Mr. Gresham to Mr. Baker.
Washington, April 26, 1894.
Sir: It is desired that you take advantage of your visit to Bluefields to investigate the killing of William Wilson, a citizen of the United States, by the Nicaraguan governor of Rama, on March 22, and secure, if possible, the arrest and trial of his slayer.
From Mr. Braida’s dispatches it appears that Wilson was a drayman in the employ of Messrs. Brown & Harris, at Rama, and slept above their shop to protect their property. About 10.30 p.m., on March 22, an attempt was made by several persons, among them a policeman, to arrest a drunken man on Brown & Harris’s doorstep. Wilson came downstairs in his night shirt, and seeing the scufflers at his door [Page 467] ordered them away, pushing the policeman off the doorstep. The Nicaraguan governor of the city, Don Norberto Argüello, attracted to the spot by the tumult, drew his revolver and shot Wilson in the back as he was retreating up the stairs. He fell, mortally wounded, whereupon a policeman (an American negro, named Charles Noyles) attempted to shoot him after he was down, but was prevented by a bystander. Noyles was arrested.
The governor ordered the wounded man to be taken to the barracks. A resident physician, Dr. A. L. Chapman, was summoned by Wilson’s friends, and asked permission to send a boat to Bluefields for another doctor. The governor refused to allow this. Wilson died at 6.45 the next morning, about eight hours after being shot.
Mr. Braida, on learning these facts, applied on the 25th ultimo to Señor Madriz, who had just arrived at Bluefields as the special commissioner of Nicaragua, and asked that Argüello be arrested. Señor Madriz promised to send General Cabezas to Rama to deal with the matter.
It appears that Argüello was not arrested, but made his escape a few days later, with the connivance, it is asserted, of the local police. Some policemen were arrested for assisting his escape, but were subsequently released. The policeman Noyles, who had attempted to dispatch Wilson after the governor had shot him, was at last accounts under surveillance.
This incident, which has naturally produced a most painful impression, calls for prompt and energetic action on the part of the authorities to secure the apprehension and trial of Argüello. You will express the President’s earnest hope that full justice shall be done.
I am, etc.,