Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-11-15
Written by One of the Sailors Of
the u. S. S. Baltimore
JUST BEFORE THE ATTACK.
The ChiIians Had the Best Kind of Provocation
for Doing Up the Americans.
Sailors of the San Francisco Attacked by
Chilians-Two Chilians Were Killed.
They then Laid for the Men
of the Baltimore.
A New Feature of the Chilli Middle.

Special TO the Gazette.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14.-The attack upon
the sailors of the United States steamer
Baltimore was made October Is, nearly a
month ago, but up TO this time neither the
state department nor the navy department
has beer supplied with any account of the
attack that explains its suddenness or fur
nishes any specific occasion for so violent
an exhibition of dislike for Americans
The suggestion that the attack was the re
suit of excuses of party of drunken sail
ors was resented, and Capt. Schley declared
that Riggan, the man killed, was not intoX-
icated.
The navy department has given out no
circumStantial account of the time, place or
character of the outbreak. Persons who
were inclined TO look for something like an
immediate provoking cause have failed to
find it. Possibly there was q provocation
for the attack that has not been made
known.
There was received in this city yester-
day by the same mail that brought the
Gillian papers Of October 10, letter from
seaman on the Baltimore. He is just a
plain ordinary sailor, who can write graph
ically but accurately. \ correspondent of
the Times copied from his letter the follow
ing interesting passages:
Il would say that | am sick of Chill and
its surroundings. 1t was bad enough be-
it looks like they want to do the Americans
up. Here is one thing that is so: Just
after the rebs captured Valparaiso and
gained their victory and ended the war, the
San Francisco was here. Her captain gave
the men liberty, and while they We're on
shore that night the Chilians tried to mob
them. The sailor boys had to fight like
niggers to hold their own. There We're two
Chilians killed and quite 4 number that
We're badly used up. Several of the
F'riscos got hurt, but no one was killed. So
it is all day with the Americans, they say,
if any of them come on shore again. Capt.
Schley won't give US any liberty until the
trouble is settled. They call the Baltimore
the white devil and the Frisco the white
She.n
As the letter was written not later than
October 10, and the attack on the Baltimore
was October 16, it is just possible that the
Chilian rabble waited for the first visit of
the American sailors to "get even" with
them. 1t is seen from the letter that Capt
Schley was waiting until the trouble is
settled, and that the men are not going
ashore frequently
Assistant Secretary Seeley was disposed
to regard the letter as interesting, but he
doubted that the papers of Valparaiso
would have overlooked street fight in
which two men We're killed by American
sailors. Still it was possible that there
was fight, and that it may have been pro-
voked by Gillian resentment, but he had
not heard of it before. The news the de-
partment had received was that that the
attack was evidently prearrangeG, and that
it was made simultaneously at several
points. There is a suspicion that the navy
department is reserving some information,
even if it is already more than half guessed,
and there continues to be an impression
that Admiral Gherardi is under instruc-
tions to keep his feet in readiness to pro-
coed to Chill at once if occasion should
arise