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Show I Pershing's Officers and Men on .New Trail I I in Pursuit of General Francisco Villa I 1 ARMY AVIATOR AND OBSERVER f BRING BACK IMPORTANT NEWS i Aerial Scouts Make Eighty-mile Flight Over Unexplored Ter- ritory and Return With Valuable Information to Head- j quarters Pershing's New Plan Made Feasible by . Daring Scout Work Aviator Drops Important Note to Advance Cavalrymen in Little Parachute Troops Confirm Report s That Villa Has Been Wounded. 3 . , Washington, April 8. Secretary Baker stated most em-l em-l phatically late today that there was "absolutely no basis of any r kind" for reports that preparations were under way for with-. with-. drawing American forces from Mexico. He said the American . troops "were moving rapidly south and that the orders to Genii Gen-ii eral Funston following the Columbus 'massacre had been un-i un-i changed. a ' 11 I Camp of General J. J. Pershing, 3 South of Namiquipa, April 7, by Aero- ) piano and -Motor Train to Columbus, ( j yi New cavalry columns were hurried southward today while the 5 other columns In the field are taking a new direction. The new movements, I coupled with other reports received, 3 increases the conviction of General j J. Pershing and his officers that troops on the new trail of Villa, open- I ed several days ago following reports ? made by an aviator, are on the right i track, 400-Mile Line of Pursuit, I The American lino of "pursuit is !f now 400 miles long and some of the . difficulties encountered by troops I threading their way through the rocky I passes were indicated in the report I of an aviator today that he had been obliged to drop messages in a small 4 parachute to an advanced detachment. 1 New reports of Villa's flight receiv-i receiv-i ed todav saidtbat because jof his. . ' wounllsiraislnToTrtirfeTclier, .V carried on the shoulders of his men :i and that he is accompanied only by a 1 small personal body guard and rear $ guard. k Troops on New Trail. ! Expeditionary Field Headquarters ; South of Namiquipa, April 5, by Aero- ' plane and Wireless to Columbus, N '? M , April 8. That the American 5 troops are on a fresh trail of Villa Is a result of reports made by an army aviator and an observer who return- ' ed todav from what may prove onr of : the mos"t Important flights or the cam palgn. l , ;.i The flight, made over SO miles oi j territory hitherto unexplored, develop- : ed Information which military authorl- .' ties here consider of valuable importance. import-ance. , Aviators Get Valuable Information. The entering of new territory in the chase is the consummation of a plan which General Pershing and his staff have had under way for several days, but for which more definite reports i were necosBary than those available. It was this Information, the aviators wero sent to got. i Reports brought by the aviators showed that somewhere south of Sat-,1 Sat-,1 ovo, a cavalry column is riding a thril-1 thril-1 ling ride, which may equal In lmport-I lmport-I ance that upon Guerrero of Colonel i George A. Dodd's command. The men are sparing neither thomselves nor I their horses. The filers were at a height ofJWOO J feet when they discovered the caval- I ry column to which they wero carry- '1 Ing dispatches filing through a wood- i ed canvon. The floated slowly down ,1 until they were within the porspec- l tivo of the troopers and then, making ' suro that they were American caval- , rvmen, landed. One of the cavalry- f. men caught a grazing horse and rode n to tho waiting Americans five miles 4 without saddle or bridge and with only f a bit of twisted rope about Its nose I to guide the animal. 1 Villa Has Been Wounded. ; 4 The troops confirmed reports that f Villa had been wounded but were able A to offer no additional details. Tho 'i aviators also reported that Mexicans y encountered were friendly and that 4 reports are current In the country that there has been dissatisfaction i among Villa's followers. American columns operating be- tween hero and Guerrero have report- ed that there had been occasional sniping by scattered bands of Vlllls- !- tas, but that thus far the shots have t been without effect, i Colonel W. C. Brown of the Tenth L cavalry, today officially reported on ' hiB engagement April 1 at Aguas Ca- l lientes. He said there were no Amer- - lean casualties and the Vllllstas losses ' were lighter than at lirst reported. tf. S. OFFICERS IN MEXICO; FIELD HOSPITAL AT CASAS GRANDES -f l o S Wweos Pfftwoc y. 'V r Upper photo shows General Pershing: and his staff in Mexico. Left to right: Col. L. G. Berry, 4th field artillery; Col. DeR. C. Cabell, chief of staff; Lieut M. C. Schallenberger, personal aide to General Pershing; Gen. John J. Pershing; Lieut George S. Patton, aide; Major J. L. Hines, censor; Major J. B. Clayton, chief of medical officers; Capt W. B. Burt, assistant chief of staff. The lower photo, taken near Casas Grandes, Mexico, Mex-ico, shows the 7th field hospital corps on the field where all the sick and injured of the expedition aro beinjj cared for. |