Señor Pedro Montt
to Mr. Blaine.
[Translation.]
Legation of Chile,
Washington, January 23,
1892.
Sir: In view of the wish you were pleased to
express to me, I requested from Santiago and have to-day received by
telegraph a copy of the testimony given by one of the sailors of the Baltimore in regard to the deplorable events of
the 16th of October at Valparaiso.
The declaration which I send to you is that of the sailor J. M. Talbot,
made by him before the criminal judge and in the presence of the
accused, and with the assistance of Mr. MacCrea, an officer of the Baltimore, who discharged the functions of
interpreter and who signed the record of the testimony in union with the
judge and the sailor who testified.
In the evidence given by Talbot at Valparaiso, in the presence of the
accused, you will see that he makes no charge against the police, nor
against Chilean soldiers, and his testimony is signed by himself and by
Mr. MacCrea, an officer of the Baltimore, who
discharged the functions of interpreter.
According to what I have been able to see in the newspapers, Talbot has
testified at Vallejo very different things from those which he testified
at Valparaiso, and has made grave charges against the police and against
Chilean sailors in uniform.
When the declarations made by the other sailors at Valparaiso, of the
dispatch of which by mail my Government advises me, shall reach this
city, you will be able to appreciate the difference there is between the
testimony given by them at Valparaiso under cross-examination (en un juicio contradictorio), confronted with the
accused, and that which they have said at Vallejo, where there was
nobody in a position to contradict their affirmations.
With sentiments, etc.,
[Inclosure.—Translation.—Telegram.]
Señor Pereira
to Señor Pedro Montt.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Santiago, January 22,
1892.
In the confrontation of witnesses (careo)
recorded at folio 84 of the original docket, the officer of the Baltimore, Mr. MacCrea, acting as
interpreter, the North American sailors John M. Talbot, John
Davidson, George Pauchter, John Hamilton, John Bntler, James Mac
Johnson, Joseph Seigler, Patrick Mac-Williams, and Charles Williams
gave testimony. Talbot said that he confirmed his evidence, folio
21, and must add thereto, that on the day of the occurrence the
deponent was in a city tram car, in the street of the Arsenal, in
company with the deceased Riggin, when they were attacked by a
numerous group of
[Page 347]
people
of the town who began to insult them, besides throwing stones into
the tram car, from which they endeavored to take them out by force.
The deponent and his companion saw themselves obliged to get out of
the car, and they were both immediately attacked by the mob which
surrounded them, and they became separated the one from the other.
While in this situation he saw Riggin, about ten paces distant,
throw up his hands in the air with the gesture of a man about to
fall to the ground, as he indeed fell, wounded as it seemed by a
knife, but he heard no noise, or detonation of a firearm. The
deponent was unable to lend assistance to his companion, because of
having to defend himself, and in order to save his life he had to
take flight, being afterwards rescued by the police, who took him
first to the barracks and afterwards to the hospital, which was
necessary because of the condition of the injuries he received in
the tumult. The witness did not see who wounded Riggin, who, as he
afterwards learned, was wounded by a bullet at the same spot where
the occurrence took place, dying in consequence of those wounds. He
likewise does not know who it was that wounded the witness, for in
the confusion he could not fix upon any person in particular; and he
should add that because of his wounds he was ill and rendered unfit
for duty until now, not being yet entirely well. He knows none of
the prisoners with whom he has been confronted, and does not know
what part they may have taken in the disturbance.
- Foster Recabarren.
- J. M. Davidson.
- Joseph Singler.
- J. M. Talbot.
- John Hamilton.
- John Butler.
- J. Mattun Johnson.
- C. J. Williams.
- Jorge Pautcher.
- Henry MacCrea,
Officer of the Baltimore,
Interpreter.
- Rengifo,
Interpreter of the Court.
The Secretary.
The foregoing declaration is textual.
Pereira.
I certify that the foregoing copy is in conformity with the
telegram received today at the legation.
Washington,
January 23,
1892.
Aníbal Cruz,
Secretary.
