Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-12-21
SAW Z YANKEES
HANGED ABROAD,
WITNESS STATES
He Is Unable to Say, How
ever, Whether Any OF
Them Had Been Con-
victed BY Court Martial.

Washington, Dec. 20. - George
H. Taylor of Philadelphia. who
served overseas. told senate
committee today that he saw with
his own eyes II American soldiers
hanged around Is-Sur Tile.
France, from April to June, 1918,
but was unable to say whether
any of them had been convicted
by court martial.
One of the soldiers hanged, he
declared. was tried for assault on
French girl by French court
martial, at which one American
officer was present. Taylor gave
the name OF the soldier and said
he was sergeant from Detroit.
Mich, but the committee decided
to omit the name from its rec
ords.
witnessed n Lynching.
Robert A. Harrison of Wilm-
ington, N. c., testified that in 1917
he witnessed the lynching in
France of soldier. The victim
was a Mexican from El Paso or
Eagle Pass, Texas, who was
charged with q crime against a
woman and not tried.
ut was told that the man had
to be hanged to save some officer
from being cashiered," Harrison
declared.
Through a pair of field glasses,
Harrison said he saw the lynch
ing in which 80 men took part.
at was a nice little necktie
party" he said, IT saw the body
later with a rope around the
neck"
Saw Two Executions.
Taylor, the first witness, also
declared he saw two executions.
The first was on April 1, 1919, at
Camp Wilson, he said, and the en-
tire command was ordered to the
gallows to witness 1t.
"They had a double line OF SOL
diers at the gallows," he said, land
Major Ross was in command. The
man hanged was a negro. A chap
lain went to the scaffold and
prayed and then they hanged
him."
"Was the man hanged tried by
court martial?" Chairman Brade-
gee asked.
IT don't know"
Harrison, the wilmington wit
ness, told Of another lynching af-
ter the armistice, which he de-
clared was directed by Hard
Boiled" Smith.
"This wrist of mine" said Har-
rison. lifting his left arm, was
broken while trying to save my
self from Hard Boiled" Smith
and a couple of sergeants."
The witness said he saw men
taken to the firing line without
gas masks or guns, as a form of
punishment.
Cause OF the Lynching.
Pressed as to the cause of the
lynching, Harrison said the victim
had been ordered by Smith to
sweep the stock yard with a tooth
brush, "and they had h little
party when he refused"
Were you court martialed?"
Senator Overman, democrat, North
Carolina, asked.
Eyes. The colonel cursed me
and I answered him back and he
sent me to the firing line after
trial. His name? Colonel Hold
brook. If I ever get him I'll make
him remember me.
"They wouldn't give me gas
mask, and my trouble today Is duo
to gas, the medical record shows"
Questioned by Senator Watson
democrat, Georgia, whose charges
that American soldiers were illeg-
ally executed in France led to the
inquiry, Taylor, the Philadelphia
witness, said the evidence in the
court martial Of the Detroit SER
geant was given in French. but
an interpreter was in attendance.
Tho crime was rape.
was the man allowed coun-
SELF" Senator Brandegee asked.
zone American officer was
there. He was asked some ques-
tons"
Heart and Brain Removed.
After the hanging, Taylor said
he saw the mans heart and brain
were removed ito see If he was
crazy"
"Who did that"
"A major in the American medi-
cal corps"
Know his manner"
mo"
"was the sergeant allowed to
tell his side of it to the French
court?" Senator Watson asked.
"'No sir, he wasn't asked to
testify, but he did say he wasn't
responsible for the death of the
girl concerned in the rape charge"