Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-15

opened fire on the town from within
the fort; that they BACKED their faces
SO that at least fourteen eye witnesses
mistook them for negroes; that they
disguised their voices SO that at least
six witnesses who heard them speak
mlstook their, voices as being those of
negroes. They were not Mexicans, for
they We're heard by various witnessee
to speak in English. The weapons
they used were Springfield rifles; for
the ammunition which they used was
that of the Springfield rifle and no
other, and could not have been used
in any gun in Texas or any part of the
union or in Mexico, or in any other
part of the world, save only in the
Springfield now used by the United
States troops including the negro.
troops in the garrison at Brownsville,
and oy no other persons save those
troops-a weapon which had only been
in use by the United States troops for
some four or five months prior to the
shooting in question, and which is not
in the possession of private citizens.
Attack Made at Midnight.
The shooting took place near mid
night. The panic caused by the utter
| ly unexpected attack was great. The
darkness, of course, increased the con-
fusion. There is conflict of testimony
on some of the minor points, but ev-
cry essential point is established be-
yond possibility of honest question.
The careful examination of Mr.. Purdy,
assistant to the attorney general, re-
suited merely in strengthening the re-
ports already made by the regular ar
| my authorities. The shooting it APP
pears occupied about 10 minutes, al
though it may have been some minutes
more or less 1t is out of the question
that the fifteen or twenty men engag-
ed in the assault could have gathered
behind the wall Of the fort, begun f1r-
Ing, some of them on the porches of
the barracks, gone out into the town
| fired in the neighborhood of two hun
| dred shots in the, town, and then re-
turned in the total time occupied from
the time of the first shot to the time
of their return, being somewhere in
the neighborhood of 10 minutes-with-
out many of their comrades knowing
what they had done. Indeed, the full
er details as established by the addi-
tional evidence taken since last COM
| municated with the senate make 1t
likely that there We're very few, II any.
of the soldiers dismissed who could
have been ignorant of what occurred.
1t is well nigh impossible that any
of the non commissioned officers who
We're at the barracks should not have
known what occurred.
Was Within Rights, He Contends.
The additional evidence thus taken
renders 1t in my opinion impossible to
| question the conclusions upon which
my order was based. / have gone most
carefully over every issue Of law and
| fact that has been raised I am now
l @ ffcA nI f1,r4 10 NEf@ so =
dismissing these men without honor
was not to bar them from all civil
employment under the government,
and therefore that the part of the or
der which consisted of a declaration to
this effect was lacking in validity, and
I have directed that such portion be
revoked AS to the rest Of the order
dismissing the individuals in question
without honor and declaring the eff
feet Of such discharge under the law
and regulations to be a bar to their
future re-enlistment either in the ar
my or the. navy, there. is no doubt of
my constitutional and legal power.
The order was within my discretion
under the constitution and the laws,
and cannot be reviewed or reversed
save by another executive order. The
| ton took-they rendered such action
imperative unless / was to prove false
to my sworn duty
II any one of the men discharged
| hereafter shows to my satisfaction
that he is clear of guilt, or of shield
ing the guilty, 1 will take what action
is warranted; but the circumstances I
have above detailed most certainly put
upon any such man the burden of thus
clearing himself.
Theodore Roosevelt.
The White House, Jan. Ia. 1907.