The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-06-13
ABOUT WATER CURE
Soldiers Testify Before the
Philippine Committee.
THE TREATMENT FULLY DESCRIBED
Except In Isolated Cases Natives
Were Humanely Treated-Kind-
mess Shown by Americans
Regarded as Weakness.

WASHINGTON, June 13.-Mark H.
| Evans of Des Moines, Ia, formerly a
sergeant of Company f. Thirty-sec-
ond volunteer infantry, yesterday tes-
Tined before the senate committee on
the philippines concerning the admin
lstration of the water cure to Filipinos
on four different occasions during his
service in the islands. He also re-
iated the particulars of the burning of
several native villages. He was ques-
TONED by Senators Patterson, McCo-
mas and Beveridge. All these events
occurred, the witness said, during the
year 1900 in the province of Batan,
island of Luzon, and in or near the
town of Orano, where his headquar-
tiers were. Three of the cases of wa
ter cure occurred outside of the town.
In one case the cure was administered
by native scouts and in the others by
an American soldier. The first case
occurred at little town where there
were supposed to be some insurgents.
The scouts picked out the suspected
people and, taking one of them to
nearby creek, poured a quantity of
water into his mouth from a canteen.
The purpose in this, as in other cases,
was to secure confession.
On another occasion during an ex-
petition to neighboring islands the
witness said that he had seen an
American soldier take two suspected
natives into the water and duck them,
holding them under for perhaps half
minute at time. He secured a con-
fession as to the hiding place of guns
in one case, but none in the other.
After the first case of ducking the
victim seemed, the witness said, to
have been quite disabled, being ap-
parently so weak that he was unable
to rise. 80 ~; ~ sae>,,
In another instance of the admins
tfation of the water cure in Orano a
tooth of the victim was knocked out,
but so far as he knew no other injury
was inflicted. Mr.. Evans said he had
been present at the burning of four or
five native villages and that the de-
struction of those places had been due
to the presence of insurgents. The
orders were to destroy all the native
huts along the coast near the noun
tains for thirty miles in Batan prov
ince, so as to force the natives to come
in, and this he said was done.
Replying to questions by Senator
Beverage, the witness said the orders
to the troops were to treat the natives
humanely and that with the excep-
lions noted their treatment had been
in accord with these instructions. The
natives had not, on the other hand,
Shown any appreciation of this con-
sideration. They refused to divulge
information in their possession, and in
many cases they subjected the Ameri-
can troops to indignities. In one case,
he said, where two soldiers were killed
their ears were cut off.
Edward j. Norton of Los Angeles,
Cal, late private in Company L, Eight
eenth United States infantry, was the
witness at the afternoon session. He
served two years in the island of
Panay. Answering questions by Sena-
tor Culberson, Mr.. Norton stated that
except in isolated cases the treatment
accorded the natives by United States
soldiers "was humane and all that
could be expected or desired"
He said that the Filipinos regarded
the kindness of the troops toward them
as weakness and became bold in
consequence.