The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1902-04-23
WATER Cure WITNESS
Furnishes Senate Investigating CON-
mittee More Information.
wEYLHR's AIRocIrIEs RECALLED.
The Burnir Z che Native village.
In the hiIippiE Had Its
Counterpart In Cuba Un-
der Spanish General.

Washington. April 2l--The senate
committee on the Philippines resumed
the examination of witnesses in con-
nection with the Investigation of AZ
fairs in the Philippine islands.
Grover Flint. OF Cambridge, Mass,
who served as first lieutenant in the
Thirty-frst volunteer infantry. testi-
ned that early in May, 1900. he had
been witness to the water cure as
administered to the natives by the
Maccabebe scouts. and that it was
done so as to get information as to the
whereabouts of their guns The guns
were delivered The following day
some men OF his own regiment applied
the cure, but their act was without the
authority OF their commanding off,
GERS. The Maccabebes at the time re-
Ierred to were not under commission
OF a commanding officer, but under a
Asergeant OF the United States army.
Flint had been. he said. witness to
at least twenty cases of water cure.
He never had seen any one die as a
result of the cure, but had seen a hos
pital corps man working on a native
who had been rendered unconscious.
1t also had been reported to him that
one Filipino died from the effects of
the water cure.
The witness then described the
method of administering the cure and
said that in some cases where II was
given to old men he had seen their
teeth fall out
Mr.. Flint. in response to a question
by Senator Dietrich. said he was pres.
ent upon these occasions, ito draw the
line on excesses." He did not recon-
mend to his major that the practice
cease, nor did he give any orders to
MS men to stop the torture.
Answering a question by Senator
Burrows, the witness declared that
the effect of the cure was immediate.
the victim invariably turning in his
gun or bolo, and giving information
as to the whereabouts of others. He
said 1t was impossible to Judge wheth-
er the victims were insurgent soldiers
or villagers.
Some of them were thrown down by
force, others who were timid. would
submit readily, while those who re.
sisted We're simply held the more
tightly. The treatment, he said, new.
er got to the point Of great brutality.
Replying to a question by Senator
Lodge. the witness said he had been
refused commission in the regular
army because his colonel had report.
ed him as using Intoxicating LIQUORS to
excess. The witness deplored the rails.
Ing of this question, but Senator Bev.
eridge said 1t had an important bear.
ing on the case. Flint denied that on
any of the occasions when he had wit.
messed the water cure, was he under
the influence OF liquor.
After considerable question. he fin
ally admitted that he approved of the
water cure, and responding to a query
by Senator Beveridge. said that 1t was
not an American invention, but was as
old as the Chronicles of Newgate."
The witness described the burning
OF small villages, the idea being. Ia
said, to drive the people to the woods
or to the towns and concentrate them.
Who did the army borrow that
from?" inquired Senator CuIberson.
Il saw it in Cuba" answered the
witness. under the authority of Gen.
eral Weyler"
The witness was then excused and
the committee went into executive
session.