The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-27
Bearers of Flags OF Truce Were Not
Shot, and "a Woman and Child
Did Not Die by Fire.
O'BRIEN VERY TROUBLESOME
WAS NOT a GOOD SOLDIER. CAPTAIN
M'DoNALD ASSERTED.
Sergeant warking slashed by q
Treacherous Moro, Who Approached
Under "a Flag of Truce.


Donald. formerly Of the Twenty-sixth Vol
unteer Infantry, one of the officers accused
in Corporal oBrien's testimony. was be-
fore the Philippine committee of the Sem
ate to-day He denied all OF the allegations
made by O'Brien. and said oBrien was on
duty elsewhere at the times he claimed 10
have been present. Mcdonald said that
American officers had not violated Span
ish woman, nor other woman. TO his knowl-
edge. He also denied the statement made
by OBrien that he (McDonald) and a num-
Der of other officers misbehaved them
selves at a native dance. He showed that
at the time alleged Major Cook. one OF the
officers named, and himself were on duty
elsewhere. The shooting OF bearers OF flags
of truce and the burning OF a woman and
child by his command was another story
by OBrien that he denied. The captain
said OBrien was troublesome soldier
from the first
Captain Mcdonald, who is from Charles
town. Mass. said he had no doubt that he
the captain Frederick Mcdonald re-
ferred TO in Corporal O'Brien's testimony.
He admitted having seen the water cure
administered at Igabras. but asserted that
O'Brien was at San Joaquin. thirty miles
away at the time. Witness said he went TO
the Philippines in 1899, and had been there
eighteen or twenty months. The one case
named was the only time he ever saw the
water cure administered.
Senator Lodge-Do you know anything OF
the violation Of the person Of a Spanish
woman by American officers testified TO
by O'Brien?
Captain McDonald-No such circumstances
as that ever occurred at that time or any
other from the beginning TO the end Of my
stay in the Philippines, and ! have never
known of a Spanish woman or any other
woman being violated by an American offi-
Ger.
The witness went on to say that he sup
posed the woman that o Brien had In mind
in this connection was the wife OF a son OF
the mayor OF Igbaras. brother OF the
woman's husband. he said, had been made
a cripple for life by Montours band Of la
drones. and the body OF the husbands
father, when he died. had been dragged
about the streets by Montour himself. This
woman, he said, had given valuable infor-
nation 10 Sergeant Davis OF his company
concerning the movement of the insurgents.
But. the witness added. the woman never
had been maltreated by the Americans
A DELIBERATE LIE.
Regarding O'Briens statement that Nc
Donald and other officers had demeaned
Themselves disgracefully at native dance
at San Joaquin Captain Mcdonald said:
This statement is a deliberate lie from
beginning to end. Major Cook whose name
is given as that Of one OF the officers pres
ent on that occasion. was on duty at the
town of Jaro, sixty miles distant at the
time the dance is said TO have occurred.
and / was on duty at Migoon."
This dance was said TO have occurred at
the home OF the presidente OF the town
OF San Joaquin. and the mention OF that
individual brought to the mind Of Capt
Mcdonald an incident which, he said, had
occurred when he first visited the town.
The presidente had invited him 10 break
fast and after he had partaken of that
meal he became violently III. A physician
pronounced the symptoms TO be due TO
poisoning. but as some Of the members
of the presidente's family also were SINH
larly sick II was supposed al the time that
the poisoning was accidental, and the mat
ter was dropped.
81 state that as a reason why I could
not have been at the dance" he said. and
dence that this native Official was con-
tributing 10 the insurgent cause.
Captain Mcdonald also fatty contradicted
o Brien's statement TO the effect that he
or any other officers OF the company had
withheld from the troops the rations TO
which they were entitled In that connec-
tion he called attention TO the fact that
the captain of a company never handles tho
fund for the purchase OF supplies needed
by his command. He also declared that 10
was not true that the bread received for
the company had been sold. The SOL
diers," he said. had fresh bread every
day in the week that we could bake a."
NO PRICE On HIS HEAD
As to the statement that the insurgents
had put price on his head because OF his
cruelty, Captain Mcdonald said he never
had heard Of that fact. Il imagine" he
said. that the insurgents would have shot
any officer OF the American army. as
would have shot any insurgent officer who
would not surrender, but that there was
any price upon my head had no evidence.
and l went about freely and alone among
the natives at all times.
He also denied that he ever had struck
prisoner over the head with a revolver.
as O'Bnsn had charged. IF" he said.
"a prisoner had not done as ordered
should have shot him instead OF striking
him
Speaking OF the treatment OF peaceabls
natives by the Americans in the Philip
pines Captain Mcdonald said II was like
the treatment Of a child by its father. At
first Filipino prisoners had been given the
same character OF food Supplied 20 the
American soldiers. and IL was cooked IN
the same way, but when IL was found that
the American style OF cooking did not agree
with them orders were iss ed 10 supply
them with their native foods.
The witness also testified concerning the
capture Of the barrio OF La NOg. IN connec-
tion with which O'Brien had said that an
unarmed boy mad been FIR yI on by the en-
tire command. that three old men. two ot
them bearing flag OF truce. had been shot
down. and that a woman and two children
had been burned 10 death. He denied all
the statements detailing these supposed
circumstances but said IL was true that
the barrio had been captured and burned
IL wss a stockaded stronghold OF ladrones.
set on hill and considered inaccessible
while the Spaniards controlled the country.
When his troops approached II the natives
fired first. but the place was taken. The
Americans occupied the town for two hours.
Intentions. hns sho had SET fr, 70 the place any any
person was burned TO death be never bad