The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-13
COEUR D'ALENE HORRORS
A Witness Tells of the Cruelty OF
Soldiers to Prisoners.
Testimony Before the House Conn
mittee ON Military ATairs-A Dy-
ing han Not Allowed to See n
Priest A Brend-nnd-watcr Die
and Confinement IN n steel Cage.

| The Committee on Military Affairs o
the House of Representatives in its inyes
/ tigation Of the disturbances in the Coeui
d'Alene mining district. listened yester
| day to stories of cruelty said to have beer
inflicted by United States soldiers OF
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 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 insensbility
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 felled him with a 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 Dcyine, lay
dying. He was a Catholic. The witness
said:
II was giving old man Devine such
medicine as we had. When the death
rattle came he said L want you to see if
they won't let me see n priest before l
die l went to the soldier on guard and
told him must go to the captains office.
He called another soldier, who took me
to Captain Layelle's Office that officer be-
ing in charge of the United States colored
troops. l told the captain that old man
Devine was dying. and that he wanted to
see a Catholic priest before he passed
away. Captain Lavelle said, Neither a
priest nor anybody else can see Devine.
These are my orders and they must be
carried out I asked again that a priest
be sent for, as old man Devine was dying
and he was Catholic but Captain La
yelle would not listen to the request.
Devine died a few hours later
Mr.. Suizer asked; Then this captain in
the United States Army refused to grant
the request OF a dying man that a priest
the Catholic Church,"
Yes. sir"
Simpkins told Of the death of other men
in the bull pen. and OF the alleged mur-
der OF a prisoner by soIne colOred soldiers.
The witness said that when the mail was
brought into the bull pen, the envelopes
had been opened. and in many cases torn
off altogether. He had seen the colored
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 dark steel cage for six days.
Once" said the witness, when Captain
Edwards, United States Army. desired a
ditch dug. and the meE 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 said:
Guard, if one OF these men moves. kill
him in his tracks Turning to US he said:
- -- you. You are nothing but a set
OF - cowardly ours. YCu won't
work, won't you? Well. I'll make you
wOrk-Tli drive you to it That day the
straw bedding in the bull pen was taken
from Us, and We were put on bread and
water
rs that about all you know?'
We'll, l remember another thing. I
heard a lieutenant in the Army threaten
a prisoner to string him up by his tongue.