The Topeka state journal., 1911-04-17

Lett, Chief of staff of the United
g With Major Dunn.
ment the fire sIackened to the south
east and 1T became apparent that the
first attack of the federals had been a
failure.
As far as could be learned, the fed
erals had about 1850 men engaged,
mandante Barron, chief of the rurales
in Sonora.
Rebels Well Organized
The rebels showed remarkable organ
izatfon throughout the battle. Every
point OF vantage was guarded, includ-
tional line and every trench and build
Ing on the outskirts of Aqua Prieta
had its squad of men waiting to get
into action.
One bullet passed through the hat of
an American trooper on the interna-
tional line United States cavalrymcn
were dismounted standing beside their
horses. The mounts were finally moved
to sheltered positions behind the adobe
buildings along the line. The army am
balances also were held here.
A great throng gathered at Fifth
street 500 yards behind the line intent
upon witnessing the battle. The Amer
lean patrol forced back all persons ex-
cept those carrying passes. Twenty
men were detailed to take the field on
the Mexican side of the line for Red
Cross work and about 100 volunteers
were held on this side to care for the
wounded. A train on the Nacozary
railroad was made ready and a num-
Der of automobiles were run to the line
in preparation to go out and bring the
wounded back to the city. The first
string of wagons started for the front
to collect the wounded at 8:45.
Brave American Woman.
At 1O:3O the firing ceased. The rebels
still had every position which they oc-
cupied at the beginning of the battle.
They began digging new line of
trenches within a hundred feet of thu
international line running diagonally 20
the american boundary.
/ Mrs. Alice Gattliff, the American wo-
nan who remained in Aqua Prieta
with the stars and stripes flying above
her little curio store, telephoned to
Douglas at 10:40 a. m. that she was
still unhurt. Lopez, who had been in
her store, told her that the federals.
advancing across the open ground, had
lost heavily in killed and wounded.
When the firing ceased, the American
troops had forced the Douglas residents
back to Sixth street, which is within
three blocks of the center of the city.
Firing was resumed at II o'clock. The
federal rnt-chfne guns were still out of
commission.
After falling back and reforming
their line, the federalS at II O'Clock
swung around in a southerly direction
and the battle was resumed with
heavy firing.
Colonel William A. Skunk. COM
manding the American troops on the
line, and Captain Gaujot watched the
action from an adobe building on
First street, close to the international
line, but on the American side Colonel
Skunk issued strict orders to the
American soldiers to remain on Amer
lean soil. They were even forbidden
to aid in the Red Cross work on the
Mexican side of the line.
An American Shot.
Another American, John Hamilton,
has been shot He was in Douglas,
nearly in the center of the city, being
shot in the breast by a bullet. Twenty
insurrecto dead have just been brought
into Aqua Prieta.
Suffer for Water.
The rebels suffered greatly from
want of water. The insurrectos in the
ditch closest to the international line
started to get water from a hydrant
on the American side, but were order
ed back into the trenches by their cap
tain. Americans carried water to the
line where the rebels picked it up and
carried it to the trenches after waving
their thanks to the Americans in sight.
John Hamilton of Naco, Arizona.
one of forty Americans on the top of
an adobe building in Douglas, viewing
the battle. was struck in the breast by
a bullet at noon. Hamilton was not
within the prescribed danger zone
when he was wounded.
An American in Aqua Prieta tele-
phoned that the rebels had carried
about twenty dead into the bull pen
The rebels estimated the federal dead
at noon at not less than seventy-five
1t was at this hour that six mounted
Mexican officers led an advance of fifty
cavalrymen and about 800 infantrymen
up a draw to the south of Aqua Prieta
in an oblique line to the American
boundary, striving. again to secure Il
position on the American line.
Douglas Schools Are Closed.
These advancing forces fercely en-
gagged the men in the lire of rebel en-
trenchm ents running from the out
skirts OF Aqua Prieta to the Ameri-
can line, northeast to southwest. The
advancing federals fired only. occasion
ally but the rattle of rife shots from
the rebel trenches was almost contin-
nous The federalS abandoned Grip
pied machine gun on the open field
east of Aqua Prieta and this was tax
en- bv the command of Red Lopez
and brought into Aqua Prieta. The
school trustees of Douglas closed the
Seventh street and the Second street
schools today and sent ths children
home. because these buildings were in
the line of fire from the battlefield.