Mr. Ryan to Mr.
Blaine.
Legation of
the United States,
Mexico, May 20, 1890.
(Received May 28.)
No. 297.]
Sir: Referring to my No. 264 of March 15, 1890,
relative to the claim of Shadrack White for injuries sustained by him at the
hands of Mexican soldiers who made an incursion into Eagle Pass, Tex., in
March, 1888, I have the honor to advise the Department that, upon the
receipt of the report of the surgeons designated to make examination of Mr.
White’s injuries, I addressed a note to Mr. Mariscal suggesting that, if
agreeable to him, I would call at the foreign office on Monday, the 6th
instant, to confer further with him upon the question of damages. At the
time designated Mr. Mariscal was otherwise engaged, but on the following
Thursday we held a conference upon the subject and came to an indefinite and
conditional understanding to the effect that the Mexican Government should
pay Mr. White $7,000 in gold, subject, however, to a further conference, Mr.
Mariscal desiring to confer with the President before a final determination
of the subject. Thereupon I addressed a note to our consul at Piedras
Negras, requesting him to confer with Mr. White and advise me by wire
whether the claimant would be satisfied with that sum. And the Sunday
following I received from Mr. Fechét an affirmative reply by wire, followed
by a letter from him confirming the same, and stating, among other things:
I shall rejoice when this claim shall have been paid and we can make
it public, for the actual money payment of a frontier claim by
Mexico will have an immense and most beneficial effect on the
ignorant frontier class, and markedly upon the petty local
authorities.
[Page 636]
The next day, to wit, Monday, the 12th instant, I again called at the foreign
office, and was informed by Mr. Mariscal that he was authorized by the
President to pay the said sum of $7,000 in gold, and it was then and there
finally agreed between Mr. Mariscal and myself that the Mexican government
should forthwith pay the said sum of $7,000 in American money, and that such
payment should be a full satisfaction of Mr. Whitens claim; and it was
further understood that a draft on New York would be sent this legation as
soon as the necessary clerical work could be performed, not exceeding 3 or 4
days.
I have this day received from the Mexican Government a note transmitting the
draft referred to for $7,000, gold, drawn by the Bank of London and Mexico,
of this city, against the Bank of British North America, of New York,
numbered 1859 and dated the 9th instant, payable to the order of Manuel E.
Goytia, and by him indorsed payable to the order of Francisco Espinosa,
treasurer of Mexico, and by him indorsed payable to the order of Manuel
Azpiroz, subsecretary in charge of the department of foreign affairs, and by
him indorsed payable to the order of myself, as envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America in Mexico. I
herewith transmit the same, indorsed by me payable to the order of James G.
Blaine, Secretary of State of the United States. It was originally
contemplated that the draft should, in the first instance, be made payable
to Mr. White, but that not having been done, I have thought it advisable for
prudential reasons to indorse it payable to the Secretary of State.
This day I acknowledged to the Mexican Government the receipt of this draft
in full satisfaction of the claim of Mr. Shadrack White.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 297.]
Mr. Fechét to Mr.
Ryan.
Consulate of the United States,
Piedras Negras, April 26,
1890.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith the
reports of the medical officers selected to examine and report upon the
disabilities of Shadrack White, resulting from wounds received in
endeavoring to arrest Mexican soldiers on March 3, 1888, who had invaded
United States territory.
The reports are marked D and E, and memorandums of the meetings signed by
the Mexican consul and myself marked F and G.
I also inclose originals of letters from the Mexican consul and a copy of
my reply. This correspondence is marked A, B and C.
Mr. White forwards an affidavit; this he wishes to be made a part of his
claim. This inclosure is marked H.
I desire to submit reasons why a first report from the two medical
officers was not prepared. When the two separate reports (from which the
first one was to have been evolved) were read and mutually translated,
we found the reports practically the same save in one point, viz:
Dr. Clendenin, following modes of our Pension Bureau, rated the
disability numerically. We failed to make the medical officer that
represented the Mexican Government understand this mode of estimating a
disability, and so we, Mr. Cazeneuve and myself, decided to send on the
two reports.
These reports very plainly establish a very permanent disability to the
right hand; any person would estimate this disability at over one-half;
this to a right hand is a very serious matter.
I beg to be informed if any more papers are needed in Mr. White’s
case.
I am, etc.,
[Page 637]
[Inclosure A in inclosure
1.—Translation.]
Mr. Cazeneuve to
Mr. Fechét.
Consulate of the United Mexican States,
Eagle Pass, Tex., April 14, 1890.
Sir: The minister of foreign affairs has
directed me to select a physician who shall, in consultation with
whomsoever you may he pleased to designate, investigate whether Mr.
White (Shadrack) is permanently disabled in the right hand.
I therefore have appointed Dr. Chios (Daniel) a resident of Piedras
Negras, to furnish the expert decision required.
If it should seem agreeable to you, I propose that said examination shall
be had on the 17th instant, at 4 p.m. (Mexican time), in your office at
Piedras Negras.
I renew, etc.,
[Inclosure B in inclosure
1.]
Mr. Fechét to Mr.
Cazeneuve.
Consulate of the United States,
Piedras Negras, April 15,
1890.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your communication of 14th instant, informing me that, by
authority of instructions of the honorable minister of foreign affairs,
Republic of Mexico, you have appointed Dr. Daniel Cirlos as medical
officer to act in conjunction with the medical officer representing the
United States, to determine the injuries sustained by Shadrack White,
deputy sheriff, while endeavoring to arrest certain Mexican soldiers in
March, 1888, who had invaded the territory of the United States.
Your suggestion that the meeting to examine Mr. White be at this
consulate on Thursday, April 17, at 4 o’clock p.m., is accepted,
provided this medical examination be not limited and restricted to
determining “if the right hand is incapacitated.”
My instructions are to have the two doctors determine “the injuries
sustained and the resulting and present incapacity;” that is, any and
all injuries sustained on the occasion above referred to. Should you
inform me that your instructions limit the medical examination to Mr.
White’s right hand, the meeting of doctors need not take place until we
shall have received instructions from our respective superiors. I wish
to formally notify you that Dr. Paul Clendenin, assistant surgeon, U. S.
Army, has been duly appointed to represent the United States in the
examination of Mr. White.
Availing myself, etc.,
[Inclosure C in inclosure
1.—Translation.]
Mr. Cazeneuve to
Mr. Fechét.
Consulate of the United Mexican States,
Eagle Pass, April 18, 1890.
Sir: In reply to your esteemed favor of the
15th instant, it gratifies me hereby to confirm the message I telephoned
to you to-day to the effect that the minister of foreign affairs in
Mexico is willing that the medical examination shall be as full as is
indicated in your note aforesaid.’ Therefore, I accept to-morrow, the
19th instant, and your office as the time and place for the surgical
examination of White.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure D in inclosure
1.]
Certificate of Dr. Paul Clendenin.
Consulate of the United States,
Piedras Negras, April 19,
1890.
Examination of Shadrack White, citizen of the United States, and resident
of Eagle Pass, Tex., conducted under instructions from Hon. Ignacio
Mariscal, minister of foreign affairs, Mexico, and Hon. Thomas Ryan,
envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Republic of
Mexico.
[Page 638]
Mr. White presented himself with the following history: On March 3, 1888,
in execution of the duties of his office as deputy sheriff of Maverick
County, Tex., while attempting to arrest 4 Mexican soldiers, he was shot
by revolvers in their hands, being thereby wounded in the right hand,
the bullet perforating the hand and dislocating the little finger at the
metacarpo-phalangeal articulation, and in the left arm, from the effects
of which wounds he was confined to his house and unable to perform his
duties for the period of 4 months.
Upon examination Mr. White’s present condition is found to be as follows:
Scar of wound of entrance of bullet on radial aspect of middle finger,
right hand, scar made by wound in passing the web between middle and
ring fingers, and scar of wound of exit of bullet on ulnar aspect of
right hand opposite the lower third of metacarpal bone of little finger.
This wound involved the bones of the hand, and in the process of repair
the extensor tendons were bound down, so that there is marked limitation
of movement and impairment of strength in the hand. This consists of
inability to flex the ring finger and little finger upon the palm and
loss of tractile strength in these fingers. The middle finger is also
involved, but not to so great an extent. The loss of prehensile power is
such as to interfere with the use of the right hand in driving, using a
rope, handling a revolver or other weapon, and precludes the use of
tools or instruments of precision, and is, in my opinion, permanent.
The wound to the left arm presents no present impairment, and is
noteworthy only because it was the last to heal, thereby retarding his
recovery.
Paul Clendenin,
Assistant Surgeon, U. S.
Army.
[Inclosure E in inclosure
1.—Translation.]
Certificate of Dr. Daniel L. Cirlos.
Consulting Office of Dr. Daniel L. Cirlos,
Ciudad Porfirio Diaz, April 22, 1890.
The undersigned, medical surgeon, hereby certifies: That the American,
Shadrack White, bears scars of wounds apparently the result of bullets
from some firearm of small caliber.
- (1)
- On the front and back of the left forearm there is a scar as if
burnt, some 12 centimetres in extent; apparently the skin had been a
brased, and possibly an insignificant portion of the flesh.
- (2)
- In the right hand a small scar in radial aspect of middle finger,
on the lower inside surface; another scar on the outside of same
finger and of same extent; a scar in the web between the middle and
ring fingers; scar of wound at the metacarpo-phalangeal
articulation; another on the surface (inside) opposite the third
metacarpal bone of little finger; and still another in the lower
portion of the fifth metacarpal bone at the adduct muscle of little
finger; these scars ranging from the inside out and from front to
back.
In present conditions the wound involves partial disability of the three
fingers; the hand can not be used save with great difficulty; and the
injury, in my opinion, will be permanent.
[Inclosure F in inslosnre
1.]
Memorandum of first meeting, April 19,
1890.
[April 19,
1890]
At a meeting held at the consulate of the United States at Piedras
Negras, Mexico, on Saturday, April 19, 1890, under instructions from the
Hon. Thomas Ryan, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to
the Republic of Mexico, and the Hon. Ignacio Mariscal, minister of
foreign affairs, Republic of Mexico, there were present:
Eugene O. Fechét, consul of the United States at Piedras Negras, Mexico;
F. G. Cazeneuve, consul of the Republic of Mexico at Eagle Pass, Tex.;
Dr. Paul Clendenin, assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, medical officer on
the part of the United States; Dr. Daniel Cirlos, of Ciudad Porfirio
Diaz, medical officer on the part of the Mexican Government.
Before the above named came Shadrack White, American citizen, residing at
Eagle Pass, Tex., and who, as deputy sheriff of Maverick County, State
of Texas, on March 3, 1888, sustained injuries while endeavoring to
arrest certain Mexican soldiers [Page 639] on United States territory. The said Shadrack White was carefully
examined by the medical officers, Drs. Clendenin and Cirlos, to
determine extent of injuries sustained by him as above stated and the
amount of disability or incapacity resulting therefrom.
The said examination having been completed, it was mutually agreed that
each medical officer shall prepare his written report of the conclusion
reached by him, and that the two reports shall be presented on Tuesday,
April 22, 1890, before a meeting of the same persons and at the same
place.
- Eugene O. Fechét.
- F. G. Cazeneuve.
[Inclosure G. in inclosure
1.]
Memorandum of second meeting.
Piedras
Negras, Mexico, April 22,
1890.
At the adjourned and final meeting there were present all the several
persons named in the preceding memoranda save and except Shadrack White,
who was not present.
The separate reports of Drs. Clendenin and Cirlos were then read and
translated, and, having been found to be fundamentally the same, it was
decided to forward the two separate reports and in the following manner:
Duplicate originals of each report shall be prepared, that of Dr. Cirlos
in Spanish and marked A; that of Dr. Clendenin in English and marked B;
that one original of each report shall be forwarded by their respective
consuls to Hon. Thomas Ryan and Hon. Ignacio Mariscal, and that finally
this memoranda shall be prepared in duplicate, signed by both consuls,
and forwarded with the reports of the medical officers.
- Eugene O. Fechét.
- F. G. Cazeneuve.
[Inclosure H in inclosure
1.]
Affidavit of Shadrack White, April 24,
1890.
Shadrack White, a citizen of the United States and a resident of Eagle
Pass, Tex., being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that in
consequence of wounds in both hands received on March 3, 1888, while in
the discharge of his duty as deputy sheriff of Maverick County, State of
Texas, endeavoring to arrest certain Mexican soldiers who unlawfully
invaded United States territory, he was unable to do duty as deputy
sheriff, and in consequence lost his position, which was worth $125 per
month; that he was unable to do anything, or perform any kind of labor,
or even serve himself for over 4 months, as he was during this period
deprived of the use of both of his hands, and was therefore obliged to
hire a nurse at $25 per month; that he has actually paid out to his
attending surgeon $150, and for medicines, bandages, etc., $25; that he
has sustained an actual money loss as follows:
| 4 months’ salary as deputy sheriff, at $125 per month |
$500 |
| 4 months’ wages paid nurse, at %25 |
100 |
| Medical attendance |
150 |
| Medicine, etc |
25 |
| Or a total of |
775 |
That he believes and claims that this sum should be paid to him over and
above any sum received for the personal disability he now suffers in
consequence of his wounds.
Consulate of
the United States,
Piedras Negras, April 24, 1890.
Sworn and subscribed to before me at the consulate on the date above
written.
Notarial No. 17.
[Page 640]
[Inclosure 2 in No. 297.]
Mr. Fechét to Mr.
Ryan.
Consulate of the United States,
Piedras Negras, May 11,
1890.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of
your communication of May 8. I sent for Mr. White and he instructed me
to send you a telegram as follows: “Yes, if settled promptly,” and this
I now beg to confirm. Mr. White is very poor, and greatly in need of
money, and hence agrees to take less than he believes his due, to save
delay, as $7,000 now will be of real service to him, while he recognizes
the attendant uncertainties and delays should he stand out for a larger
sum.
Mr. White earnestly and most gratefully recognizes your great services,
and desires me to assure you of his deep appreciation of all you are
doing for him.
I shall rejoice when this claim shall have been paid and we can make it
public, for the actual money payment of a frontier claim by Mexico will
have an immense and most beneficial effect on the ignorant frontier
class, and markedly upon the petty local authorities.
At request of Mr. White, I request you to inform him through me when you
think he may reasonably expect payment.
This request comes from the natural anxiety of a poor man in great need
of his money.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 3 in No.
297.—Translation.]
Mr. Azpiroz to Mr.
Ryan.
Department of Foreign Affairs,
Mexico, May 20,
1890.
Mr. Minister: The President of the Republic
having approved the arrangement entered into between Your Excellency and
Señor Lie. Don Ignacio Mariscal, secretary of foreign affairs, relative
to the indemnification of Deputy Sheriff Shadrack White with $7,000, in
United States gold coin, for the injuries sustained by him through the
wound he received during the unfortunate incident of March 3, 1888, at
Eagle Pass, I have the honor to transmit to Your Excellency a draft for
the amount aforestated, drawn by the Bank of London and Mexico against
the Bank of British North America, of New York, and by me indorsed to
Your Excellency.
I pray that Your Excellency may be pleased to acknowledge receipt of said
draft; and I embrace this occasion, etc.,
[Inclosure 4 in No. 297.]
Mr. Ryan to Mr.
Azpiroz.
Legation of the United States,
Mexico, May 20,
1890.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of Your Excellency’s communication of this date, inclosing draft
No. 1859 of yesterday’s date, drawn by the Bank of London and Mexico
against the Bank of British North America, and indorsed payable to
myself by Your Excellency, in full satisfaction of the claim of Shadrack
White, an American citizen of Eagle Pass, Tex., for injuries sustained
by him while acting as deputy sheriff, at the hands of Mexican soldiers
who made an incursion into that place in March, 1888.
I have the honor to advise Your Excellency that this adjustment of Mr.
White’s claim is fully approved by him and by my Government.
Permit me to express to Your Excellency my Government’s cordial
appreciation of the honorable and friendly disposition of the Mexican
Government relative to this unfortunate Eagle Pass affair from the
beginning, and personally to thank your department for the kindly
consideration and uniform courtesy always generously accorded me in all
my official relations with it.
I have, etc.,
