MEXICO: Unmotivated Crime

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Midnight noises awakened William E. Chapman, U. S. Consul at Puerto Mexico, in the State of Vera Cruz. Soon Consul Chapman, no coward, was tiptoeing downstairs with a dim lamp as his only guide.

The stairs creeked. Suddenly two burly peons confronted Mr. Chapman. One poked a gun at him. The other brandished a knife.

Thus threatened, Consul Chapman retreated step by step to his bedroom, the peons making no demands but simply prodding him on. There the man with the revolver suddenly fired at point blank range, sending a bullet into Mr. Chapman's left breast which fortunately passed cleanly through, not leaving a mortal wound. An instant later both peons dashed from the house.

Consul Chapman, succored by friends, expressed the opinion that the man who had fired upon him was "simply an anarchist"; and declared himself unable to imagine any motive for the crime. Observers remembered that the U. S. Consulate at Puerto Mexico, was established only last March.