The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-03-21


 SituatiOn--Attack Not Ordered Until
 Every Effort at Adjustment Had
 Been Maidstone Women and ChiI-
 dren Injured by Preliminary BOm-
 bardment--Major Scott Explains How
 Trouble Started.
 Washington, March 20. - Secretary Taft has received the following cable gram from Governor General Ide at Manila, dated to-day, relative to the Mount Dajo fight:
 Newspaper reports from Manila a1l- nouncing wanton slaughter of women and children at Mount Dajo extremely sensational and in all essential details false. The situation occupied by Moro outlaws on the crater of the volcano 2,10O feet higGl was exceedingly difficult and required great display of heroism on the part of the army navy and Ell ipino and Moro constabulary, who rem dered most valued service, Some Wom- en and children were killed or wound ed by preliminary smelling at dist ance. Moros were outlaws and fanatics and refused to surrender to the last, att tempting repeatedly to murder our forces who were rescuing wounded Moros Moro sultan and leading dat l tos rendered great assistance and the surrounding population is in great sym pathy with the course taken to remove | the gang of cutthroats who were prey ing upon the community retreating as l occasion required to what they sup posed to be impenetrable fastnesses. There was no killing of anyone except such as was indispensable to end intol- erable situation. Attack not ordered until every resource looking to possi- ble adjustment exhausted Troops and officers deserving of highest praise
 Secretary Taft has also made an ex- haustive report from Major Hugh L' Scott, who was governor of the Moro provinces just preceding the engage ment respecting the habits of warfare of these people.
 The text of Major Scott's report is as follows:
 ''The recent trouble in Jolo had its beginning over year ago when a Suiu I Moro by the name of Pala ran amuck in the streets of Lahud, dato, Brltlsn l North Borneo, and ran away after l killing and wounding twenty six people I He returned to his cotta about fifteen miles from Jolo. It was not to Dc I tolerated that the citizens of a friendly power should thus be murdered by sav- ages under American Jurisdiction and an attempt was made to arrest Pala by surprise His cotta was taken and de-
 stroyed and he escaped in the jungle He had many sympathizers, relatives and friends in various parts of the is-
 land: among others the people settled
 about Mount Dajo, who fired on the American troops and depredated upor friendly Moros in the neighborhood General Wood came down with troops from Mindanao, the 17th infantry, wal about to leave for the United States and had become depleted in numbers to surround Pala's jungle and ares him. He was fired upon on the way t Pala's jungle in the Tambang pass b. the Dajo people. One soldier and sev eral Moros were killed Many of thu Daio people then ran up on Noun
 Daio and began fortifying themselves The troops went on, fought Pala, wll' would not surrender, and kNed him They then went on to Tando Looc ; where another band of sympathizer who had been depredating on friendl' l Moros were fortified in a crater on tn , mountain about twenty-five miles iron Jolo. By means of an old Moro wh I was captured on the way, the chief o = this band had been induced, after man, - efforts and long waiting, to surrende 3 without a fight to the commander o l the force and gave up his guns, Gen . eral Wood with the troops spent tn greater part of the day far from water Q under a tropical sun, waiting with tn
 utmost patience on the dilatory tactic
 of the savages in order to accomplis
 the subiugation of the savages with tn
 umtost patience in the dilatory tactic of the savages in order ao accomplis
 the subiugation of this band withou
 blcodshed.
 g 'Upon the return of General Wood a Jolo it was considered that the ring leaders were dead and the Moros ha I' been punished enough and the expedt l- ton disbanded. It was soon discovere s, that Dajo fugitives from the Tamban , fight were on top of Mount Dajo. The 'r (Continued on Eighth Page)