The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-01-13
Bodies MutiIated Beyond Rec
Ogniti0n Reach Ell PasO.
Friends Risk Lives to Recover
Bandits Victims.
SURVIVORS TELL OF MASSACRE
Villa Band Holds Up Rescue
Train-Sends 1t Back.
Murderers Got $4,000 Cash;
$4,000 From Watson.

FL Paso, Tex. Jan. 13.-Carrying its
death cargo in eighteen black Next
can caskets, the train with the eigh-
teen Americans and British victims of
the santa Ysabel massacre arrived
here here today. A silent crowd of
several hundred friends and relatives
gathered at the old Santa F'e station to
meet the train, sorrowfully watched
the caskets transferred to auto trucks,
piled two and three high. covered with
a tarpaulin and taken TO the morgue.
A gruesome story of the massacre
was told by the Mexican witnesses of
the massacre and by American MEM
bers of the rescue party which accom-
panied the bodies to the border. Amer
lean friends of the murdered mining
men risked their lives when they bold
~ rode into the view of the murder
ers and recovered the dead bodies.
Heads Almost Blown Off.
The body of Joseph Enders, re-
ported killed. was not among those ar
irving today. F. Z. Stephenson, sec
rotary of the mining and smelter
mems association of Chihuahua, who
organized the party that recovered the
bodies. said that the heads were al
most blown Off.
They were stripped of clothing be-
fore being dragged out of the cars and
killed. said Stephenson When I
arrived at the scene OF the massacre
=
Ysabel, where we found a number of
bandits encamped. We returned to the
troop train to get machine gun and
then proceeded to the place where the
bodies wer heaped."
An expedition. which left Chihua-
hua City to recover the bodies of the
nineteen slain Americans was inform
ed by the station agent at Santa Ysa-
bel that Benjamin Smell and Frank
Woods passed there bound west, half
reported in trouble. The station
agent said ne warned the two men to
return, but they said they were armed
and feared no trouble. Nothing later
was heard of the party and it is be-
lieved they met the fate of the Watson
train.
Face Guns to Get Bodies.
The story of the recovery of the
bodies of the eighteen Americans as
related BY a newspaper man on the
expedition follows:
Almost the whole foreign popula
ton of Chihuahua City. assembled at
the Mexico N-orthwestern terminal
Monday evening TO await the return of
the train which had left the same
morning to take the Cusi officials and
men out to restart work on the mines
--Unconfirmed reports had been re-
ceived during the afternoon of the fate
that had befallen them and the Next
cans who were allowed to return un-
molested fully verified the sad news.
said they. We saw them ordered
off the car and then the shooting be-
gan. some ran, but they were all dead.
The Nillistas told US to go back and to
tell the CarranZistas to send more
troops out for them to get to work on
THE foreigners hastened back to
the club to await the result of an in
terview between Captain Scovell the
British consul at present representing
n al nf
Mr.. Letcher. and General Trevino.
Calls for Volunteers.
THE general promised to send out
a troop train early in the morning
He gave permission for all foreigners
who cared to go along to army arms
to assist in recovering the bodies. A
number volunteered and later assem-
bled at the Mexico Northwestern rail-
road depot.
I'VE waited from a. m. TO a m
Tuesday for the soldiers to entrain
their horses and then got into small
a caboOse. On account of wet wood
fuel and caution Of the military train,
it took US six hours to get to Santa
Ysabel, about 35 miles, and five miles
from the scene of the massacre
Colonel Villineuva Garcia, in COM
mand of the troops, had already dis
embarked some cavalry who went a
short distance ahead. The military
train had a platform ahead of the en-
CINE with three machine guns and
four more in box cars behind. But at
Santa Ysabel the colonel decided to
abandon the train, holding US there for
some time. The sun was getting low
and we realized that if We did not
complete our task we might never get
/ the bodies away. We interviewed him
and finally got him to put ten soldiers
in our train and permit US to go
al o x-ir q mil Of he
tragedy when We were stopped by two
excited MeXicans who charged the
crew to reverse the engine and we
moved back to Santa Ysabel-
Bandits Await Rescuers.
I'VE there found that the two men
had been part of the train crew of
Watson's train and had been held
prisoners. and that the troops. pre-
sumably bandits, were just over the
hill awaiting US.
Presently their advance guard top
psi the rise shortly after and waited
there leisurely counting our force and
sizing US up.
We finally persuaded the colonel to
give US sixty mounted men to go with
us abreast of the train and on which
we had now mounted two machine
guns We got to the scene of the
tragedy just as the sun went down.
AS the train came to a standstin
we could dimly see the wrecked train
and then our eyes fell upon a patch
of white that showed up against the
rocky cut Rifles in hand We jumped
( from the train and fastened mp.
-Heaped in a pile were a bodies.
stripped OF all clothing but their un-
dershirts. Some of them were pune
tured with many holes, while, without
exception the features were so disfig-
ured by close shooting that identifi-
cation was difficult
Z We dropped our rifles and without
+ speech ran for blankets to carry the
dead into the car. When they were
I all loaded our escort started back We
I only moved a few yards when the en-
CINE left the track. nearly an hour
Z later we had II back on.
Got $4,000 From WATSON.