San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-08-06
A VIAL OF WRATH.
Surgeon of The Horse Reserves Orusades
the Reporter and Police.

only in fairness to allow the other
side to air their grievance, and is
not endorsed as a totally unbiased
statement of the true(?) facts. The
report of the "battle royal" in yes
terday's LIGHT was taken from
sworn testimony, and the soldiers
themselves admitted the truth of
the officers testimony by entering
pleas of guilty" before the re-
corder when the case was called.
The LIGHT has nothing further to
add or take away from this de-
plorable case, but will await the
result of the official investigation
by the military authorities.
Fort SAM Houston, Tex, August G.
Editor LIGHT:
1t Is seldom or never necessary
and often useless to repudiate
false statements made in connect
ion with newspaper accounts of
transactions or happenings in the
vicinity Of military posts where
the members OF the garrison are
concerned, as non-voters can be
attacked with impunity at al.
most any time, but the one sided
and evidently prejudiced account
headed ga battle royal" which ap-
peared in your issue of last even.
ing deserves some notice and re.
pudiatiOn from even so humble a
member OF this post as the under
signed. After a thorough lnvesti-
CATION it can be said that the sub.
stance OF the article referred to
is in almost every respect
untruthful IL not a mischievous lie
of the first water, having tenden-
cy to prejudice the citizens of San
Antonio against the garrison sta
toned here and at the same time
reate a hostile feeling between
the military and the city officials
that might lead to serious results.
AS it is claimed that the LIGHT
shines for all, it is thought that
q little of it to illuminate the
other side Of the affair might be of
benefit to all, perhaps, concerned.
The circumstances which are part
~ personal observation and partly
the result of diligent investigation
are as follows: From whatever
source the news of gambling
table being in operation at
Schurche's saloon on Hood
street emanated it Is useless to
conjecture suffice it to say
that an arrangement was made by
the police authorities to make a
raid, and council of war was held
on New Braunfels avenue, where
the police decided to all stick
together, as 1t was deemed unad-
visable to separate the forces on
such a serious expedition. On
reaching Schurche's saloon, dash
was made by the police, who evil
IDENTIFY lacking the necessary dis
cipline and self-confidence so essen.
tial in police officer, first unlim-
bered their revolvers and flourish
ing same in an effort to keep their
courage at the sticking point; the
soldiers who occupied tho gaming
table submitted to arrest and were
Immediately placed in the patrol
wagon. AT this point soldier who
was standing on the gallery of the
saloon remarked that as the load
was a heavy one he would get a
pair Of lead mules from the corral
to assist in hauling the prisoners.
This sarcasm 80 irritated the po-
liceman that he hit the speaker
over the head with the butt of
revolver rendering him uncon-
scious. At this, another soldier
hit the policeman on the jaw and
knocked him out, another officer
then approached and also received
the same punishment from the
some man; as this happened, a
number Of soldiers who were in an
adjoining saloon and fearing ar
rest made rush for the quarters
TO escape, a bystander advised the
| police to start as he was Of the
opinion that these soldiers were
AT this stage Of the game
the police became demoraliZed and
in order to intimidate the mill
tary began firing of their revolv-
ers and at the same time whipping
up their horses, took their depart
ed amid their own fusilade and
the jeers, with rock accompsni-
ment, OF those attracted to the spot.
This is the "battle royal" The
authority Of the police is recog-
nized and respected in and around
the garrison, with very few ex-
ceptions, and one member of that
force can arrest any and all of its
members at any time il he is justi-
fed in SO doing, but there are two
ways of doing these things, aud