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Show COMPLETE REPORT ON . NEGRO SOLDIERS' RIOT Declares Move Was on Foot to Indiscriminately Slay White Residents. t HOUSTON. Texas. Sept. 11. Completing Complet-ing an inquiry into the causes of the re-i re-i cent negro soldier riot of Thursday, August Au-gust 23, which cost the lives of fifteen citizens of Houston, the citizen's board filed its report with the city council late today. The report covers practically every phase of the recent trouble and deals with the police situation in Houston. The committee is of the opinion that the riot undoubtedly was precipitated by two arrests of negroes made by Officer Offi-cer Sparks, although sufficient evidence was presented at the hearing to, reveal the fact that a serious disturbance was intended by some of the negro soldiers before leaving Houston and the arrests referred to simply brought it to a head sooner and perhaps Intensified the crimes which followed. Continuing, the committee says that the undisputed and convincing testimony testi-mony of witnesses proves that the negro soldiers went forth to slay the white population indiscriminately, that not one negro was hurt or molested by them, not one negro home was fired into and that the negroes were warned before and during dur-ing the riot to stay off the streets. The report says: . The testimony of the captain in charge of the fire station at Camp Logan and one of his assistants is that when the shooting began in the negro camp, one of the negro guards stationed at the fire station remarked that the troops were going to shoot up Houston, that they had planned to do so on the preceding Tuesday night, but could not get quite ready. This testimony and the evidence of numerous other circumstances in the record convince us (and our opinion is shared by Inspector General John L,. Chamberlain of the United States army, who so expressed himself to us), that the prior conflicts with the police were mere incidents of the riot; that the riot was unquestionably contemplated con-templated prior to that date, that it probably would have occurred though possibly not so severe, had the altercation alter-cation between Officer Sparks and the negro sergeant, Baltimore, not taken place. EL, PASO, Sept. 11. The hoard of Inquiry, In-quiry, of which Captain Homer Preston, Twenty-fourth United States infantry, is president, arrived here from Columbus, N. M., late today to continue its investigation inves-tigation of the Houston, Texas, riots and the part negro soldiers of the Twenty-fourth Twenty-fourth infantry had in the affair of August Au-gust 23. The board will resume its investigation at Fort Bliss tomorrow. One hundred and fifty-six negro prisoners from the Twenty-fourth infantry are confined in the stockade there. Of this number fifty-nine fifty-nine have been segregated from the remaining re-maining ninety-seven suspects and are being closely guarded. A searchlight has been mounted at the stockade for the use of the night patrols guarding the negroes. |