Perth Amboy evening news., 1903-12-18
TROOPS ON THE GULF
Atlanta Discovers Colombian
Force at Titumati.
ORTIZ WAS IN COMMAND.
Colombian Soldiers Would Give No
Information as to Their Inten-
tiOns-Said to Be Building
u Road to Panama.

u Road to nam
COLON, Dec. 1S.-The United States
cruiser Atlanta, Commander William
Ii. Turner, has discovered u detach-
ment of Colombian troops. numbering
viSibly about 800 men, but, according
to their own statements, totaling loo
or 1000 men, at Titumati, on the west
ern side of the gulf, just north of the
mouth of the Atrato river and due east
from Yaviza.
Early in the morning the Atlanta
sighted a small schooner in he center
of the gulf of Darien and followed her
to the western shore, where the schoon-
err attempted to hide behind an islet.
Lieutenant Harlan p. perrill of the
Atlanta was ordered to board her, and
thereupon Il w~haleboat was lowered
and pulled toward the schooner.
Lieutenant Perrilrs crew consisted
Of twelve men. On the first trip they
were unarmed, excepting four revolv-
crs. When the whaleboat approached
the schooner tw~enty-four soldiers were
seen seated on the side nearest the di-
rection from which the Americans
came, with rifles lying handily across
their knees and pointing toward the
w%haleboat. General Novo, who Is a
| Venezuelan by birth and second III
command of the Colombian forces,
stood on the deck of the schooner and
insolently called out in broken Eng
lish:
what way is this to make war;"
Lieutenant Perrill explained that 1t
was not war, but a friendly visit. Gen
eral Novo, however, refused to furnish
him with any information.
An Interpreter who boarded the
schooner discovered that she had sew
enty 10 eighty armed men packed sar-
dine-like in her hold.
The Atlanta then signaled to Lieu
tenant Perrill to return to his ship, and
later the lieutenant returned to the
shore to visit General Ortiz. This time
he took with him a dozen rifles con-
cealed in the bow of the w%haleboat in
case of emergency. h Whaleboat
was rowed steadily toward the schoon-
er, the excitement increasing as she APP
DTOdcIttu, Dul Mlcll AICul1lluhI .
went OH shore General Ortiz appeared
on the beach, and the excitement sub
sided.
General Ortiz insisted that Lieuten-
ant Perrill should fly the Colombian
flag at the bow of the whaleboat or
lower the American flag at her stern
because she was in Colombian waters.
Lieutenant Perrill replied that he did
not have Il Colombian flag and refused
to lower the stars and stripes. Gener-
al Ortiz did not insist upon his so do
ing.
After this flag incident General Ortiz
made an eloquent verbal protest against
the Americans presence, the Colon
bian troops continually cheering his re-
marks. He subsequently committed
his protest to writing. The general
seemed uncertain at the beginning
whether or not war had been declared.
He left the port of Cartagena Dec. ?,
and some of the others declared they
had been in the gulf for a month past
conducting defensive and preparatory
operations.
The protest reads partly as follows:
ITO the Captain of the Atlanta:
Daniel Ortiz, commandant general
of a division of the Colombian army
and first adjutant to General Reyes,
protests most cnergetically in the name
of the Colombian government and all
C%olombians against the presence of
American warships in our waters. You
are citizens of a powerful country, i'm
mensely rich and possessing vast num-
bers of inhabitants. On the contrary,
we are bankrupt, and our immense ter
ritories are d%epopulatcd. Colombia has
been blcd by fatuous civil wars, but in
the Panama matter and regarding your
selves we believe we have right and
justice on our side. DO not doubt it.
The God of nations will be on Il side.
Against him squadrons and cannon
shall not prevail. Every Colombian,
man or woman, is capable of rising TO
heights of heroism."
The Colombians carefully and sys-
tematicully made efforts to avoid fur
nishing any information as to what
purposes had brought them to the gulf
whether they We're building Il road
toward the republic of Panama. But
it can be SAID reliably hat they are
awaiting superior orders. In the mean |
time there is strong probability that
they are building Il road toward Pan
anna. The distance separating Tituma-
ii and YaviZa is sixty miles.