The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-01-29

Judge OF crimes, though so protracted,
tory account OF it's origin than il found in the
statement that IL began between drunken sail
ors Repeatedly In the correspondents II is as
serted that Il was impossible to learn the pre-
else cause Of the riot The minister Of foreign
affairs, Malta In his telegram to Mr.. MOntt, I'M
Der date q December 81, states that the quar-,
was continued In the street, persons who were
passing joining In II.
The testimony Of Talbot an apprentice, who
which they were involved was begun by N
Gillian sailor splitting In the face OF Talbot.
pears that RigBin and Talbot were at the time
unaccompan1ed by any others Of thsir ship
ATE h rnsss TWO w men were imedlatsy De-
through which they broke their way to a street
car and entered it for safety. They were
RiTEin was SO seriously beaten that
he fell in the street apparent
y dead. There is nothing in the report OF the
impeaches this testimony. 1t appears from
CHILEAN sources that almost instantly, with
suddenness that strongly implies meditation
authorities ut one time to number 1000 and at
another loo, was engaged in the assault upon
sailors, who are represented as resisting
with stones, clubs and bright arms" Ths
report Of the intendente Of October 30
states that the fight began at p. m. in three
streets which are named; that information was
received at the intendencia at 6:l5, and that the
police arrived ON the scene Mt $40, full half
hour after tbs assault began: At that time he
says that mob Of 1000 men had collected. and
that for several squares there was the appear
ance of n real battlefield"
The scene at this point is very graphically set
before us by the Chilian Testimony. THE Amer
lean sailors, who, after SO long an examination,
have not been found guilty Of breach of the
TO discover, unarmed and defenseless, are fee
ing for their lives, pursued by overwhelming
nun ss ana M ~ only 70 aa tnslr own es
life is in greater peril. Eighteen Of them are
brutally stabbed and beaten, while one Gillian
seems, from the report, to have suffered some
of weapon. or whether by missile thrown by
our men or by some Of his fellow rioters, is un-
The pretense that our men were fighting with
stones, clubs, and bright arms, !" is, in view of
these facts, incredible. 1t Is further refuted by
the fact that our prisoners, when searched, were
absolutely without arms, only seven pen knives
being found in the possession OF the men ar
rested, while there were received by our men
which was inflicted in the back, and almost
every confused wound was in the back or back
of the day is that even the jack knives of the
men were taken from them before leaving the
ship.
As to the brutal nature of the treatment re-
ceived by our men. the following extract from
the account given of the affair by the La Patria
newspaper, OF Valparaiso, of October IL, can
not be regarded as too friendly: 1.-THE Yankees.
as soon rs their pursuers gave chase, went by
way Of the Gale Del Arsenal toward the city
number of citizens, among whom were some
sailors, the North Americans took seats in the
street-car 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
around and stopped it's progress. Under these
circumstance, and without any cessation OF the
bowling and throwing of stones at the North
Americans, the conductor entered the car, and
seeing the risk Of the situation to the vehicle,
ordered them to get out At the instant the
sailors left the car, in the midst of q hail of
stones, the said conductor received stone blow
on the head. One OF the Yankee sailors
ton Of the Plaza Ss~p Wheeiright, but the he
other was felled to the ground by stone.
Managing to raise himself from the ground
ton from the station. In front Of the house of
Senior Mazzini he again wounded, falling
then senseless and breathless-"
to cloud or clear vision Of this brutal work 1t
should be noticed, In this connection, that the
American American sailors arrested for an a ex,
following the arrest, every one
discharged, no charge Of any breach of the
sustained against single of them. The
judge of crimes, Foster, in note to the in
tendente, under date of October 22-before the
dispatch from this government of the following
day, which aroused the authorities of Chill to a
better sense of the gravity Of the affair-says:
Having presided Temporarily over this court
cruiser Baltimore, who have been tried
ON account of the deplorable conduct
here is that our sailors had been tried be-
fore the I'D OF October, and that the trial re-
suited IN their acquittal and return to their yes
sci. 1t ts quite remarkable and quite character
istic of the management of this affair by the
CHILEAN police authorities, that we should now be
advised that Seaman Davidson of the Balti-
more, has been included in the indictment, his
offense being, so far as / have been aDle to as
certain, that he attempted to defend shipmate
with a knife. The perfect vindication of our
men is furnished by this report; one only is
found TO have been guilty OF criminal fault.
and that for an act clearly justifable.
AS to the part taken by tine police in the affair
the case made by Chill is also far from satsfac-
tory. The point where Riggin was killed is only
not more than twice that distance from the in
tendencia, and yet, according to their official re-
port, a full half hour elapsed after the assault
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 il such statement was procured
from our men it was accomplished by requiring
them TO sign a writing in language they did
il was a mere declaration that they had taken
no part in the disturbance Lieut. McCrea-
who acted as interpreter, says in his evil
amined bsfore the court the subject of the
conduct OF the police was so carefully avoided
that he reported the fact to Capt Schley on his
ence OF animosity towards sailors i'm the
minds of sailors OF the CHILEAN navy and of the
various as TO leave no doubt in the mind of any
one who will examine the paper submitted. It
10 manifested in threatening and insulting gest-
ures toward our men as they passed the Gillian
man-of- war in their boats and in the dert-
sive and abusive epithets with which they greet
ed every appearance OF an American sailor on
the evening of the riot. Capt Schley reports
that boats from the Gillian war ships several
times went out of their course to cross the bows
OF his boats compelling them to back water. He
complained of the discourtesy and it was cor
rected- That this feeling was shared by men of
higher rank Is shown by an incident related by
battle Of Placilla. he, with other medical
officers Of the war vessels in the har
the wounded in the hospitals. The son Of a
Gillian 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
Ieenng Is nor well concealed IN the oispatcnes
OF the foreign Office, and had quite open ex-
preston in the disrespectful treatment of the
American legation. The CHILEAN boat
men 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 70 escape from the city on the
night of the assault. The boats of the Balti-
more were threatened, and even quite recently
the gig of Commander Evans of the Yorktown
The evidence OF our sailors clearly shows that
the attack WAS expected by the Gillian people,
that threats had been made against our men, and
in one case, somewhat early in the afternoon,
the keeper of one house, into which some of
our men had gone closed his establishment in
anticipation Of the attack which h. advised
them would be made upon them when darkness
came on In report Of Capt Schley TO the
navy department he says: In the only inter
view that had with Judge Foster who is in
vestigating the case relative to the disturb
ances, before he was aware of the entire 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