The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-05-27
DENIES CHARGES
OF OUTRAGES
Officer Declares No Women Were
Assaulted in Philippines.
GIVES THE LIE TO o'BRIEN
CONTRADICTS FLATLY ALL OF
CoRPoRAL's ACCUSATIONS.
II7AsHNGToN. May 28.-captain

w ASHINGTON, May 26.-Captain
w Mcdonald, formerly of the
Twenty-sixth volunteer infantry.
one Of the officers accused in Corporal
O-Brien's testimony was before the
Philippine commission of the senate to-
day. He denied all Of the allegations
made by O'Brien. and said O'Brien was
elsewhere at the time he claimed to
have been present. Mcdonald denied
the statement by O'Brien that he (Mc-
Donald) and a number of other Of
fcers misbehaved themselves at a ma
tive dance. He showed that at the
time alleged he and Major Cook. one of
the officers named, were on duty else
where. He said O'Brien was a trouble
some soldier.
Captain Mcdonald. who is from
Charleston, Mass, said he had no doubt
that he was the Captain Frederick Nc
Donald referred 10 in Captain O'Brien's
testimony. He admitted having seen
the water cure administered at Igbaras,
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.
ton Of the person Of a Spanish woman
by American officers. as testified to by
O'Brien?" asked Senator Lodge.
Makes Flat Denial.
mo such circumstance ever occurred,
al that time or any other, from the be-
ginning to the end of my stay in the
Philippines" was the reply. and have
never known of a Spanish woman or
any other woman being violated by an
American officer
The witness went on to say that he
supposed the woman that O'Brien had
In mind in this connection was the wife
% a son Of the mayor Of Igbaras. A
brother Of the wOmans husband, he
said. had been made cripple for life by
Montour's band of 'Ladrones, 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
Information to Sergeant Davis of his
company concerning the advancement
Of the insurgents, but. the witness add
ed, this woman never had been mall
treated by the Americans.
Regarding O'Brien's statement that
Mcdonald and other officers had de-
meaned themselves disgracefully at a
native dance at San Joaquin, Captain
Mcdonald said:
THAT statement is a deliberate lie.
from beginning to end. Major Cook,
whose name is given as that Of one of
the officers present 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 I was on
duty az MigOon."
Captain Mcdonald also fatty contra
dicted O'Brien's statement to the effect
that he OF any other officers OF the COM
pany had withheld from the troops the
ratiOns to which they were entitled. In
that connection he called attention 10
the fact that the captain of a company
never handled the fund for the 'pur-
chase Of supplies needed by his com
manG.
He also declared that IT was not true
that the bread received for the COM
pany had been sold.
The soldiers" he said. chad fresh
bread every day in the week that we
could bake it."
No Price on His mead.
As to the statement that the insur-
gents had put a price on his head be
cause Of his cruelty. Captain Mcdonald
said he never had heard Of that fact
II it was "a fact.
II imagine" he said that the insur-
gents would have shot any officer OF
the American army, as 1 would have
shot any insurgent officer who would
not surrender, but that there was any
price upon my head / had no evidence
and / went about freely and alone
among the natives at all times"
He also denied that he ever had
struck a prisoner over the head with
a revolver. as O'Brien had charged
If he said "a prisoner had not done
as I ordered, / should have shot him
instead Of striking him"
Speaking Of the treatment of peace
able natives by the Americans in tn,
Philippines, Captain Mcdonald said
was ike the treatment Of child b,
his father.
The witness also testified concerning
the capture Of the barrie OF Lanog, il
connection with which O'Brien had sal,
that an unarmed boy had been fire.
upon by the entire command, that thTe'
old men, two Of them bearing a flag o
truce. had been shot down, and that
woman and two children had beef
burned TO death. He denied all tn
statements detailing these supp0set
circumstances, but saidit was true tina
The barrio had been captured an,
burned Tt was a stOckaded stronghold
Of LadrOnes. set on a hill and consid
cred inaccessible while the Spaniard
controlled the country. When his troop
approached il the natives fired first
but the place was taken. The Ameri
cans occupied the town for hours, an
then. after giving ample notice of thei
intentions. set fire to the place. II an
person was burned to death he neve
had heard Of the fact. Nor had he eve
given any orders while approaching tn
place 10 take no prisoners