Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1902)
Uncle Sam's Pirates in the Orient H 1 ft ' , $ ' 'I ,T tj r if. v t WJIKKK THE l'KISONEKS SLEEP IN F1ILII11I) I'ltlSON. cull tlit'iu Uncle Sam's pirates be cause they now live under tho Negros have recently formed a union to protect themselves against such brigandage. They have made up lists of all the men of the Inland and have recorded opposite each man's name his character. They are trying .m 8lve uo quarter. Ihraehtng aud you will be sure to learn Tho pirate vesselB of the Morna hva mv. ,. i, ., t ...iiu iKini. An.. cnin. -,m Ai,i..ri,.,n fl I K, (h. - .w L . "" " "'t"uw , . i . ... .T'i V k i .i M ""uuiein coasts or our possessions tell a lie until he Is castigated." brigands, banditti and thieves of our Asiatic for more than "(in voara in n,. r, . i . j u -.u . . , ..... more man -uu years, in times past Captain Howland, however, did not feel possessions. They are to bo found In one .hev aim. ked n tho .... ,, ,,, , , , .. . , , . ,. ' .. , .. . , . aua( Ken an tne towns near the shore ike taking the respons bll ty of order ng shape or another n all -arts of the Inland. and enslaved many people. Old Datto Utto. each man fifty lashes upon his bare back" and even in Manila itsel We have there wno llveg near Cottabato, has been a fa- and he let them go. a good corps of native policemen and thou- mn,.. nlrats In hia Am ., n. . . . . , ,, ... , , , , mous pirate in ma aay, and Datto riang An enormous amount of thieving prevails sands of soldiers with clubs aud revolvers, nn.i nlhopt u.n..M nnt h. -, .,, , , . . ,. . , . . . i i , . ... . . . 01,(1 others would now be running their pi- n the country districts of Luzon and the but nevertheless robber cs occur every day ini,. a-.i. ,. , , , , ' . ... .... , . . rate JunK bo restraint were put upon other large Islands. The mountains are in- and the counterfeiters make false money ,. ...inn. . . r.L ... V , , . so fast that you have to ring every dollar ,J ?o .e M h i , m ' T 8 "l to see whether It I. silver or not. r,'"e A U'e Moro"- he P ater"V MfDy ' "e iDr' ve Manila has not onlv land thieves but ' travels among the Moros I foun I i'ned these bands, and they now rob Amer- ip ihl... Think ,.f n Anw.rlran nltv them a peaceable people. They have ... leans anJ natwen alike. The planters of containing more than 300,000 people In rar, because every man carries a knife, which there are professional pirates. The 1,1,(1 an Insult might cause one to lose his place Is cut up by canals, the I'aslg river ,l(,a(1- They havp little regard for life, flows through it, and Its waterways are "'tb Is one of their punishments for theft. mm hlklv xroniil.xl u.lih hr.nl a ihnu nf While General Hates was In Slllll one nf th.i Canton. A short time ago It was found Mores stole a knife belonging to his party keeP a record of every man's doings, as that these parts of the city were Infested 'he datto who ruled there wondered lt 18 believe(l 'out many of tho brigands by an organlrcd baud of thieves and pick- y ""r soldiers did not cut off the thief's Bpt'nd P"1 of t,helr Ume UDder lhe 8ulae " pockeu who made the boats their head- ha(1- respectable citizens. quarters and went out to prey upon the Shortly after this the, transport Warren v There are many band"tl In Mlndoro. They people. They robbed the houses and black- "el at Jolo with a party of Americans on nave exl8ted there for years, the Spaniards mailed their brothers upon the boats. An oo&ra. ine sultan came djkvn to visit them additional force has been added to the nn,l upon leaving found that his best cane water police to keep them in check, and had mysteriously disappeared. The stick both harbor and canals are now being pa- was set with Jewels, and'the sultan cora- trollcd on the lookout for pirates. plained. Had the thief been caught alone A few weeks ago one of the government la his territory he would probably have launches passed a large boat on the Hlver been killed. I'aslg In almost the heart of the city. In I-ast October eight men were cut to mlnco lt was a native who waved his hand for meat In the Sulus because they had stolen assistance. The launch stopped and it was 10 cents' worth of flsh. The thieves were found that the muu had been attacked by Moroj from a neighboring Island, who bad pirates, who hud stolen the tobacco, sugar robbed the fish traps. They were captured and cocounuts which he was currying Into and a trial was held. Defore it was over Munlla. 0118 of the Sulu Moros accused one of the On another boat the natives were seen to defendants of being a thief. The accused be greatly excited. The officials stopped at onco drew hl Krls an'l started for his and were told that there was nothing wrong. accuser. upon which the friends of the lat- Tbcy saw, however, that several ropes ter rushed in and grabbed the eight were lied to the bamboo outriggers of the t rangers. They tied their hands behind native craft and caught hold of them and them and chopped them In pieces. When pulled them In. At the other end of each the American soldiers arrived the bodies rope they found a Mauser rifle and later on wpre still bleeding and there was not a discovered that of the men on the boat four Pt as large as your hand on any of them were pirates. They were robbing the boat that had not been cut. While the soldiers when the government launch came up and ere looking on other Moros came up and had threatened the owners with death it tested the edges of their knives by chop ping into the human flesh. I remember a presidente whom I met at Zaniboanga. We rode about together look- tliey Informed upon them. lt is this fear ou the part of the natives that makes lt difficult to break up piracy. I ? " ' 1 ;J'jss--yiiMti " ... - -.. j ' "A PILiriNO I'OLICEMAN. never attempting to break up their settle ments. Dean Worcester mentions a Negros The criminals are so orgaulzed that their '"K over his town and I chatted with him friends will lake revenge upon Informers, "bout himself and his work. He made no They blackmail the boatmen and carry on hones of telling me how he had killed his their smuggling under the very eyes of our predecessor. He was in charge of the town soldiers. when our soldiers attacked It, and was sup- posed to be associated with a Filipino gen- I'lr.te. M,-- eral In Its defense. He called this general The worst place for pirates, however, la to him. pretending he wanted a conference bandit named Martin who was a fiend In the southern purl of the archipelago, and when he came gave a sign to his own Incarnate. He took children aud tore them The Moros have been piiates for ages and soldiers to shoot him. This they did. He to pieces, and the natives, so It Is said, te- they have had their pirate settlements in rather laughed as he showed me how he Heved that be feasted on the livers of 111. 1'alawan, Mindanao aud the Sulu Islands, had killed his associate, and was evidently victims. The sultan himself Is a professional pirate, proud of his action. The fact that be bad l.an.l of (iurrrlllas. who Is ouly restrained by the fear of our lied did not cause a blush, and this Is so government. There is one pirate chief In with the majority of our little brown northeastern Mindanao who until very re- cousins, cently has been sailing along the coast and Filipino Mara. collecting tribute from the village, at the Tfae ,,,, had rocelve, hf8 mor dea, mouth of a cannon, bbortly before our fmm (he Spanlarili ,,, nelthep thlnk, My. iroop. came .ulu . .u....u .u u.. f ,yng gal .ni, Th. mw of nolhng mU(,g h bor and sout word to the merchants that lh t,,..v ,ha, i, nniv ,hrn..ai. f. pni.,inn. k... , ...,. .....u .... he must have a certain sum of money at .. . .,. ,he trulh , rf.ramB,r . inA,rA , H,lllhf , ,,, once or he would blow up the town. The . . r.nl,,n Howland's deserihln hi. been rnnn ,n if ihi ,.,.. There are howltters. which he lined up on the shore, whom he 8uppoged to he insurgenU out for The rice fields are interspersed with and then seut back his reply, telling the uppiiei. h, a8ked them If thia was not swamps and there are many thickets in plrata to lira and be hauged. but that if h. ,he rH81, They r,pled that they had been which the robbers can hide. There are did the howltiers would send hia vessels insurrectos. but they were now tired of bamboo clumps everywhere and many to lhe bottom of the bay. fighting and wanted to surrender. Captain places where the ground rises In hillocks This presidente was In charge of the port Howland asked one of the natives who he topped with thick grass. In which a man when General Hates called, and General knew was friendly to us whether ha thought can Me concealed and wait for hU prey. Hates gave him an American flag. He ac- tne men were telling the truth. The native There are nothing but trails through th cepted It, saying that he would use lt at all replied: mountains snd travelers often have to cut times eicept when that pirate appeared. "Hot cm you tell whether they tell the their own paths through them. The woods Ss mkir- hM-:, iv '""vr'Klil. W- by Frank Q. Carpenter.) ' Then," said he, "I will raise a black fia in.th nm ,.,n ,hm Tho rASIlINOTON April 24.-(Special above it. Just like that used by the pirate. Spaniards always castigated us when they YY I torriHpondence of The Hee.)-I This means, 'We will fight to .the death wanted to get the truth. Give them a .rood UAKKOTE OF DILIBIO, WITH MR. CAKP ENTER AS KXElTTlONEK. The hills of Luzon seem to be made for banditti. There Is no country where guer rilla warfare can be carried on more suc cessfully. You are seldom far from the mountains, and the valleys are tilled with clumps of bamboos. The Amer.can Indians storv of CaDtain Howland'a describing his been ennnii.r.d If their presiueuie was a opaui.u r-..u.:U-u., experiences with tne Insurgents. At one similar to the Philippines brava as a lion. He had several small (lme he camt upon , party of F,,,p,noi placci for ,mDllsh wltt evi are so bound together with long lianus that they form a perfect mass of mutted vege tation through which one must cut his way. The lowiunds are unstable at certain times of the year and in tho rainy season Ihey are impassable for horses or carriages. Tho Insui recto have of late worked chiefly through ambushes. They assault only small parties, killing from three to six at a lime. This class of warfare will last until good roadi are mud Then the country tan be patrolled by police on horseback and the robbers hunted to their lairs in the mountains. At present there are prac tically no roads ou some of the islands. Mlndoro has none. Jolo none outside of th ; town of Jolo, and In Mindanao the only roads are about the chief ports. The sul tan lives at Malbun, on one side of the isand, and the city of Jolo, where the Americans are stationed, is on the opposite side. When the Bultan crosses the Inland he comes on horseback by a bridle path. A road will probably be made between these two towns. VUit u lllllbi.l. While In Manila I visited the chief peni tentiary of our Asiatic possessions. It is kn:;wn as Bilibld prison. It was full at the time we took possession and hundreds of men were Imprisoned against whom no crimes were charged on the record. Many did not know why they had been incar cerated and they had been there for years awaiting trial. All were In chains. Some had heavy Irons fastened to their ankles. The prison was filthy; its walls we e 'hen covered with decayed vegetation. As I went through the penitentiary I was shown the Irons which had been taken oft these men. Some of them weighed many pounds and they must have worn Into the flesh. I was shown the garroting instrument used in capital cases and I paid one of the pris oners 25 centa to put his neck In the collar while I held the screw to get a photograph of Juet bow It was done. The prisoner sat on a bench with his hands and feet tied so that he could not move. His back rested against a post and his neck was Inside a collar of brass, which could be so tightened by a turn of the screw that lt could be broken or mashed to a Jelly. Indeed, If the executioner wished, the neck might be cut from the shoulders by means of the screw. Death comes, I am told. Instantaneously, for one turn will break the spinal cord. During executions the Spaniards shrouded the heads of the victims and it was at the wav ing of the sword of the chief prison official that the crank was turned which brought instant death. llillbld of Today. Bilibld is now an American penitentiary and the garrote and all cruel punishments are done away with. The superintendent of the prison Is an American sidler, who has put lt Into the best of sanitary condi tions. It Is today as clean as any prison of the United States; its walls have been scraped and whitewahed. the Irons knocked off the inmates and most of them put to work. I found the prisoners engaged In all kinds of labor. Some were making baskets and chairs, others were working cn the roads and others were busy as carpenters mak ing bedsteads, tables and other kinds of furniture. One man was cutting at a lathe turned by a flywheel manipulated by two Filipinos; another was carving and others were making trinkets which are sold to visitors. Each man gets a percentage of what hia product sells for, amounting, among the best workmen, to about 12 per month. In addition to this every prisoner Is given 6 cents a week to buy his cigar ettes, for smoking Is allowed In the prison. I went through the quarters where the men stay at night. They are long balls, i lined on each side with sloping tables oi shelves as high as your knee. The tables are each about eix fect wide and eight feet In length, but they are so joined that thaj make long shelves running from one end of the room to the other. Upon each table three or four men sleep at night. They have no mattresses and no pillows and only BU.h be.kiotblng as they bring in themselves. Vlui( the I'rlMoner i:nt. Back of the tables are tin pans, each oi which looks Juet like the top of a four gallon bucket. Every prisoner has two of these; they are bis only eating utensils. He has no knife, fork nor spoon, but eati with his flngere. The meals consist of rice and a stew of vegetables and fish. The prisoners are fed by contract, and It costs about 3 cents of our money a day to supply the food of oue man. Notwithstanding this low rate they seem healthy and contented, and they are. I am told, well satisfied with their rations. They drink only water, and each prisoner has for this purpose a can teen consisting of a bamboo tube about two feet in length. The daily life of the prisoners is as fol lows: They are called at 6:30 a. m. and counted. After this they have breakfast and clean up the grounds. At 7 o'clock they begin their regular work and continue at It from then on till 11:30. At 12 all squat down for dinner and after that take a sltsta until 2. From 2 until 6:30 they are again at their work. Then cornea supper, and then a parade, at which the prison band plays the "Star Spangled Banner" and the convicts salute the United States flag After this the prisoners are marched back to their cells and locked up for the night. (Continued on Seventh Page.) A .rood look In " komaand poor look Ins liiLf-nMai la t h a. ' C vroivt kluU of a com- 1"V Eureka' Harness OHTV DOtnnlvmAltMthAhnmpM rw1 Ihi 'i I bores better, but niuln Ihs IH leather aoft and i. liable, ruin It In ron- I ft . union to last twice as long ., us it ordinarily would. J JJ.f. Void vwrwlitr la eani all 5TANDARD , OIL CO. Give Your Horse a Chance 7 9 1L Old laces repaired and cleaned Dry cleaning of fine garm en s a spe cialty. Twin City Dye Works Phone 1521. 31 South 15th Street Omaha, Neb.