More Deaths

Mexico continued her orgy of rebel executions. Some faced the firing squad bravely, some even joked. General Fernando Reyes himself commanded his executioners, personally issuing the order that brought forth the stream of bullets that killed.

General Adalberto Palacios joined laughingly in a joke that was causing some merriment to the spectators of his approaching death. Then, he rebuked them, saying: "This is no laughing matter."

And, as he was lined up against a wall with Martinez Pulido, the latter asked him for a loan of a few pesos, which he placed on his sombrero, promising them to the soldiers on condition that they shot him through the heart. "Be sure and pay them back," said General Palacios, laughingly, as he made the loan.

In Mexico City the emaciated corpse of General Arnulfo Gomez, executed last fortnight (TIME, Nov. 14), was laid, amid great weeping and hysteria, in its last resting place. At the same time what purported to be the true report of the manner of his capture and death was circulated. Surrounded by the troops of General Jose Gonzales Escobar, General Gomez, making a futile effort to draw his gun, fell on the slippery ground. Seeing that his game was up, he surrendered, and, fearing that he was about to be summarily shot, begged for his life, offering to take any punishment other than death.

Holding on to the sleeve of General Escobar, Senor Gomez was taken to the village of Tepcelo, where at 1 o'clock in the morning a court martial was held and his death sentence pronounced.

Just before the first rays of the sun appeared in the east he was divested of his U. S. bullet-proof waistcoat and led out to meet his death. He presented a strange appearance --this onetime truculent "El Hombre Sin Vicios" ("The Man Without Vices"). Gone were his Kaiser-like mustachios--he had shaved them off to prevent recognition. His cheeks were sunken and his clothes literally hung on his torso; for in his hunted life in the mountains he had suffered the privations of cold and hunger.

According to eyewitnesses, as he was placed with his back against the customary wall he showed considerable signs of fear. He first asked that his eyes be bandaged, for it was bad enough to be shot--let alone see the leveled rifles pointing at his heart. His request was promptly complied with. Then, leaning against the wall for support, he asked that the command to fire be silent.

Ever ready to heed the wishes of a man condemned to die, the commander signaled to the soldiers to fire by dropping his hat. The staccato cracks of firing rifles cut the still air of a calm morning and General Arnulfo Gomez sank to the ground--his career and presidential aspirations ended.