Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-01-18
THE PROOF CONCLUSIVE.
Presidents Message to Senate Of
the Brownsville Affair.

the 6FOWnSNihc NHaH'
The president on Tuesday of this
week sent the senate the following
supplementary message as to the
Brownsville affair:
In my message to the senate treat
ing of the dismissal, without honor
of certain named members Of the
three companies Of the twenty-fifth
infantry, I gave the reports Of the Of
ficers upon which the dismissal was
based. These reports were made In
accordance with the custom In such
cases; for 1t would, Of course, be i'm
possible to preserve discipline In the
army save. by pursuing precisely the
course that In this case was pursued.
Inasmuch, however. as in the senate
question was raised as. to the suffi-
cheney Of the evidence. / deemed 1t
wise to send Major Blocksom and AS
sistant to the Attorney General Pur-
DIV to Brownsville to make thorough
investigation on the ground In refer
ence to the matter. l herewith trans
NIT Secretary Taft's report and the
testimony taken under oath Of the
various witnesses examined In the
course of the investigation. / also
submit various exhibits. including
maps Of Brownsville and Fort Brown,
photographs Of the various build-
ings, a letter from Judge Parks to his
wife, together with a bandoleer, 50
empty shells, seven ball cartridges
and four clips picked up In the streets
of Brownsville within few hours af-
ter the shooting; three steel jacketed
bullets and some scraps Of castings or
other bullets picked out Of the houses
into which they had been fired. A
telegram from United States Com
missioner, r. B. Creager, at Browns
vile, announces that six additional
bullets-like the others, from Spring
field rifies-taken from buildings In
Brownsville. with supporting aftida-
Wits, have since been sent to the secre-
tary of war.
The Crimes Enumerated.
1t appears from the testimony that
on the night of the 18th Of August
1906. several crimes were committed
by some person or persons in the city
of Brownsville. Among these were
the following:
(a) The murder Of Frank Natus
(b) The assault with intent to XIII
OF Lieutenant OF Police Dominguez'
whose horse was killed under him
and whose arm was shot so severely
that 1t had to be amputated.
(c) The assault with intent to kill
Of Mr.. and Mrs. Hale Odin and their
little boy, who were in the window OF
the Miller hotel.
(d) The shooting into several pri-
vate residences in the city Of Browns
vile. three of them containing women
and children.
(e) The, shooting and slightly
wounding of Preciado.
These crimes were certainly COM
mitted by somebody.
As to the motive for the commits
sion Of the crimes, it appears that
trouble of q more or less serious KIND
had occurred between individual
members of the companies and indi-
vidual citizens of Brownsville, culmi-
mating i'm complaints which resulted
I'm the soldiers being confined within
the limits of the garrison on the ev-
nF tho dow In onaStiOn
The evidence. as will be seen,
shows beyond any possibility Of hon
est question that some of the individ-
uals among the cOlored troops whom
i have dismissed committed the out
RACES mentioned: and that some or
all of the other individuals whom l
dismissed had knowledge of the deed
and shielded from the law those who
committed 1t.
ludicrcus on It's Face.
The only motive suggested as pos
sibly influencing any one else was a
desire to get rid Of the colOred troops,
so strong that 1t impelled the citi-
zens of Brown lille to shoot up their
houses, 10 XIII one ol tHelT o"i mum
Der, to assail their own police, wound
ing the lieutenant who had been an
officer for twenty years-all with the
purpose Of discrediting the negro
troops. The suggestion on its face is
so ludicrOusly impossible that it is
difficult to treat it as honestly made.
This theory supposes that the assail-
ants succeeded in obtaining the uni
form of the negro soldiers that before
starting on their raid they got over
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