Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-02-18
TALE OF TORTURE.
Alleged Cruel Treatment of Capt
Davies at Honolulu.
Tortured Almost Beyond Endurance He Makes
the Required Confession"

San Francisco, Feb. 1.-THE Cali
prints the following from Honolulu: The
slccess of the government of Hawaii III
conducting its treason cases was due to
the discriminating evidence given by Cap
tain William Davies of the steamer Wal
manolo. The mannor in which the sworn
statement was wrung from Davies is in
teresting, rs showing the peculiar process
at present existing in the Hawaiian Isl
| ands. Davies and his mate, knudson,
were arrested OH the morning of Jan. 8.
Knudson made confession, telling what
little he knew. Davies, who is an Ameri-
can citizen, refused any information, and,
while protesting his innocence, demanded
an interview with the United States min
lister. This was refused.
Davies was then taken into the prison
yard, where he was shown two ring bolts
in the wall above his head. The uni
formed inqusitors of the government
then gave the captain to understand that
if complete confession was not forth
coming, he would be strung up by the
thumbs. Davies did not finch, but de-
termined that if the American minister
could come, the consul general should be
informed that he was an American citi-
zen and wished to see him.
His Protest Was In Vain.
His legs were bound below the knees
end his thumbs We're lashed with whip
cord to the bolts. A cord was placed be-
low him so that the unfortunate mans
toes just touched the ground. Davies was
ctri,, 70 81 shnI
Hitchcock, Attorney General Smith and
Surgeon Cooper, with a stenographel,
awaited the statement which they believed
would be forthcoming.
They were mistaken. Davies did not
weaken. Sweat oozed from every pore.
The strong man in his agony begged for IA
drop of water to cool the thirst that con-
sumed him. The tendons of the victims
limbs stood out like strands of ropes;
blood vessels knotted on his arms and
legs, swelling as if ready to burst with
congested blood, restrained in its course
by his abnormal position. His tormentors
urged him to implicate all known to be
politically opposed to their methods with
out avail Davies refused to surrender the
secrets he had sworn to protect. At last,
when it was apparent by his respiration
that it would be
Impossible to Hold Out Longer,
nature succumbed, and Davies, cursing
the fiends who were torturing him, tainted.
Dr. Cooper used salts of ammonia to re-
vive the captain, who had passed into un-
consciousness. As soon as he revived, two
negro convicts suspended him again by
the thumbs. This inhuman operation
was begun ut noon, and it was O clock in
the evening before Davies, more dead than
alive, made the statement that respited
him from the inhuman barbarity OF his
prosecutors.
Another case of torture was brought to
light in the military inquiry. A young
native who was known to be intimate
with Carl Widderman, was handcuffed at
the wrists Then he was placed in tank
of ice-cold water. He was kept there un-
til circulation of the blood in his extremi-
ties had almost ceased, and DR.. Cooper de-
clared that the action of the heart was
about suspended. The chief or police,
Marshal Hitchcock had the young Kanaka
taken from the tank, and after being re-
stored from his condition of semi con-
sciousness, the torture was resumed until
he gave the information wanted.