The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-17
AN EFFECTIVE PUNISHMENT.
How an Indian on the Plains Car
rIed a Log.

IT read the other day." said an old SOL
der of the regular army, that one of the
districts lads in blue, down in Tampa,
was given a bit of log-shouldering to do
as a punishment. This is the first time
I've heard of that old-time army punish
ment being revived. 1t used to be a regu-
lar guard-house punishment when I was
in the regular outfit. A man sentenced to
ten days in the guard-house would either
be sent out to work in the morning, polio
ing around the post, or he would be given
his o-hours-on-a nd-four- hours-off tours
of log-humping. He'd have to carry his
log just as the men on guard carried their
rifles, in. so far as hours of duty were
concerned except that he was permitted to
sleep in at night. The logs weighed from
so to 100 pounds when the punishment was
first employed in the regular army, but
this was finally considered too much of a
good thing, and when the log-humping
punishment was abandoned the chunks of
trees only weighed something like so
pounds. But it was no soft snap to
pack even a 50-pound log UP and down in
front of a guard-house, in the hot sun es-
pecially for two hours at a stretch, as
happen to know. In truth the punishment
was calling, and not so many men drank
and fought themselves into summary
courts martial when the log punishment
was in vogue as is the case now, when
policing around posts is the guard-house
punishment of military offenders on min
or scale.
when I was stationed at Fort Leaven-
worth in II, Chief Douglas, one of the
high muck-a-mucks of the fractions Nez
Perce tribe that had recently been round
ed up, was put in the guard house for
safe keeping. The whole tribe of Nez
Perces was corraled and under q strong
chain guard back of the post and at first
Douglas was permitted to remain with the
tribe. But he was an Indian of the agi-
tating kind, was Douglas, and he caused
so much mutiny among the pent-up bucks
that the commanding officer thought it
wiser to put him away from the tribe. So
he locked him up in the guard house.
Douglas was a magnificent big specimen
of brave, and after he had been in has
guard house cell for a week or so the Of
f1cer of the day recommended to the com
handing officer that the Indian be given
some log exercise, to keep him from pining
away. The commanding officer agreed,
and Douglas was led out of his cell to the
porch running around the second story of
the guard house, and shown the log ne
was to carry. Four or five soldiers serV-
ing guard house sentences, were humping
their logs some distance away, under the
eye of a sentry. Douglas looked at the
log as if to say, Not much, won'tr and
the officer of the day seeing that the chief
didn't want any exercise, had him taken
back to his cell.
after thinking 1t over, however. Doug
las sent for the officer of the day and told
him that he was not only willing to pack
a log up and down the porch, but that he
was anxious to do it, So he was given
an SO-pound log, and began his march up
and down. The sentry patroling No 1
post in front of the guard house, was told
to watch the Indian, but the sentry didn't
anticipate any treachery, and so he didn't
pay much attention TO the strapping chief
walking up and down the porch above
with the log on his shoulder. But about
ten minutes after Douglas had begun his
log patrol the sentry saw dusky figure
flying through the air from the porch
above, and by the time he had got his wits
and saw that the dusky figure was Doug
las, the Indian had picked himself up,
and was off for the woods only 100 wards
whoop and he yelled after the flying In
dian to halt. There wasn't any halt in
Douglas however, and he kept right on
like a race horse. The sentry fired after
him twice, but the Indian chief disap-
peared in the brush. Fort Leavenworth
was a big post at that time for il was
the national school Of application, and
there were over 1000 troops there. They
were all turned out within six minutes
after Douglas made his leap, cavalry and
infantry but 1t was no go, although the
sun shone brightly for six hours after
the chief made his escape. They 90,
Douglas just four months later In Oregon
a good $500 miles from Fort Leayen-
worth"