davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13
By Eugene S. Dagger

thorough scientific presentation which
was once the pride Of German scholar
ship. Its assertions are always care
fully and exhaustively documentsd. II
covers the ground completely. Its tone
is cool and detached throughout, ex.
cept in tho last chapter, where the
author exposes and denounces with q
violent sarcasm the lies circulated In
the German press. 1t completes its
case as few cases have ever been com
pleted before that "world tribunal
which is, in Schiller's words. world
history.
The findings Of this investigation, as
set forth by DR.. Lepsius in his con-
fidential report, can be summed up as
follows:
z That the accounts forwarded by
American witnesses, constituting
the main bulk Of evidence, are sub
stantially correct, and that they I'M
derstate rather than overstate the
case.
. That the charge, based on this
evidence, that over 100000
Armenians were deported into the
desert and that hundreds Of thou
sands Of this number were slaugh-
tered, left to perish by disease, or
starved to death, corresponds to the
facts.
2 That the most appalling methods
Of wholesale massacre, torture,
plumber and rape were practised, not
as individual crimes of local officials
and commanders, but as promulgated
from Constantinople in the orders
Of the Young Turk government.
n That the Armenian people must
be acquitted Of every charge Of
disloyalty against the Turkish En-
pire. That the attack on them was
launhed without the slightest prov
ocation on their part. That the
Young Turks accusation about plans
of an Armenian rebellion, fostered by
England and Russia, was completely
unfounde1.
z That the prosecutions were car
ried out by way of realization Of
the Young Turks plan to exterminate
the Armenian Christians and sup
plant them with Moslem population
that, in fact, the war of extermina
tion was waged as a phase of the
-Islamistic "revival."
& Most important, perhaps, of all:
DR.. Lepsius's report contains the
implicit admission Of the German
governments share of responsibility.
It is unthinkable, in face of the
thoroughness of DR.. Lepsius's man.
ner, his sympathetic attitude to the
Armenians, and the bearing of the
issue involved, that the report should
not have included the efforts of the
German government to save the Ar
menian people from its terrible fate
had there been such efforts.
All DIR. Lepsius has to say on tt
subject is as follows: at was impo
sible for America to know that &c
many (not the German government
has repeatedly entered emphatic pr
! test against the proceedings of tt
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13
Slaughter en- Mosse

" Wherever men were driven off
together with the women and children
they were often sorted out soon after
getting under way, or else slaughtered
en- masse in the organized surprise at
tacks. AS result less than half of
the total number arrived at the points
Of destination. The caravans that had
started out in the north consisted, when
they arrived in the south, mostly of
children below ten, elderly women, In
valids and old men. The men and boys
had been slaughtered, the girls, young
women and numberless children raped
The remnant are helpless mob of beg
CARS, delivered to want and misery and
perishing through hunger and disease
in the morasses and deserts of Mesopo-
tamia."
DR.. Lepsius gives a detailed account
of the mass deportations in the vilayets
of Trapezunt and Erzerum, conducted
under the above described methods. He
quotes in extenso the report Of the
American Consul at Trapezunt, Oscar
S. Heller, dated July 90, 1915, accord
ing to which all inhabitants of the 1000
houses in the Armenian quarters of
Trapczunt were driven off and all their
belongings contiscated. The authorities
did not even pretend to bring any
charges against them-to be an Arme-
Man was sufficient reason for being
deported. Women were raped Wholesale
the consul reports that one member
of the Young Turkish Club, which d.
rccted the procecdings, had ten Of the
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13

Under the pretext of draft all re-
naming male residents Of many cities
and villages, between the ages of six
teen and seventy, were now taken away,
notwithstanding the fact that many
had paid the legal exemption tax and
others were totally unfit. These col
umns were led off into the mountains
and shot down wholesale, of course,
without any kind of trial, as circum-
stances made legal proceedings i'm
possible"
simultaneously the wholesale dis
arming OF the Armenian populations
was ordered DR.. Lepsius explains that
not only was the carrying of arms for
self-defence general in ell Turkey on
account of the total lack of public
safety, but in many cases Armenian
populations had been armed by the
Committee of the Young Turks itself
The constitutional political organiza-
ton of the Armcnians, called Dash
nakzagan," literally "confederates,
had been the stanchest and most efIi.
cicnt ally of the Young Turks in the
long struggle for constitutional re.
form, and after the convocation Of the
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13
A hidden book printed at Potsdam
wherein is put down the CHASTITY
details of the wanton Turkish at.
tempt to destroy a whole people

all those of the deportees-rE
women and children-who escanes -
massacre of the day before y.
Turkish soldiers told how v
begged them for mercy on the;, ,s
and how they, when they saw il w..
vain, hurled their own babies ;r.o
river. A Young Turkish troonsr ..;'
ut was a horror. I could not shoe.
just pretended" Others. again H.
ed to the German pharmacists n.
Gehlsen, about the atrocities thai, \,
committed. The slaughter lasted for.
hours. The corpses were thrown i'm.
the Euphrates by the score. For =.
eral days afterward regular e..
hunt was conducted in the underbrr,,
and all fugitives found were killsa !.
cold blood.
From Baiburt 1900 Armenian, mar.
deported. The Bishop, Wartabed n.
zarabedJan, and seven notables w.,.
executed few days in advance
wealthy Armenian widow. who. af,.,
she had been robbed of all her proper,,
was also deported and saved her Nc.
and that of her daughter by prcmis;n.
to embrace Islam, succeeded later :
making her way to Constantinople ge,
story of unspeakable horrors Is renro.
duced in full by DR.. Lepsius. She con.
cluded:
1.-THE worst Of ell was awaiting r.,
when we arrived in the Plain of Ersin.
gian and near the banks of the En-.
pirates. The roadside was strewn wit,
mutilated corpses Of women and cir,
and little children. Also, the girls And
women In our group were mistreat.d
terribly by the bandits, and their wal.
ing rose up to the skies. When we Ar.
rived at the river the gendarme,
hurled all the remaining children unde,
fifteen into the river. Those who tried
to escape by swimming we're shot In ths
water. When we reached Enderes on
the way to Siwas all the slopes and
meadows were thickly covered with
black and swollen corpses whose smell
poisoned the air"
The fate Of the caravans depcrted
from Baiburt and Erzerum and taken
through Erzingian Is described in an
other statement Of the two German
nurses there:
"On the evening of June 1s we wss
walking with our friend Gchlsen, thi
pharmacist, in front Of our house. VI
met a gendarme who said that fec
of women and children, deported fror
Baiburt, were spending the night .
only about ten minutes distance aboy
the hospital. He was among the CISCO
himself and told US about the fate
the deportees. 'Kessc, kesse, surujo
lar Strengthening, Strengthening, '
drive them Every day, he said, he HI
killed ten to twelve men. thrown
their bodies into ravines. When 4
children cried and would not go flu
Their, their skulls were smashed. IT
women were robbed of all their c'oths
and they were violated over again
every village. 4 have buried thr
naked corpses myself he conclude
God may reckon it to my credit
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13

prominent Armenians were arrested
and carried off in different cities. Be-
fore the end Of May over 5000 leaders
professional and business men, writ
ers, priests-were seized and deported.
DR.. Lepsius comments, in italics:
GAS the seizure of leaders extends
over all areas inhabited by Armenians,
it must be assumed that we are faced
herb by general measure whose OBJ
ject was to rob the Armenian people
Of its leaders and spokesman, go that
the subsequent deportations could be
executed without resistance and pro-
test. 1t was also necessary to prevent
the early spread of news from the in
terror. From the beginning of June
all Armenian officials were dismissed
from civil service and the Armenian
physicians and surgeons who from the
beginning of the war had rendered
faithful service in the Turkish military
hospitals were imprisoned.
Cali these arrests, embracing thou
sands of Armenians of the highest
standing and education, deputies, writ
ers, publicists, poets, lawyers, notaries,
officials, physicians, merchants, finan-
ciers and all wealthy and influential
elements, were effected without being
preceded or followed by any regular
legal proceedings. Not even the charge
that these men had planned or partici-
pated in activities against the safety
Of the state was proffered. The aim
was simply to cut off the head of the
Armenian body before the members
were shattered. The orders
were forwarded from Constantinople to
the local authorities and were, in spite
of occasional resistance on the part of
! individual Turkish officials and, in a
few instances, even of the Turkish
populace, executed with the utmost
rigor and ruthlessness."
The second phase of the measures,
DR.. Lepsius says, in advance of the
mass deportations proper, affected the
male population only, which had been
drafted for the army previously, or
was to be drafted in the course of
events. He writes:
"Armenians indicted into military
service, who, according to the testi-
mony Of the Minister of War himself
had fought bravely, and not only at
the Dardanelles, but even in the eau
casus campaign against Russia, were
for the most part, disarmcd and en-
ployed as stevadores or road laborers
From almost all provinces reports arc
at hand to the effect that not only in
individual cases were such Armenian
laborers murdered by their Mahometar
comrades, but that whole detachments
of eighty, one hundred or more were
shot by gendarmes or the military OF
orders of their superior officers"
The extent of this mass murder
within the army itself will perhap.
never be fixed, DR.. Lepsius adds, anc
continues:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13

"The deportation of the Armenian
population was carried out in three
different areas, and in three suhsc
quent periods" DR. Lepsius begins his
story. The three areas correspond to
the three main groups in which the
Armenian population of Asiatic Turkey
is distributed, to wit:
1. Cilicia and Northern Syria, COM
prising the vilayets of Adana and
Aleppo, the districts of Ant;ochia,
Sueidiye, Kessab, Alexandrette, Kills,
Aintab and Urfa.
2. The seven vilayets of Eastern Ana
tolia: Trapezunt, Ezerum, Siwas, Khar
put, Diarbekr, Van, Bitlis.
8. In Western Anatolia: The district
of Izmid and the vilayets of Brousa,
Kastamuni, Angora and Konia. In
these territories the Armenian >popula-
ton forms 10 to 40 per cent Of the
total.
In Cilicia the Expectations started
in the end Of March, 1915, and con-
tinued through April and May. IN
Northern Syria and Mesopotamia they
were going on till October. In the
second area the persecution began in
the end Of May. In the third area it
began in August and continued throagh
September.
The deportations in Cilcia (vilayet
Of Adana and Marash, district Of the
vilayet OF Aleppo) began with the
events in Zeitun, in tho Taurus
Mountains. This prosperous city Of
$4,000 Armenians, mostly of Grcroriar
faith, was for long time a'thorn ii
the side Of the Turkish authorities
mo remembered the heroic resist
nnce offered by the population in tn
Hamidian massacres in 1866.
According to DR.. Lepsius, from tn
very beginning of the. European wa
the Turkish authorities were ea,erl,
awaiting tbs opportunity to "scttlc &C
counts" with tho mountninecrs. At IT,
time OF the general mobilization Il
August, 1914, oil able bodied NAL
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13

Turkish government. It has achieved
thereby just as little as has America
with her protests. The reason for
this i'll success cannot be expounded
here" Of course not.
Such defence amounts almost to an
accusation, if we consider that the
German government had very effective
means at its disposal to back up "em-
phatic protests" at Constantnople,
means outside of the reach of any
other power. Also, through his indict-
ment of German press methods, DR..
Lepsius makes sufficiently clear what
he thinks Of the question of core
sponsibility.
On the other hand, the report is
very specific in regard to INSTANCES
none too numerous-where individual
German residents have aided or mti-
| gated the sufferings of Armenian VIC
Tins. Charges of completely in the
prosecutions brought against individ-
ual Germans are also expressly and
specifically repudiated. In view of the
overwhelming impression of truthful
ness and sincerity one gains of Dr.
Lepsius's methods and personality
there is no reason why his statements
in such cases should not be given
credence.
DR.. Lepsius, also, is unstinting in
his praise of the work of American Of
ficials and missionaries, whose reports
he quotes in extenso and with full
Endorsement. His approval of the
British committee of inquiry, whose
importantly and trustworthiness he en-
phasizes, is equally remarkable and
speaks in his favor
The report itself is divided into three
parts. The first bears as caption "Thc
Facts" The second is entitled "The
Responsibility" The third se.tior
deals with the economic and religious
effects of the prosecutions, presents
statistical data and contains q sweep
ing denunciation of the German press
both because of its commissions anc
omissions.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13
Finishing che Job

On the following day, June II, regu-
lar troops of the Seth Cavalry Brigade
were dispatched to the Kemach Ravine
in order-it was said--to punish the
Kurds. The German nurses learned
later from returned troopers that the
Turkish military was ordered to kill
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13
Driven and Beaten

AS to the manner Of the proceedings,
DR.. Lepsius quotes the letter dated
May 10, of an eyewitness, who says, in
part:
81 saw the people on the way. An
endless procession, accompanied by
gendarmes who drove them forward
with truncheons. Only half clad,
starved, emaciated, they dragged them
selves along rather than walked. Old
women collapsed, but rose again when
they saw gendarme approaching
with his baton raised above his head.
Others were pushed forward like dom
keys. | saw young woman collapse,
gendarme gave her two or three
hard blows and she got up Her
husband walked in front of her, wi h
a thrce-year- baby on his arm. A
little further an old woman was stag
gering along. Suddenly she fell. The
gendarme gave her two or three blows.
She did not stir. He began to kick her
with his boot, but she lay there without
moving Finally the Turk gave her a
terrible kick, so that she rolled into
the ditch. l hope she was dead"
A similar fate befell the Inhabitants
of the D0rt-Jol and number Of will
lagos in the Taurus and Amanus. Peo-
pie we're told those who adopted the
Moslem faith were allowed to remain.
The churches were transformed into
;ul> y
getting under way.
The attitude of the Turkish authori-
ties is illustrated by q quotation from
a government order issued to COM
manders Of army corps and divisions !:
ARTICLE II. The commanders may,
In case of military necessity, and wher-
ever they suspect CD treason or es-
pionage, deport the inhabitants of
cities and villages, individually or en-
masse, and settle them down in other
regions"
The exclamation point Is DR.. Lep-
sius's own.
The chapter on the deportations
from Cilcia and Northern Syria ends
with reproduction of the report OF
Jackson, the American Consul at Alep
: pc. Dr. Lepsius remarks that "this re-
port contains nothing which has not
been corroborated by German sources
Alone from Cilicia, we are told
100000 persons we're deported In tn,
> one month Of July 1926 deportee
passed through Aleppo.
The second chapter deals with tn,
deportations from the seven vilayets o
O Eastern Anatolia.
r On April "a and %, 1915. occurre,
y the wholesale arrests of Armenian
: leaders and intellectuas at CONSTANT
e noplc. Three days earlier q genera
n roundup Of Armenian notables bega
c all over the empire. On April 81 81
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13

residents Of Zeitun were indicted into
service without difficulty.
In October, 1914, the Mayor Of the
city, Nazaret Tchaush by name, went
to Marash, the seat of the district
governor, to arrange some official mat
tiers. Notwithstanding his safe con-
duct, he was put into Jail and tortured
to death. Afterward Turkish gen
darmes came to the city and committed
all sorts of atrocities, plundered
houses, beat up innocent men and vio-
lated women. In spite of these occur
renccs the inhabitants retained full
composure.
In December, 1914, the government
ordered surrender of all weapons ir.
! the possession Of Armenians. The
Moslcm population was permitted to
retain arms. The surrender was made
without an incident. In March large
military force arrived, and on next day
the deportation began. 1t lasted for
several weeks, and in the end there was
not one Armenian family left in the
city. The deported were ordered to
leave all their belongings behind, and
when in July about $4,000 Turkish
settlers arrived they took possession
not only of the houses but also of
livestock, fixtures and other property.
The name of the city was changed to
Sultanieh.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-07-13
The German Indictment

Nevertheless, it was reserved for a
German to present the supreme indict-
ment against Turkey and, implicitly,
against the German government itself.
This indictment is contained in
volume entitled "Beriht dber die Lage
DIES Armenishen Volkes in der T1rkel"
REPORT on the Condition of the Ar
menian People in Turkey), by DR..
Johannes Lepsius, chairman of the Ger
man Orient Mission and of the Ger
man-Hrmenian Society. The volume
was published in Potsdam in 1916 by
the Tempelverlag, and printed at the
Office of the "Reichsbote," in Berlin.
But this book-one of the most
amazing documents produced by the
world war-was not meant for the en-
: lightenment. of the German public.
Across its cover runs the warming:
printed as manuscript. Strictly con-
fidential."
The warning Is repeated on the title
page, and the line is added:
Reproduction and use in the press
prohibited"
The report itself is a model Of that
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14
AUCTION SALES.
CLERKS SALE
The State of South Carolina-County
of York.

The State of South Carolina-County
of York.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
Belle c. FayssouX and Agalice L. Nc
Cav, Plaintiffs, against Emma L,
McCaw as Administrative OF w. b.
McCaw, Deceased, ct al, Defendant.
BY virtue of Decree made in the
above entitled case dated October l3.
1919, / will expose to public sale to the
highest bidder before the Court House
door at York, S. c., on MONDAY,
DECEMBER 1ST, (Sales day. 1919, be-
tween the legal hours Of sale, the fol-
lowing described Real Estate:
All that certain tract of land stu
ated in the County of York. State of
Soutl Carolina, lately purchased by
York Steel & Iron Co., of Samuel
Proskauer, and bounded by its own
lands formerly lands of Mrs. b. NJ.
McCaw) Ross and Carroll, r. r.
Darwin ct al, and containing 199
ACRES, more or less, being the two
tracts of land named in the Deed from
B. A. Nunnally ct al, to Samuel
Proskauer dated January l, A. d. 1891.
Terms of Sale, Cash. Purchaser to
pay for all papers, recording fees,
Revenue stamps.
Should the purchaser fail to comply
with his bid within one hour after
same is sold, the said premises shall be
Immediately re-sold, or re-Sold some
subsequent sales day at the risk of the
defaulting purchaser.
JNO. r. LOGAN,
(SeaD c. G. c. Pls.
November 18th, 1919.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14

u. Skatowe Wannamaker has an
nourced his purpose to retire as pres
ident Of the South Carolina Cotton as
sociation at the permanent organiza /
ton meeting to be held in Columbia
on December 2. He takes this step be-
cause his duties as president or the
American Cotton association taxes ms
time and strength to the utmost, and
he feels that the duties of the state
association should devolve upon some
one Who will be able to give those du-
ties lis entire time and attention.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14

- The Carolina Aircraft corporation
of Columbia, has applied for a. char
ter. This company as its name i'm
plies will enter the airplane business
having secured the agency for the
Curtis planes. The new company pro-
poses to haul passengers, to give
demonstrations over the state and TO
sch airplanes. 1t is understood that
there are several people who are con-
sidering machines and Mayor l.. ID.
Jennings of Sumter, has already
bought one.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14
o B 1T u A R Y

DED-At the home Of Mrs. Eugenia
Dra:eford, Nov. 13. of pneumonia and
heat disease, Miss ANNIE Nc
PEETERS, a life long resident Of
Yokville. Her nearest relative is Miss
Caherine Dickson who has been max
ing her home with her. Interment
VII be in Rose Hill cemetery here to-
morrow morning at IL O'clock. Fun
aral services to be conducted by Rev.
II. f. Gillespie, ID. d.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14

- Three convicts escaped from p
Anderson county chaingang this
week One of them, Frank Gregory
serving two years following his con
victim of assault and battery wit!
intet to kill had only twelve more
days of his sentence to serve. VI
he is recaptured he will lose all cred
IL fc the time that he has servet
and will have to make the full two
year.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14

c. L. Therrell, Chesterfield, S. C..
writes: 81 am getting on just fine.
Feel well, eat well and sleep we'll"
II. Powell, Kingsburg, S. c., writes:
'I am now about half through taking
the treatment you sent me sometime
ago for nervous trouble and neuralgia
and am glad to say that l am doing
nicely and have not had hard attack
of neuralgia since commencing TAX
ing it and hope by the time | get
through taking it / will be all right
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14

Rev. S. B. Thompson, Society HILL
S. c., writes: II have been suffering
from a deep, incomplete fistula for
II years. Your remedies gave me
more relief than all the doctors and
sundry medicines that | ever took II
all this time"
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14
FAIR WARNING.

ALL persons without distinction OF
"A race or color, are hereby warned
not to hunt, fish, cut timber, or other
wise trespass on the lands owned or
controlled by the undersigned. Dis
regard of this notice will be prosecuted
to the full extent of the law. =
w. T. RAMSEY.
EULIE RAMSEY,
Sharon, S. c., Nov. IA, 1919. w 1T "
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14
NOTICE TO TREsPAssERs.

ALL. persons, without distinction as
"A to race or color, are hereby warned
against hunting, fishing, cutting tim
ber. or otherwise trespassing on lands
owned or controlled by the underslgn-
ed. Disregard of this notice will be
prosecuted TO the full extent Of the
law.
J. F.. A. SMITH,
E. NJ. HOWE,
JOE w. SMITH,
r. L. SMITH.
Move rober IA. 1919. 81 81.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-14

Wanted-All our friends who expect to
make clubs for The Enquirer to drop
us card giving their names and ad-
dresses for publication for the bene-
fit of their neighbors and friends VINO
want to subscribe. L. NJ. Grlsts
Sons. of u