News Reports From The International Press
LONDON, July 26. — The News gives the following details of the recent riots at Erzeroum: “On June 20 the soldiery were ordered to disperse Armenians who were holding a meeting in a churchyard. The soldiers began a massacre of the Armenians and the Turkish populace joined in the attack. The shops and houses of the Armenians were pillaged. The sack lasted four hours”.
The British Consulate, at which on the same night a fête was being given for the benefit of poor Armenians, was stoned and its gates and windows were broken. The Consul and the members of his family took refuge in the cellars of the building and the fête was abandoned. The American Mission served as a refuge for fifty fugitives.
Numbers of Armenians, relying on the promises of Turks to escort them to places of safety, were murdered in the streets. Fifty bodies have been found, mostly of persons who were bayoneted; 350 persons were wounded, and 100 are missing.