Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-06-06
REVISED FIGURES
INCREASE DEATHS
RED CROSS WORK SlKRING BATTLE
SHOWING RECOk& ACCORDING
TO THEIR ESTIMATE-20 HOURS
ON GO PICKING Up WOUNDED.
FIVE FUNERAL PYRES VISITED IN
SEARCH FOR THE BODY OF ~.
G.. GARZA. a BROWNSVILLE CIT
IXEN

fought III the present revolution III Mex
ico that the hardest thing in the world
is to get any accurate statistics as to
dead and wounded The officers of the
victorious army are always chary about
giving out any information regarding
v the number of wounded or dead. I'm fact
as il has been in the case of MatamOros
Y if they had this information themselves.
/ they do not give il ont so that the real
conditions or statistics could be known
and despite the fact that every energy
was bent to Get the true facts and care
was taken to tell nothing except what
could be verified the final report of the
Red Cross corp who were on the field
for more than day and a night is the
first real or nearly accurate report TO be
made on the casualties Of the MatamOr
os battle OH June ;.
Joe REYES Of the BurkS Undertaking
company was in charge of the Red Cross
ambulance and had under him six mem
bers of the Mexican WOodmen of the
World lodge at Brownsville as Red
Cross attendants. He was at the bridge
with his ambulance and men at two
o'clock Wednesday morning. long before
the firing stopped. He was not able
to get over the bridge until five o'clock
on the morning of Wednesday. He be
gan the work at once of taking up the
wounded and CARRYING them to the five
different hospitals provided throughout
the city. He to k them 10 the electric
light plant. to the Military hospital. the
civil hospital. the improyised hospital
at the convent and improvised hospital
1T the Presbyterian mission. He was
busy with the wagon from before six
in the morning until ten that night.
making sixteen hours in all. directed TO
the work Of gathering up the wounded
alone During this time he made nj
least twenty trips TO the different places
and in many loads he took ; and
IT the same time. He spent at least
three hours searching for a Mexican who
was an American citizen. He finally
found the man he was searching for
about three miles ont of the city to the
south Of the new cemetery. He found
F 1
resident of Brownsville. living in pile
Of fifteen other dead bodies These had
been cartcd out about three miles from
the city. Mr.. Reyes states that he had
visited every pile of dead bodies around
MatamoroS and found GarZa'S body in
the very last pile. He states that the
two piles near the city and the electric
light plant TO the west of the city were
Y the largest These were the two found
by your representative which contained
over one hundred bodies. There were
n three or four more piles as seen and
searched bv Reyes. He had good
chance Of knowing the exc number of
the dead or nearly the eXGnt number, as
he had visited five different piles and cS-
v .imates that there must have been over
one hundred bodies in the piles other
than the two large piles to the west Of
\ the city.
As soon as they GOT to the city Reyes
md his men began the search for the
wounded and as fast as found they were
rushed To the doctors Al the same time
he had his men pile the dead bodies on
he sidewalks These were promptly
taken by Mexican cart men and carted
lwav out of the city. Ii is owing to the
fact that these bodies were several miles
out and the further fact that Blanco' /
men would not give information about
he entire casualty that the reports
heretofore have been 50 conservative.
The work Of the Red Cross ambulance
both with the living and the dead shows
that there were positively more than
fifty wounded and positively more than
two hundred killed and executed.
OF the dead two who were officers were
brought to this side for interment. The
Red Cross ambulance also attended to
hree who were wounded on this side or
wounded trying to get across and to two
Who came over the river on logs after
hey had been wounded.
Policeman Hernandez who was wound
ad while trying to swim to safety guards
near the river on the Mexican side was
brought in by the Red Cross brigade. Al
present writing he is still alive.
Mr. Reyes states that very few Of tho
dead were buried. most Of them being
burned.
Of the four hundred and fifty volun
tecrs and regulars approximately two
hundred escaped. fifty will cover the
prisoners and the executed, leaving two
hundred to be accounted for in the lis
-