chiefs liking
They aside the wells of the whose forms sug
gesd they might be young and pleasing until they came
upon girl from the town of Derenda toward Slvas She
very pretty but of the soldiers when they were
dragging her of, recognized her.
'KahI'' he gunted to his comrades. "This one VIII
not do. She is not longer a maidH' They pushed ner
aside with OATH and sought further But each glrI
they laid their hands after that cried to them, too
not virgin!' Each given a blow, but each
thrust aside when she claimed shame.
Soon the soldiers they were being cheated OF
the choicest prey They turned upon older women
and seized three One of them they forced to her knees
and of the soldiers held her head back between their
hands until her face turned to t ~tH'e Apother