Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-01-18
THE PROOF CONCLUSIVE.
IContinued from First Pagel.

WITHIN the lOTl, tndl tley uidCheo
their faces so that at least fourteen
eye-witnesses mistook them for ne
groes; that they disguised their voices
so that at least six witnesses who
heard them speak mistook their
voices for those of negroes. They
were not Mexicans, for they were
heard by various witnesses to speak
English. The weapons they used were
Springfield rifles, for the ammunition
they used was that Of the Springfield
rifle, and no other, and could not have
been used in any guns in Texas or In
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
Rrownsville, and by no other persons
save these troops-a weapon which
has only been in use by the United
States troops for some four or five
months prior to the shooting In ques-
ton and which is not In the posses
sion Of private citizens.
The Cartridges Used.
other rifle used in the United States
when specially chambered-the Win
chester Of the '95 model-but 1t will
rarely IL ever go off when in 1t; and
moreover, the bullets picked out Of
the buildings show the markings OF
the four so-called lands" which
comes from being fired through the
Springfield, but not through the Win
chester, the latter showing six. The
bullets which herewith submit
which were found In the houses, could
not therefore have been fired from
Winchester or any other sporting rifle
although the cartridges might have
been put into a Winchester model OF
'95. The bullets might have beer
fired from a Krag, but the cartridges
would not have gone into a Krag
Taking the shells and bullets together
the proof Is conclusive that the new
Springfield rifle was the weapon USED
by the midnight assassins and could
not by any possibility have been any
other rifle Of any other kind in the
world. This in itself establishes the
fact that the assailants were United
States soldiers. and ii would be con-
elusive on this point II not one SOL
dier had been seen or heard by any
residents of Brownsville on the nigh
known save the finding of the shells
clips and bullets.
What Eye-Witnesses Say.
Fourteen eye-witnesses. namely
Charles r. Chase. Amado Martinez
Mrs. Kate Leahy, palermo Preclaoo
Ygnacio Dominguez, Macedonia Ram
irez, George w. Kendall, Jose MART
neZ, ]. p. Mcdonald, +. H. A. Sanborn
Herbert Elkins, Hale Odin, Mrs. Hall
Odin and Judge Parks testified tina
thew saw the assailants or some o.
them at varying distances, and tina
they were negro troops, most or tn'
| witnesses giving their testimony II
such shape that there Is no possiblnt!
of their having been mistaken. Tw'
other witnesses, Joseph Bodin ant
Genero Padron, saw some OF the as
sailants and testified that they wer'
soldiers (the only soldiers In TN
neighborhood being the colore'
troopS). n
-Four other witnesses, namely: s. {
Moore. DR., Thorn, Charles c. Canad'
and Charles A. Hammond, testineu u
hearing the shooting and hearing I'M
voices of the men who were doing IL
and that these voices were those o
negroes, but did not actually see tn
men who were doing the shooting
About twenty-five other witnesse
gave testimony corrOborating TO
greater or less degree the testimon.
| of those eye and ear-witnesses Woui'
establish beyond all possibility or con
tradiction the fact that the shootlnI
was committed by ten or ffteen o
more Of the negro troops from TN
Garrison. and this testimony Of their
| would be amply sufficient in itself !
not a cartridge or a bullet had peel
| found. exactly as the bullets and car
| tridges that were found would nav
established the guilt Of the troop
even had not a single eye-witnes
seen them or any other witnesse
heard them.
| The testimony Of the witnesses an
the position Of the bullet holes shoN
i tina. fifteen or twenty negro troop
| gathered inside the fort and that TN
first shots fired into town were fire
i from within the fort, some or them
i least from the upper galleries or tn
barracks
Further Evidence.
The testimony further shows tina
the troops then came out over IN
walls, some of them perhaps goln
Through the gates and advanced dls
ltance of 800 yards or thereabouts int
1.-The town. During their advance the
shot into two hotels and some nine o
ten other houses. Three of the pr
yate houses into which they fired con
| tanned women and children. They de
Iliberately killed Frank Natus, tn
bartender, shooting him down from
distance of about fifteen yards. The
i shot at a man and woman, Mr.. an
Mrs. Odin, and their little boy, as the
4 Stood in the window Of the Miller no
tel, the bullet going less than two inch
es from the head of the woman. The
shot down the lieutenant Of police
who was on horseback, killing nj
horse and wounding him so that nj
arm had to be amputated. They al
i tempted to kill the two policeme
who were his companions, shootin
one through the hat. They shot q
least eight bullets into the Cove
house, putting out a lighted lamp o
the dining room table. Mrs. Cove
land her five children were In tn
house; they at once threw themselve
prone on the floor and were not hi
They fired into the Starck house, tn
bullets boing through the mosquit
bar of a bed from Is to 20 inche
above where their children were sleep
ing. There was a light In the chill
dren's room.
The shooting took place near mid
night. The panic caused by the utter
lly unexpected attack was great. Tn
darkness, of course, increased tn
confusion. There Is conflict Of test
mony on some of the minor point:
but every essential point Is establish
ed beyond possibility of honest ques
tfon. The careful examination OF MI
lPurdy, assistant to the attorney gene
raj, resulted merely In Strengthenin
the reports already made by the regu
liar army authorities. The shooting
lit appears. occupied ten minutes. al
though 1t may have been some min
utes more or less. 1t is out OF tn
II question that the fifteen or twent
men engaged i'm the assault could hav
gathered behind the wall of the for
begun firing, some of them on tn
porches Of the barracks, gone out in
to the town, fired in the neighborhoo
OF 200 shots In the town and then re