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Show FUITGI K PERMISSION TO EMPLDYSCOUTS Twenty Civilians to Keep Track of Mexican Bandits Said to Be Approaching" Big Bend Country. NATIONAL GUARD TO SEE MUCH SERVICE Brigades and Divisions to Be Formed Into Divisions by Major General Bliss. By JOSEPH TIMMONS. By International News Service. SAN ANTONIO, Tex., July li!. General Gen-eral Funston today authorized Colonel Joseph Gaston, in command of the Big Bend district, with headquarters at Maria, to employ twenty additional civilian scouts. This is an added pro-caution pro-caution against surprise raids of Mexican Mexi-can .bandits. The scouts will be used to gather information from across the Rio Grande and to keep Gaston in touch with any body of troops across the river that may plan invasion ot American Ameri-can territory. Every day brings new, but indefinite, corroboration of the rumors that bandits ban-dits of Villista allegiance are making their way northward from the Sierra Mojada region toward the big bend of the liio Grande. Apparently 't he C'ar-ranzistas, C'ar-ranzistas, with full knowledge of this, attested by Carranza 's warning to thp government of the United States, lack the power to round up and disperse these outlaws. Converging on Ojinaga. General Fuji s ton today 'received additional addi-tional reports indicating that Ojinaga, opposite Presidio, Tex., is the point on which various forces are converging. There is- uot the slightest apprehension that the bandits will attempt an attack on Presidio; it is too well garrisoned. But it is expected that a base will be established some short distance below Ojinaga and plans for raids developed there, against whatever sections of the border country offer promise of loot with least danger of running into formidable for-midable patrols of American troops. Gaston 's most acceptable reinforcements reinforce-ments will be the full squadron of Texas cavalry. This command has been duing excellent service in border patrol at La ret In and will increase to a marked degree the strength of the actual river patrol in the big bend district. The four troops will uot be able to reach the railroad points Marathon, Alpine and Marfa from which t hey will detrain de-train before Friday, and two days more will be required for them to reach the river. But the bandits, it is thought, will not arrive within striking distance that soon. Will Organize Guard. At headquarters here it is understood that Major General Tasker H. Bliss's chief duty on his approaching visit to the southern department will be the organization or-ganization of tho national guard brigades bri-gades and regiments into divisions. At present only the New York troops, in tho Brownsville region, and the Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania troops at El Paso are organized organ-ized on tactical or division units. The coining of General Bliss and the announcement in Washington of a combination com-bination for recruiting national guard regiments to full war strength, are accepted ac-cepted ns proof of the intention to keep the militia on the border for a considerable consid-erable period. Army men are unmis-tnha.bly unmis-tnha.bly delighted. Both as a huge maneuver, ma-neuver, to weld the national guard into an edkient part of the nation 's land defense, and as a preparation for war if the pacific intentions now professed bv the de facto government fail of results, re-sults, the army approves of the plnn to keep the national guard under arms. |