Arizona republican., 1916-12-03
Villa Worries the Goueynment;. nt;.AFaid He WiH Come Back
Republican A. p. Leased Wlrel


 wait for General Carranza to accept or reject the protocol signed by the joint commission at Atlantic City, admin istration officials are giving much at tention to every report relating to the activities of Villa and to rebel move
 ments in other parts of Mexico. Additional information reaching the state and war departments today tend ed to confirm the story of Villas cap
 ture of Chihuahua City as related by
 refugees at the border but none of the
 dispatches indlcated that the bandit
 leader was moving nOrthward to at
 tack Juarez.
 Officials are frank in their admissions
 that the renewed strength of Villa may
 prove an embarrassing factor in view
 of the probable resumption of confer
 ences by the joint commission that drafted the protocol providing for con- ditional withdrawal of General Persh
 ing's troops. It is realized that a sue cessful attack by Villa on General Mur-
 guia now advancing from the south. might lead to uncontested Villa control of the city of Chihuahua and other
 towns of the state and present most embarrassing situation for the United States.
 All reports received here. however. inticate that General Murguia will
 make every effort to reeapture Chihua- hua City and the opinion of army offi-
 eers is that he should ave little diff culty in doing so. IL is assumed that Villas supply of ammunition must
 have been materially reduced by his
 five days of fighting against General
 Trevino, and it is regarded as logical and in line with Villas tactics that he
 will evacuate Chihuahua after taking
 70 the hills suSh supplies as he can se-
 cure. The department reports indicate
 that considerable portion of Ire
 who's force joined Villa after the Chi huahua battle.
 Villas success in the north has
 prompted officials to study with more anxiety movements in other parts of the country. The operations of Cen eral Felix Diaz in the extreme south of
 Mexico have been extended somewhat and information has reached here that
 he and his agents have made earnest efforts to secure the cooperation of Villa and other rebel leaders who have
 been conducting independent opera tions
 Between Mexico City and Vera Cruz official dispatches say only interrupted railroad traffic exists, the Mexican Railway having been repeatedly cut in the last two weeks At one time that line was broken at more than 10 places. Farther north. in the oil producing dis tricts Manuel PalaeZ, who has held a | considerable territory for more than a h1- tssrr n according to official information, is ne- gotiatlng with Diaz for joint action. | Between Tampico and san Luis Po- tosi. the Cedillo Bros. are reported 10 l have adopted more active methods in | preventing the operation of railroads over which is moved much of the oil | needed by Carranza for the operation i of his trains
 The increased operations of the diff | ferent rebel bands has been made the ! basis of unofficial efforts by Mexicans to have lifted the embargo on ammuni- e | ton, and 1t is regarded almost as a cer- l tainty that the discussion of that phase i of the situation will be taken up at the adjourned session of the joint commits sion. The reports received here re- garding the fate of foreigners at Chi huahua are conflicting. One dispatch forwarded by General Bell said several Chinese had lost their lives. but con- sular message contained another ref ugee's story that only two foreigners | both Chinese, had been killed and that ; Villa had given orders that there should | be no footing. There were about l5o ] foreigners in Chihuahua at the time of the fight. according to state depart ment estimates, and the stories brought | to the border indicate that Genera 1 Trevino evacuated the city without ad- | vising the foreign consular represen- | tatives.
 It was believed tonight that by Mon.
 day. word might be received of the de
 cision of Carranza regarding the At
 lantic City protocol. Alberto J. Pani ] the Mexican commissioner. who carried
 the document to Qneretaro. was ii l Mexico City today, but 1t is known tha
 he placed the signed copy in the hand
 of General Carranza before leaving Queretaro.