Evening star., 1938-07-25
Executive Escapes
Injury in Attack
DuringP Parade.
RIOTS BREAK OUT
IN PONCE STREETS
nationalist Partisan
Believed to Have
Fired Shot.
, By the Associated Press.

BY inc Associated Press.
SAN JUAN. Puerto Rico (By T'ele-
phone to New York;. July 25-Maj
Gen. Blanton Winship, Governor of
Puerto Rico escaped an assassin's bull
let at Ponce today while he was re-
viewing parade.
Preliminary telephone reports to the
Governors palace here said neither
Gov. Winship nor any member of his
party was injured.
Police Immediately returned the fire
from among large crowds watching
celebrations of the 40th anniversary
of the landing of American troops in
the Spanish-American War. Rioting
broke out while the streets were
choked with crowds
At least two persons were killed
and 20 injured. The police killed one
man, believed to have been one of
the party that started the firing.
1t. Col Irizarry of the Puerto Rico
National Guard was wounded fatally.
Among the injured were Miguel
Angel Garcia Mendez. speaker of the
House of Representatives, and Fran
cisco Lopez Dominguez commissioner
Of agriculture and commerce
Palace officials said arrests had been
made, but they had not yet been in
formed how many.
They said the first shot was believed
to have been fired by member of the
Nationalist party, the group demand
ing independence for the United States
ansular possession.
Order quickly was restored. they
said. Gov. Winship remained in the
reviewing stand and the celebration
continued
Navy Officer Reported Hurt.
An American naval officer, from
the Aircraft Carrier Enterprise, was
reported to be one of 20 persons
injured.
The shooting did not interrupt the
parade. and the marchers continued
to pass the reviewing stand with few
Of them knowing what had occurred.
The Nationalists had opposed the
anniversary celebra ton and issued
manifesto calling a meeting for to-
night to protest against 1t.
It was in Ponce on Palm Sunday
last year that Nationalists and police
clashed. Twenty-one persons were
killed and more than 100 injured in
that clash.
Winship Delivers Speech.
A few minutes after the shooting
Gov Winship in firm voice delivered
his prepared speech, in which he
urged that Puerto Ricans let nothing
occur which might give wrong i'm
preston of their real affection for
the United States.
Rafael Martinez Nadal. president of
the Senate, speaking after the Gov
ernor, asserted nothing could show
more firmly the growing love of the
Puerto Ricans for the United States
than the orderly manner todays
crowd withstood the experience of
the shooting.
He paid a tribute to Col. Irizarry,
whom he called a martyr who died
in the service Of his country
The Senate president added that in
all the attempted assassinations in
Puerto Rico no continental Ameri-
can had been killed. The use of
violence, he declared. was advocated
only by small majority of Puerto
Ricans and that to repel this minority
the majority must if necessary use
violence also.
Gen. Winship. who retired from the
United States Army in 1888, has been
Governor of Puerto Rico since Feb
ruary 5, 1884. He is 68 years old.
Labor troubles and Nationalist dis
turbances have spotted almost his
entire term.
The most serious incident was the
Staying of E. Francis Riggs, insular
chief of police and former United
States Army colonel, by two NATIONAL
lists at San Juan February "a, 1896.
Riggs, Yale graduate and member
of prominent Washington and Mary
land family. was riding unarmed In
an automobile when the attack occur
red.
On June 9, 1887, a dozen shots were
fired in San Juan at Judge Robert A.
Cooper of the United States District
Court, who had sentenced eight
Puerto Rican Nationalists to prison
terms for conspiracy to overthrow the
United States Government on the
island
More recently labor troubles, princi-
pally among longshoremen demanding
higher wages, have added to Gov.
Winships problems.