El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-04-28
PRESIDE ASKS
FOR STATE HELP
Appeals to Texas for Militia
Since U. S. Ignores Cry
for Protection.
HAsIL pILLON MOON.

AT considerable cost remembering
! Santa Ysabel and Columbus, does NOT
wish in the near future to be compelled
TO remember" also Preside, the people
here think it will be well if the pow
ers that be, generalize less about
border calamity howlers" and nav
some small attention TO the facts as
some weeks ago the several Ameri-
cans who live here petitioned the au-
thorities through Maj. o. B. Meyer, in
I command Of the 14th cavalry stationed
At Maria for more troops Mai. q r
Meyer came to Preside. investigated
the situation. acknowledged it grave
and promised better protection. A few
davs later Col. Sibley arrived STAYED
two hours. assured the Americans that
| they were in no danger of attack what
/ soever. accused Texas people Of send
! ing anti-preparedness agitators TO
! congress and therefore as being unde-
! serving Of military protection, and left
( for the comfortable safety OF the mill
( tary post at Bracketville. No troops
! were forthcoming.
Remarkable Declaration.
Then it was that Gen. Frederick
! Funston issued a statement that will
20 down in history as one of
/ the most extraordinary ever made by
1 an American military commander OF
I A.
SPresidio is safe from attack. There
| are 40 American soldiers there and
1 $50 loyal Carranza troops in the Oil
| maya garrison who can be depended
upon in case OF trouble"
This was the first time that Amer
| lean citizens on American soil under
stood that so weak was the protection
their own government could provide
that they had to depend on foreign
Nwnvr coil n nrfw
homes on United States territory from
devastation at the hands Of outlaws.
Suppose the Americans here swal-
lowed their Indignation and did de-
pend on the Ojinaga garrison. On what
would they be relyinR2
Col. Jose Riojas, as far as is known,
is a loyal Carrancista and a friend OF
Americans
Nal Domiciano Guttierrez is a good
natured man whose loyalty to the
principles OF the first chief is at pres
ent undOubted.
Real American Haters.
But Americans can and do mention |
the names Of at least a dozen Car
rama officers at Ojinaga or near. who ,
are wanted on this side of the line !
lin Texas and Mexico) for horse steal |
ing, murder. smuggling, cattle rust |
ling, and many other crimes. Many /
Of them are eX-Nillistas, practically |
all OF them pronounced "gringo hat
officers are said to have murdered |
Americans on this side of the line. |
One is said to be guilty Of the murder /
Of Joe Sitter, American customs guard, !
whose pistol he now carries and whose |
horse he now rides, another is accused |
OF the murder Of Jack Howard. Texas |
Ranger. and another is charged with |
having led the Villistas when they fired !
from the Mexican side of the line on |
the town OF Candelaria.
At the time Gen. Funston fOndly |
imagined there were "25O loyal Car /
rama troops" at Ojinaga, there were
in fact less than one hundred. There
may have been ten loyal soldiers
among them, but this is to be strong
~ doubted. SiX-tenths OF them ara
former Villa soldiers and Villistas at
heart now; the remainder formerly
were with Jose Ynez Salazar. the most
fervent Of the gringo haters, who is
making slow and steady progress to-
ward Ojinaga with a small force now.
Unfriendly to Americans.
Stones have been thrown at myself
and other Americans on visits to Oil
maya.
When the Carranza authorities heard
that Ojinaga might be the point Of en-
trance for a new American line OF
they promptly senc !
$50 reinforcements there from Bosque |
Bonito These reinforcements are
four miles up the COncho river !
I
rama commanders It is quite GER
tain that they are there, however An
officer Of the Ojinaga garrison has as
sured me that any invasion OF Next
can soil at this point will be resisted |
by the Carranza troops. There is no !
secret about this.
have detailed the above so that
Herald readers may know the kind
of men and officers who constitute the |
garrison on which Funston depends to
protect American soil
AS a matter OF fact. the real danger
here is from the Ojinaga garrison and
not from the Villistas, who draw near
er day by day.
Plenty Of ViIIistas.
Nillistas? Near Preside? Oh, yes.
Colonel Villanueyo with 200 or
more men is or was when last heard
Of two days ago. so miles north Of Los
Mestenas, or so miles south of Preside. /
Colonel" Jose Chavez, the victor of
Iimenez. Santa Rosalia and Sierra Mo-
jada, a few days ago raided the Nis-
cOmte ranch at Aqua Chilli and after (
wards headed north. A man named
BotOne, present during the raid and
since come here, says that Villa him
self is with Chavez, directing opera
tons; that he saw and talked with
him and is positive Of the bandits
Identity. That, OF couse, is as it may
be. Chavez has between $50 and 2J0
men.
AoloNel MARIA GARCIA WIN Ju Iueus |
Is i'm the Los Mestenas region.
General" Rosalio Hernandez. for
nerly with Villa, has declared for the
outlaw and is ranging the country be-
tween Chihuahua and Santa Rosalia.
a number of smaller bands of from
20 to 90 men range from Aqua Chilli
south A few small bands are report
I'd close to the border
Military Men Know Situation.
The above is as nearly accurate as
our information can make it. 1t is in
no wise exaggerated. The military
authorities have the same information. |
Hernandez, Chavez. Villanuevo. Gar |
ia and the rest are all mutual friends !
md as one in their hatred Of the 4
'gringo." They have declared their |
Intention to kill every foreigner they
meet and as a consequence there has |
rot been an American on the Santa |
iosalia road for months. Not an
american mine is working in eastern |
chihuahua not an American ranchman
'emains. Out Of a singularly produc- !
I've country. the Villista bandits have
made wilderness and a desert.
Town Invites Attack.
The town Of Preside invites attack |
rom these bandits more than any
,lace on the Mexican border. In the
trst place, it is the richest town OF /
Is size in Texas. Its 20 stores have
tocks approximating in value half a