Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-26


United States, not to these poor sailors vino
were assaulted in manner SO brutal ana SO
cowardly.
Before attempting to give an outline Of
tue factS upon which this conclusion rests, L
think it right to say word or two upon the
legal aspect of the case.
The Baltimore was in the narbor of Valpa-
Ialso Dy virtue of that general lnvitatlon
Whlcn nations are held to extend 20 the war
vessels of other powers with which they
nave friendly relations. This invita- ton, L
thlnk, must be held ordinarily to embrace
the privilege of such communication with
the shore as is reasonable, necessary and
proper for the comfort and convenience OF
the officers and mon of such vessels. Captain
schley testifies that when his vessel re-
turned to Valparaiso on September IA. the
city officers, as is customary, extended the
inequalities of the city to his officers and
crew.
An Insult to the Nation.
1t is not claimed that every personal col
l1sion or injury in which q sailor or officer OF
such naval vessel visiting the shore may be
involved raises an international questions;
but I am clearly of the opinion that where
such sailors or officers are assaulted by a
resident populace animated by hostility to
the Government whose uniform these
sailors and officers wear and IN resentment
of acts done by their Government, not by
them, their nation must take notice OF the
event as one involving frac ton of its rights
and dignity; not in a secondary way. as
where a citizen is injured and presents his
claim through his own Government, but in
a primary way, precisely as if its Minister or
Consul or the flag itself had been the object
OF the same character of assault.
The officers and sailors of the Baltimore
were in the hsrbor of Valparaiso under the
orders of their Government, not by their
own choice. They were upon the shore by
tie implied invitation OF the Government of
Chile and with tho approval of their COM
manding officer; and it does not distinguish
Ia 20 fTfar,N rhpt 1f hat
is more permanent or that he holds the ex-
press invitation, of the local government to
Justify his longer residence Nor does 1t
affect the question that the injury was the
act of mob. If there had been no partici-
patton by the police or military in this cruel
work, and no neglect on their part to extend
protection, the case would still be one, In my
opinion, when its extent and character are
considered, involving international rights.
The incidents of the affair are briefly as fol-
lows:
Review of the Baltimore Affair.
On the 18Th OF October last, Captain Sohley,
commanding the United States steamship
Baltimore, gave shore leave to III petty Of
fcers and sailors of his ship. These men
left the ship about l:SO p. N. No incident Of
violence occurred; none OF our men were ar
rested; no complaint was lodged against
them; nor did any collision or outbreak
occur until about o'clock p. N. Captain
Schley states that he was himself on shore
and about the streets of the city until $50 P.
NJ; that he met very many of his men who
were upon leave; that they were sober and
conducting themselves with propriety, sa-
luting Chilean and other officers as they met
them. Other officers of the ship, and Cap
tain Jenkins, of the merchant ship Kewee-
nav, corroborate Captain Schley as to the
general sobriety and good behavior of our
men. The Sisters OF Charity at the hospital
to which our wounded men were taken,
when inquired of, stated that they were
sober when received Ii the situation had
been otherwise, we must believe that the
Chilean police authorities would have made
arrests.
About L. NJ. the assault began. and it is
remarkable that the Investigation by the
Judge of Grimes, though so protraoted, does
not enable him to give any more satisfactory
account OF its origin than IS found In the
statement that it began between drunken
sailors. Repeatedly in the correspondence
1t is asserted that it was impossible to learn
the precise cause of the riot The Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Matta in his telegram to
Mr.. Montt, under date December 81, states
that the quarrel began between two sailors
in a tavern and was continued in the street,
persons who were passing joining In it.
A Chilean Began the Rumpus.
The testimony of Talbot, an apprentice
who was with Riggin, is that the outbreak
in which they were involved began by a
Chilean sailor splitting in the face Of Talbot,
appears that Riggfn and Talbot were at the
The men were Immediately be-
set by n crowd. of Chilean citizens and
sailors, through Which they broke their way
to a street car and entered 1t for safety.
They were pursued, driven from the car,
and Riggin was so seriously beaten that he
fell in the street, apparently dead.
There is nothing in the report of the
Chilean investigation made to us that seri-
ously impeaches this testimony. 1t appears
from Chilean sources that almost instantly,
with a suddenness that strongly implies
medita tion and prepara ton, mob, stated
by the police authorities at one time to
number 1900 and at another 1000. was en-
gagged in the assault upon our sailors, who
are represented as resisting with. stones,
club and bright arms" Tie report of the
1ntendente of October 80, states that the
light began at p. NJ, in three streets which
are named; that information was received
at that 1ntendencia at 6:15, and that the
police arrived on the scene at $50, full
half hour after the assault began. AT that
time, he says that q mob of 900 men had
collected, and that tor several squares there
was the appearance of 4 "real battlefield
The scene at this point is very graphically
set before us by the Chilean testimony. The
American sailors who, after so long an ex-
have not been found guilty of
any breach of the peace, so far as the Chill
can authorities are able to discover, un-
armed and defenseless, are fleeing for their
lives. pursued by overwhelming numbers
from death or to succor some mate whose
life is in greater peril. Eighteen of them
are brutally stabbed and beaten, while one
Chilean seems from the report to have sui
Iered some injury; but how serious or with
what character of weapon, or whether by a
missile thrown by our men or by some of his
fellow rioters is unascertained.
Tie Americans Unarmed Men.
Thepretense that our men were fighting
'swith stones, clubs and bright arms" in
view of these facts, is incredible. 1t is
further refuued by the fact that our prison.
ers when searched were absolutely without
arms except seven penknives found in the
possession OF the men arres ted while there
were received by our men moro than 30
stab wounds every one of which was in
f1icted in the back or back of the head. The
evidence of the ships officer 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 |
received by our men, the following extract
from the account given of the affair by the |
Ia Pdtrid newspaper of Valparaiso of Octo- |
ber IL, cannot be regarded as too friendly:
'The Yankees. as soon as their pursuers |
yave chase, went by way of the Calle del |
Arsenal toward the city car station. In the |
presence or an ordinary number OF citizens. |
.mong whom were some sailors, the North /!
Americans took seats in the street car to |
escape from the stones which the Chileans |
threw at them. 1t was believed for an in |
,tant that the North Americans had saved |
themselves from popular fury, but such was |
rot the case. Scarcely had the car begun to |
move when q crowd gathered around and |
stopped its progress. Under these circum- |
,Sailces, and without any cessation of the !
lowling and throwing of stones at the North |
Americans, the conductor entered the car |
md seeing the risk of the situation to tile |
rehicle, ordered them to get out. At the |
Instant the sailors left the car, in the midst /
If q hail of stones, the con ductor received n |
tone blow on the hesd. One o. tho Yankee 1
ailors managed to escape in the direction of |