The following order was issued for compliance by our group:
General Order No. 3
Prison’s Detachment of Asan, Guam
February 12, 1901.
The following regulations for prisoners shall be observed, subject to the approval of the Governor of the Island:
1. Meal time for prisoners, as prescribed by General Order No. 1, current series of this headquarters, shall be as follows: Breakfast — 6:30 A.M., lunch — 12:00 o’clock (noon; and dinner — 5:30 P.M.
2. The prisoners shall be allowed to write and receive correspondences from their family. Letters shall be handed over to the officer in command, for inspection before they are mailed. No correspondence that is political or public in nature shall be allowed.
3. Prisoners of good conduct may be issued passes by the officer in command, allowing not more than one fifth of the prisoners to leave the enclosed premises between 7:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. These passes do not authorize the bearer to be away for more than four hours all at the same time. Neither shall anyone be permitted to leave the premises with a pass, without being accompanied by a guard or any person authorized by the officer in command. No prisoner nor a prisoner’s servant shall be allowed to go east, that is, at a distance of more than forty yards from the Prisons’ gate. Neither shall he be permitted to go west, from the first bridge from Agaña road to Piti, nor to the south through the same road at a distance of more than one hundred yards. He shall be allowed to go north only by the seashore.
4. The enclosure (fence) is a permanent fixture and whosoever attempts to pass through the same without due authorization shall be arrested. The guards shall be instructed to use force, if necessary, or to shoot the offender, if need be.
5. The prisoners and their servants of good conduct shall be allowed to move freely within the enclosed premises from daw to 9:00 o’clock P.M.
6. The sick prisoners shall attend the corresponding bugle call at 9:30 A.M.
7. A roll call shall be done religiously, three times daily by the officer on duty, one at 6:15 A.M., another at 4:00 P.M. and the last, at 9:00 P.M.
8. The officer in command or his representative, accompanied by an interpreter, shall visit the Prisons house once a day, to look into the prisoners’ complaints and attend to their requests concerning solely their welfare and comfort.
9. The prisoners and their servants shall be required to bathe at least twice a week and to be neatly dressed at all times.
10. The prisoners and their servants shall assist in the preparation of food, in setting the table, in assisting during mealtime, in washing the dishes and performing the general task of policing within the prisons’ premises.
11. It shall be the right of prisoners to appeal in writing to the Governor of the Island all matters internal or external, through the Commanding Officer of the Detachment, who shall file the appeal with all pertinent details as he understands them.
12. A copy of these regulations shall be translated to Spanish and read to the prisoners, after which it should be posted at a conspicuous place within the premises.
Mayor H.B. Orwig, commanding officer of the establishment, issued the preceding order. At the same time, he appointed Artemio Ricarte president of the prisoners, whose duty was to ensure compliance with the said order.
We were also informed that our being incommunicado was due to a petition by the natives of the Islands, who were aware of all types of abuses committed by the natives against the Filipinos imprisoned during the Spanish administratiob. We are more likely to believe this and we thank Mayor Orwig for his promise to defend us against the aggression of the natives, even at the risk of losing his life.