El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-04

Account of the Difficulties Was OBJ
tained.-The Men Got Drunk and
Raised Kansas, That is All.
Four hundred and eighteen raw re-
cruits from the slums of New York
City passed through Ell Paso yesterday
on their way to the far off Philippines
The men were under strict guard and
were held close prisoners in the cars
While the train stood in the yards here
a picket line was thrown around 1T.
These are the soldiers who created a
reign of terror at Ennis, Texas, few
days ago. where they mutinied and
took the town by storm.
The men were absolutely without
discipline and it soon became apparent
to the few officers that they had entire
1y lost control over them. At Ennis
the train was delayed many hours Ow-
ing To a hitch in obtaining transpOr-
tation and while on the siding the ma
jority of the men began to imbibe
freely. After spending all their mon
ey for liquor they next proceeded to
raid the saloons and helped themselves
10 everything in sight. Free fights and
all kinds of disorder resulted from the
carousal. Plate glass windows were
smashed, bar fixtures destroyed and
citizens terrified by the Bowery hood
lumS. Women locked themselves in
doors and the civil authorities were
powerless to cope with so large a body
of thugs, although number of ar
rests were made.
The army officers were rid1culed by
the recruits and their orders totally
disregarded and affairs at Ennis as
sumed a very bad shape 1t was not
known but what the frenZied soldiers
might take it into their heads to pillage
or burn the town and citizens supplied
themselves with arms to protect their
women and children.
When the carousal was at its height
Captain Beall and Sergeant Burdett ar
rived from San Antonio with twenty
men of battery o. First artillery. They
had been called by a telegram for as
sistance sent by the officer in charge of
the mutinous troops.
The San Antonio regulars were fully
armed and they lost no time in swoop-
ing down on the rioters. They had or
ders to shoot them down if necessary
and the Bowery boys soon realized that
they meant business. The ringleaders
were arrested and those who showed
fight were subdued by few prods with
the bayonet. In the course of a half
hour the entire bunch of four hundred
rioters had been rounded up by Ser
geant Burdett with his squad of twenty.
The most refractory men among the
recruits were chained down inside the
cars and with but few exceptions the
others were locked up in the coaches.
In this way the mutiny was quelled.
When the train reached here yes
terday Sergeant Burdett was practical
~ holding all the men prisoners. His
were acting as a patrol
around the coaches and they were exer-
assertions. One man, it was stated. had
succeeded in escaping at Houston. ten
were missing. and others had attempt
ed TO desert at various points along the
line The trip had ben troublesome
one for the San Antonio regulars.
Many fights had taken place inside the
cars and they were compelled to do
guard duty night and day. Several
men had to be prodded up with bay
onetS to subdue them and during one
OF the fights a man had his finger al
most chewed off.
At this point ten regulrS. belonging
to an infantry company at Fort Leav-
enworth, arrived and relieved ten of
the San Antonio artillerymen. who re-
turned to the Alamo City last night.
Sergeant Burdett is well known to
men of this city who became
with him during the state
weston during the storm when the ar
tiIIery lost % men
Captain Beall came as far west as
Ell Paso with the detachment of artil-
lerymen. but returned last night with
the ten men who were relieved at this
point. The captain is quite we'll known
here. He was formerly stationed at
Fort Bliss.
In the main the recruits are fine
looking lot of men and do not look
bad. One of them said that most of
them are from big cities, Boston, New
York. etc. and it made them feel gay to |
get crtand breathe the fresh air of the |
west. They thought that to join the |
army meant to have lots of fun and |
when they were prevented from having |
it, they got mad and wanted to quit |
the game. 1t is hoped that when they |
reach the Philippines they will feel as |
risky and fight the enemy with the |
same zeal with which they fought the |
officers and among themselves.
The recruits have not been assigned /
% any branch of the service but will |
be used to patch up breaks in infantry, |
:avalry and artillery and will be as
signed to places after arriving in San /
Francisco.
Roney's Boys are the only attraction /
which has visited Waco this year that /