The Northern Guardian. — 1895-10-28 (Hartlepool, Cleveland, England)

THE TREBIZOND RIOTS.  APPALLING MASSACRE  WHOLE FAMILES DESTROYED.  Private advice, from Trebizond give graphic details of the recent massacre of Armenians. At one time, it appears, a regular battle was unging in the town, and the Turks killed all they could get hold of. Whole families were destroyed, and the streets were thickly strewn with corpses. The loss of life is placed by an eye-witness of the carnage at 1 600. Letters from Erzingliiun, received from Turkish sources, state that during the recent disorders 50 Armenians were slain. Another disturbance has taken place at Billie, people being killed and wounded on both sides.  According to private letters received in Constaw. tinople from Trebizond, the uprising of the Turks ai.ainst the Armenians actually began on the ni,eit of tht; 7th inst. The Turks were armed with rifles, knives, and revolvers, and went through the streets breaking windows, tiring their revolvers, and generally threatening the lives awl property ,of the whole Christian population, though the Armenians were the particular object of their threats. The authorities, with the assistance of three or four hundred troops and police and the better class of the Turks, sueceeded in preventing any serious consequences, and the rioters were dispersed about midnight. Further disturbances, however, took place on the Bth inst. The people were running in all directions, and shots began to ring out on all sides. For Inore than an hour a regular battle was raging, and fearful confusion prevailed. After killing all they could get hold of the Turks began looting the houses and shops of the Armenians. At one moment it appeared as if all the Christians were doomed unless assistance os.me from outside from Batum.  A letter, dated October 0, the day following these events, describes the state of things as terrible, and adds : The violence of the massacre seems to have spent, itself for the present either because the thirst for blood has been satisfied, or because the fiends have exhausted the means of sating their appetites. On all sides there were murder and pillage, every man being aimed with a rifle, 'evolver, or dagger, or often all three, and rushing about wildly intent on killing every Armenian who dared to show himself or on plundering their stores and houses. Very soon after the first shot was tired men began to run into coffee shops with armfulls of dry goods and other things they had looted. It was a scene of confusion and horror not soon to be forgotten and impossible to describe. Numbers of dead bodies wcre seen lying about the streets, all showing evidence of having been brutally beaten to kleath. Stores were broken open and sacked, land even children joined in the looting. It is possible to give any estimate of the number killed, though it must have been very great. The authorities appear to have done all in their power to prevent violence, but with only a few hundred soldiers—many of whom actually joined in the plundering—they were powerless to stern the tide. The above narratives are furnished by European witnesses, and should be taken as faithfully representing what actually took place.  nails