The Warwickshire Herald. — 1895-03-28 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE MASSACRES IN ARMENIA. 7elegraphing, via. Kars, from Moush and Hassan Kaleh, the special commissioner of the Daily Telegraph in Armenia states that the number of the victims in the recent massacres will never be known, but the conclusion is irresistible that the total is between 8,000 and 10,000. He quotes an important document prepared for the British ViceConsul at Erzeroum in 1892, shewing that even then a system of appalling tyranny and outrage existed, and he asserts that for the last three years, since the formation of the Kurdish Hamidieh regiments, the condition of Armenia has been simply indescribable. Arrests of the people continue to be made, and a state of panic prevails throughout the country. This correspondent has examined several fresh witnesses, one of them a boy of 15, named Arten, son of a member of the village council of Shemkgst,who tells a terrible story of the sufferings of his family. Says the boy: "Our family consisted of 12 persons. Only four were killed. Seven of the survivors are starving in the village of Kara Kieupriu. They sent me to beg alms. One of the four killed was hacked to pieces. His name was Kirbo. His arms were first cut off. I afterwards saw his armless trunk not far from the village of Engooznag. My aunt, named Manoosh, was also killed. She tried to run, but could not move quickly. A soldier bayoneted her in the shoulder. She was then horribly murdered. I did not see this, but my mother did. My mother is sister of Krikor, the village elder, about whom everybody is speaking. My father was wounded with a swordcut. My brother, Bedross, 8 years old, was thrown down, and a soldier aimed a blow at his neck. Another soldier parried the stroke and saved my brother's life; but he received a wound on the neck. I escaped, with others, to Vassur. We were arrested there and 15 of us imprisoned. I was taken witi others back to Bassoon and kept 14 days in the ruined villages. Soldiers meanwhile seized women , and girls and violated them. I can name many women and girls thus dishonoured. One of them, named Merke, was only 10 years old. This was in Semmal. It happened after the massacre had ceased." Another witness relates how he saw eight children from two to seven years old killed by soldiers. "Five were killed as we slaughter sheep," he said, "three were tossed on bayonets."  Everyone who has been in a Continental Mty at Carnival time has seen the "confetti" which are thrown about in the mimic warfare in the streets. The making and selling of these tiny paper pellets constitutes an industry of some littlo importance. It is estimated that the Parisians alone spend 1E24,000 sterling, or 800,000 f., upon them every year. Great fluctuations take place in the selling price. When the fun is at its fastest, and purchasers are eager, the price is as much as a franc and a half a kilogramme, or say Bd. a pound English; but towards the end of the Carnival holders are glad to dispose of them at 70 centimes a kilogramme, or less than half the former price. The total weight of confetti sold in Paris this year has been estimated at 500,000 kilogrammes, or over 1,000 tons.  Fl S OR