Evening star., 1909-06-04
BROWNSVILLE PROBE|
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like so many children who had suddenly |
lost their parents and had no one to turn
to. A majority Of them were and are un- |
experienced in the ways Of the world and
their knowledge, in the main. consisted OF
what they had picked up in the service. |
They were good soldiers. but unframed
for any other kind OF work.
Stewart and Marshall and their friends
started at first to get positions for the
men. There were 167 soldiers discharged.
Three that Stewart and Marshall know
of have died. Only one has a police rec
ord. He is Thomas Jefferson, who was
arrested here in Washington a week or
two ago on a charge of vagrancy and
was subsequently committed to ST. Eliza
beth. an insanity court having pronounc-
ed him insane. 1t Is said that he lost his
mind on account of broodng over his dis
missal. His main hallucination was with
man he met was a government detective
on his trail.
Urged Them to Go to Work.
After getting the men jobs Stewart and
Marshall busted themselves impressing
upon them the necessity of absolute good
behavior. They urged every one of the
work. so that II their cases were reopened
there would be no black mark, on their
records from the time they had left the
service.
In the main the efforts Of the mentors
of the soldiers In this direction have been
successful, and nearly all the men have
done well since they left the service and
their records are uniformly good.
Perhaps the most successful is James
f. Armstrong, who Is a contracting build
l,, r
ceived from him at the headquarters of
the Brownsville defense recently. asking
for specific information as to the date
OF the coming hearings. He said he had
houses, but that If his appearance before
the court of inquiry would interfere with
his work he wanted to know, SO he could
pass the contract over to another man.
Many of the discharged soldiers went
to Kansas City. where they obtained po-
sitions In packing houses. John Halli-
man, who was described as one OF the
ringleaders in the Brownsville riots, is in
St Louis, where he is employed as a
chauffeur by a millionaire. Israel Harris
went to Boston and entered the employ
of the Elliott National Bank. for which
he is now runner. carrying thousands
Of dollars about on his person every day.
Others are working In the navy yards at
Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Washington.
Sanders an Ell Caney Hero.
Minso Sanders, the most prominent of
the discharged soldiers. is, because of
his wonderful record as a soldier. and
the fact that he was but a few months
short of the thirty-year- mark
when he was dismissed. is in Washing
ton. employed as a watchman on the
work at the Senate office building Jacob
Frazier and Corporal Elmer Brown are
working in the bureau of engraving and
printing.
Sanders. by the way, has not done par
ticularly we'll. He was too old a man to
learn rapidly and his pride suffered. 1t
was Sanders. by the way, to whom Col
Theodore Roosevelt of the Rough Riders
appealed for food for his men after the
battle of Ell Caney. In the excitement
of the charge the Rough Riders had
thrown aside their knapsacks containing
their rations. When the fight was over
they were hungry and had no food. Col.
Roosevelt went to the 25th Infantry and
If they could let his men have some food.
Sanders told him they had nothing but
hardtack. but he would give the Rough
Riders half of what he had Later, in
mention for gallantry in action. His
record up to the time Of the Brownsville
affair was flawless.
Some Homesick for the Service.
But do the former soldiers want to re-
not. Many of the younger ones do not.
They have good jobs, and one recently
wrote. mo more army life for me-" But
the older men, such as Sanders, are
,homesick for the service. All who were
In their third enlistment want to go back.
'Once soldier. always a soldier" And
this is particularly true of a man who
has entered his third enlistment. But all
Of them want to have their records set
straight. even those who do not intend
to re-enlist II allowed to do so.
AS to who shot up Brownsville-that is
a secret known probably to less than one
hundred persons. 1t will never become
public. But If the shooting was done by
certain members of the 18th all of the 167
men dismissed were not involved in it.
The innocent want to be cleared.
The work that the Brownsville defense
has done and is doing will be of ines
timable assistance to the court of inquiry.
Stewart and Marshall are in constant
communication with all but about half a
dozen Of them They will locate the miss
ing ones by the time they are wanted.
No white man could do this. Many of
the soldiers are illiterate and extremely
shy. If they received from Capt How
land. the secretary of the board, a re-
quest to appear they would not reply to it. |
They would Immediately change their
residence and keep in hiding for fear of
some trap But they will all be here in
October, and an interesting trial will re-