Mr. Egan to Mr. Blaine.
Santiago, January 11, 1892. (Received January 12.)
Mr. Egan says that the judge’s report in the case of the assault on the Baltimore men, which is of great length, recites that the commander of the police makes it appear that an insignificant quarrel, the cause of which is not known to him, between a Chilean sailor and an American was the origin of the disturbances in which a very large number of people became engaged; that 5 Americans and 1 Chilean were wounded and 31 Americans and 11 Chileans arrested; that the Chilean doctor insists that Turnbull (who was wounded eighteen times and died shortly afterwards) had but thirteen wounds, which were curable in one month, and that Riggin’s death was caused by a pistol shot.
He adds that the testimony of several American sailors, who, however, were unable to recognize their assailants, shows that they were wounded, taken prisoners, and that the attack was unprovoked. He states that the testimony of many important witnesses, notably that of the conductor of the street car from which Riggin was dragged, was not taken, and that deductions and suggestions against the Baltimore men are found in the general evidence which are unjustifiable; [Page 286] that the “fiscal” says that the attack of three Americans on one Chilean sailor, all being drunk, began the disturbance (which is not supported by evidence), and that Turnbull was wounded in the midst of an attack made on three Chilean sailors by thirty Americans; that John Davidson struck with a stone a Chilean sailor who was chasing his companion Hamilton, knife in hand, and admitted that he did so strike him; that for this offense the fiscal demands a penalty of from twenty-one to forty days for Davidson, the same for one of the Chileans, of from two to eighteen months for another Chilean, and of from three to five years for another. He thinks it may be about two months before the final sentence is passed.