New Britain herald., 1914-04-08
REBEL TROOPS FEAR GEN. VILLAS WORD His Orders arc Strictly 0btytd
 by ConStitutiona|lsts. E0 EulNEhnE 0E MAMMAL lon
ko EVIDENCE OF VANDALISM

Fall of Torreon Confirmed Insurgent
 Leaders Belief That Night Fighting
 Has Greater Moral Effect on
 Enemy.
 El Paso, Tex. April 8.-"Embroi- dering the salient facts of the suc- cessful constitutionalist campaign against Torreon are a multitude of in- cidents hardly less interesting" said the Associated Press correspondents who accompanied General Villa and who reached El Paso Monday night.
 What struck one chiefly during the campaign was the mixture of fear and confidence which Villas name in- spired in his followers.
 Send No Messages.
 Send this telegram at once,' said a newspaper correspondent to a mili- tary operator in his field office under 8 tree near the rear track. I can't, senor,' was the regretful response. General Villa has just notified us that no messages must go out until fur ther orders from him, and he will shoot us if we send this one, even though it is approved by his pri- vate secretary to which there was obviously no answer.
 Wounded Arc Returned.
 ITO this camp returned the long line of wounded from the first days fight at Gomsz Palacio. Tn the little improvised Hospital near the railroad hospital train at Verjel were probably seventy men lying on cots. and not single groan came from one of them.
 Courage in the hospital was matched by courage in field-by O willingness to venture everything for the great prize of death in battle.' Never were raw soldiers more easily turned back from flight into the thick of death and conflict. During the first daylight artillery and infantry at tack on Gomez Palacio, the federal fire grew so hot that things seemed to be going badly f6r the rebels. Men began to leave the trenches and make their way to the rear. v AA " Boys Order Obeyed.
 s'.Ail at once a Mexican boy about 15 years old, rode on horseback through the mesquite in the direction of the rearward movement 'vuelva,'
 
 putting spurs to his horse. And at the word from mere boy, the can- non were stopped and turned, the men faced the shot and shell from the south once more, and all marched cheerfully back to the field they were about to abandon.
 Tn simple justice it must be said there were few evidences of vandal- ism. The morning of the entrance into Gomez Palacio some soldiers rode up to a well kept cottage on the ground of the soap factory. The pro- prietor from the front yard watched them anxiously. One soldier drew in to the gallery, where a magnificent climbing rose vine was brilliant with red roses. He took one, waved it gaily to his companions, and all rode on, leaving the house owner aston- ished at this illustration of military moderation.
 Volunteer Branch Desplsed.
 There Is one brand of the federal service, however, for which the rebel has constant stock of ferocity. This is the volunteer branch, made up of followers of Orozco in the anti Madero revolution. called 'colorados' .
 "A prison train to the north sell dom reaches Chihuahua without mak- ing halt somewhere enroute to shoot two or three men identified as former followers of Orozco. It is said that Bachimba, the place where Orozco was defeated by Huerta, is favorite place for such summary executions. On the other hand the regulars, the pelone,' are regarded with a certain respect and treated almost with con- sideration. They are forced into the service,' rebel officers explain, and only fight because they have to-
 Methods Are Simple.
 Through the whole campaign Villa has been direct and simple in his methods When will Torreon fall?' a newspaper correspondent N asked Villa at headquarters the day after the failure of a night assault from which success had been expected. T don't know he said simply. All know is that the town is going to be taken before we quit
 '''rhe sieges of Gomez Palacio and Torreon had their bloody angles Shattered remnants of almost Rn- initiated companies reeled back from La Pia.' the fortified hill protecting Gomez Palacio, and similar catas- trophes, punctuated with evidence of high courage, marked the taking of Santa Rosa and Calabazas Hills, form Ing the western wall of Torreon. The rebels gained the positions, but they paid the price.
 .The taking of Torreon has con- firmed Villa in his belief in night fighting-his principal contribution to date to the science of Mexican war fare It is true that at night there