The San Francisco call., 1904-10-17
Helpless Natives of Congo
Land Victims of the Most
Horrible Cruelties at the
Hands of Belgian Officers
MURDERS FOLLOWED
BY CANNIBAL FEASTS
Witnesses Tell of Barbaric
Treatment of Inhabitants
and Failure of Complaints
to Check Agents of King
Special Dispatch to The call.

SPECIAL GlspdIc1 70 Inc AL.
LONDON, Oct 16.-Advance proofs
Of letters reporting the atrocities in the
Congo region reach me just at the time
the honorary secretary OF that disttn-
guished body known as the Congo Re
form Association is preparing to set out
for the United States TO ask President
Roosevelt TO take hand in stopping
the horrors connected with the Congo
rubber industry, managed by King Leo
poId & Co. Included IN these reports Of
responsible witnesses are accounts OF
expressions, tortures, maimings and
murders that would be well nigh in
cridibIs II they had not been preceded
by so many similar instances well au-
thendcated
It should be understood that the poor
natives OF Bolima had done absolutely
nothing TO provoke an attack II was
simply their misfortune TO live in q re-
giou where rubber trees abounded-
They had no particular use for rubber
themselves, and. after the fashion Of
benighted heather, saw no good reason
why they should make slaves Of them
white aliens of the Congo Free State
coveted rubber, because they could
convert rubber into money. To get II
on the cheapest possible terms it be-
came necessary 10 convince the simple
Bolima folk that If they did not make
slaves Of themselves to gather 1t worse
/ things might befau them.
KILL ELEVEN NATIVES.
In q charge Of a sentry, a body Of
men in the employ OF the Abr who had
granted the concession was dispatched
to enIighten the people Of Bolima on the
subject Of rubber.
They surrounded the chiefs house
while he was at his evening meal says
the narrator, and shot him and ten OF
/ his people, including some Of his wives.
I "A little child had its brains dashed
/ out and was cut in half The upper
portions Of the body was impaIed on
| one stake, the legs and abdomen on an
/ other. The brutal soIdiery then feasted
| on the killed.
| a large number Of people were sub
/ sequently killed. cut up and a quantity
| OF the flesh eaten on the spot The re-
mainder Of the meat was taken TO
/ town.
The terrified natives we're, however,
/ afraid 70 appear with their rubber after
/ this raid, and so a third attack result
/ ed, headed this time BY the rubber
/ agent himself, who was accompanied
/ by 'sentries' and cannibaI warriors"
EYE WITNESS TALKS.
/ A missionary who having lived for
| eighteen months in the vicinity Of a
Belgian fort has enjoyed exceptional
/ opportunities Of observing the methods
| Of the Free State Government sends
these samples of outrages and oppres-
sion OF some OF them he was an eye
witness, and what he did not see he
verified by personal investigation.
An officer Of the Congo Free State,
accompanied by some native soldiers.
entered the district to collect carriers,
and apparently for no other reason
than sheer love OF human butchery
put six persons to death.
On the return journey a hunter was
encountered who had committed the
heinous offense Of killing some wild
( animals and orders were given to bind
his hands and legs and then hang him
| To expedite his death the white man
fred a shot into him. and after the
soldiers had inflicted unspeakabIe mu-
/ tfIations on the corpse it was left TO
! be devoured by hyenas.
A native chief was once ordered TO
line up his wives. that the soldiers
might make selections from among
them.
ROPES AROUND NECKS.
This same missionary states that in
the course Of one Of his journeys he
saw thirty young men and boys tied
/ together with ropes fastened round
| their necIs being marched or to a
I Belgian station as recruits for the
army of native soldiers. Yet accord
ing to the Congo Free State reports
/ the system of enlistment is entirely
voluntary.
/ At the village from which the mis-
sionary sends his account he says that
a Belgian official declared he would
I order the score of soldiers who ac-
companied him to fire indiscriminately
into the houses Of any Of the men who
attempted to hide from him.
Embracing the Christian faith af-
fords them no protection from their
white tyrants.
Women, equally with men. are sub
iected 10 imprisonment and cruel
treatment for falling to bring in rub
Der.
The Congo Reform Association.
which includes eleven lords, four
Bishops and many other OF the most
notable folk in Great Britain. takes
no stock in the committee appointed