[Inclosure 1 in No. 463.]
Colonel Stewart to
Mr. Pratt.
British
Consulate-General,
Tabreez
,
June 11,
1890.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 3d instant, acknowledging receipt of my
letter from Ooroomeeyah dated 24th May. I have to thank Your Excellency
for the expression of your approval of what I did to obtain the arrest
of the murderer of Mrs. Wright.
I received your telegram, which reached me, in Persian, at Soutchbulak,
near the south end of the lake of Ooroomeeyah, on the 6th instant,
asking me to represent you at the proceedings taken against the murderer
of Mrs. Wright. I replied at once, in Persian, as telegrams could not be
sent from thence in English, saying I was about to proceed to Tabreez
for that purpose. Soutchbulak is 126 miles from Tabreez and I started at
once and made the distance in four long marches. There is no direct
chap-par from that place, or I should have come chappar.* I reached Tabreez on
10th June before the murderer of Mrs. Wright had arrived here. He was
brought in chained last evening, and I was informed of it this
morning.
I arranged that the first meeting to go into the case of murder should
take place tomorrow.
It is a sad story, the murder of Mrs. Wright. Though she was not by birth
an American, being a Nestorian, born in Turkish territory, she was a
highly educated lady who had been in America, and Mr. Wright, I
understand, is very much stricken by his loss. She leaves two young
children.
The murderer Minas had no grounds of quarrel either against her or Mr.
Wright, who had treated him most kindly. He had, however, made an
attempt to shoot both Mr. and Mrs. Wright the night previous to his
murder of Mrs. Wright, and was only foiled by their having changed the
position of their sleeping place, and he was thus unable to shoot them
through the window as he had intended.
[Page 670]
I have not yet seen the murderer, hut I hear he confesses to this first
attempt, so there is no palliation of the offense of murder committed by
him, and his crime undoubtedly deserves a death sentence.
Although the governor of Salmas was supine in the first instance, he did
exert himself after I arrived and had spoken strongly to him and his
successful arrest of the murderer and bringing him from Turkish
territory without encountering difficulties from the Turkish authorities
deserves some praise.
The missionaries themselves have given a reward of 50 tomans to 3 out of
the 4 capturers of the murderer. The fourth, a servant of the governor,
the governor would not allow to accept a share of the money, as he said
he was in the service of the Persian Government and could only be
rewarded through it.
I propose to address Your Excellency by the next post in view to a small
reward being given besides that already given by the missionaries.
I have expended no money as yet in the matter except a single toman for
information and the price of a few telegrams to you. I will let you know
the amount afterwards.
You may feel satisfied I shall do my best so far as it is in my power to
bring this business to a successful termination. His Excellency the Emir
Nizam seems ready to help in every way.
It is rumored, though I do not know if its true, that some Armenians
offered 200 tomans to the governor of Salmas if he would connive at the
escape of the prisoner.
I have, etc.,
C. E. Stewart,
Colonel, Her Majesty’s Consul-General,
Tabreez.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 463.]
Mr. Pratt to
Colonel Stewart.
Legation of the United States,
Teheran
,
June 18,
1890.
Sir: I have received your dispatch of the 11th
instant from Tabreez, acknowledging the receipt of the letter I
addressed you to that city on the 24th ultimo, as well as of my telegram
which reached you at Soutchbulak on the 6th of this month, your reply to
which came duly to hand.
The great fatigue of your 126 miles’ continuous ride from Soutchbulak to
Tabreez I fully appreciate, and, whilst sincerely thanking you for
having thus exerted yourself in order to reach the latter city upon the
prisoner’s arrival there, trust you will not suppose I should ever have
consented to your subjecting yourself to a like hardship could I have
anticipated your intention in the premises.
I note what you say about the criminal Minas having reached Tabreez in
chains on the evening of the 10th instant, and of the first session of
the court to try his case having been fixed for the day following that
on which you wrote.
The particulars you give of the Maid criminal’s previous attempt to
murder both Mr. and Mrs. Wright I have also carefully considered. As
regards the prosecution, I see no occasion to modify the recommendations
contained in my dispatches of the 12th and 14th instant, which you must
ere this have received.
The alteration which you refer to in the conduct of the governor of
Salmas after your appearance on the scene I shall bear in mind, and
hasten to assure you that it will afford me pleasure to act upon such
suggestions as you may think proper to make concerning the matter of
additional reward for the criminal’s pursuit and capture.
The question of the alleged attempt to bribe the governor of Salmas to
connive at the prisoner’s escape whilst the latter was in his custody it
might be well to investigate, but this I prefer to leave to your
discretion.
I am, etc.,
