The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1907-01-15

out Of the houses into which they ha'
been fired.
After rchearsng the various out
RACES. including murder. assault witt
intent TO kill. shooting Into houses an,
NJ women aud children aud the wound
lng ~ citizen. the president cites m,
probable motive Of previous troubl'
between citizens and soldiers. com
plr'nis against the latter aud the cop
sequent confinement Of the soldier
within the limbo Of the fort on "a,
evening Of the day In question.
''The evidence shows beyond any pos
slbility Of honest question that some ln
diyldunls among the colorel trools
whom I have dismissed committed tn
outrages mentioned and that some OF
all of the other individuals whom
dismissed had knowledge of the dc,vl
and shielded from the law those who
committed II.
The only motive suggested as posi-
bly influencing any one else WIS q lie
sire 20 get rid ~ the colored troops 80
strong that IL impcllcrl the citizens of
Brownsville 60 shoot up their own
houses. 20 Kill one of their own number
20 assault their own police. wnundinf
the lieutenant. who had been an officer
for twenty yenrS-all with the pupos,
~ dlscrc,llting the negro troops. The
suggestion Il on H. face ~ ludlcrously
impossible that II IL difficult 10 treat %
M honestly made.
This theory supposes that the assall
ants succeeded In obtaining the uni.
form Of the ncgro soldiers; that before
starting on their raid they got over the
fence Of the fort unchallenget aud
without discovery by the negro troops
opened firc on the town froh within
the fort: that they hlackcnc,l their
faces IA that ~ least fourteen cycwii
neSscs mistook them Tor negroes that
they disguised their voiccS ~ that at
least six witnesses who heard them
speak mlstook their voices ~ being
those Of negroes
The ammunition usel was that Of
the Springfield rife AMI no other aud
could not have been used In any gun
In Texas or any part ~ the Union az
In Mexico or IN any part 81 the world
save only In the Springfield. now used
by the United States troops, and 10y
no other persons save those troops
a weapon which had only been Ia use
by the United States troops for four
or i've months prior 10 the shooting In
question aud which l. not In the pos
session Of private citizens.
The cartridges used will go into one
other rife used IN the United States
when specially chnmbcrcd Win.
chester Of 1895 modci-but II will rare
~ II ever 20 on when In II. and. more
over. the bullets picked out ~ the
buildings show the markings of the
four 10 called lands which come from
being fired through Springfield army
rifles. This Of itself establishes the
fact that the nssailants were United
States soldiers and would bc conclu
NlNF NU NulN I'lHA W wv WV H'f'f''
had been seen or heard by amy real.
dents In brownsville ON the night W
question aud II nothing were known
save the finding Of the shells. clips aud
bullets.
Fourteen cyewlincsScs - nnmcly'
Charles II. Chase. Amado Martinez.
Airs. Kate Leahy. Palermo Prcciado
Ygnacio Domlngucz. Macedonia RANT
req. George W. Kendall. Jose Martinez,
]. T.. Mcdonald. \. II. A. sanborn
Herbert Eikinr. Hale Odin. Mrs. Hale
Odln aud Judge Parks testified that
they saw the assallanis or some Of
them NJ varying distances and that
they were negro troops. most 0f the
witnesses giving their Testimony In
such shape that there II no possibility
OF their having been mistaken. Two
other witnesses. Joseph Bpdln and &c.
nero Padron. saw some of the assall'
ants aud testified that they were sol
dlcrs. the only soldiers Ia the neigh
borhood being the colorcd troops. -Four
other witnesses namely. \ G. Moore.
Dr. Thorn. Charles <. Canada and
Charles A. Hammond testified 10 hear.
ing the shooting aud hearing the voices
OF the men who were doing II and That
these voices were those OF negroes, bu