The National tribune., 1892-01-28

[
an infraction Of Is rights and lightly; not ia
a secondary way. rs where a citizen IS injured
4 and presents his claim through his own Govern
ment, but in primary way, precisely rs IL its
+ Minister or Consul or the flag itself bad been
\ the object Of the same character of assault The
officers aud sailors 81 the Baltimore were in the
I harboT Of Valparaiso under the orders Of their
Government, not by their own choice. They
were upon shore by the implied invitation Of
+ the Government OF Chile and with the approval
Of their commanding officer, and II does not
distinguish their case from that Of Consul that
/ his stay ) moro permanent or that he holds the
/ express invitation Of the local Government 20
Justify his longer residence Nor does il affect
I the question that the injury was the act Of
mob If there had been
i No PARTICIPATION BY THE POLICE or MILL
TAEY
| in this cruel work and no neglect on their part
! 10 extend protection, the case would still be
one, in my opinion, when its extent and char
acter are considered, involving international
rights
The incidents Of the affair are, briefly, as
I follows:
On the 10th Of October last Capt Schley.
commanding the u. :. ). Baltimore, gave shore
leave 10 III petty officers and sailors Of his ship.
These men left the ship about l:3O p. IN. No
. incident Of violence occurred; none Of our men
were arrested; no complaint was lodged against
until about o'clock p. M. Capt. Schley states
that he was himself on shore and about the
streets of the city until $50 y. m. that he met
I very many Of his men who wero upon leave;
that they were sober aud were conducting
themselves with prOpriety, saluting Chilean
| and other officers as they met them. Other
! officers Of the ship aud Capt. jenkins, OF the
merchant ship keweenaw, cOrrUboralo Capt.
Schlcy as 10 the general sObriety and good be-
hayior OF our men. The Sisters of Charity at
the hospital 70 which our wounded men were
taken when inquired Of, stated that they were
sober when received. If the situation had
been otherwise, we must believe that the
Chilean police authorities would have made
arrests. About ?. IN. the assault began, and
10 is remarkable that the investigation by tho
Judge of Crimes, though so protracted, does not
enable him to give any more satisfactory ac-
count Of its origin than is found in the state
nent that IL began between drunken sailors.
Repeatedly in the correspondence it is asserted
that IL was impossible TO learn the precise cause
Of the riot. The Minister Of Foreign Affairs
Malta, in his telegram to Mr.. Montt. under
date Of Dec. 81, states that the quarrel began
between two sailors ia tavern and was con-
tinued in the street, persons who were passing
joining in il.
The testimony Of Talbot, an apprentice who
was with Riggin. is that the outbreak in which
they were involved began by Chilean sailor
splitting in the face Of Talbot, which was re-
sented by knock down. IL appears that Rig
gin and Talbot were at the time unaccompa-
MED by any others OF their shipmates. These
two men were Immediately beset by crowd Of
Chilean citizens and sailors, through which
I they broke their way TO street-car and entered
IL for safety. They were pursued driven from
the car, and Riggin seriously beaten
that he fell in the street, apparently dead.
There is nothing In the report OF tho Chilean
investigation made 20 Us that seriously i'm
peaches this testimony. It appears from Chilean
sources that almost instantly, with a sudden
ness that strongly implies meditation and
1 preparation. mob, stated by the police
authorities At one time to number 1000 and at
another 1900. WAS engaged in the assault upon
our sailors, who are represented as resisting
with stones, clubs and bright arms" The
report Of the IntCudente Of Oct. % states that
; the fight began At p. m. in three streets which
( are named, that information was received at the
Intendencia at G.l5, and that the police arrived
on the scene at $50, a full half hour after the
assault began. At that time De says that mob
OF 1900 men bad collected, and that for several
squares there was the appearance ola
"EEAL BATTLEFIELD"
. The scene at this point is very graphically
set before us By the Chilean testimony. The
American sailors. who after so long an exam
inatiOn, have not been found guilty OF any
breach Of the peace, so far as the Chilean au-
. tUUT4tlF- are tNie 20 discover NttFLitu anu At-
fcnseless. are fleeing for their lives pursued by
, overwhelming numbers, aud fighting only "a
I aid their own escape from death to succoI
some mate whose life Is in greater peril
Eighteen Of them are brutaily stabbed and
beaten. while one Chilean seems, from the re-
port 10 have suffered some injury; but how
serious or with what character Of weapon, OF
whether by "A missile thrown by our men or By
some Of his fcllOw-TioteTs is unascertained.
The pretense that our men were fighting
with stones, clubs and bright arms" is. il
view Of these facts, incredible. IL IS furthei
Tefuted By the fact that our prisoners, wher
I searched, were absolutely without arms Only
seven penknives being found in the possession
Of the men arrested, while there were received
: by our men more than 30 stab wounds, every
! one Of which was inflicted in the back, aud al
Z most every confused wound was in the back o
! back Of the head. The evidence Of the Ship
0 Officer Of the Day is that even the jackkniye
; Of the men were taken from them before loay
2 ing the ship.
> As TO THE BRUTAL NATURE
Of the treatment received by our men, the fol
= lowing extract from the account given Of tht
affair by the Ia Pairin newspaper, Of Valpa
, raise, Of Oct Il, cannot be regarded as to,
= friendly:
9 The Yankee. ~ soon ~ their pursuers CAV,
, chase went by way Of tho Gale del Arsenal towar'
the city car station la the presence Of nn ordinar,
= ors the North Americans took seals lea the street
J. car To- escape from the stones which the Clulean
4 threw Rt them 10 was believed FOR an instant tina
. : the North Americans had saved themselves from
\ popular fury, but such not the case Scarcely
u had the ear begun Ia move when n crowd gathered
around and stopped it, progress. Under these err
d l cum.iauCez aud without any cessation Of III
a bowling and throwing OF stones ~ the N"ru
Americans the conductor entered the car. and
seeing the risk Of the situation Ia the vehicle, or
dered them TO get out AZ the instant tlIe sailor
left ihc car. ia tHe midst of hail OF stones, tn
said conductor received u stone blow an the head
One Of the Yankee sailors managed To escape u
r the direction 81 the Plaza WheelW wright, hut TIA
a other was fclled TO the ground by stone Alanag
a ing 10 raise himself from the ground where he lay
\ he staggered ia opposite direction from the sta
- ton. Lea front Of tile house Of senior MaZZini ID
Wa- again wounded. falling then senseless an
Y brrAthless.
"A No amount Of evasion or subterfuge y abb
If 10 cloud our clear vision Of this brutal work.
y should be noticed, in this connection, that tn
n American sailors arrested. after an examina
ton were, during the four days following tn
r. arrest, every one discharged, no charge OF an
"a breach Of the peace or
M OTHER CRIMINAL CONDUCT
Ct having been sustained against single one q
them. The Judge Of Crimes. Foster, in Il not
y TO the Intendente, under date of Oct -
ne before the dispatch from this Government @
" the following day, which aroused the author
n ties OF Chile 20 a better sense of the gravity
a the affair-says: Having presided tempo
AZ raTily over this court in regard TO the seame
"a Of the United States cruiser Baltimore, VIII
q. have been tried on account Of the deplorabl