Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-14
Testimony VS.. Admissions.

ard. Corp. Franklin. Corp. Thornton and
! Private Joseph l.. Wilson express the
| opinion that it was done by the soldiers.
Many OF the men make statements SINH
/ lar to those of SeTGt. George Jackson
Corp. Anthony Franklin and Temple
| Thornton. that their senator their
attorney had told them not to talk. Of
course. If they had no guilty knowledge
| they could tell nothins to harm them.
! The circumstances of the firing from
! barracks. from the ground inside the wall,
and the general comment which ensued
among the men make absurd any theory
! that the members of the battalion in bar
racks &. c and D could have failed to
! know tina, soldiers did me shooting. The
general resentment among them a t the
| hostile attitude of the citizens of Browns
! vile was sufficient to initiate the con-
| spiracy of silence. Added thereto was the
| fact that murder was committed and
! that the state of Texas was taking
hand in seeking 10 punish the criminals.
| The discharge OF the whole battalion. SAL
! utary and necessary as it was, made
racial issue. Had the battalion been OF
| white soldiers instead of Coloved no maud
! lin sympathy would have been aroused
| whole affair would have blown over in
month
| The Cartridge Shells.
! The expert evidence submitted to the
Senate committe identifying certain car
tridse sheells picked up in the Cowan alley
after the raid as having been fred from
guns issued to members Of Company +
is conclusive. The sole flaw seemed TO
be in the identification of one of the guns
issued to Private Blaney and supposed TO
have been locked up in an arm chest in
the stoTeroon of e barracks The records
of gun issues We're kept by the quarter
master sergeant. and showed nulnel Gus
changes and irregularities.
INSfe was 10 actual luSCSctlOn or the
guns in the orm chest by numbers until
long after the raid. There was no abSO
lutte testimony from an unprecedented source
as to the Blaney gun being in the arm
chest. and it was known and acknoW-
edged that guns were being changed more
OF. less among the men without authority.
If the Blaney gun vas out there was
ample opportunity to return it without
detection. Private Joseph l. Wilson
declared to Capt. Baldwin.
The argument advanced in defense o.
a box of empty shells lying open in the
gallery of B barracks, and that they had
been taken by townSpeople and scattered
In the alley to throw suspicion on the
soldiers. was buttressed by the further ex-
PLANTATION that several of them showed
doEble-h.ing marks, due TO failure of
the first attempt. the firing mocha nism be-
ing stffened by the evsmoline on the
weapons when issued. These Shells had
come from the target range ct Fort Mo-
brara. This argument is destroyed by two
facts now given.
First. The box mentioned contained
over thousand shells discharged from
nearly fifty rifles. thrown in indiscTimi-
nately and roughly shaken in the trans
portation and numerous landings from
the range at NiObrara to the barracks at
Fort Brown. thus being thoroughly mixed.
There would be mathenla tically only one
chance in hundreds Of millions that out
OF this box 30 shells selected at random
would exhibit the absolute firing marks
therefore a practical imposs.bility
Second. There were six OF the thirty
shells showing marks Of having been
inserted in rifle twice. No such pro-
portion Of misfires-one in five. 70 per cent.
was reported from Fort Eiobrara-was
in evidence on the remainder OF the Shells
or was claimed by the soldiers to whom
the guns identified with the shells were
issued
But the conclusive evidence as to the
double markings on these shells and three
others, referred to in the expert testi-l
mony Of Lieut.. W. J. Hawkins g. l..
p. 1870 can be had from Mr.. NJ. d. Purdy
former assistant attorney general who
the shells picked up at Brownsville were
In his presence inserted in a Springfield
rife and tested by an army officer at Fort
Sam Houston to illustrate the working
or the guns This accounts for the dou-
bic markings Moreover. in case two at
tempts were made to fire cartridge the
primer markings of the first and unsuc-
cessful attempt would be completely OBJ
liberated by the greater explosive blow
of the second and successful attempt
The Ammunition.
Boyd Conycrs furnishes the informal ion
that before the battalion left Fort Mo
hrara rumors were circulated that they
would not be welcome at Brownsville:
that there would be trouble with the citi-
zens. and the rough element Of the bat
talon determined to prepare for trou-
BILE. On the way down the boys at the
stations would importune the soldiers for
cartridges. Some were given, but more
were held out. and on inspection at
BROWNSVILLE the shortage was accredited
to their having been given away.
Lieut.. Lawrason declares Conyers.
Scolded the men and threatened punish
ment, but he ordered more CARTRIDGES is
sued. Some had been held out at target
practice. So there were plenty OF car
tridges. John Holloman took care of
them. and think he hid them over in the
Allison saloon which he backed. After
the raid he brought around a lot to the
guardhouse 10 make up the shortage and
sergt. Reid handed them around.
Lieut.. Lawrason gave an original esti-
mate that from one-fourth to one-third
of Company 3 came down to roll call
at the time of the raid without their
ammunition Before the Senate com
mlttee he raised his estimate to one-half
This latter estimate comedies closely
with the number whom Boyd Conyers
states as having come out on the upper
gallery of barracks and blazed away
after tie signal shots. 1t is not claimed
or charged that the men shot away all
their cartridges. but the resulting con-
fusion was evidently a part of the pre-
meditated plan to secure as much delay
as possible in calling the roll to let the
raiders have time TO get back in line.
From eight to ten minutes elapsed be-
fore the roll call was fairly started, and
the raiders were all back
The entire distance traversed by the
raiders from the fort to the Tillman
saloon, the farthest point and return.
can be and was covered in less time than
SIX minutes from the firing of the first
shot fast walk out and a run back
Will do 1t in less than three minutes bv
actual test. The distance is less than
one-sixth mile each way. Allow speed
OF mile in twelve minutes out and of
mile in six minutes back and il can
be covered in three minutes. Allow a
minute for delays in firing and i. is
all done in four minutes The raid was
carefully planned and we'll timed.
Testimony Regarding Revolvers.
There is a confusion of testimony as to
the raiders. No evidence has been OBJ
tanned that service revolvers had been
surreptitiously taken and used; but it is
well known that at Fort Niobrara a
search was made and several revolvers
collected from members of the battalion
They could have had them. and proba hly