The sun., 1907-03-19
SOLDIERS BULLETS TRACED.
BROWNSVILLE MISSILES WE'RE
FROM COHP4NT n RIFLES.
Two Of the Guns Had Been Assigned 10
Members NJ the Company The Others
Were in Charge or the Quartermaster-
Sergeant-Talc Revealed ny Markings.


WASHINGTON. March Is--Chairman
Warren of the Senate Committee on Mill
tary Affairs, which is investigating the
Brownsville raid. read to the committee
this morning a letter from Secretary Taft
summarizing the report Of the ordnance
officers who examined the bullets and
shells found in Brownsville after the sfrrsy
and also all of the guns of the three COM
panies Of the Twenty-fifth Infantry at
Fort Brown.
There we're thIrty-three Of the discharged
shells. They were examined under the
microscope by Lieut.. Hawkins Of the
Ordnance Department assisted by G. 4.
Spooner. expert inspector Of gauges used
in the manufacture Of muskets at the Spring
field arsenal These experts also examined
all Of the guns Of the three companies at
the arsenal and for test purposes two shots
we're fred from each gun and the shells
examined
According TO the letter Of Secretary
Taft the results show that the shells corre-
spond exactly with the marks on the car
tridges discharged from four Of the guns
of Company B. Both Lieut. Hawkins and
Mr. Spooner are positive in their stare
ments that the shells were fired from the
guns OF Company u.
From an examination of the official test
Of guns assigned To the three companies,
B, G and d, Twenty-fifth Infantry, it IL
shown that two of the guns from which
the shells picked up in Brownsville were
fired were not ASST igned to the men, but
were kept in the storehouse in charge of
the Quartermaster Sergeant of Company B.
The third gun was assigned TO Thomas
Taylor private. Company B. and the fourth
aaaiUpnl IN InaaHh l Wllgnn Ii ia
explained, however, that inasmuCh az II
is probable that the men on the night oi
the raid did not Use their own guns the
fact that these guns were assigned to Taylor
and Wilson does not necessarily prove
them guilty
A further examination made of the rifles
Of the Twenty-siXth Infantry, the white
regiment which preceded the cOlored troops
at Fort Brown. shows that the shells dis
charged from their guns contained none
of the marks found on the shells picked up
after the shooting on August ~. The bull
let's discharged by Lieut.. Hawkins from
the guns Of the Twenty-fifth Infantry for
test purposes have the same impression of
the bands of the rifling as those taken from
Brownsville houses. Lieut.. Hawkins in his
report to the Secretary of War also de-
clared that three To five minutes is sufficient
time 20 clean a gun. Lieut.. Hawkins will
testify tomorrow.
Henry Watson. white. a private in the
Twenty-sixth Infantry, was the only new
witness examined at the hearing to-day.
Nothing important developed from his
testimony except that he had been asked
by boy when cleaning up the barracks
after the Twenty-siXth Infantry left Fort
Brown to give him some cartridges. The
lad said he could sell them in town.
Watson testified that sometimes soldiers
got surplus ammunition by asking for cart
tridges with which TO go hunting. The
witness had much to say about the men
hunting jackrabbits, which led Senator
Warner 10 remark to Senator Foraker as
the witness left the stand that he had ac-
complished nothing by Watson testimony
except to establish the fact that Texas was
a good place in which TO hunt jackrabbits.
The War Department has received the
following despatch from Major Blocksom.
Inspector-General Of the Army at San
Antonio
Chief Of Police Galveston has just wired
me confession of Gray, supposed discharged
soldier, appearing in papers to-day, Is
fake"
GALVESTON. Tex, March 1s,-The con-
fession Of the ex-soldier giving his name
as D. G.. Gray, detailing the Brownsville
raid. is corroborated by three affidavits,
two from the newspaper men who secured
the statement upon the pretence OF being
Government Secret Service officers and
the third from w. $. Noble, a negro who
arranged for the meeting. The negro
gave the name Of Gray, but his real name
Is Anderson.
Lieut.. Chamberlain, young army ficer
spent a few hours in Galveston, found
negro named Gray and another named
Anderson. who made atfidavits they had
made no such statement. Chamberlain eX-
hibited the affidavts to the chief Of police
and induced that officer to join him in a
message to the War Department to the eifec
that the story was fake. a message
has been received from the author of the
confession, who admits that he became
frightened when he discovered he had
confessed 10 newspaper men and left the