The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-13
COEUR D'ALBNE HORRORS
a Witness Tells of the Cruelty OF
Soldiers to Prisoners.
Testimony Before the House Com
mittee ON Military ATairs-A by
ing Man Not Allowed to See n
Priest A Brend-nnd-Water Diet
and Confinement IN steel Cage.

The Committee on Military Affairs of
the House Of Representatives in its fnyes-
/ ugation Of the disturbances in the Occur
| d'Alene mining district, listened yester-
| day to stories OF cruelty said to have been
inflicted by United States soldiers on
miners in Idaho. The witness who appear
ed before the committee was L. j. Simp-
| kins. of Wardner. Idaho.
He was, he said, arrested along with
other men by a detail Of colored soldiers
without warrant. and was imprisoned in
the bull pen" from May 3 to September
20, 1899. without a hearing. without any
charge being lodged against him so far as
he could learn. and without leave to con-
suit an attorney. He had been threatened
with death by the soldiers, and had seen
men robbed and beaten into insensibjlity
by them.
One of his fellow prisoners, he said, was
subject to 'fits, and being taken in one,
the soldier who stood guard ordered him
to halt" The unfortunate man con-
tinued to whirl round and round. where
upon the guard feIled him with blow
from the stock of his rifle, rendering him
unconscious The soldier was never ques
TONED about his act. Another prisoner,
an old man whose name was Deyinc, lay
dying He was a Catholic. The witness
said:
Il was giving old man Devine such
medicine as we had. When the death
rattle came he said I want you to see if
they won't let me see a priest before I
die. l went to the soldier on guard and
told him | must go to the captains office.
Hc called another soldier, who took me
to Captain Layeles office. that officer be-
ing in charge Of the United States colored
troops. l told the captain that old man
Dovine was dying, and that he wanted to
see a Catholic priest before he passed
away. Captain Layelle said, Neither a
priest nor anybody else can see Devine.
Those are my orders and they must be
carried OUT I asked again that a priest
be sent for. as old man Deyine was dying
and he was a Catholic. but Captain La
yelle would not listen TO the request.
Devine died a few hours later"
Mr.. Sulzer asked: Then this captain in
the United States Army refused to grant
the request of a dying man that a priest
be sent for to administer the last rites Of
the Catholic Church,"
yes sir"
SimpEins told Of the death Of other men
in the bull pen, and Of the alleged mur-
der Of prisoner by some coloTed so.tiers. !
Tie witness said that when the mail was
brought into the bull pen, the envelopes I
had been opened. and in many cases torn T
of altogether. He had seen the e0lored
soldiers reading these letters as they /
brought them into the bull pen. At one .
time he had been kept en- bread and water |
for nine days, and in solitary confinement /
in c dark steel cage for six days.
"Once." said the witness. when Captain !
United States Army, desired /
ditch dug. and the men refused to Dig it, /
Captain Edwards called us up before him |
one by one and lined us up along a barb /
wire fence. Captain Edwards sail: /
Guard, if one OF these men moves, kill /
him in his tracks Turning to US he said:
- - you. You are nothing but set
Of -- - cowardly ours. You won't
wCrk won't you: Well I'll make you
wOrk-Ili drive you to il That day the
straw bedding in the bull pen was taken
from Is, and We we're put on bread and
water"
Is that about all you know
Wei, I remember another thing I
heard a lieutenant in the Army threaten
a prisoner to string him up by his tongue"