El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-09
Only Head Of Great Column
Of Troops and Civil
ians Yet In.

CONTINUED from previous page9
in the face or reports that they might
eEDect no mercy should they IaIl INTO
the hands Of the rebels. Gen LUIS
Terrazas. a wealthy landowner, Teputed
To own half Of the state OF Cnlhuanud'
was said to have brought with MN a
vast fortune in cash rearing ne IlignI
be looted by the rebels II he remained
in the evacuated city.
Spectacle of Despair.
witnesses viewing the Oncoming
throng from the hills at O1lnaga report
ed that the dusty confusion OF DroAel
down wagons, disabled artlllery an
mfngling Of disheartened soldiers ana
famished civilians, as they moved SLOW
" over the desert, presented a sDecta-
Gle OF universal despair.
Forced to Abandon Property.
The fear Of being unable TO keep pace
with the escOrting army, OF beng loSl
on the desert or caught by the reDeIs
and the occasional attacks of rebel
commands, added to the miseries OF 50
precipitate q flight and kept the REL
rgees in almost a continuous frenzy.
STbefr arrival in a panic formed one Of
the most tragic incidents IN the pres
ent revolution
MANY who had started out in vehi-
cies had later to march on loot; scores
who attempted to carry their treasures
had to abandon them through sheer
WEAKNESS, so that their tracks were 1T
orally streWn with discarded lmPeol-
manufacturing, brlcaDrac and Nalueu
trfnkets which they had hoped to carry
TO safety Behind them they IeIL the
bIackened ashes of camptlreS, marx
ing at eight stages on the trip the elSHt
nights they had camped. SomeIlnnes IN
q cold wind blowing off the h1Sh PA
teau and often within hearing OF the
bowling coyotes. The travelling IN the
day was sometimes through sand
storms
Rebels asBeat tn to Hills.
Just before the APPROACH of the fed.
erals. whose OncOming was announced
by 20 exhausted soldiers earlier IN the
day, the few rebels at O1lnaga, VINO
were greatly Outnumbered by the ad-
vancing federals, left their garrison
and retreated to the field. rms IeII
the way open for the federaIS a0-
vance TO the Rio Grande without fight
ing It was believed that they PROB
ably would remain on the Mexican slds
only so long as they were not pressed
by the rebels. They may, after
rest. retreat into COahulla or NueNo
Leon. Gen. Villas rebel forces had
been in pursuit of the fugltves, but
the federals. by evacuaung Chlnuanuai
city unawares, had an advantage IN
point Of time and Villas main FORCES
were unable to overtalze them, though
some rebel troops often fired on the
federal rear guard
What VIII FederaIs Do?
It IS the belief that if they are not
attacked. the LeQeralS might occupy
the small Ojinaga garrison indefinitely
and thus enable Gen. Mercado to pro-
cure orders from Mexico City
Before he left Chihuahua Gen. Mer-
cado had been cut off from communi-
cation for many weeks The fact that
he could receive no funds with which
to pay his troops was one OF the rea-
sons given by him for evacuaung the
capital Several fights around Chiuha-
hua and the battle at Juarez also had
exhausted largely his ammunition Bis
retreat to the border, where he mlgnt
consider the question Of obtaining both
funds and ammunition in addition TO
reporting to Mexico city regarding the
condition Of his army, followed as a
consequence
Al report from rebel sources is that
Gen Mercado and the bulk Of his routed
army had been induced to escort the
civilians to the border for a consider
alton and that after reaching it they
would attempt TO fight their way to a
federal stronghold in the stae Of NuevO
Leon
Terrazas Due Tonight.
Late this afternoon Gen. Salazar was
IN Oiinaga with 1000 soldiers and II is
said that Gen. Terrazas is due 10 ar
rive tonight.