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Show NEW ORLEANS STORY IS DEWED LOCALLY NEW ORLEANS, May 9. Mormon settlers In tha stats of Chihuahua. Max.. will press claims against, the Mexican government aggregating more than a million dollars for damages sustained by Uiem at the hsnds of iniurret'tos and bandits during the recent revolution, according ac-cording to Joseph Smith of Salt Lake City, who was here last night en route to Washington. Unes these claims sre settled without with-out delay, said he, the Mormons woo are under the mother church at Salt Lake will take the complaint to tha authorities authori-ties st Washington. "The Mormons In Chihuahua have suffered suf-fered more severely from the revolution than anv other settlers." said Mr. Smith. "The rebels took what thev wanted ami f ave notes. Ws now propose to see that hese notes are met, and unless Mexico i is willing to pay ws will ask tha United States government to sea that we get Juatlca.,r Inquiry regarding tha foregoing dispatch dis-patch at the office of the flrst presidency presi-dency of tha Mormon church this morning morn-ing elicited a complete denial of stale-menta stale-menta therein contained. The secretary of tha first presidency reported that It knew of no Joseph Smith, either of Salt Lake City or Mexico, who Is now In New Orleans; that It knew of no move-merit" move-merit" fnr the "collection of claims from the Mexican government, and it certainly cer-tainly would. If any were to be pressed, particularly If through the United States government, snd that the Mexican revolutionists revo-lutionists had uniformly regarded tha rights of the Mormon colonists as United Unit-ed States clttsens- While press dispatches. dis-patches. It was asserted, had carried the news that the InsurVectos were taking property from Mexican subjects and giving giv-ing their notes In exchange, so far as Is known at tha local church offices nothing noth-ing has been taken from Mormon colonists. |