The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-11
Marked Improvement in Conditions Along Border
 Reported
NEGRO REGIMENT
 IS PUT TO WORK
Plea of Del Rio Citizens Granted and Twenty Fourth Infantry Is Sent to Guard Communication Lines.
 Falls Statement Not Borne Out

Washington, April 10.-Such a marked < ican border has been reported by Gen I eral Funston that the war department now is considering drawing upon some { of the troops stationed in Texas to 4 strengthened the ever-lengthening lines of { communication of the expedition seeking Villa. Many alarming rumors have been | disposed of and the border situation gen. erally is said to be quiter than heretofore, t but the plan is not to disturb the garri- N sons or patrol in New Mexico or Arizona ! for the present. Army officials stated 2 tonight that from now on infantry would \ be used to reinforce the communication < Hines, the cavalry being kept at the front n for the actual work of running down the 2 outlaws. A part of the Twenty-fourth infantry, negroes withdrawn from Del R Rio, Texas, at the request of local au- thorities after one of the soldiers had { been killed by a ranger attempting to {arrest him, already has been ordered into 8 Mexico
 Evidence continued to arrive today to refute the reports of impending with drawal of American troops from Mexico. E Soon after it became known that addi- tional troops were to be sent across the border the war department announced the purchase of six large tank motor trucks N to replace similar machines now rented ' to carry gasoline for General Pershing's supply motors and aeroplanes. CARRANZA ANXIOUS State department dispatches indicate < that the Carranza authorities are viewing 5 with some anxiety the continued presence ' 4of American troops in Mexico and are 3 inclined to believe that the object of @the dispersal of Villas main command. 5 It is authoritatively stated, however, that fthere has been no suggestion from the de { facto government as to dead line'' fbeyond which the American troops should s not go, or as to a date on which thes should be withdrawn
 Senator Gallinger, the republican leader Fin the Senate, made public tonight a let E ter from Senator F'all who has been on the border reporting conditions to the minority senators. MT. Fall, analysing the
  , was made possible by wide gap in the | patrol and declared that he had been reliably informed that unless the Ameri-
 can army was given full control of the
 Mexican Northwestern railroad within week from the date of his letter, April I 4 the expedition would have to be with drawn.
 AWAIT SLOCUM'S RETURN 1 Officials pointed out that tomorrow was the day fixed for withdrawal by the senators informant and that Secretary Larsing had formally announced that
 the railroad question no longer was a
 ia ctor in the situation. A full rerort on
 the Columbus raid has been ordered and 7 will be made as soon as Colonel 3locum, V ho commanded the garrison, returns from Mexico.
 As to Senator Falls statement that ! he was assured that Villa was not wounded, it was said at the depart ment that all kinds of conflicting ru- |1nors on the subject had come from the |horder, but that only today General
 Funston had reported the re-
 ceipt of another dispatch saying Villa had been severely wounded in the right knee
 Army officers tonight likened the ex- petition into Mexico to feather dus- | ter, with the cavalry outposts as the sweep" and the constantly lengthen- ling line of communication as the han | ble." This handle, they said, had be- come continually more slender. This (COntinued on Page Seven)