The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-11
HE WOULD NOT LEAVE.
A Soldier Prisoner Who Climbed q Ire
and Defied a Regiment.

A Soldier Prisoner Who Climbed Tree
and Defied Regiment.
1t is the custom in the British army
that whenever one regiment is trans
ferred from one colony TO another pris-
over to the outgoing corps and continue
their sentences at the new station. In
one case one of these jail birds made up
his mind that he would not leave the
colony
Private Johnson was one OF the smart
est men IN the corps. and furthermore
he was an excellent groom and almost
Gordon bleu." He had one sad failing.
He was thief His populations had,
however. been generally small, and he
had escaped serious punishment One
night large store in the town was
broken into and considerable amount
of money stolen. II was c.onclnslvely
proved that johnson was the thief and
he was sent TO jail When the regi-
ment was leaving the colony Johnson
with some other soldier prisoners, was
to be handed over according TO custom
When, however, his cell was visited Il
was empty and there was not a sign Of
Johnson anywhere. A search was made
in every direction, and at last a pris-
oner pointed to cocoanut tree which
grew in the middle of the prison yard,
and there, comforta bly, seated among
the tuft of leaves. was Johnson The
warden at first tried to get the man
down by quiet persuasion, then he
threatened, then stormed and swore-
Johnson laughed contentedly at every
mood, but did not move. The
fact was reported to the colo
NAL secretary, who recommended
that the fire engine be called out and
the man washed down. The chief of
the fire department hardly thought it
was consonant with his dignity to wash
a prisoner out of cocoanut tree, and
reported that there was not pressure Of
water enough to get d stream to the
top of the tree. This was probably
true, for the tree was tall one.
The case was again referred to the
colonial secretary, who took it before
the governor. His e1cellency was hav-
ing luncheon with some of the depart
ing officers and their friends and was
having a good time. He was vexed
that at such a time he should be
troubled with official work, as hastily
glancing over the document he added
the following instructions: Cut the
damned fellow down. l mean the
tree"
This could only be done by the engi-
neering department, so orderlies were
sent out to find the chief engineer
While all this was going on, time was
slipping away. Almost all the troops
were on board the troopship, and as
these vessels wait for no one, the escort
which had been sent to bring johnson
down to the ship had to hurry off, not
to be late itself Johnson beloved a
farewell, and despite the strong Ian
guage of the warden still laughed and
did not move. Before the engineer de-
partment had come to conclusion as
to how to cut down the tree and lower
it gradually, the troopship had up an
Choir and was steaming out of the har-
bor Then Johnson climbed down the
tree and finished his sentence on the
island, to which he had taken q fancy
His conviction had carried with it his
discharge with ignominy" He set
tied in the island and was soon in easy
He had undoubtedly
hidden his stolen property and after
his release dug it up and started in
business. When Johnson was last seen
be was hourishing and had large CO.
coanut grove around his cottage.-N.
Y. Tribune.