The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-09
1.-THE TAMPICO INCIDENT" First Account of the Men Who Know the Facts, Amdirals Mayo and Fletcher
 NEnpNT
GEORGE CREEL

| Les Mo1neS and the Chester brough
 out about 600 Americans and put them on the battleships just off the bar. My
 force, at the time, consisted of the
 Dolphin, Des Moines, Chester, San
 Francisco-all fairly light draft ves- sels-the battleships Minnesota and Connecticut, the transport Hancock, the hospital ship Solace, and the col Her Cyclops. '
 Il "On April 12, the matter of the sa- lute went out of my hands into that of the State Department, and I only knew of it thereafter by wireless, or when Huerta's statements were re- ferred to me directly for refutation.
 "On April IS I learned that Ad- miral Badger. at the head of the At I lantic squadron had been ordered to leave Hampton Roads for Tampico.
 "On April IA, Federal reinforce ments had arrived and the whole sit uation had improved to such de- l gree that I brought all the refugees in from the battleships and landed them in Tampico again. The rebels abandoned their attack on the city and withdrew, business was resumed and conditions appeared perfectly nor nal. On April 20, in Intervening, re- 1 ceived a wireless from Admiral Fletcher stating that Secretary Dan | iels had ordered me to Vera Cruz with all my ships except the Des i Moines which was to remain at Tam pico.
 Just moment right there, Admir- al Mayo" I interrupted. T went through the files at the Navy Depart ment very carefully and this is what I found:
 April IA; Rebels abandoned at : tack on Tampico and withdrew. Reb- | els seem to have retired from vicinity | of Tampico. The 600 refugees on board naval ships there were returned | to their homes, business resumed and conditions there again appear nor nal.
 April IT; Admiral Mayo reports ] all quiet.
 ! April IS: Admiral Mayo reports sit uation unchanged. 1 April 19; No new developments at Tampico or Vera Cruz.
 April 20; No report on. Tampico | at all. tt E l 'All of these reports came from Admiral Fletcher at Vera Cruz" I said as finished reading. Are they l correct?" a. E &A
 Absolutely. he replied. "You see, not until later did I ever hold direct l communication with Washington, but reported throughout to Admiral Fletcher at Vera Cruz"
 Then at the time Secretary Dan ] iels issued the order on April 20, he 1 had every reason to believe that af- | fairs at Tampico were normal and that they had, been normal since April 14?"
 That is the case, if by normal you mean what had existed for quite a | while.''
 This is the point of importance. The whole Tampico lie is based upon the suppression of Admiral Mayo's reports | between April 13 and April 20, thus conveying the false impression that I the excitement of April 10 had con- tinued from day tqa day without cessa- l tion., @tt.s bE
 Now let me run over Secretary Daniels explanation of the order" I continued, producing the various bull ietins of the Navy Department. "To sum up, this was the situation on April 20 as, Washington saw it: As a result of Huertass refusal to give up | the demanded salute, decisive action was decided upon. Not unconnected with Huerta's policy of deceit and de- lay was the fact that the German steamer Ypiranga, loaded with arms l and munitions for the Huerta forces, was approaching Vera Cruz. To pre- vent this delivery, and to punish Huer- ta for his insolence. the seizure of the custom house at Vera Cruz was or dered. ' l teNow then, under Admiral FIetch- CT at Vera Cruz were the battleships Florida and Utah and the transport Prairie. The dreadnoughts unable to enter the harbor ,and compelled to lie out at sea, could afford slight protec- I ton to landing parties. Under Mayo l at Tampico. however, were light draft vessels fitted for that very pur- pose. The military advisors of Sec retary Daniels, therefore, suggested that Mayo and the light draft vessels be ordered to Vera Cruz, and this was I done. Not only did the reports show Tampico quiet, with all conditions nor nal, but Admiral Badger. with the full Atlantic Squadron, was due in Tampico, on the evening of April 21. What do you think of that explana- tion?" asked.
 | WHAT ANY HONEST MAN MUST THINK OF IT." Admiral Mayo re- | piled err IS SIMPLE, STRAIGHT FORWARD AND CONVINCING. Now let me go from there. n the first place Admiral Fletcher was in full charge on the Mexican Coast. From the first, Secretary Daniels had put large faith in his intelligence and dig cretion, recognizing that his presence on the ground gave him the most complete view. hence. things must be handled by him. Admiral Fletcher treated me in like manner. So when received the orders to go to Vera Cruz, sent for MT. Miller, the Amer ican consul at Tampico, to make l final survey of the local situation. I did not then know that the seizure of the Vera Cruz custom house had been ordered, and as consequence considered everything from the stand l point of Tampico alone.
 "Mr. Miller protested strenuous1y against my departure. All was quiet. l to be sure, but there was the ever i prsent anti-American feeling that had to be guarded against I concluded | that 1t was not safe to leave Tampico and communicated the consuPs pro- test and my own opinion to Admiral | Fletcher" "The charge has been made" said, "and is now being made repeat