New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-09-05
ROW IN 69TH GROWS
Witness Will Tell of Friction
Before BIauveIt Shoot.
MOVING PICTURES A CAUSE
Street Cleaning Employe Makes
Affidavit That He Acted
as Substitute.

The seth Regiment did a lot of hard
| lighting during the Civil War and long
list OF important battles in which II took
J part appears on the outer walls of tho
armory in Lexington avenue. The active
members of the regiment, of course, were
not on hand then, but 1t appears they
| have inherited the old spirit. only with tho
difference that, having no foreign foe TO
contend with, they fight among them
/ selves.
The domestic war clouds now hovcrlng
over the armory began to gather about
! year and half ago, and have resulted IN
| the summoning Of Captain William a.
! Stacom, of Company g. TO appear before
court martial The examining board
| has already held one session, and II ~
/ expected that the sensational part or the
| inquiry will be reached tonight The
| captain is charged with permitting sub
| stitutions 10 be made in the companys
ranks when target practice was held at
| Blauvelt i'm July OF last year But ac-
| cording to ono Of the witnesses, who VIII
| testify tonight. dscord arose in Company
II several months before the Blauvelt In
| cident. and was due 10 a moving picture
show that was held I'm the gymnasium of
the armory by Company r.
The witness maintains that this show
had several immoral features which
aroused the indignation not only Of some
Of the members of the company, but also
Of some OF the officers Of the regiment
who later protested to Lieutenant Colonel
Conley. commanding the regiment. NJ
first. the story goes. Colonel Conley up
held the protest and asked Captain Sta
com tU resign, but other Officers nhai'S
persuaded the colonel TO drop. the matter.
The members who had been offended al
the show, IL Is said, then filed aihdaNlts
voiclng their protest, but to their sur
nrIsc 10 action was taken. This caused
bitterness to spring up between Captain
Stacom and the protesting nemperS'
some of whom are said to have been re-
duced in rank and two honorahly dis
charged from the regiment without
hearing. AfidayIts covering this action
il is said. are now in the hands of AdJu-
tant General Organ and the brigade
commander.
The witness next told his version or the
happenings at Blauvelt which led 10 the
court martial proceedings. The rifle con
test was for the purpose OF determining
which Of the companies should obtain
nossesslon OF tho O'DOnohuc and Kemp
trophies. Company ] qualified 70 out OF
IS men. and so put In claim for oo'h
trophics II was later discovered that
Compauy y had secured an even higher
percentagc. Then the charge was MADE
that AZ least H. of thos" entering TOT
Companv B were not members OF the
company.
The witness goes on TO explain what his
personal knowledge was OF the suhsttu-
tious al Blauvclt. lie declares that one
Of the substitutes was Captain Stacom
brother. and another was drug clerk
employed by the captain In his drugstore
at fremont A third substitute mentioned
il John +. Watts. an employ. OF the
Street Cleaning Department. who has
made an affidavit that he shot at BlauVen
under the name of Daniel OLcary.
bona nde member Of the company. and
was requested TO take part IN the contest
by CAPTAIN Stacom The affidavit further
declares that Watts's uniform was given
10 him by Sergeant Fosarty. OF Com
pany Il.
Captain Stacom declined last night TO
make any statement regarding the
charges made against him. as did his at
torney. Captain John y. Everett