Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1880-10-23 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

MURDEROUS OUTRAGE BY ROBBERS. Beetle have come to hand of the fearful crime perpetrated on the 214 of September in the little village of Narlikeui, situated about two mile. beyond the European village of Bournabat, on the road to Hadjilar. It appears that sorad half-pest .in on that evening a gang of robbers surrounded the home of an Armenian gentleman named °hennas Aktchali and knocked at the garden-gate, which open. into a small enclosed field situated on the road to Hadylar. Until six o'clock Mr. Aktchali had been sitting under the great plane tree. which forte one of the prettieet features in the little village, chatting with some Mussu!man acquaintances. A few minutes after six he returned to his house. When the robber. knocked at the garden gate Mr. Aktchali. who had only just come in, was alone in the courtyard. The manservant was out, Mrs. Aktchali, an invalid, was in a room on the first floor, Miss Aktchali was in another room on the ground floor, and the maid was in the hitches. Mr. Aktchali went and opened the door himself, believing that some peasant neighbour had come to see him. The door was hardly ajar when the robbers rushed in, felled him with repeated blows, and almost in an instant he was stretched on the ground in a dying state. At this juncture the daughter ran out, and, seeing the terrible spectacle before her, cried aloud for aid. One of the robbers took her by the hair,threw her down, and struck her several blows with the butt end of the gun; then, kneeling upon her chat, he loaded his gun. While he wan thus engaged the man servant arrived, but was unable to get into the house, as the robber, had taken the precaution of closing the doors. He tried to make hie way into the house by climbing over an adjacent wall. but the robbers fired at him, and ths shot taking effect upon his knee, he was rendered in capable of giving any assistance. A neighbour, a woman, who also tried to make her way into the house, was likewise fired at and slightly wounded on the face. Than the robbers were masters of the house and the situation. Having discovered Mre. Aktchali, they threatened her with instant death if she did not immediately show them her husband's cashbox and valuables. She pointed to the adjoining room, and then fell back exhausted on her bed. The door of the room indicated wan burst open, and the heavy safe within was carried away, although it is said to helve weighed nearly two cwt. It contained money, bills of exchange, title deeds, and family jewels. As the firing had by this time alarmed the vidage,the captain of the band became apprehensive of being surrounded. The order was therefore given to retreat, and the band made off with the safe. Seven robbers were counted within the house, and as many more were stationed in the garden. They marched off quietly, and without haste, taking their booty with them. When the neighbours and petteents succeeded at length in gaining an entrance in the house, they found Mr. Aktchali stretched lifeless on the ground, the servant bleeding from his wound in the court-yard, and the daughter senseless. A measenser was sent to inform the police of Sour:m.6m, whose emieearies arrived some time after, and next day, that is fourteen hours after the crime was committed, the autho• rities arrived from Smyrna, and the pursuit of the malefactors began. The safe wae found at a distance of two kilometres from the village. It was broken in pieces, and a heap of ashes was all that remained of the papers which it contained. Who these robber, were and whence they came to a mystery. The decesieed belonged to one of the oldest and most respectable of the Armenian families of Smyrna.  MR.