Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-19
FORT BLISS DISTURBANCE
Captain Loughbws ugh feooris Tat he
believes He Has the Leader
sola,er. were rrrytnssss to Free r,,o o,
Their Feiiosy2-General Disci-
pIine of q isrsa Troops.


General McKibbi& commanding the De-
partments Of Texasf has forwarded to. the
adjutant general oEthe army copy of the
following telegranf received by him from
Captain -Loughbor6ugh. commanding the
troops at Fort Bliss, Texas, in regard to the
trouble. with the local authorities at Ell
Paso last Friday:
Through negligence or connivanee of
non-commissioned officer in charge of bar
racks, arm racks Were opened last night
and a number of rifles taken out One SOL
der was killed, and. learn, one guard at
city Jail, where two soldiers We're held for
drunk and disorderiy. Arm racks are now
locked, and keys in my possession. All am
munition has been placed under lock and
key. Have not permitted any one to leave
garrison Am cooperating with civil au-
thorities, and will do everything in my
power to bring the guilty parties to JUS
tce."
General McKibbin adds that he has or
dered an additional officer toe Fort Bliss
and that he will make thorough investi-
CATION. He says that no further trouble is
apprehended. f''
Gen. McKibbon later transmitted the
following additional particulars of the
trouble:
"Adjutant General. Department of Texas:
"Everyt thing quiet here and from what
can learn also in the city. Believe | have
the leader. Investigation necessarily slow.
Every effort being made to find the guilty
party. Civilian authorities are very con-
siderate and are cooperating. / believe
that the non-commissioned officer in charge
of the barracks was one of the party. Keys
to the arm racks found on the soldier killed
"(SigneO LOUGHBOROUGH,
Commanding"
"Oh, it was nothing but drunken row,
and it is wrong to attempt to make race
issue of it." said a prominent army officer
at the War Department today when asked
about the affair at Ell Paso. According to
the press report several soldiers of the 18th
Infantry, a coiored regiment, stationed at
Fort Bliss, made an attempt to rescue two
of their comrades from the Ell Paso Jail.
The jaler and his assistant opened fire upon
them and they returned the fire, With the
result above stated
To continue the remarks of the officer al
ready quoted: 1T is not an uncommon
thing for soldiers, sailors, for that mat
ter, to get drunk and to get into rows, and
1t is unfair to assert that the colored SOL
der is any worse than his white brother in
that respect. AS fact, the records show
that the colored soldiers, as a class, are
better behaved and better disciplined than
the white soldiers under similar conditions
OF temptation to drink and carouSe. Of
lenses against the municipal laws are al
ways severely punished in the army and
the soldiers found to be responsible for the
affray at Ell Paso will be severely dealt
with by court-martial. There is no special
method in assigning colored soldiers to
ones available for>.duty on the Mexican
frontier at the present time The 25th In
tantry did yeoman service in the Santiago
campaign, and was brought home from
Cuba to recuperate. They relieved other
| colored troops in the department of Texas
Colored troops have been stationed in Tex
as for the past twenty-five years, and it is
only recently that any trouble has occur
red between them and the citizens If they
are now withdrawn, It would have the
practical effect Of abandoning the posts
along the Mexican border for the reason
| that there are no white troops available for
| that duty unless they are brought home
from cuba or the Philippines: That will be
there are no prospects Of such a movement
| in the case of either of the possessions
named before the9icemfhg summer The
trouble at Ell Paso is being thoroughly in
Vestigated and the guilty parties will be
we'll punished. The military and civil au-
| thorifies are cooperating IN the matter,
and steps have been taken to prevent any
| recurrence of the trouble and to bring
about better understanding between the
soldiers and the civilians