Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-25
No Official Reports Received
Confirming Early Announce
ment of Towns Capture.
JUAREZ HEADQUARTERS
WITHOUT LATE ADVICES
Federals Receive Word That the
Rebels Have Been Defeated
With Heavy Loss.

| JCAREZ. Mexico. March o5-The yi,il
or officers at rebel Headquarters through
| out the night continued today withou an.
! tioritative information as to the outcom.
| OF the lighting at Torreon. Gen. Chan
sun awaited confirmation OF the report
that reached here during the night that
zen Villas army had captured two
cuartes in Torreon.
NO definite news had come over TN.
| wires since the receipt of the Associated
| Press dispatch from Chihuahua at p.m.
| yesterday that fighting still was in prog.
ress at Gomez Palacio the important
| railroad suburb of Torreon
what the exact situation in the Torreon
district might be today was only a mat
| ter of speculation. The few runors that
sifted into Juarez last night and today
were variously interpreted according to
the personal views of the individuals
Officers at rebel headquarters were ST.
| lent about the fact that no press dis
! patches came through and also about the
| statement at Mexico City that the rebels
had been repulsed in an attack on Torre-
on.
| The last newspaper telegram last night
stated that the rebels had possession OF
the railroad roundhouse. which is on the
outskirts of Gomez Palacio.
| A personal telegram from Gen. Bena-
vides to his father here said: "-All is
well with us
| Ell PASO, Tex. March 25.-Mlguel
| Diebold of the Mexican federal consular
service said today that he had been
officially informed that the rebels were
repulsed with heavy loss at Torreon.
! and that some of them. were driven
back twenty miles.
! 1T is very significant that Juarez is
without news and 1 regard it as con-
firmation of my dispatch" said Senor
| Diebold
BERMEJILLO. Mexico. March =; tby
courier to Ell Paso. March 20.-Rsbei
| wounded from Gomez Palacio and the
minor recent fights in the vicinity are
being brought north in large numbers.
| and it is officially admitted the fede1als
put up an unexpectedly strong resistance
at Gomez Palacio. --
Battle in Torreon Streets.
JUAREZ, Mexico. March 25-The rebels
under Gen. Villa, sweeping onward after
their victory at Gomez Palacio, were
fighting yesterday in the very streets of
Torreon, the great objective Of the cam
paign, according to late telegram re-
| ceived here. The message was from Col.
| Trevino, official on the stan of Gen.
Aguirre Benavides. to his brother in this
city, and said that Benavfdes had taken
| two cuartels or barracks in the city of
| Torreon. The telegram added:
| Gen. Villa and Gen. Benavides have
concluded to take breakfast in the plaza
| at Torreon."
AS the telegram did not name the Guar
| tells taken, it was a matter of conjec-
f,pra yx-hn IN cl. irfr
| of the city or we'll within 1t. The refer
ence to taking breakfast was thought by
some to imply that Benavides still had
serious fighting ahead of him to take the
| town.
Dead Men Lie Where They Fell.
| Ell Correo, q Spanish newspaper
prints a statement that many dead are
| lying where they fell in the streets OF
Gomez Palacio. No official statement OF
losses on either side in Mondays fighting
could be obtained yesterday, although il
was said details of the battle were ex-
pected.
| If Trevinos private message does not
prove misleading it is said to show that
Gen. Villa. after his long and careful
preparations, has conducted a whirlwind
campaign Beginning Friday. he swept
down from the north and took Bernie
jiIlo about thirty miles north of Tor
| reon. Without hating his forces he
pressed southwark and drew in from
other directions until Gen. Velasco and
his federal troops were cut Off from the
outside world. Mapimi. Matamoroe
Birmingham Junction and numerous
other small railroad towns fell in the
course of the next two days. and Mon
| day night the big railroad city or
Gomez Palacio. only three miles from
Torreon, fell after what is reported To
have been sanguinary fighting in the
! streets.
The railroad running east to Saltillo
| and Monterey from TorreoD was cut by
| Gen. Benavides as he moved on Torreon.
| The fall of Gomez Palacio became vir-
| tually certain when the infantry cap
tured the water tank which crowns CeiT'
de la Pillar. The federals abandoned some
of their field pieces in their retreat.
surprise for the Rebels.
! The surprise of the day to the rebels
was the arrival Of federal reinforcements
and the battle put up by the Huertistas
| in the streets of the city. Gomez Palacio
is northeast of Torreon. and Tore de la
Pillar commands portions Of both cities.
1t lies to the right of the street car tracks
connecting the two cities. and it is
sumed that Gen. Villa planted his own
artillery there to support the infantry and
cavalry advance on Torreon;
Benavdes, south OF N1Las line or
march, was expected to enter Torreon
first, and apparently the calculation was
correct. 1t was Villas plan to engage the
main force of the enemy himself thus
weakening the opposition to Benavides.
Telegraph wires we're hot with official
messa ges, crowding out press kilograms.
Americans in Mexico City
Get Arms and Ammunition
for Their Own Protection
MEXICO CITY. March 2J-The first in-
stallment of arms and ammunition sent
by the United States War Department TO
the American embassy for the protection
of American citizens in the event of dis