The record-union., 1892-01-20

tney ulu not Know each other. nor had
they spoken to each other until they met
at the scene OF boatswain mate Higgins
| death? How is it that before knowing
Langin he deposes that on the day of the
! occurrence they were dining together in
/ a clearinghouse? johnson also says
/ that on the day of the occurrence he
dlned together with Langin in an eating
house in Cochrane street. Moreover, is
! 1t possible that the act Of raising the
wounded man, and knowing if he walks
or not could pass unobserved under such
! or any other circumstances? The con-
clusion drawn is that persons who in
dulge in such inconsistencies are not
worthy of belief
| He says further: 'sTheir testimony is
contradicted by that of numerous wit
nesses, which fully proves that it is not
| possible TO attribute Higgins death to
the police, but to the work of some I'M
known person thus far undecided. 1
Will add the testimony of those numerous
witnesses is as full of inconsistencies as is
that of Johnson and Langin. Further,
their testimony confirms much of john
| sons and Langin's, Sucn as the rising Of
| Rggin; calling for liquor; holding Rig
| gins head on Johnsons shoulder; hear
| ing shots, etc. But no one testified who
! hred the shot. Langin's testimony was
| substantially this: When Riggin rose the
! nfsL ul1e two policemen came up. They
! drew short swords and knocked him
down again, then stood back and let the
crowd beat him. Afterward a SQUAD of
soldiers approached, and marched by
! tWoS under command of mounted
officer. They marched to within a few
| 1eet from where johnson was holding
Riggin in his arms. There they halted,
and the first two soldiers leveled rifles
and fired at the two American sailors.
Il was about fifteen feet of on one
side, continued Langin. No one was
between me and them, the crowd being
back Of the soldiers at that moment. No
other shots were fired by anyone. l dis
tlnctly saw the soldiers level their rifles
at the Baltimore's men and fire The
| crowd had drawn back when the soldiers
came up, leaving clear passage between
Riggin and the soldiers. After the first
shot was fired the soldiers pressed for
ward little, and could not see the Sec
ond man who fired, but am sure it was
one of the leading soldiers who fred AS
many witnesses exist who are ready to
say the shot was fired by the police as
there are that deny.
''Then follows the report of the expert
on the bullet-hole He says: Opinion is
divided on this point among the doctors
still, and while they assert as their opin-
ion that it was caused by rifle-ball, it is
rejected because they give no reason for
the opinion
'Drs. Corvallis and Calderon maintain
that they cannot tell if the bullet caused
Higgins death, and give as reason that
they saw the body the day after death
This is accepted.
1.-Two Chilean experts express the opin-
ion that the holes in the shirt may have
been made by large-sized revolver, but
can give no opinion as to what caused the
holes in the neckerchief Lieutenant
! McCree expressed the same opinion, but
: says the hole in the shirt was caused by a
ride-bullet. He made a strong point of
the fact that the report of firearms was
very slight, Notwithstanding the evidence
that there was great tumult in the
street. The evidence is conflicting as to
whether one or two shots were fired"
The PrOcurator tries to make a strong
point in the following language, in
order to demonstrate the falsity of the
assertion of ohnSon and Langin: 'tTheSe
bring to mind a number of incidents
which admit of no other course but to re-
ject their evidence. Johnson deposes
that he had Higgins head on his breast
when two shots were fired on the group
formed by them, and they produce as
proof neckerchief and sailors shirt
pierced by bullet. If this had been so.
is it possible that a rife ball, which can
pertOrate several persons, would not
have touched him? If what they assert
be true, they ought to have exhibited
bloodstainS, which must have remained
on the shirt. In all his dispositions john
son forgets this incident, which would
have given greater coloring of truth to
his assertions
He then asks: SIS it possible to be-
lieve them ?' The plain answer to this
question is the question Of the fact that
the bullet passed diagonally downward
through the loose shirt of johnson and
into higgins neck. 1t could easily have
done so, and passed two inches from his
breast.
In the case of Turnbull there is much
conflicting testimony, but on the strength
of the admission by Charles Gomez that
he used knife against Turnbull, and the
evidence OF two witnesses that Jose Au-
mudha inflicted blows on the American,
and that Federico Rodriguez stabbed
Riggin in the hip, they find them guilty,
but add that there is no evidence to show
that TurnbulPs death was caused by
wounds inflicted by Carlos Gomez. John
| Davidson, q Baltimore sailor, was found
guilty of hitting with a stone a one
armed Chilean sailor who was knitting
an American sailor. The final findings
were as follows:
81 ask the court to condemn Federico
Rodriguez to minor punishment in a
| minimum degree offrom siXty-one to $40
days; Carlos Gomez to minor punish
ment in a maximum for three years;
John Davidson to prison in q medium
degree from ten to fifteen wears: Jose
from three years and one day to five
years.
A gentleman who understands the
Chilean people and Government very
| well says it is difficult to say what was
the motive of some of the Governments
conduct, unless it be war. Some things
can be explained away, and some
other things cannot. Sometimes they
seem bent on making difficulties, and
adding insult to injury, They have a
very good opinion of themselves, and
fancy they are very great diplomats, but
seem to care precious little for the diplo-
matte rights of others. Among some of
them, SO says my informant, the opinion
prevails that the United States would not
condescend to fight so inferior foe, but
among very many others there exists an
insane belief that she does not dare to
] do so.
One of the latest disclosures is the Curl
Gus fact that Thompson, correspondent of
the London Times, is trying to sell the
! Chilean Government man-of-war. This
man is acting in other directions tits he
who caused to be inserted in the Chilean
papers sensations from a lot of European
! Journals to the effect that the United
/ States has no navy worth noticing, and
! Chile could with no trouble at all sink all
| her ships and levy contributions on San
| Francisco. The Chileans when pressed
| hard, are forced to admit that they would
of necessity be compelled to submit to
the United States in the end. That would
| be tempered, however, and they would
be let down very easy by their superior
diplomacy.
The Chilean fleet has had steam ND for
the last three or four days, and they have
more or less torpedo practice every day.
The authorities now give out that the
ships are to go south for exercise. The
generally accepted rumor, though, is that
they have been ordered to the Straits of
! Magellan with the intention of lying in