The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-04

had received notice from the OFFICER COM
mandfn the eloEn bfan troops, Colonel
Torres, sth Tiia he protect of Colon, to the
effect tha f if the; Colombian officers, Cen
erals abal and Amaya, who had been
seized in Panama on the evening Of Nov
5 by the independents and held as pris-s
oners. were not released by . O'Clock p
M, he, Torres. would open fire on the town
Of Colon and kill every III nited States;
citizen in the place. and my advice and;
action were requested. advised that all
the United States citizens siiouldi take ref $
Euge in the shed Of the Panana Railroad
E:compapys "a stone ybtildins Susceptible of
being put into good state for defense, and
| that I would Immediately land such body
of men, with extra arms for arnling the
citizens. as the complement of the ship
i would permit This was agreed to and I
/ immedi lately returned on board, arriving at
/ LIS. p. m. The order for, landing was,
inlmed iately given, and at 80 D. n. the
boats LEFT the ship with party of forty
I two men. under the command! Of Lieu
tenant Commander III. M Witzel with
! Midshipman ]. =. Jackson as second in
command, Time being pressing, 1 gave
| verbal orders to Mr. Witzel to takeSthe
building above referred to, to put into
protect the lives Of the, citizens assembled
/ there-npt firing unless fred unOf. The
women and chiidren..toollS refuge on. the
]. German steamer Marcoma MIA and Panama
TauFOdQtSI6dIneT lily OIL WASHINGTON, DOtn
Eready to- haul out from dock if necessary.
The Nashville got, under way and pa
trolled with her along the water front
close Inland ready to use either small arm
or shrapne1 fire. sThe Colombians sur
rounded. the building of the railroad com
+ taken possession. and for about one and
a half hours their attitude was most
threatening, it being seemingly their pur-
pose to provoke an attack. Happily oul
men were cool and steady. and while the
tension was very great no shot was fred
At about: 3:15 p. M. Colonel Torres came
into the building for an interview anc
expressed himself as most friendly tt
Americans claiming that the whole affair
! was a apprehension and that he WaulG
! like to send the alcalde of Colon to Pan
anna to see General Tobal and have: min
: direct the discontinuance of the show o
force. a special train was furnished ant
I safe conduct guaranteed. AT about SD
s p. M Colonel Torres made the propositio,
Of withdrawing his troops to Monke.
: Hill, # ! would Withdraw the Nashville
t force and leave the town in possession o
: the police until the return OF the alcald
d on the morning Of the 5th; After an In
: terview with the United States consul an,
: Colonel Shaler as to the probability Q
d good faith in the matter, decided to- &C
: cept the. proposition and brought my me-
n on board, the disparity in numbers be
e tween my, force and that. of the Colon
: bians, nearly ten to one. ma king me de
II sirous of avoiding ascontlictf so long as TIL
n object in view, the protection Of America
citizens, was not Imperfect. i
8 Il am positive that the Diet ermined atti
!, tude Of our men, their GOODNESS and evi
q dent intention of standing their GROUND
u had a most salutary and decisive effect o
g the mmediate situation andsw the initis
!, step in the ultimate abandoning Of Colo
% by these troops and their.returll- TO- Carta
IS gena the following day. Lieutenant Com
u Inander Witzel is entitled to much prais
n for his admirable work in command on til
= spot. - 80. ts3- II
I feel that can not sufficiently strongl
=, represent to the department the grossnes
q. of this outrage and the insult to our dig
IS nifty, even apart from the sayagery of tt
I threat. Very respectfully, ::
N So john Hubbard,
w Commander II. S. Navy.
ut Commanding.
r The Secretary of the Navy, KS
er Navy Department, Washington ID. c.
IN Tn his letter of Nov. g, Commando
a. Hubbard sets forth the facts more i
u. detail: IN Il
y Belle, United States Of Colombia, NO
nr s. 1908: 49, s =. =
q at Sir: First have the honor to NAL
=. the following report Of the occurrence
ng which took place at Colon and Panama