El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-05-19

that the American knew he was i'm
Mexico. took the same steps. according
to the Juarez officers. They assert that
) it was a battle between two men each
thinking the other was attacking him.
bent upon his murder.
No ABrnsions On BODY.
An investigation of the body at tba
) undertaker's did not show anv indica-
tions that it had been dragged on tie
ground after it had fallen. There were
no abrasions anywhere on the body.
] Mai. George Moore Of the 9Otb in
| fantry. and Capt. William Graham. ad-
} iutant of the Eighth brigade. were
designated as a board OF inquiry nv
! Gen. Bell. who will forward their re-
port to Gen. Frederick Funston at san
. Antonio.
Furinan left the 23rd infantry camp
at 9:15 o'clock Thursday morning. fol
! lowing receipt of orders to round ,1D
/ three mules that had escaped accord
/ ing to Lieut. Dean Halford. com
! mander Of the machine gun platoon Of
/ the regiment. Armed only with a pis-
! tol he left in the direction Of the
1 boundary line Lieut.. Halford believes
; that he unknOwiugly strayed to the
Mexican side and was shot Two
! Mexican guards. he says. had possession
| Of the automatic pistol of the unfor-
| tunate young soldier, on the arrival of
I American army officers on the scene
: Two chambers in the pistol has been
X
! had the pistol were taken into custody
/ BY troops from the Carranza garrison
| Thursday afternoon, but only Gallardo
was held. as he admitted the killing.
The horse ridden by sergeant Fur
man was found on the Mexican side Of
the line a short distance from where
the young soldier was killed.
The nearest American to the ira gedy
was line rider Beckett. who made q
report of the affair to supervising in
spector Frank W. Berkshire. Of tbs
immigration service. stating that he
heard a number OF rapid shots in the
vicinity of the adobe building. near
which the body was discovered,
UnwittingIy Crossed Line.
Friday morning Lieut.. Dean HalfOrd,
commander Of the machine gun pla-
toOn. stated that in his opinion all re-
ports stating that the young soldier
did not have full possession Of his
faculties when he started out 10 look
for the runaway mules were false.
. Sergeant Furman was with my COM
pany for three years and 1 never saw
a more model soldier" said Lieut. Hal
ford. Il never knew him 10 drink and
he was one Of the most courteous and
ambitious young men that ] have seen
in the ranks. L do not believe the re-
ports that he was intoxicated when he
crossed the line as stated by Mexican
officials. as when 1 ordered him to
pursue the mules he was sober to
certainty He undoubtedly crossed the
line unknOwingly, as I do not believe
that ne did it Intentionally. and was
but in pursuit Of his duty.
Was Engaged to Marry.
Sergeant Furman had been mem
Der of the 23d infantry for nearly three
years, coming to that regiment from
the 18th where he served one enlist
ment. His entire service in the 25d .
was under Lieut. Halford, who Joined .
with the members Of the company ia I
expressing regret at the sad affair. Z
The decedent was native Of Brooklyn, .
n. Y. and has n father, one sister, two I
younger brothers and a stepmother .
residing in that city He was engaged (.
to be married to a young woman who {
signed herself 'Bunkie" to a letter /
found in the pocket Of his shirt and /
which was pierced by the bullet that .
took his life. As there was no other +
name signed to the letter, friends Of .
the young soldier were not able 10 D
wire his fiancee OF the tragedy Thurs
day night, although it is known that ,
she resides in San Jose, Calf
The body is being held at the Peak !
undertaking parlOrs on Texas street J
pending receipt of word from relatives,
Mexican Collector Regrets Affair.
Collector Of customs :. Gonzales. in .
charge Of the Mexican customs office at
Juarez, expressed his regret Friday
over the incident. Il have thoroughly
Investigated all Of the facts in this re
gretable affair said Mr. Gonzales, /
from every aNdllhule source OF III
formation and, after sitting them, find /
that the American soldier. mounted /
and wearing a pistol, was seen by two
Mexican rangers, Gallardo and Guada-
iupe Atardo. riding around at point
some 20 meters inside of Mexican ter
ritory. This place is opposite what
is known as La Isleta and is in the 7
neighborho0d of the new stock yards
in Fl Paso.
"Officer GallardO hailed the soldier
and called his attention to the fact that
he was riding on Mexican soil and
suggested that he so back to his own
side Of the river. GallardO and his
fellow ranger Atardo, claim that the
American acted as if he were intoxi-
Gated and began to curse them then
drew his pistol and fired one shot and,
squirting his horse, tried to ride them
down GallardO caught the soldiers
horse by the bride and badly burned
his hand At this moment GallardO
and the American fired. Five shots in
all were fired, two by the American
and three by the Mexican guard. As
soon as possible Gen. Bell was notified
and Mai. G. ID. Moore, Capt. William
Graham and an army surgeon came
over to Mexico and viewed the body. At /
the quasi inquest they We're accom-
panied by cQmmandant Alberto Chavez
and Capts. Ortiz and Ayala.
says Americans Could See.
There is no question but that the /
a bOve are the real facts, which is evil |
denced by the fact that the incident oc-
Cured where everything that hap
Deued was in plain view OF an Amerl- /
can soldier ON guard near the stock /
yards, and by a number of other Amer
lean soldiers who were in that vicinity q
who must have heard shots and who
could have plainly seen all that passed.
n the American soldier had been muir
1ered is claimed by some Americans. /
his companions who were in sight and
hearing and who Outnumbered the two
Mexican rangers, would surely have
taken hand. as il was broad daylight. Il
Gallardo, who did all the shooting. is
being held a prisoner at military head
quarters pending any new develop
nents."
Mayor LEAFS Declaration.
Regarding the unfortunate affair,
mayor Lea said on Friday:
Il presume that most of the citizens |
Dr. III Paso feel as ] 90. that the unfor-
innate soldier who was killed east Of
FL Paso yesterday was murdered in
odd blood and the effort of Garcia (
md Gavira to excuse the murderous