The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1899-01-18

They Are Trained to XIII, Blessed
by Their Priests and Then Sent TO
Murder Their Way to Paradise
The policing Of our new posses
sions is matter that the government
is aware mus be arranged without de-
lay. Much apprehension has been felt
among those high in authority in gov
eminent circles lest some outbreak
among the miscellaneous population of
fanatics, religious andotherwise, should
take place 1t would be a serious mat
ter if the first efforts of Uncle Sam to
govern dependencies outside of the home
territory should be marred by series
of Jack the Ripper tragedies or a slaugb
ter Of the innocents by some bloody
minded sect in the far Philippines
The government S attention has been
called to the bands Of fiends known as
the Juramentados in the Philippines
There will be no safety in the islands Of
the orient that are to be brought to a
higher level of civilization until these
fanatics are stamped out That much is
realized in Washington How best to
begin to do it is the problem, for the
Juramentados are as secret in their
movements as nihilists, as sudden and
terrible in their murderGus Onslaughts,
as the dreaded thugs of India. and as to
be killed after having killed is the height
Of their ambition it is impossible to cow
them by threats of death or by e8ecu-
: tions
The Spaniards have had reason to
s dread the Juramentados, Countless
; graves in the Philippines are occupied
by the victims of the knives of these
! terrible assassins. They originated. like
many another evil in those islands,
through the cruelty of the SpaniaEds.
i Being unable to drive from the Philip
pines the Spanish slave drivers, certain
d, of the natives, who were s1aarting IN
= der the wrongs inflicted on '4hem by tie
invaders, bound themselves into a sooi-
, ETY. whose oath compelled, them to kill
I Christians and to kill as many as the
knife could reach
The sect is thoroughly organized
They have their priests, known as pan
, ditas, and they are regularly drilled
and trained to murder when the oppor-
: tunity comes. In CIDER thatsthey may
be active mnn3erers able to overcome
the opposition of any one who resists
their attack, they are made toaexercise,
! to fight with blunted weapons. TO run,
jump, climb, swim and dive, and, in
fact, to go through ali the gymnastic
training that viii fit them for the work
Of Staying swiftly and, if possible es-
Gaping before bne and cry s,raised
After course Of training, member
, of the, sect graduates as SIT for the twork
, of murder He is then informed by the
Z priests that the way to paradise lies for
him through the blood of the white
men His imagination is.worked upon
until h9 IS IN state bordering on fren-
zy, and then he is told to throw off all
his clothes except the ibreechcloth, s.
long knife is thrust into his hand. and
he ls sent forth to murder.
Better dor the people in that vicinity
that the 6ercest of tigers or the most
merciless Of wild beasts were on their
track than this fend. His course has
been mapped out for him before he
leaves the priest With a deadly, creese
concealed beneath the folds of his
breechcloth, he steals into camp in the
D. dead Of night, erawls silently under the
flap Of the tent and drives his weapon
home before the victim can utter a
sound From tent to tent he goes, .leav-
ing the awful trail of blood behind him,
until - slip of the knife or false step
enables the victim to cry out or in
some way warn the camp. Then the
murderer's frenzy saeaches its height.
Casting off all attempt to hide, he
PUSHES into the thickest of the avengers,
atabhing eight and Left Sometimes, so
great Is the dread entertained for these
fanatics ii is possible for him to open
q lane through the living and escape,
to continue his murderaus work. Of
SeneE. a well directed bullet lays him
low, and he dies with the full expecta-
tlop OF reaching heaven blythe most di-
rect route
III is useless 70 try and capture the
man No one attempts this in the Phil
ipplnes. 1t would surely add TO the vic
TINS, for o man who.is determined to
die and wants only the opportunity to
klll as many men as possible before he
is himself killed is not the man to con
sent calmly to be taken On Corpus
Christi day, in 1886, at Cotto Bato.
four Juramentados sprang from a shed
into crowd of Christians who were
watching the procession. and before
they were killed by the soldiers assas-
slnated or wounded over 80 persons
al JoIo, in 1876. one Of these fanatics.
armed with a creese and a javelin, at
Tackled q COmnanv of sn1dinrs ~ thnr.