El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-07-07
FRIENDS OF VILLA
GET FAT JOBS IN
SERVICE OF REBELS
Concessions Given Man Who
Have Aided His Cause;
Big Money in Them.
fcontinued Prom Page One.)


775- a.. og returning a favor is the
- "a Mexican one Of granting a
ts7S-S-,.-iC,, Since the beginning Of the
S,-.-se,77 EVOLUTION villa has been Law
fsb in this direction, ana lew IA
v-ora5 ones are rapidly getting rich
Holding that this IS d 49, w. 81 ~
scandal with northern mexico IN us
DreseDr IMPOVERISHED condition, the
5s--o-,cis+as have repeatedly demand
ed that at least part OF the revenues
from these concessions be turned Into
the national treasury Up 10 GATE
Villa has ignored TINS ueii1u'
sommerfeId's Concession.
Perhaps the fattest concession Of all
is that dealing with dynamite: This
is hold nv Felix SOmmerfeld, who was
a close friend Of the late president
NTadero- and who Is now In washington
representing villa Even during the
recent Industrial depression IN north
ern Mexico, it is estimated tnat SOM
merfeld's share OF the duty on 0yna-
mite mas run as high as $1,000 a week.
The cattle concession is held by Al
berto AIaderO, uncle OF the laIe presl-
dent. and his brOtherlnlaW, WlInam H.
Eraf+ only through these two men
80 cs++Ie be brought out Of Mexico.
and FOR each head brought out they
receive a certain set amount The
revenue from this Is said TO be almost
fabulous
The concession 1Or eQulpplug the
army and also for the sale Of cotton
ig held nv Iazaro de Ia Cara. villas
CONFIDENTIAL agent here Villa himself
oDerates the gambling house and sa-
looms in JuareZ, through his Drother,
Hfppolito. and his friend. Carlos Ju-
sagui There are dozen other smaller
concessions. all held by little group
OF men close 10 the nlllIlaIy Coiiillle-i1iSi
Of the north.
OFFICIAL Money Changers.
Rafael Aguirre Benavides and Ad-
ain Aguirre Benavides have the con-
cessions for dealing in Villa money
and operate in FL PasO In connection
with Carlos Dominique, Martin Guz-
Frnest Rios has the concession for
the hide business in Villas territory
and nobody can sell hides except
Most Of the cattle that is brought
out is confiscated property OF Cen
Iuis TerraZas. Before Villa and Ter
razas reached an agreement by Whlch
cattle could be safely disposed OF on
American side Of river, the Texas Cat
tIernen's association. OF which Ter
razas is a member, seized all that was
brought out by Consuitutionalists as
fast as II hit American soil and
turned IL over to Terrazas- Unaole 20
procure any revenue in that way tne
slaughtered thousands
OF cattle on the Terrazas and Creel
ranches, removing the hides, cutting
out the brands and Ieaving the flesh
to rot on the desert When the hides
were brought 70 the United States.
there was no way 10 prove they did
not belong to those importing them
and they were able 10 realize
Ammunition Scandal
The biggest scandal which has re-
suited from this system Of conces-
sions. is one concerning ammunition
Every effort has been made TO sup
press il. but the main facts are now
well known. The concession 10 pur-
chase ammunition was in the hands OF
five men. These men purchased large
supplies in the United States, which
were shipped to Villas army In an
allotment sent south Just before the
battle Of Gomez PalaciO were 100000
cartridges which contained neither
powder nor caps, although the steel
bullets and brass sockets were appar-
entity perfect. With this kind Of am
whole companies Of infantry
were sent to the firing line and at the
first charge were slaughtered, their
weapons being Of no more use than
so many bean shooters Villa and MS
generals. 10 their credit be il said.
were furious at the fraud and held an
immediate investigation. 1t is said
that those who purchased ammunition
eventually succeeded in convincing
villa that they had been imposed
upon by manufacturers