AINTAB, MARASH AND URFA.
The Situation in Northern Syria--No Revolutionary Movement--Massacre
at Aintab--Kurdish Women--A Turkish Captain Helps the Pillage--A
Colonel Checks it--Caring for the Wounded--Two Attacks at
Marash--Destruction of American Houses--Brave Men in Zeitun--Story of
Massacres at Urfa.
South of the Taurus Mountains, in what is called Northern Syria, are
a number of large cities, the most important being Aleppo, Antioch,
Aintab, Birejik and Urfa. On the very edge of the mountains is the
city of Marash, while in the midst of the range are Zeitun, Albistan,
Behesni, Adiaman and some other places of more or less note. Aleppo is
a distinctively Moslem city, and, more noticeable still, purely Arabic.
Its inhabitants are only to a limited degree Turks, the great majority,
whether Moslem or Christian, being of Syrian race. Antioch has less
of the Arab element, but all the rest are distinctively Turkish and
Armenian. The Turks are very largely of Turcoman rather than Ottoman
or Seljuk descent. The Armenians not only lose almost entirely their
own language, adopting the Turkish, but differ in some respects
from the Armenians of Asia Minor. Whether this is because they are
somewhat shut off by the mountains, or because they were more bitterly
oppressed, or because they more thoroughly accepted the inevitable,
it is impossible to say. In any case they have been noted for their
general sturdiness of character, their general prosperity, and a large
degree of liberality for new ideas. Protestant missions have advanced
greatly among them, and their system of schools established in the
cities is probably the best in the empire. In general, they have always
been peaceable, though in the mountains they have not been slow to
assert their independence. Few Turks cared to enter Zeitun against
the will of its people, and in Aintab their representatives in the
local city council were always found self-assertive, though always
diplomatic and not aggressive in their manner. As a natural result of
their interest in education, it came about that a college for young men
was established in Aintab, and one for young women in Marash, and the
students in both cities showed marked ability and progressive ideas.
For the most part their relations with the Moslems were friendly,
though in Marash, where apparently the close proximity of the mountain
sections seemed to roughen all, there was considerable jealousy and
antagonism.
The Armenian Revolutionists apparently made little effort, certainly
met with no success, to embroil these communities, and when the storm
burst in the north there was a general feeling that these places would
be spared. One exception might be made in regard to Marash, and the
well-known jealousy of the Turkish Government in regard to colleges
made some fear for Aintab. The mutterings preceding the storm were
heard, however, as soon as the word of the massacre at Constantinople
had reached the Turkish population of the region. There was trouble in
the smaller places first, an attack in Urfa on November 3d; and then,
less than two weeks later, the blow fell at Aintab. The following
description by an eye-witness will give the story better than any one
else can. The letter is written from the college, which is situated on
a hill quite a distance from the city.
“AINTAB, Monday, November 18th, 1895.
“We have been congratulating ourselves that our city had escaped the
outbreak of Moslem fanaticism which has lately swept the neighboring
cities with the besom of destruction. But Saturday morning, without
the slightest warning, while we were at breakfast, a great noise of
shouting and firing of guns came to us from the city, telling us
that the work of blood and plunder had begun here, also. My first
thought was for the ladies and girls at the seminary and hospital.
So, seizing my revolver, I sprang upon my horse and hurried over
there. I met and passed many armed Kurds, who live in the suburb just
about the hospital and seminary, but they did not interfere with me.
Upon nearing the city, the confused sound that had reached us at the
college became resolved into its elements; and I could distinguish
the hoarse cries of fighting men, the screams of women and children,
and, most terrible of all, the shrill, exultant _lu-lu-lu-lu_ of the
Kurdish and Turkish women, cheering on their men to the attack. I
found the girls’ school and hospital had not, as yet, been attacked.
Dr. Hamilton and Miss Trowbridge preferred to remain at their post of
duty rather than to join the ladies at the seminary, which decision I
could not oppose. Upon my return to the seminary, which is separated
from the hospital yard by a narrow street only, I found Brother
Sanders there, and shortly our nearest neighbor, Hadji Hussein Agha,
came in and said that at the outbreak which occurred at the Bazar,
he had hastened at the top of his speed--not great at best, for he
is a very fat man--to protect the hospital and girls’ school. As I
had saved his brother’s life by a desperate surgical operation some
years ago, and always been on friendly terms with him, I felt we
could trust him to do his best. But when, a few minutes later, some
200 soldiers in uniform, with fixed bayonets, filed out of the street
below and marched into the open just beyond the seminary, I felt a
great relief; for that meant that the government intended to protect
the Americans at least. From the upper veranda of the seminary we
could plainly see the crowd of plunderers breaking into Christian
houses and carrying off household goods. We could see the brave
defense made by some of the Christians from the housetops with stones
and firearms, where they had them, and still the horrid _lu-lu-lu_
of the Kurdish women rent the air, mingled with the screams of the
conquered, wounded and the dying, the hoarse cries of the men and
the frequent reports of the firearms. An attack was made upon the
hospital gate, but Hadji Hussein held the assailants in check until
the soldiers arrived and drove them off. Clouds of smoke from a
fire in the lower part of the city added to the terror of the women
servants at the hospital, some of whom lived in that neighborhood.
But the girls at the school behaved very well indeed. About noon,
seeing that there was no immediate danger of an attack upon the
seminary or hospital, I left Brother Sanders there and returned to
the college. Here I found some thirty or forty refugees, mostly
stonecutters, who had been out on the hills at work, and a few women
and children.
“Not long after noon the disturbance in the part of the city near
us had mostly ceased, although the occasional sound of guns and the
smoke of burning houses from the central part of the city showed that
the fiendish work still went on; and a continual passing of villagers
with bundles of plunder on their backs, and some with donkey loads
and camel loads, showed too plainly that the looted area must have
been considerable. Although not anticipating a night attack, we
thought it wise to make preparations for one, and so barricaded the
most defensible of the buildings on the campus for a rendezvous, set
a watch and retired. But there was not much sleep. Nothing occurred
during the night, and a cloudy morning broke above the city. At
sunrise the villagers had already begun to enter the city; but soon
after that the soldiers began to stop them, in a half-hearted sort of
way, allowing them to congregate in large numbers a short distance
away from the line of soldiers. About eleven o’clock I saw through
my field-glass a captain on a white horse (I recognized both the
man and the horse) approach a crowd of the plunderers, about two
hundred strong, who had been driven away from the city, upon the
hill, a quarter of a mile or so to the south, and make a harangue to
them. Then he turned back toward the city with the soldiers who had
been holding back the mob; and before they had reached the city the
whole crowd had swarmed past them and entered the streets; then I
knew the scenes of the day before were to be repeated, so taking my
field-glass I mounted to the college tower as offering a better view.
I did not have long to wait before the head of the crowd appeared,
coming up through Pasha Street, which had been completely looted the
day before. They poured out of the street, a motley crowd of Turkish
villagers, city Kurds, and roughs to the number of fifteen hundred or
so, and turning to the right made a rush for the Christian quarter of
Haik. That quarter has a strong gate across its entrance, and thirty
or forty Christians were gathered upon the housetops, commanding the
approach to this gate, armed with stones and two or three guns; and
with the advantage afforded by their position on the flat roofs they
held the mob at bay for three-fourths of an hour, and finally drove
them off. Meantime, on the north side of the city, I saw the same
Yûzbashi on the white horse. Here there were, perhaps, one thousand
plunderers held in check by thirty or forty soldiers. Not long after
the Yûzbashi made his appearance in that quarter, a part of their
mob made a break, and some two or three hundred of them rushed into
a small Christian quarter just under the seminary wall, and in a
very few minutes were to be seen running off with their plunder.
In the case of both these attacks there were plenty of soldiers
standing about with loaded guns and fixed bayonets, who made not
the slightest attempt to prevent the attack, or to scatter the mob;
and the conclusion was irresistible that the Yûzbashi on the white
horse had planned the attack in each case, or at least had signified
to the mob that it could work its will. But his plans did not work
altogether to his taste, for while the plunder was going on upon the
north side, a Bimbashi (colonel) appeared upon the scene, and very
soon the soldiers were firing over the heads of the mob to frighten
them, and they were flying pellmell out of the city. I wondered at
the time that they should be so much frightened by a few guns fired
into the air; but from a perfectly reliable source we learned that
the Bimbashi shot four of the mob with his own hand, which would
account for the celerity with which they dispersed. I attempted to
go to the hospital yesterday morning and again this morning, but
was not allowed to do so. Mr. Sanders brought word that the wounded
of the north side attack yesterday, had been taken to the hospital,
and one of them had died in the night, others being in a bad way.
Dr. Hamilton had cared for them with the help of Miss Trowbridge and
Solomon, our surgical assistant. We are as yet unable to form any
idea of the number of the killed and wounded, or of the extent of
the plundering, although we know of four outlying Christian quarters
that have been entirely looted. The main part of the Christians live
in the two quarters of Haik and Kyajuk, which have so far escaped.
The women and children of two quarters that were entirely looted are
confined in the mosques of the quarters, with the choice of ‘Islam
or death;’ but if not murdered before that time will, of course, be
liberated as soon as the government gets control of the city again.
To-day the plunderers from outside have been kept out of the city,
but villagers have been freely allowed to go out of the city with
their booty, until just now as I write this, at 2 P.M., a company
of mounted gendarmes from Aleppo, which arrived this morning, has
been sent out into the roads leading out of the city, to arrest
plunderers and take their booty from them.
“This, I take it, means that the trouble is nearly over. How I
wish that I could get into the city to look after the wounded. We
have made application to the governor for permission to go to the
hospital, but have as yet received no reply; yesterday he refused a
similar request, and as there is a large body of soldiers between
here and there, it is impossible to go.
“Sunday Evening, November 24th.
“It seems at least a month since I wrote the first part of this
letter. Tuesday morning I was allowed to go into the city to see the
Kaimakam and the ‘Alai Pasha’--military commander--in whose company
I found most of the notables of the Moslem community. I appealed to
them for safe conduct for the wounded to be brought to the hospital
and for burial of the dead. Both of which requests they granted; and
I had not been back at the hospital more than half an hour when Dr.
Habib, with an escort of soldiers, brought in some fifty or sixty
patients. We were soon at work, and a ghastly set they were. They had
been wounded upon the Saturday before, and had lain either exposed
to the weather or crowded into a dirty stable all that time. Those
who had escaped the ministration of the native hakim were fortunate;
for all the wounded which he had touched were in a terribly septic
state. The wounds were mostly made by knives or swords upon the
heads, or hands and arms raised to ward off the head blows; and very
few of the poor fellows had escaped without several, and some of
them had ten or a dozen cuts. There were a few bayonet and gunshot
wounds inflicted by the soldiers. In the middle of the afternoon,
just as we began to congratulate ourselves that we were getting
through with them, a batch of twenty-one more arrived, which kept us
busy until dark. Among those brought in that day there were four or
five fractured skulls, and two arms that I had to amputate, besides
several other very severe cases. Three of them have since died. Each
day since there have been some new cases brought in, until the number
of wounded that we have treated at the hospital now exceeds 150. We
have as yet no means of knowing the number of the dead; for while
they readily promised protection for the burial, that promise was not
carried out. Most of the Christian dead were dragged to the outskirts
of the city with every imaginable indignity and either burned or cast
into the old quarries that abound upon the edge of the city, and left
for the dogs and vultures to eat. Some of them, after being thrown
into these pits, were covered out of sight by casting stones upon
them. The best estimate obtainable puts the number of the killed at
between 300 and 400 for the Christians and 10 or 12 from the Moslems.
The massacre began in the market without the slightest warning, and
the poor unarmed Christians were scattered like sheep before their
well-armed assailants, who outnumbered them three to one. The carnage
soon spread from the bazars and markets to the outlying Christian
quarters of the city. All the Christian shops were plundered, and
four outlying wards, mostly occupied by the poorest classes. When the
mob reached the more compact Christian quarters of the city, they met
with some vigorous resistance; and many of the streets have heavy
gates which were closed, and some of them well defended; so their
progress was checked, until night came down and put an end to the
scene. So far as I can learn there was no attempt made by either the
government or the Moslem beys and effendis during the whole of that
terrible Saturday to stop the killing and looting, except that they
hurried a large force of soldiers out for the defense of the foreign
residents. The soldiers took part in the pillage and did nothing to
prevent the butchery, although not doing a large part of the latter
themselves. The following day they began to repress the populace,
as I have already narrated in the earlier part of this letter, and
up to the present have succeeded in preventing any further general
outbreak; but the poor Christians are terror-stricken, and all of
them await their death in their houses or the churches. Yesterday
there was a determined attempt upon the part of a large mob to attack
the Christian part of the city, but the military quelled it without
much difficulty. This took place upon the southern side of the city;
and while the soldiers were mostly withdrawn to that side, two or
three houses were looted upon the northern side of the city, but no
one killed.
“December 8th, 1895.
“The time drags on, with no great change in the situation. There
has been no further outbreak since my last writing, and the strain
seems somewhat relaxed; but the Christians dare not stir out of
their houses yet, and all business is at a standstill. The college
is still shut off from the city by a cordon of soldiers; and I am
the only one allowed to go back and forth without obtaining special
permission each time from the captain of the guard, and I am not
allowed to enter the city except with a guard of two soldiers.
This is ostensibly for my protection, but practically restricts
my intercourse with the people very much, and debars me from much
information that I might otherwise obtain. We had from Judge Terrell
a telegraphic offer of an armed escort to the coast, where a United
States cruiser awaited us; but we could not entertain the thought of
leaving these poor people in their terror and distress, although we
were in a good deal of anxiety for our women and children. There are
now between 3,000 and 4,000 soldiers in the city, and so long as they
remain under the control of the authorities there is no danger of
another massacre. There are rumors among the Moslems of a commission
coming here this week to investigate the massacre, and they are in a
good deal of apprehension.
“Yesterday the Kaimakam asked me if I were willing to go to Zeitun
on behalf of the government to negotiate for peace. I, of course,
expressed myself as willing and glad to do so if the government
would offer such terms as these Zeitunlis might probably accept, and
he proceeded to communicate with higher officials. I have not yet
had any further advice from him. I have managed to get a half-day’s
rest to-day for the first time in three Sabbaths. Our patients are
all doing well, except one, who may very likely die from thrombosis
of the cerebral sinuses. The best information I can get leads me
to place the killed at not less than 400. The attack was wholly
unprovoked, and the fact that not more than ten Moslems were killed,
shows for itself that it was a mere butchery. Women and girls were
not molested except in a few cases, when they attempted to defend
their husbands or sons; but little boys were killed as ruthlessly
as the men. It has been a terrible time, and I have not written the
horrible details that you must have before you in order to realize
the fiendish brutality of the affair. One thing which has made it
particularly hard to bear has been the impossibility of communicating
with the outside world, either to learn what is going on there or
to acquaint others with the state of things here. Our letters have
been intercepted in the mails, no newspapers allowed to reach us,
our telegrams not sent, etc.; and when we have attempted to send
special messengers, they have been arrested and treated as spies,
imprisoned, and we think in two cases killed. Letters are not now
interfered with to the same extent as before, and if things continue
to improve I shall try to send this by next post. We have felt that
the Everlasting Arm was underneath us through it all, and it has been
a great pleasure to me personally to be able to help the sick and
wounded. What is to become of the thousands of homeless widows and
orphans during the coming winter? Aintab has escaped with little loss
as compared with many places; and still in Aintab there are at least
2,000 people who must be _wholly_ supported by charity during this
winter.”
Three days after the attack at Aintab came the massacre at Marash.
There had already been one outbreak on November 13th, and for four
weeks there had been increasing disturbance, but the chief massacre
occurred on the 18th. As to the first, an eye-witness wrote:
“Thus far at least fifty have been killed, and perhaps 300 have been
wounded, some of them fatally. The affair is attributed to a quarrel
between a Mussulman and an Armenian, in which the Mussulman was fatally
injured. This was on the 24th of October. The next day, after the man
was buried, the attack began. According to a Turkish official the
outbreak would have occurred in any case, even had not this fatal
altercation precipitated it. The disorder commenced on Friday, the
25th. Word came around that the plan had been to have it on Sunday,
when the Armenian population would have been in the churches. We do
not certainly know this. But nothing could be more apparent than that
it was, at least, a permitted massacre. The worst occurred after the
Mutessarif had sent a crier around three times to order the Armenians
to open their shops on pain of fine. Those who obeyed had their shops
pillaged. This is only too significant. Not a Moslem has been arrested
for injuries to Christians. A few who aided the Christians have been
arrested. The order of the day now is gradually to arrest the Armenians
who are prominent in influence or position. Two days ago the pastor of
the Third Protestant Church was imprisoned. He is as innocent of any
political crime as I am.”
As to the second attack, the following letter gives an interesting
account. It was written from the Girls’ College, on the mountain just
outside of the city:
“MARASH, Nov. 26th.
“We survived the massacre of Nov. 18th, though we had given up all
hope for hours. For four weeks previously Christians had been shot at
sight in the streets, houses plundered, men’s heads put on pikes, and
two cases in my knowledge where little girls had been disemboweled.
It was a reign of terror, culminating in the butchery of the 18th.
Early that morning the three church quarters were fired, and the
steady report of the guns told us of the work of annihilation.
“We took the girls (of the college) and crossed the seminary yard
into the one occupied by the Lees and McCalloms. It was not a moment
too soon, as the houses overlooking their walls were then being
plundered, and we plainly saw what was in progress. It was about
9 o’clock. The Arab soldiers had been turned loose on the city. A
number of regiments were drawn up west of the city ready to lend
assistance if there should be any opposition. A company was on a
hill near us, not regulars, but still in uniform, to see that no one
interfered here, and the Arab fiends had possession. I cannot now
describe the scenes we witnessed. The raiding of the houses in the
seminary yard, the killing of our two men and a third riddled with
bullets. Finally they were held up and chopped and hacked with the
sword as mercilessly and with as little purpose as a child attacks
a mullein head. After the soldiers had left to carry away a load of
our academy stores, the old women and children came in to carry away
what was left. It seemed the plan that everything must go. I had
said, ‘There will be a larger and better organized force come here,
for they may think we can resist.’ There were 290 people in the two
houses, chiefly women and children, and as still as death; and our
girls, our sweet-faced girls, who tortured us with no wailing, but
looking, in a heart-rendering manner, into our faces for the comfort
and assurance that had never failed before. Everything was given
over. The smoke and dusk were closing in around us. The seminary yard
was nearly finished. A lull of perhaps a moment. We peeped through
the curtains (Miss B. and I), and turning to each other, quietly
said, ‘They’ve come.’
“A large force of Arabs was in the street, drawn up in order, each
with his gun ready for firing, I thought, and started to go below
to our girls, to be with them to the last. Someone was pounding on
the street door, and we heard friendly calls. Mr. McCallom gave a
glance at his wife and babies and said, ‘I must go,’ and he went.
The calling continued and we were puzzled. But the gate, on being
opened, let in some of our people and a colonel who had come with a
guard--the first in all that day. We had seen the man on horseback
in the afternoon, riding among the soldiers and playfully hitting
them on the shoulders as if pretending to drive them away. This only
made us feel sure that the government had doomed us and wanted a
pretext for trying to protect us. Fortunately for me, the two wounded
theologues were brought in, and I had my hands full till midnight,
when one of them died. The other was shot and hacked up terribly,
but I dressed his wounds and he is still alive. The condition in
the city is beyond description. Starvation on every hand; the best
of our people gone. The soldiers estimate as their day’s work 4,700
dead, but it is too much. They were occupied with plunder. One young
man was given the alternative of death or becoming a Moslem. He
chose death and they struck his head off. His poor body was taken
to his mother, who, taking his hand and kissing it, said: ‘Rather
so, my son, than living to deny our Lord and Saviour.’ He is one of
thousands to sacrifice his life rather than deny Christ.”
This, however, was not all. At Zeitun, not far away, the Turkish
troops had made an effort to attack the Armenians. They in their turn
arose, made the Turks prisoners, fortified their position and defied
the government. The effect was manifest in Marash, which was made the
headquarters for the troops that soon came pouring in to put down this
sole instance of real insurrection in the whole empire. From that
time on, riot in greater or less degree was continuous, and every
Christian in the city, foreigner and native, lived in constant terror.
For more than three months the brave Zeitun men held out, trusting
in their own pluck, skill and knowledge of the country, and at last,
late in February, 1896, the Turkish Government was forced to give them
honorable terms of peace.
For a month attention was specially directed to Zeitun and the mountain
cities, including Adiaman, but by the middle of December there were
indications that trouble was to break out again in Urfa. That city
was for a long time identified with Ur of the Chaldees, not merely by
Moslem tradition, but in Christian books. It was, too, the seat of
government of Abgar, the Armenian king, to whom, according to Armenian
historians, Thaddeus preached, and who had the unique honor of a
letter from the Saviour. Here, too, was the home of Ephrem Syrus, the
famous ecclesiastic of the earlier Syrian Church. Moslem and Christian
interest and pride centered alike about the place, and in some respects
there was exceptional Moslem fanaticism. In the city was a single
American missionary lady. Anxious for her safety, the missionaries
at Aintab had made efforts to bring her there, but she remained. Her
account of the scenes at that time is given below:
LETTER FROM A MISSIONARY.
“We had often heard that the Moslems were dissatisfied with the
attempt of two months ago which resulted in the destruction of only
40 lives and about £150,000 worth of goods, the plunder of 600
shops and 289 houses. After this the Christians were all completely
disarmed by the government. Some 80 men had been imprisoned, and we
feared another scene of terror. It came at last with great suddenness.
“On Saturday, December 28th, the firing of a few guns in the Moslem
quarter south of us proved the signal. Immediately an immense
multitude gathered on the hill back of our house. The guards in the
street east of us went to meet the people, fired a few shots over
their heads, and then allowed the mass of wild humanity, thirsty for
blood, to pass into the city and begin their work. The horrid work
continued until dark. Three soldiers kept the mob from entering our
street, constantly proclaiming: ‘It is the house of a foreigner, and
it is forbidden to touch her.’ We find by count that our ‘shadow’
covered 17 houses and 240 people. The mob came as far as to enter
our girls’ schoolrooms in the churchyard, and they broke open the
third door below us on the street and plundered the house. I saw one
man beaten and then thrown down on the roof just opposite to me on
the other side of the street. The Syrians and Roman Catholics were
also spared. All other Christians suffered complete loss of all home
furnishings, and some houses were burned. The number of killed cannot
be less than 3,500 and may reach 4,000. Of these it is estimated
that 1,500 perished in the great Gregorian church. On Saturday
that portion of the city was hardly touched, and great numbers of
Armenians flocked to the church for safety that night. Sunday morning
the work began again at daybreak, and when the people reached the
church the soldiers broke open the doors. Then entering, they began
a butchery which became a great holocaust. It was participated
in by many classes of Moslems. For two days the air of the city
was unendurable; then began the clearing up. During two days we
saw constantly men lugging sacks filled with bones and ashes. The
dragging off of 1,500 bodies for burial in trenches was more quickly
completed, some being taken on animals. The last work of all has
been the clearing of the wells. From one very large well it is said
that 60 bodies were taken. It is well authenticated that 20 bodies
were taken from another well. About 300 persons escaped from the
church by way of the roof, which was reached by a narrow staircase
on the inside. Shortly after noon on Sunday, some fifteen or more of
the prominent citizens and government officials (not including the
Mutessarif, or the military commander), preceded by a military band
and mounted guard, made a grand parade of the city. They entered our
yard, and, speaking with me from the veranda, they assured me of
perfect safety and begged me not to be alarmed, as it was ‘nothing
that pertained to me.’ I very quickly went into my room.
“The work did not cease until dark on Sunday, the 29th. On Monday
the Kurds and Arabs were prevented from entering the city, the firing
beginning about dawn. All day Sunday a strong guard was about our
premises. A captain of the army sat on his horse for hours at our
northwest corner, just outside of the church premises. Repeatedly I
received salutations and assurances of perfect safety from government
officials during that longest day I ever knew. It was evident that
the utmost was done to protect _me_. How willingly I would have died,
that the thousands of _parents_ might be spared for their children!
“The work of plunder is complete. Literally naught remains. By actual
count only ten Protestant houses remain untouched, and five of these
are in the district which I have spoken of as my shadow.
“Our loss of life is 105, all but nine being men. These nine include
two women and seven children, who were in the Gregorian Church
when it was sacked. Our wounded are many. I have eighteen under my
immediate care. Most of these have several severe wounds. One has 11;
one has 18; ghastly sword and axe cuts on head and neck. There are
a few gunshot wounds. There is only one doctor for the whole city.
He has 350, and cannot care for more, nor for these but in part.
He came at my call to see one who we supposed must lose his hand,
dressed the arm and committed the case to my care. Thus far, thank
God, all are doing well. I have found three persons who, like myself,
are inexperienced in such matters; but they are proving careful,
sensible workers with me. We dress most of the wounds in the church.
Our schoolrooms (all but one, used as headquarters of our guard) are
crowded with some 250 or 300 of the most forlorn and needy. Our home
is also full. Those who are spared to their families are in great
fear, and wish to be near me. We cannot receive all, and it is hard
to daily turn away so many. Some have a little food, found in their
houses, and some nothing. One of the several great men who have
called to express sympathy, and to say, Turkish style, ‘It was from
God,’ has sent provisions, for which I am exceedingly grateful.
“The government provides about 200 loaves of bread per day for the
poor. But all this kindness will soon come to an end, and utter
poverty will be the lot of most. The Protestant pastor, the Rev. H.
Abouhayatian, and several efficient members of the church, are among
the dead. I tried to secure the body of the pastor, but failed. His
children--six--they immediately granted to me.
“The custom in these affairs, so general in Turkey, seems to be for
one party to rush ahead and kill. This is followed by another party
which hurries off the women and children to some mosque, khan or
some Moslem home temporarily open for their reception. Lastly, this
operation is followed by the stripping of the house. Children often
get separated from their parents and are late in being found. One of
the earliest offers made to me was to undertake finding any lost if
I would send in the full name. My own guards, twenty in number since
Sunday, do my every bidding as if I were a queen. I use them for help
in all sorts of ways.
“Markets are closed, and it is very difficult to get some things much
needed. We have had but forty-five beds given back to us of those
plundered, and a few pieces of copper; as yet I fail to secure more,
or instructions as to method of procedure for individuals to secure
stolen goods. The government has large numbers of beds and much
copper ware stored for return to the owners, but all fear to stir
lest the end has not yet come.
“The aged Bishop of the Gregorians was spared, but only one, or
possibly two priests.
“Our own teacher of the Boys’ High School and several Gregorian
teachers were killed. I believe the Gregorians are in greater
suffering than the Protestants, having no foreigner to do for them,
and any efficient ones spared are afraid to venture out.
“To-day the long-expected soldiers have arrived--eight or nine
hundred. Our city has been guarded (?) by resident soldiers. We must
have your prayers and your pecuniary aid. How are the people to live
through this winter?
“URFA, January 7th, 1896.”
[Illustration:
SCENE OF SLAUGHTER. Showing how the unarmed Armenians were clubbed
and shot to death by the fanatical and bloodthirsty Moslems.]
[Illustration:
IMPRISONING ARMENIANS. This is from a sketch by an eye-witness of the
brutal seizure of Armenians, and either murdering them or forcing
them into the Prison or Death-house at Stamboul.]