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Show MURDEHERS OP AKERS WILL BE 511IT ONCE Execution of Bernardino and Federico Duran, Captured Cap-tured Cattle Thieves, Set for This Morning. MEXICANS CONFESS DIABOLICAL DEED Francisco Villa Sends Word to the Border He Is Innocent In-nocent of Slaughter at Santa Ysabel. YSLETA, Texas, Jan. 22. Felipe Cruz, Tomas and Salvador Granlllo, arrested several days ago and held in jail here In connection with the theft of the Murphy cows, were taken tonight to El Paso for safekeeping safe-keeping when Texas rangers learned of a plot to lynch the trio. EAGLE PASS, Texas, Jan. 22. A battle between troops of the de facto government and Mexican bandits was reported tonight in progress between Monclova and Torreon. Color was given to the report re-port by the fact that train service south from Piedras Negxas has been discontinued for three days. No official confirmation of the fighting , was to be obtained. , 1j PASO, Tex., Jan. 22. Bernardino jfid Fedorico Duran, the Mexican cat- tic thieves involved in the killing of v ' '' Bert Akers, an American, yesterday at an Lorenzo, Chihuahua, just below the o&uiidary lino, will be executed tomorrow tomor-row morning at 5 o'clock, according to an announcement made tonight bv Andrew An-drew Garcia, Mexican consul here. "The Durans confessed their crime and were sentenced to death today," said Mr. Garcia, "and a firing Bquad will execute the penalty." Body at EI Paso. ' The body of Akers was brought to El Paso today to await instructions from tho widow. An examination at the hospital in Juarez is said to have shown Akers had been shot through the heart and the brain, as well as through the body. Juan Barrios, the police officer offi-cer who was with the Americana, is held pending investigation. A United States provost guard opened fire today upon a nuhiber of Mexican soldiers, who, while rounding up horses for the Mexican government, crossed tlie international boundary near here. Tho guard, Private Harrison, company C, Sixteenth infantry, first "ordered the Mexicans to return to thoir own side of the boundary line. When one refused Harrison fired several shots from his rovolver over the heads of the Mexicans, who then fled. Smugglers Fired Upon. Earlier in tho day customs officials fired in tho direction of several Mexicans Mexi-cans who were attempting to smuggle rags from Juarez to El Paso in defiance S of tho ruling of the immigration dopart-ient dopart-ient against such importations because of the fear of contagion from typhus. General Gnvira, commandant of Juarez, has issued an order providing for a further search of civilian homes for arms and ammunition, in order, he paid, to prevent any outbreak against Americans. Ton thousand arms of various va-rious ports have already been collected, it was said. Cows Brought In. The blooded milch cows which Akers and Downs wore seeking when the IHiran cattle rustlers opened fire on them from tho top of their adobe house, were bTonght to the American side late today and returned to tho owner, Mrs. J. P. Murphy of Ysleta, Tex. The three horses which had been left in Mexico wheu Akers was killed, also were returned re-turned today. Downs repeated to an official stenographer stenog-rapher this afternoon the story which he hail told early todav of the attack-by attack-by the Durans upon him and Akers. In this statement, which was telegraphed tele-graphed to Washington, Downs made the positive statement that at least five Mexicans fired upon him and Akers Ak-ers from the roof of the Duran house near San Lorenzo. Downs 's statement also sets out that he and Akers went into Mexican territory unarmed on the novice of American Consul Thomas P. -Mwards of Juarez. Zaoh l. Cobb, United States customs (Continued on Page Three.) MURDERERS OF 1 1EI1 1ST DIE (Continued from Page One.) collector here, called the attention of the Juarez authorities to Downs 's assertion as-sertion that five Mexicans participated in the attack, and asked that the three cattle thieves believed to be still at large be arrested and punished also. SEES AMERICANS HANGING TO TREES SOUTH OF BORDER DOUGLAS, Ariz., Jan. 22. The state of Oaxaca, Mexico, is overrun with bandits wrho have been killing Americans Ameri-cans while carrying on a campaign of murder and plunder, despite every effort ef-fort of the Carranza authorities to preserve pre-serve order, according to an affidavit made by Andrew J. Trumbo of Los Angeles, a mining man who arrived hero early today from Oaxaca, the capital of that state. At TA Paso yesterday Trumbo related an account of the blowing up recently of a passenger train near Puebla, with a loss of twenty-three lives. "Twenty miles southwest of Ejutla I saw the bodies of six men hanging to trees, and I was told by Mexicans that they were Americans," Trumbo stated in his affidavit. "No one knows their names. Did Not Learn Names. "About a quarter of a mile further on T saw two more badly decomposed bodies hanging to a tree. 1 was told they also were Americans, but J could not find out their names. The bodies all were too badly decomposed to attempt at-tempt to identify any of them or to obtain even a general description." Conditions became so unbearable that he could not remain in the Mexican state with his family, Trumbo declared, in his statement, in explaining his departure de-parture from Mexico. He and his wife were mistreated and insulted, he said. Makes Affidavit. The affidavit of Trumbo. to which wrs appended his passports, letters and receipts to show that he had been in localities mentioned in the state, says: My name is A. J. Trumbo, and for eleven months I have been era-ployed era-ployed by the lndiana-Oaxaca Mining' Min-ing' company, with headquarters at Mina FA Carmen. While the government gov-ernment of that state affords all possible protection to foreigners, the country is overrun by bandits and dominated on the north bv General Aguilor, former con' mander. who exacts ransom fro. cverv foreigner passing through his stronghold at Telapa. Rebels Control. He is fortified there by 300 ex-federal ex-federal soldiers, armed with cannon can-non and machine guns. Their position posi-tion is such that they entirely dominate that section of the couu-ti couu-ti v, and they can easily stand off an army of 20,000 Carranza soldiers. sol-diers. Zapata bandits are everywhere within a half mile of the railroad. Thev frequently dynamite trains and' are robbing or killing foreigners foreign-ers at will. On one train dynamited just outside out-side of Tehumican, twenty-three or twenty-four passengers were killed. War on Americans. I ftY. R. Burton, nn American mining man, ' ' the Klfiduvil continues, ' ' was forced to pay $l:.itid gold and wad then put in jail under penalty of -death, to extort more money. lie refused, and was later released. He fled to Te-huacan. Te-huacan. ' Tom West, an American, was shot through the head by bandits at Taviche, but he recovered. '8. Pitloar. a frenchman, french-man, owner of the principal mercantile establishment in Oaxaca, while en route to Mexico City To purchase supplies, was held by General Aguilnr and robbed oi: all his money, about 4iio,uuo pesos, which is equivalent to tf'i.iiuO gold." A Mr. Hamiltrn, ;in American mine owner at Taviche, suffered similarly, Trumbo stated, bemuse he was found to possess a passport signed by General Pubic Gonzales.' He was released when he paid the ransom demanded, according accord-ing to the affidavit. Unable to Report. Trumbo said Clifton Rcbbins. American Ameri-can c insular agent at Oaxaen, knew of the outniges. but was un.iMe tn report j them becttuse Auuiliir censored his mail. Tiumbo named a number of other j f OH'igi-ers in hi aflidavit who, he said, ; hud I'fi-n victims of Aj.-uilar's alleged brigandage, lie lec la red it was nm-a fn for an v Americans tn w lln'nugh- Agurnr's camp. Trumbo said the people of Oax-:ic:i Oax-:ic:i 'wanted to turn the state over to some established government and had sent n depot a turn to General ( 'a r ration.. ' I was i n i ormed that Ca rrnnza tu'd 'those who veiled him he intended to take the state by force of arms," Trumbo Trum-bo added. |