The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-06-17
]APS BUTCHER IS
KOREANS HERDED
IN SMALL Church
Authentic News Of Massacre
at Cheamni Reaches World
Through Channel of Press
and Stories of Witnesses.

TOXIC, June II. Correspondence Of
the Associated Press.)-Thirty-five
Koreans were shot or killed with swords
Of bayonets by Japanese soldiers in a
Christian church building at Cheam-
nj. 40 miles from Seoul in connection
with the Korean independence move
ment. .,''
This has been confirmed by an in
V~estigation by British and American
consular agents and by missionary Lead
ers in Korea. The facts are admitted
by the Japanese authorities at Seoul,
including the Gov. Gen. Hasegawa. The
authorities say that they deplore. the
outrage, that those guilty of 1t have
been punished and that orders have
been given to prevent a recurrence.
Investigators also have found that
S~oochung, another village near CheamA
nj, was burned by the Japanese n
| that several Koreans there were wound
ed in an attack by Japanese soldiers
who shot them or used their swords and
bayonets on them as they fled from
had set fire to the buildings.
Reports have been received OF the
/ burning Of Christian churches in three
other villages and Koreans told the
| Associated Press correspondent at Seoul
mat they could show him nine villages
WillCn hdu pVCll pdA w " IAN D~F~
neSe. =,
Details Of the massacre at Cheam-ri
| were obtained by the Associated Press
correspondent who visited that place in
company with Raymond S. Curtice, the
| American vice-consul at Seoul, and Mr..
| Underwood, an American missionary.
Subsequently the correspondent again
visited the place with Mr.. Royds, the
British consul and several missionaries
including the Rev. Heron Smith, VINO
Is in charge OF the work OF the Meth
| odist church in Korea. Describing his
visit to Cheam-ni, the Seoul c~orrespon-
dent writes that when they asked resi-
| dents of nearby villages why that ham
let had been burned they were told
that It was because there al a Chris
tian church and many native CHRISTIANS
in the village. -
when we got to the place which
had been q village of about 40 houses
all the rest were smoking. ruins he
continued, I'VE found a body frightful-
ly burned and twisted lying In a COM
pound and another either of a young
man or woman just outside the church
compound. Several groups OF people
were huddled under little straw shelters
on the hillside with a few of their pitiful
belongings about them. They were
mostly women, some old, others young
mothers with babies but all sunk in the
dull apathy Of abject misery and de-
SPAR. Mr.. Underwood, an American
missionary, who talked to them IN their
W language, brought the story OF
what had happened.
Herded in Church.
1.-THE day before we arrived soldiers
came to the village and ordered all the
male Christians to gather at the church.
When about 80 were In the church the
soldiers opened fire on them with rifles
and then entered the church and I'm
ished them off with swords n bay
onets. After this they set fire to the
church and to houses which otherwise
would not have been burned
One Korean told the correspondent
he was alive because he was not a
Christian and was not In the church.
Later, when the correspondent made
a second trip to .Cheam-ni, with Mr..
Royds, the British consul and a party
Of seven, including several missionaries,
he sAid, 1--WE photographed freely with.
out interference, but when we started
to talk to the natives a policeman would
up They were in fear Of what might
happen later II they were seen talking
to u.s."
The party, however, divided up and
obtained many interviews concerning
| the story as the correspondent learned
II on his first WISH. Iney were toiu
that two of those killed in or near the
| church we're women who went to that
| building to learn what was happening
to their husbands.
The party headed by the British con-
\ sui then visited Soochun and found
| the village had been burned. The
| Koreans told the visitors that they
were awakened In the night by finding
their houses on fire. When they ran
out they were struck with swords,
and bayoneted or shot. None werI
killed but several were wounded, and
we saw one man whose arm has been
laid open with a sword. A church and
30 houses had been burned here but
no attempt had been made to clean ur
the others.
The Rev. Stacy L, Roberts, an Ameft.
can Presbyterian missionary stationed
az Pyeng Yang, has issued n state
ment asserting that more than 100 kor'
cans were shot or beaten to death II
Tyung-ju and a church there wa:
burned by Japanese.
In another village eight miles ava,
another Christian church and an c
emv for boys were burned by japanese
soldiers after the contents, such al
benches, stoves and mats were carried
away and put to use In the government
school at tying .ju.