Trebizond is built on the shores of the Black Sea, and is a part
of Armenia. The population is estimated at 40,000; only 10,000 are
Christians; perhaps about half of them are Armenians, and nearly
half of the Armenians were killed and wounded during the recent
savageries. Mr. Chelton, who was going to Armenia to organize
consulates, was in Trebizond, saw the massacre of Christians, and
reported to the government at Washington:--
"Trebizond, Oct. 9, 1895.--Many Armenians were killed here in
conflicts yesterday with Turks. No attempt was made to stop the
massacre of the Armenians. The Turks were armed, and the number of
troops present here is small. It is even stated that soldiers took
part in the slaughter, and in the pillage which accompanied it."
"London, Oct. 17, 1895.--The 'Daily News' publishes a dispatch
from Constantinople giving a description by an eye-witness of
the rioting at Trebizond. He says that four separate Moslem mobs
surrounded the Armenian quarters at eleven o'clock on the morning
of Oct. 8, and then began to pillage the shops. Being opposed,
they fired on the Armenians, and soon a general massacre began.
"Soldiers joined the mob in firing on the Armenians and in
pillaging the shops and houses. The scene continued until 4
o'clock in the afternoon, when nothing was left to pillage and
nobody remained to be killed. The mob then began to disperse. The
better class of Turks did their best to protect the lives of the
Armenians. They sheltered the women and children and many men
in their houses. The mob attacked only the orthodox Armenians,
leaving Catholics alone."
An Armenian Massacre. Money Cabled to London by the Local Relief
Association, Dec. 31, 1895.
"Recent letters telling of the massacres in various Armenian
cities contain information that helps to explain many points in
the awful outbreak of so-called Mohammedan fanaticism. A letter
from Trebizond says:--
"'Bahri Pasha, governor of Van, started to come to Constantinople,
and it was learned that he was bringing with him four of
the fairest young maidens of Sassoun, who had been spared
in the massacre, to make an acceptable present of them to his
Sultan. This aroused the Armenian people of Trebizond to a frenzy,
and it was impossible to restrain the young men, the more daring
of whom fired upon Bahri Pasha, wounding him. But he carried out
his mission to Constantinople, and was honored with the highest
decoration and appointed governor of Adana.
"'Afterward the pasha of Trebizond, calling twelve of the leading
men of the city, demanded that they should hand over the young
men who attacked the governor, and gave them just a few hours
in which to carry out his orders. The next day they answered him
that the government had no means of finding the men out.
"'When the mails had arrived, and the people went toward the
postoffice, the trumpet was sounded three times, and both the
soldiers and the mob rushed upon the people. It is impossible
to describe the horror of the scene--the roar of the murderers,
like that of wild beasts, the shrieks of the women in the houses
from whose arms their husbands and sons were torn and murdered
before their eyes, and universal tumult, added to the sighs and
groans of the dying. And this we know is only one, and not even
the most terrible of the massacres.'"