The morning news., 1897-04-30
FORT FEARS A FATAL FIGHT.
CAPT. RoMEYN AND LIEUT.. O'BRIEN
KEPT UNDER GUARD.


The Lieutenant Denies That He In
tends to Attack the Captain-The
Captain Has No Fear of An Assault
and Is Man of Proven Courage.
Record of n Former Court Martial
Introduced Against Capt. RomeSn.
Mrs, I<imbRII StiII Unheard From
and VIII Probably Not he Found in
Time.
Atlanta, Ca, April $50 intense has
become the feeling between Capt. Romeyn
and Lieut.. O'Brien on account of the at
tacks made by the former upon the char
acter of the wife of the latter in the court
martial proceedings and Fort Mcpherson,
that Capt. Romeyn has been placed under
strict guard and Lieut.. O'Brien has also
received warning from the commanding
officer of the post that he must keep close
to his quarters when not needed before
the court. II has been feared constantly
since Capt. Romeyn's insulting reference
to Lieut. O'Brien and his wife, made dur
ing his statement on the stand at Tues
days proceedings that there would be
bloody meeting between the two officers
Lieut. O'Brien, 1t seems. was ineensed be-
yond all control and gave utterance to
threats of vengeance. This was brought
to the attention of Maj. Charles Porter
commander of the garrison, and in order
to guard against trouble of this kind, he
placed Capt Romeyn under actual arrest
and now whenever he leaves the court
room he is accompanied by an officer of
the guard and two men. This guard es-
corts him to and from his quarters with
orders from the commander to protect him
from attack at any cost.
Since this precaution was taken, how
ever. Lieut.. O'Brien denies that he has
thought of committing any personal vio-
ienoe upon Capt. Romeyn. 81 am not fool
enough to do anything of that kind while
this court is sitting" he said to-day.
Capt. Romeyn will have nothing to say
on this point. II IS safe to say, however
that he experiences very little fear
of an encounter with Lieut. Brien. He
is undoubtedly a man Of courage, as his
record shows, and his friends declare that
he would not hesitate to face Lieut.
O. Brlen or any one else with swords or
pistols to settle an affair of this kind. 1t
is not case Of a fsticuff, but il Lieut.
O'Brien seeks personal reparauon at the
hands of the captain the meeting will be
Of a more serious character
Mrs Romeyn, wife Of the accused cap
tain, says she has no fears for her hus-
band. I'VE have been told" said she to-
day, that Lieut.. O'Bren might commit
some act of personal violence upon Capt
Romeyn, but he is not at all afraid, and is
able to take care of himself l have no
fears about IL myself, and will lose no
sleep on account of it,"
n
an infant in the hands of Lieut.. Bren
He has been on the sick list ever since he
came to Fort Mcpherson. and If the SEN
tence of the court martial does not inter-
fere he will be retired on account Of age in
June.
To-day's proceedings did not develop
anything new in the case The court has
adopted new rule, which excludes spec
tators from the room during the vertical
ton of the testimony. IL Is quite likely
that the case will be concluded tomorrow
or Saturday at the latest.
The evidence of to-day was in rebuttal
by the prosecution. A number Of officers
of the garrison were introduced and testi-
fled that they knew of no ostracism that
was visited upon Mrs. o. Brien on account
of her relations with Lieut.. Bamford.
Among these was Col. Russell, who was
in command of the garrison at the time
the incident OF the parade ground took
place. capt. wales or the medlcdl stan
testified to the same effect, also Capt.
Borden and Capt. Randall the latter be-
ing the captain of Lieut.. OBrlens compa-
ny None of them knew Of anything scan
dalous nor Of any general expression of
disapproval of Mrs. OBren or her hus-
band.
As part of the rebuttal the Judge advo-
cate introduced the record OF a former
court martial, in which Capt Romeyn
was the accused. This took place in 1875.
the sentence of the court being that he
had allowed a large quantity Of grain,
etc, which was in his charge, to be lost
and that he was guilty OF refusing to obey
his superior officer. Capt Romeyn object
ed to this going into the records. Unless
he was allowed to show that the sentence
of the court had been practically set aside
by the war department, because II was
obtained through improper animoslty to-
wards him, but his objection was over
ruled.
Mrs Lieut.. Kimball was called for again
to-day by capt. ROmeyn. but her husband
replied that he had not yet learned OF her
Whereabouts, and Il Is not al all likely
that she will be found in time to be
brought before the court to tell what she
knows about Mrs. O'Brien and Lieut..
RamfOrd