El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-12-10
OUEVEDO NOT IN
CUMBRE AFFAIR
Was a Colonel Under Gen.
Huerta, Hunting Down
Castillo at the Time.

| Regarding the deportation Of Rod
! rigo QuevedO at Douglas, Arizona, The
/ Herald has had called to its attention
the fact that Quevedo had no connec-
I ton with the Cumbre tunnel disaster,
+ responsibility for which Maxine Cas-
8 tillo and Jesus San MARITIME are charged.
; At the time of the disaster. Quevedo
l was operating in northern Chihuahua
under a commission from Gen VictOri-
ano Huerta, then provisional president
OF Mexico.
A statement Of the case has been
submitted to The Herald as follows:
In May last we instituted before Judge
clayton Of the federal court a habeaS
corpus proceeding, under which Col.
! QuevedO was brought from Fort Piss
{ into court, and the military authorities
called upon TO show by what right they
I detained him.
When the papers were produced and
the court read them all, it appeared
that absolutely the only ground upon
which he was detained was that Gen
Pancho Villa had requested it" No
other ground was even suggested by
the somewhat voluminous documents
and upon that hearing wherein Quevedo
was sworn, the government officials
made no offer of proof Of any other
ground Of detention
At the close of the hearing judge
Clayton announced in open court that
there appeared no ground for any de-
tentiOn whatsoever but that as the de-
tentiOn was by the military branch of
the government, and as he did not wish
TO cause friction between that and the
judicial branch, he would remand Que
vedO to the custody Of the authorities
with a strong recommendation for his
release.
It is evident that the judge carried
out his suggestion. for the release from
Fort Bliss followed soon after.
he was then turned over 10 the de-
partment Of labor and there the only
ground ever disclosed for his detention
and the order for his deportation was
that he had entered the United States
without the formality Of registration.
As he had finally fled into the state
Of Texas upon the breaking up of tfSs
federal army in the north. and was
ignorant of the registration require
ment, his offence was trivial
We made efforts TO have the govern
ment permit his discharge here on am
pie bond for good behavior which he
was prepared to give: but the Wash
ington authorities refused this appli-
cation. and when QuevedO was put
across the line at Aqua Prieta the other
day, it was at the earnest request of
his father and himself.
How Col. QuevedO's name came TO
be coupled with the Cumbre tunnel
horror we can only guess, for nothing
can be more certain than that he was
and is as innocent Of any participation
in that disaster as any member OF the
staff Of your paper
The fact is, and il is capable OF over
whelming) proof. that at the very time
when that disaster occurred, Col Que
vedo, acting under orders Of one Of
the federal generals, was in vigorous
pursuit of Maxine Castillo and mis- band
in an effort to effect their capture
Col Quevedo belongs to a family
OF high standing. now living in FL Paso
and had an honorable career in the
army He enlisted at 20 years Of age,
was Immediately made sergeant, and
progressed through the several grades
by promotion for meritoriOus service,
until at about the age Of p he was
in command of a regiment Of the fed
eral army Of Mexico.
It should be said for the local rep
resentatives of the Washington gov
eminent that they acted in perfect good
faith. but had to take their orders from
headquarters, and this case appears to
have been handled from Washington.
where ignorance Of the facts in the
case. or carelessness in treating the
matter appears to have been all-pow-
erfuL
A. J. Robertson.
r E. Miranda.