Huntsville gazette., 1892-01-30

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| OF the event. as one involving an infraction
of its rights and dignity; not in a
Injured and presents his claim through sahf9 his owns rs
| government, but in primary way precisely as
| II 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 harbor of Valparaiso under the orders OF
their government, not by their own choice.
| They were upon the shore by the implied invita-
ton of tho government of Chill and with the ap-
proyal of their commanding officer; and it
does not distinguish their case from that of a
consul @ that at his stay Is -nore permanent or that
ernment to justify h. residence Nor
| does it affect the quesJlO 1t the injury was
| the act OF mob II there mad been no partici-
patton by the police or military in this cruel
work, and no neglect of their part to extend
protection, the case would still be one, in my
| opinion, when its extent and character are con-
sidered, involving international right The in
cidents of the affair are, briefly, as follows:
| On the 10th of October last Capt. Schley COM
more, gave shore leave to III petty officers and
sailors of his ship. These men left the ship
about l:3O p. M. No incident of violence occur
plant was lodged against them; nor did any
collision or outbreak occur until about p. m.
Capt schley states, that he was him
Of Of the cty 0fs unti a $50 o00 p me- S'rsssf thst
| he met very many Of his men who
were upon leave; that they were sober
saluting Chilian and other officers as they met
them. Other officers of the ship, and Capt.
| Jenkins Of the merchant ship Keweenawa cor
roborate Capt Schiey 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
| Chilian police authorities would have made ar
rests. About p. m. the assault began and it Is
remarkable that the investigation by the
| judge of crimes, though so protracted,
does not enable him to give any more satisfac-
tory account Of its origin than is found in the
statement that it began between drunken sail
ors Repeatedly in the correspondence it is
serted that it was impossible to learn the pre-
else cause of the riot. The minister of foreign
affairs, Malta, in his telegram to Mr.. Montt, un-
| der date OF December 81, states that the quar-
rel began between two sailors in tavern, and
was continued in the street, persons who were
| passing joining in it.
The testimony of Talbot, an apprentice, who
was with Riggtn, says that the outbreak Ill
which they were involved was begun by
which was resented by q knock down. 1t ap-
| pears that Riggin and Talbot were at the time
unaccompanied by any Others of their ship
mates. These two men were immediately, be-
set by crowd OF Chilian citizens and sailors,
through which they broke their way to street
car and entered it for safety They were
| Riggin was so seriously beaten that
| he fell in the street apparent
ly dead. There is nothing in the report of tho
Chilian investigation made to us that seriously
| impeaches this testimony. 1t appears from
! Chilian sources that almost instantly with a
| suddenness that strongly implies meditation
and preparation, q mob, stated by the police
authorities at one time to number 1000 and at
another l,000, was engaged In the assault upon
sailors who eh are an9 %
| 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 at $50, full half
hour after the assault began. At that silne hs-
says toat a mob OF z, ,0UU men had collected, and
ance of real battle aeld."
The scene at this point is very graphically set
| before us by the Chilian testimony. The Amer
| ican sailors, who after SO long an examination,
| have not been found guilty of breach of the
peace, as far as the Chilian authorities are able
| to discover unarmed and defenSeless, are flee
| ing for their lives, pursued by overwhelming
numbers, and fighting only to aid their own es-
cape from death, or to succor some mate whose
| life is in greater peril. Eighteen of them ara
| brutally stabbed and beaten, while one Chilian
| seems from the report to have suffered some
injury; but how serious or with what character
| of weapon, or whether by missile thrown by
our men or by some Of his fellow rioters, is un-
| certained
The pretense that our men were fighting with
| "stone5, 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
more than thirty stab wounds, every one of
| Wnlcn was lnnlCte0 IN the Ddck, ana almost
every confused wound was in the back or back
| OF the head. The evidencs 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
| ceiyed by our men, the following extract from
the account given OF the affair by the La Patrla
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
orr mir In nraQ OIfiln
number of citizens, among whom were some
sailors the North Americans took seats in the
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 had
| around and stopped its progress. Under these
circumstances, and without any cessation of the
bowling and throwing OF stones ct the North
seeing the risk of the situation to the vehicle,
ordered them to get out. AT the instant the
sailors left the car m the midst OF LAD nal hIo9 OF
on the head One OF the Yankee sailors
managed to =, escape in the dIrec- rec
other was felled to the ground by stone.
| Managing to raise himself from the ground
where he lay he staggered in an opposite d1rec.
ton from the station. In front of the house Of
| Senior MaZzini he was again wounded, falling
| then senseless and GREATNESS"
! No amount of evasion subterfuge is able
to cloud clear VISION OF IliS DruUal WOrR Ii
should be noticed, in this connection. that the
! American sailors arrested for an ex-
| animation, were, during the four days
| following the arrest, every one
discharged, no charge of any breach OF the
! peace or other criminal conduct having been
sustained against single one OF them. The
| Judge of crimes. Foster, in a note to the IN
| tendente, under date of October 22-5efore the
| dispatch from this government OF the following
| day which aroused the authorities of Chill to
| better sense of the gravity of the affar-says:
| Having 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 sailor had been tried be-
fore the 22d of October, and that the trial re-
suited in their acquittal and return to their yes
| sell 1t is quite remarkable and quite character
istic of the management of this affair by the
Chilian police authorities, that we should now be
| advised that Seaman Davidson, OF the Baltl-
| more, has been included in the Indictment, his
! offense being, far as | have been aple TO as
| certain, that he attempted to defend shlpmate
| against an assailant who was striking at him
with 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 justihable.
As to the part taken by the police in the affair
| the case made by Chill is also far from satisfac-
J tory. The point where Riggin was killed Is only
| three minutes walk from the police station and
| not more than twice that distance from the IN
tendenca, and yet, according to their Official re.
port full half hour elapsed after the assault
began before the police were upon the ground