Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-04-07
GATHERS MEN IN FORCE TO
HALT BANDIT
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negotiations between Washington and
General Carranza regarding the use Of
the Mexican railroads by the American
expeditionarv force.
Repeated intimations that the sup
ply situation had reached an acute
stage have received strong support by
the statements made by soldiers re-
turning from the front The ques-
ton Of adequate clothing appears to
be as urgent as that of food. Stories
from the front of the eXpedients
adopted by the troopers TO repair worn
out garments, especially shoes, gives
sharp point TO this problem.
Mexicans Face Starvation.
But the plight of the American
soldiers fades into insignificance when
compared with the stories reaching
here through Mexican sources of the
desperate conditions prevailing among
the poems in the bandit rayaged reg
ions of southern Chihuahua and Dur
ango toward which Villa is heading. 1t
is said that the unfortunate people in
the district around Torreon are fac
ing actual starvation. 4 letter which
reached here from Torreon, dated six
days ago, said in part:
Industry is at a standstill and the
diSheartened poems in the country dis
tricts have abandoned all efforts to
cultivate their farms. If a man was
known to have a little grain or beans
he could be certain that a band Of
bandits would pay him a visit, take
what he had and probably his life as
we'll General TrevinO has succeeded
in bringing some carloads of food in
to the city but this relief was only a
= drop in an ocean Of suffering and dis
tress.'
There is considerable interest here
in persistent reports that General Ga
vira, the CarranZa commander at
Juarez, is about to be superseded. One
story. published, in Mexican paper,
declares that General Pablo Gonzales
is on his way here from Mexico City
and that when he arrives he will take
supreme charge of all the Carranza
soldiers in the field. There is no way
Of verifying these reports but it is
generally believed that General Car
rama is planning some changes
among his field commanders.
Troops Shooting Bothers Villistas.
Columbus, y NJ, April Proof Of
the craftsmanship Of American SOL
diers has done more than any other
development of the campaign in Mex
leo to strike fear into the hearts OF
Villas followers, according TO re-
ports seeping across the border. The
straight shooting done at Columbus
that Of the little detachment that puT-
sued the bandits across the line after
the raid and that at Guerrero and
Aqua Calientes, was totally unexpect-
ed by the Mexicans. 1t was utterly
different from shooting they had ex-
perieuced In engagements between
factional troops in the five years or
civil strife. close followers of the sit
uation assert.
Villas followers had been taught
that the Americans were weddings;
towards who were afraid TO match their
strength with Mexican forces" nat
uralized Mexican living here said to-
day. They believed, in their ignor-
ance, implicitly in themselves ana
their ability to conquer any force they
should encounter. | am convinced
that before the Columbus raid their
feeling was that Of contempt OF a
larger man for a smaller, weaker an
tagonist."
Has Desirable Eject.
The first shock was given the VII
listas when 79 of them were killed py
half as many troopers of the Thirteenth
cavalry. who made the sortie across
the International line after the raid.
Il was at Guerrero that the contrast
between craftsmanship Of the two
forces was demonstrated. There the
troopers OF the Seventh cavalry, shoot
ing coolly and steadily, sent almost
every bullet 10 its mark, while Cen
eral Hernandez's soldiers fired wildly
as they ran.
A similar demonstration of marks
msnship at Aqua Galleries confirmed
the suspicion already growing in the
minds Of the bandits that the aOiily
OF the "gringoes" mad been misrepre-
scented TO them, according 10 arrivals
here