The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-18
MAINTAIN INNOCENCE
Negroes Firmly Deny Par
ticipatiOn in Raid.
CASE a MOST PUzzLING ONE
CrOss-examinatIOn Fails to Disturb
Stories Told by SOIdiers-On Face
of the Inquiry Seem UneOnneeted
with Shooting Up of the Town
Twenty-Five Witnesses Heard.

of the Inquiry Seem UneOnneeted
with Shooting Up of the Town
Twenty-Five Witnesses Heard.
The Brownsville raid has been under
investigation by the Senate Committee
on Military Affairs for two weeks. and
the mystery as to the Identity of the
meH who shot up the town is as deep
as it was before the inquiry began.
AS far as aseertaining the name of the
guilty persons. whether soldiers or citi-
zens, is concerned, the Senators have been
able to learn no more than did Mai.
Blockson, or Inspector General CARING
ton.
twenty-five witnesses have been heard,
and every line of testimony thus far adj
duced has tehded to show that the sol
diers at Fort Brown had absolutely Moth
ing 10 do with the raid upon the town,
and that an injustice was done them
by discharging them without honor. II
should be borne in MID, however, that
none but the discharged soldiers them
selves have thps far appeared as wit
nesses, and naturally they have sought
to prove themselves and their comrades
innocent
Practically every nOncommissioned Off
Ger Of the dismissed battalion and sey-
eral pTivates have been heard, and all
have told substantially the same story
of the incidents of the night of the raid.
and each one has denied being impli-
Gated in the shooting. and disclaimed
knowledge concerning the identity Of the
guilty parties
Many OF the witnesses have given tesu-
mony charging the raid on citizens Of
Brownsville, Mexicans, and cowboys, who.
they say shot up the town because Of
prejudice against the cOlored soldiers. and
for the purpose Of having them with
Drawn and white soldiers ordered to take
their places
Testimony All One Way.
Senator Foraker has studied the case
carefully from the standpoint Of the sol
diers. He has conferred with them and
known in advance just about what each
witness was 10 say. II their statements
are to be believed he has shown that all
OF the men Of the battalion were properly
accounted for when the call To arms was
sounded on tine night Of the raid; that the
guns were all i'm their racks or accounted
for: that on the morning after the raid
all the guns passed a rigid inspection,
showing that they had not been fired,
and that no ammunition was missing
that after a gun is fired it is impossible
10 clean il iH less than twenty-five or
thirty minutes 50 that it would pass in
spection, and that a gun could not be
properly cleaned in the dark All of this
has tended to show that the soldiers were
not Implicated IN the raid.
Furthermore. IL has been testified that
when the colored troops arrived at
Brownsville tney found a large number
of empty cartridge shells scattered about
the barracks; that MexiCans and boys
roamed at viii over the garrison and
picked up these cartridge shells and cIiTs.
as Well as Cast-Off uniforms which the
soldiers had thrown away; that the sol
diers had at Brownsville only reduced
range ammunition; that the police and
many people Of the town Wore KHAKI! SINH
lar in color 20 that worn by the soldiers;
that the firing was mixed. that is judging
from sound, il came from Ninchesters.
rev0lyers. and six-shOoters; that it was
directed toward the fort. that bullets were
heard whizzing IN the direction of the
barracks, and. lastly. that there was great
prejudice among the people Of the town.
particularly the Mexicans, because the
soldiers patroBized the saloan of a dis
shops conducted by white people.
Except as 10 minor details there has
been little disparity in the statements by
the soldiers. For the most part their
stories have been told iu q stra ight
forward manner, except as TO that part of
the narrative which had to do with the
discussion among the men over the affair.
Some have said that there was 10 talk
among the soldiers about the affair. others
have said that they talked with the men
and endeavored TO set information from
them but failed. Cross-examination which
has been conducted chiefly by Senator
Warner has been most searching but
failed 10 confuse them much.
Charge Crime in Others.
The principal feature brought out to
the detriment Of the soldiers is the fact
that the attempt to place the responsible
ity for the shooting up of the town upon
the citizens, came as a suggestion from
Of Constitution League. 1t
was d sort Of afterthought. as far as the
soldiers were concerned. for their state
ments in this respect were not made to
Gen, Darlington or Mai Blockson. and
they only remembered these things after
Stewart GHchriSt. OF the Constitution
League, had had a conference with them
and induced about thirty OF them TO sign
4 statement This much was brought out
by discrimination of several witnesses
by Senator Foster.
A line of inquiry which has been once
or twice suggested by Senator Overman,
bu5 which has not been pursued, is that
the movements of the seven
teen men who were on guard the night
of the raid
These men all had their guns, and. ac-
cording to the testimony not more than
four, with a noncommissioned officer.
were actively on watch al any one time
Their posts were only about go yards
from the scene Of the shooting and the
question has been suggested, Why could
not the shooting have been done by these
men. who could easily have gotten back
10 their posts before the garrison was
aroused? II is also true that they had
plenty Of time TO clean their guns before
they were obliged to turn them in the
next morning.
The answer has been made to this. that
tho firing was in v,ToorpSs yrbiIo tho COLL