The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-05-22
WERE NOT DUMDUM BULLETS.
O'BRIEN PROVES AN UNRELIABLE
WITNESS.

Gen. Crozier, Chief of Ordnance,
ed by O'Brien Are Regulation
krag-JOrgensen-H Story About
the Spanish Woman, Who Was vi
OIated by Officers, Begins to Look
Weak-SenatOrs Patterson and Die
trich Have "a Row About His Testi-
mOny.
Washington, May 21-Corpl O'Brien,
formerly of the Twenty sixth Volun-
teer Infantry, was before the Senate
Philippine Committee to-day and pro-
duced the alleged dumdum, or explo-
sive bullets. He said they were not
like the ordinary cartridges, because
they did not have the letters ~. s."
on them. Gen. Crozier, chief of ord
nance, was called and testified that
the cartridges were the same as the
regulation Krag- Jorgensen. He ex-
planned that sometimes the action of
these bullets produced serious wounds.
He said that O'Brien was not correct
in saying the regular Krag-Jorgensen
cartridges bears the imprint of the let
tiers ~. S." upon it, but that all such
cartridges carry the first letter of the
arsenal at which they are made and
the month in figures and the year of
manufacture He found those letters
and figures on the cartridges exhibited.
Asked if they were "dumdum" or eX-
plosive bullets, the witness replied in
the negative. 'Tkey are perfectly nor
NAL bullets" he said.
Corpl. O'Brien was recalled and ques-
toned concerning certain features of
his previous testimony. During the
course of his examination, Senators
Dietrich and Patterson became involved
in quite sharp controversy as to the
propriety of certain questions asked the
witness. The controversy arose over
a charge by Senator Dietrich, that the
Colorado senator was doing all that he
could to injure the army an imputa-
ton which Senator Patterson resented,
rising from his seat and replying in
angry tones that the senator from Ne
braska knew the truth to be exactly to
the contrary.
A Very Fishy story.
O'Brien was questioned by Senator
> Beveride concerning his charge that
a number of American officers had vio-
lated the person of a Spanish woman
at the time the town of Igbaras was
burned. O'Brien said that she lived
in a house opposite the convent where
the troops were stationed; that he had
first heard of the woman in the case,
because of the talk of her exceptional
beauty, but that he could not remem-
Der whether the husband, when he told
him of the crime that had been COM
mitted, had given the name of any Off
GERS connected with 1t. The man had
stated however that there were four
of them engaged in the affair.
Questions by the senator brought out
the fact that there were then Just four
American officers in the town of Ig-
baras.
Consequently" said the senator, eff
the statements made by the woman's
husband are true, these four men are
guilty of the crime charged?"
The witness assented to this infer
ence. He related that some of the pri-
Yates had told him of their relations
with the woman. He did not remem-
Der the names of these men, but he
gave the names of two privates as be-
ing those whom he thought had told
him the story.
Senator Patterson protested against
this testimony and later made state
ment of the position of the minority,
saying that he did not believe the
honor of American officers and soldiers
should be impugned by hearsay testi-
mony.