The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-08-01
!. CARRIED !.
lin Troopers Dress
L. Were Citizens
Is. the Latest From Brownsville and
Witnesses Have Been Found
- ,..' To Prove 1t.

New York, July 26.-A Washing
ton dispatch to the Times is as fol-
lows: - -.
Direct and positive evidence that
Brownsville. Texas, was not "shot
up by three companies of the COL
ored Twenty-ffth- Infantry ia. exnect-
ed from several new witnesses who.
1t is asserted, will appear before the
Senate Committee on Military Al
fairs when, In Novemer, it resumes
Its Investigation OF the riot of Aug
ust 49, 1906. These witnesses, 1t ia
declared will testify that the town
OF Brownsville was 'sshot up" by an
organized band OF Desperate men,
who, since that time, have been ter
ror1Z1ng those residents Of the town
VINO are willing to tell the whole
STORY. -.
In1s sensational evidence, 1t ia
said, has been obtained after two
PARTIES Of detectives had been driven
out OF Brownsville.
n. e. Marshall, Of Washington, an
League, and Gilchrist It''oa stewart a
member Of the same organization,
are credited with having sought out
the evidence by which it is expected
40 prove the contentious Of Senator
Foraker that the colored soldiers are
not guilty, The witnesses of Mar
shall and Stewart will go further, it
lis asserted, and name the men said
to be guilty. Marshall Is g. graduate
of Harvard. He may be one Of the
principal witnesses before the Senate
Committee, as he will be able to tes-
tify from personal experience as to
the desperate extremes to which the
alleged consptrators in Brownsville
are willing to 60 in an effort, to sup
press the evidence in the case. .
- Plot to Dust Negroes. !. ,
According to the allegations made
by the Constitution League, the pur-
pose Of melting the riot was to force
the Government to remove the, coll
ored soldiers from Brownsville The
residents there had protested to the
Texas Senators and also to, the Pres.
tdent against the sending OF the eos
ored soldiers to Brownsville Fail
Ing In this effort to change the pur-
pose Of the Government, at several
secret meetings plans were carefully
arranged by which the soldiers could
be driven away from the Brownsville
post.
Some Of the more desperate fav-
ored night attack upon the bar
racks, but the counsel Of the more
cautious was for sham riot. 1t
was thought by this that the colored
troops could be drawn out OF the
hU Oh IL A<,
In such q manner as to create an i'm
preston that the soldiers were MAX
ing an attack upon Brownsville and
that the conspirators would thus be
able to appear In the role Of defend
ers Of their homes.
A dark night was selected, accord
Ing to the allegations made, and, dis
guised as colored soldiers, crowd
of Brownsville men started out to
terroriZe the town and draw an at
tack upon themselves from the bar
racks. 1t was not planned by the
leaders to kill anybody in Browns
Vile. The shooting of Frank Natus,
the bartender, according to the view
Of the Constitution League represen-
tatives who investigated 1t, was the
result OF a mistake.
Victims i'm the Conspiracy,
The bartender, 1T Is said, was fully
advised OF the plans Of the conspira-
tors, and when the crowd rushed up
past his saloon he ran to the door
with the intention Of taking part In
the "fun." He discharged his revol-
yer in the air, but the rioters thought
he was resisting and shot him. In
the darkness they were not able to
recognize him.
The shooting Of Lieutenant Dom
inguez is laid at the door Of some Of
that officers political enemies.
81 will say this much" said Mar
shall today, "the real conspiracy OF
silence is in Brownsville and not
among the colored soldiers. When
Stewart and I went to Brownsville
we were disguised as day laborers.
Yet before we reached the town 1t
was evident that the leaders OF the
mob that Is terrorizing the town we're
advised that we were coming. At a
station nine miles from Brownsville
solitary passenger, armed with g.
rifle, boarded train and made q
careful search Of every car. Further
than this when we reached Browns
vile at midnight more than two
hours late we found a large crowd
at the station to receive us.
ION account Of our disguise they
did not recognize us as the attorneys
they were looking for, and as We saw
clearly that 1t was not safe to stay
In Brownsville we slipped over to the
Mexican side and conducted our in
vestigation from Matamoras. It Is
surely strange commentary on this
Government when its peaceable citi~
zens are compelled to seek safety on
foreign soil under the Mexican flag.
Threatened With Arrest.
"P. Merrill Griffith, the American
Consul at MatamoraS. threatened us
with arrest as suspicious characters
for the purpose Of forcing us to dis
close our identity and the purpose OF