Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-01-26

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 hail of stones, the said conductor
received a stone blow on the head One of tbe
Yankee sailors managed TO escape in the direc-
ton of the Plaza Wheelright. but the other was
felled to the ground by stone. Managing To
raise himself from the ground where he lay he
stagg red in an opposite direction from the
station. IN front of tho house of Senor MAJ
zrni he vas again wounded. falling then sense
less and breathlcSs
No amount OF evasion or srbtcrfuge is able
TO cloud oJT clear Vision oT tins brutal york
1t should be noticed in this connection that
the American sailors arrested fol an exami-
nation, We're, during the four davs following
the arrest, every ore discharged no charge of
any breach of the peace or other criminal
conduct having been sustained against a sin
gle one OF them.
The judge OF crimes Foster in a note to the
lntendente, under date Of Oct. =, before the
dispatch from this government of the follow
ing day, which aroused the authori-
ticsot Chill to better sense of
presided temporarily ,ver this court in regard
to the seamen of the Cnited States cruiser Bal
timore, VINO have been tried on account of the
deplorable conduct which took place" etc.
The notceabS point here is that our sailors
resulted in their acquittal and return to their
vessel 1t is quite remarkable and quite charac-
terlstic of the management of this affair by the
Chlllan police authorities that should now
he advised that Seaman Davidson, of the Bal
timore. has been included in the Indictment
his otfenSe ir'ing. 80 far as | have been able to
ascertain that he attempted to defend a ship
mate against an assailant who was striking at
him with a knife
The perfect vindication of our men is fur
nished by this report. One only is found to
have been guilty of criminal fanlt. and that
Tor an act clearly justifiable. As to the part
taken by the police in the affair the case made
by Chilli is also far from satisfactory. The
point W here Riggin was killed is only three
minutes walk from the police station and not
more than twice that distance from the in
tendencia; and yet according to their official
report full half hour elapsed after the as
sault began before the police were upon the
ground. II has been stated that s&kbut two of
our men have said that thesRSsye did their
duty.
Did Not Understanf R
" The evidence taken at MarS 1as<a shows
that if such statement was procured NON our
men it was accomplished by requiring Hesato
sign a writing in a language they did nots IN
derstand and by the representation that il was
a mere declaration that they bad taken part
in the disturbance. Lieutenant McCrea, who
acted as interpreter says in his evidence
that when our 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 animosity towards our sailors in
the minds of sailors of the Chilian navy and of
the populace of Valparaiso abundant and
various rs to leave doubt in the mind of any
one who VIII examine the paper submitted.
II manifested itself in threatening and insult
ing gestures towards men as they passed
the Chilian man of war in their boats and In
derisire and abusive epithets with which they
greeted every appearance of american
sailor on the evening OF the r1otI
Gave Assistance to the Wounded.
Captain Schley reports that boats from the
Ch,lian war ships several times went out Of
their course TO cross the course of his boats
compelling them TO back water. He complained
OF the discourtesy and it was corrected. That
this feeling shared by men of higher
rank is shown bv an incident related by Surgeon
Stitt of the Baltimore. After the hattie of
Placilla he, with other medical officers of the
war vessels in the harbor, was giving voluntary
assistance to the wounded in the hospitals The
son OF ChihaD army officer of high rank vas
under his care and when the father discovered
1t he flew into a passion and said he would
rather have his son die than have Americans
touch him, and at once had him removed from
tho ward This feeling is not well concealed in
the dispatches Of the foreign office and had
quite open expression in the disrespectful trent
boatmen in the bay refused, even for large Of
fers of money, to return our sailors, who crowd
ed the Mole TO their ship when they
were endeavoring to escape from the
city the night of the assault
The market boats of the Baltimore were
threatened, and even quite recently the gig of
Commander Evans of the Yorktown was stoned
while waiting for him at the Mole. The evi-
dence OF our sailors clearly shows that the
attack was expected by the Chilian people, that
threats had been made against men, and In
one case somewhat early in the afternoon, the
keeper of one house, into which some OF our
anticipation OF the attack. which he advised
them would be made upon them when darkness
came
Captain Schley's Report.
In report Of Captain Schley to the navy de-
partment he saws: In the only interview that
L had with Judge Foster, who is investigating
the case relative 10 the disturbances 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 sympatbiZed with the CHILEAN govern
ment on account of the Itata matter. Several
of our 1lcn sought security from the mob by &.
such complete or partial change in their dress
would conceal the fact of their be-
ing seamen of the Baltimore and found
1t then possible TO walk the streets without
moestation These incidents conclusively es-
tablish that the attack upon the uniform
the nationality-and not upon the men. The
origin of this feeling is probably found in the
refusal OF thu Government 10 give recognition
CONTINUED on Fourth psge.)