Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-01-26

Is, in view of these facts, increditable.
1t is further refuted by the fact that our
prisoners, when searched, were absolutely
without arms, only seven penknives be-
ing found in the possession of the men ar
rested, while there were received by our
men more than thirty stab wounds, every
one of which was inflicted in the back,
and almost every confused wound was
in the back or back of the head. The evil
dence of the ships officer of the day is
that even the jackknives of the men
We're taken from them before leaving the
ship.
As to the brutal nature of the treatment
received by our men, the following eX-
tract from the account given of the affair
by Patria, newspaper, of Valparaiso, of
Oct. II, can not be regarded as too
friendly
''The Yankees, as soon as their pursuers
gave chase, went by way of the Gale del
Arsenal toward the city car station. In
the presence of an ordinary number of
citizens among whom were some sailors.
the North Americans took seats in the
street cars to escape from the stones
which the Chilians threw at them.
1T was believed for an instant that the
North Americans had saved themselves
from popular fury, but such was not the
case. Scarcely had the car begun to move,
when crowd gathered around and
stopped its progress. Under these cir
cumstances and without any cessation OF
the bowling and throwing of stones at
the North Americans the conductor en-
tered the car, and seeing the risk of the
situation to the vehicle, ordered them to
get out.
SAT the instant the sailors left the car
in the midst of a hail of stone, the said
conductor received a stone blow on the
head. One of the Yankee sailors man
aged to escape in the direction of the
plaza wheelwright but the other was
felled to the ground by stone
Managing TO raise himself from the
ground where he lay, he staggered in an
opposite direction from the station In
front of the house of Senior Mazzini he
was again wounded, falling there sense
less and breathless"
No amount evasion or subterfuge is able
to cloud our clear vision of this brutal
work 1t should be noticed, in this con-
nection, that the American sailors ar
rested, for an examination, We're, during
the four days following the arrest, eveAy
one discharged, no charge. of any breach
of the peace or other criminal conduct
having been sustained against a single
one of them.
The judge of crimes, Foster, in note to
the intendente, under date of Oct %, be-
fore the dispatch from this government
of the following day, which aroused IL e
authorities of Chill to a better sense of
the gravity of the affair, says "Havir g
presided Temporarily over this court in
regard to the seamen of the United States
cruiser Baltimore, who have been tried
on account of the deplorable conduct
which took place, ETC."
The noticeable point here is that our
sailors had been tried before the 22d of
October, and that the trial resulted in
their acquittal and return to their vessel.
a IL, ~
acteristic of the management of this
affair by the Chilian police autho--
tiles that we should now be ai-
vised that Seaman Davidson, of the Balti
more, has been included in the indic6-
ment, his offense being, SO far as i have
been able to ascertain, that he attempted
to defend a shipmate against an assailant
who was striking at him with knife.
The perfect vindication of our men Is fur
nished by this report. One only is found
to have been guilty of criminal fault, and
that for an act clearly justiliable.
As to the part taken by the police in the
affair the case made by Chill is also far
from satisfactory. The point where Rig
gin was killed is only three minutes
walk from the police station and not
more than twice that distance from the
and yet, according to their
official report, a full half hour elapsed after
the assault began before the police were
upon the ground.
1t has been stated that all but two of
our men have said that the police did
their duty, The evidence taken at Mare
Island shows that if such statement
was procured from our men it was ac-
by requiring them to sign a
writing in language they did not under
stand, and by the representation that it
was mere declaration that they had
taken no part in the disturbance.
Lieutenant McCrea, who acted as inter
prefer, says in his evidence that When oar
sailors were examined before the court
the subject of the conduct of the police
was so carefully avoided that he reported
the fact to Captain Schley on his return
to the vessel.
The evidence of the existence of ami
mostly toward our sailors in the minds Of
the sailors of the Chilian navy and of the
populace of Valparaiso are so abundant
and various as to leave no doubt in the
mind of any one who will examine the
papers submitted.
1t manifested itself in threatening and
gestures towards our men as
they passed the Chilian men-of-war in
their boats, and in the derisive and
abusive epithets with which they greeted
every appearance of an American sailor
on the evening of the riot. Captain
Schley reports that boats from the Chilian
MdI SHIPS btNGIdl LllIlt5 WGuD Ouh vi tilblI
course to cross the bows of his boats, com
pelling them to back water. He com
planned of the discourtesy and it was cor
rected. That this feeling was shared by
men of higher rank is shown bv an Incl
dent related by Surgeon Stitt, of the Bal
timore.
After the battle of Placcilla he, with
other medical officers of the war vessels
in the hGrbor, was giving voluntary assist
ance to the wounded in the hospitals.
The son of a Chilian army officer of high
rank was under his care, and when the
father discovered it he flew into passion
and said he would rather have his son
die than have Americans touch him, and
at once had him removed from the ward.
This feeling IS not well concealed in the
dispatches of the foreign office, and had
quite open expression in the disrespectful
treatment of the American legation.
The Chilian boatmen in the bay refused,
even for large offers of money, to return
our Sailors who crowded the mole, to
their ship when they were endeavoring to
escape from the city on the night ci the
assault, The market boats of the Balti-
more were threatened and even quite re-
Gently the gig of Commander Evans, of
the Yorktown, was stoned while waiting
for him at the mole.
The evidence our sailors clearly shows
that the attack was expected by the
Chilian people, that threats had been
made against our men, and that, in one
case somewhat early in the afternoon, tie
keeper of one house, into which some of
our men had gone, closed his establish
ment in anticipation of the attack which
he advised them would be made upon
them as dark ness came on.
In report of Captain Schley to the
navy department he says "In the only
interview had with Judge Foster, who is
Lurbance, befSre he was aware of the en-
tire gravity of the matter, he informed
me that the assault upon my men was the
outcome Of hatred for our people among
the lower classes, because they thought
we had sympathized with the Balmaceda
.off Ia Ifat