Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-10-25

who last night NJ I 30 o'clock attacke,
twenty United States nfantrvmen sta
toned at the oil well, seven miles from
Brownsville and in the vicinity Of In,
wreck, robberie~ and murders Of a weel
ago, scattered in AL directions folowin.
the tight that lasted about five minute,
and despite rapid movement Of Unite.
States troops, county officers and Texa.
rangers - the vicinity, the quickest in tn,
history of the late border troubles. tn.
band succeeded in king good it, escape
Some apparently went in the direction Of
the Rio Grande. others in northerlv di-
rection toward the Fre~nos tract. other.
toward the city
One American, Private Herman F.
Moore OF Company c, Fourth infantry
was fatally wounded. a bullet entering
Just 10 the rear of the left hip. coming out
IN tie abdomen. and apparently the same
bullet truck his elbow, SCATTERING it, Re-
ports from Fort Brown today said that
Moore underwent an operation at q o'clock
tins morning. but hi~ condition was 20 bad
he died this afternoon at 45 O'Clock.
Sergeant Arthur E~trige was in com
mand Of the detachment AT o'clock
Sunday afternoon the deta chment received
lit first warning that something was trans
piring in the brush and 4 vieilani watch
was maintained there. AT this time the
negro cook for the oil well drillerS' camp
reported that he heard whistling in the
brush. which probably was signal ~v.-
tenn among the bandits. Occasional oc-
currence~ thereafter. each almost unno-
ticeahle. continued to keep the detachment
on strict guard.
Three inirenchmentS were constructed n
week ago when the detachment was placed
on duty there, one protecting the camp
from an attack on the north. up the rail
road. another from attack south. down the
railroad. and a third from attack from the
east. and To the east of which there i a
cotton field. On the other sides lies the big
lagoon
The band Of bandits seemed to split into
two sections. one remained up the ralroa d
track and three hundred yards from the
road and circling the lagoon 10 the north.
coming around in the direction Of the camp
and opening fire from the brush lust To the
northeast of the soldiers camp and prob
ably not more than Seventv-ive yards dis
tant. The soldiers formed ~krmi~h lines
to repel the attacks from the brush to the
east Of the camp. while the bandits seemed
10 draw back. and finally their fire seemed
to come across the cotton field.
Indications were that the band which re-
NAMED near the railroad did not partici-
pate in the fighting TO great extent a
they were afraid they might hit their own
men across the cotton field and right in
line with their fire. However. the shot
which struck Private Moore seems to have
been fired by this gang. While most OF
the nfantrvmen were fighting from the
trenches. Moore. Private Mcdonald and
one or two Others sought protection be-
hind piles Of oil well easing. of which there
were several. each two or three feet high
and atfording excellent protection.
The oil well drillers. who were the frs
men To ftHrn the NTtthtu tram id-l Mon
dav night. were unable to render the sol
dierS any assistance in the fighting. a.
they had only one shotgun and 4 pistol
both worthless for the occasion. unle~,
close range firing came about.
Commotion at Post
The first report of the fighting reaches
Fort Brown at exactly s 10 o'clock. Will
a crowd of perhaps one thousand people
many Of them in automobiles. were listen
inc 10 the concert hv the Fourth infantr
band Hardly had the word gone throus
the crowd than automobile owners an
drivers began emptying their ears of th
civilian passengers and offered their n
s>tance in rushing troops out of the pos
in an attempt TO cut the bandits off fror
: escape Within five minutes time. prob
, ably forty automobiles had shot ont of tn
main entrance to the arm post, and IL
Elizabeth street through the heart of tn
, business district. Traffic laws were a
, suspended for the moment.
A great crowd cf people crowded
{ front of the military headquarters at III
post, where two companies Of infantry an