Evening star., 1898-05-28

down the walk. He knows it, having been
one Of them himself-and this ought to
clinch the matter. But, with reference to
the voyaging of soldiers on troop ships,
comparisons as to the relative degrees Of
goodness of soldiers In various services can
not very well be made. for the simple and
truthful reason that all soldiers are more
or less unmanageable aboard troop ships
Soldiers can't be as reliable. level-headed
and goody-good as their officers pretend
only pretend-they would like them to be
when under way for a new post. either over
land or across seas. For purposes OF Illus
tration. tho voyage of two batteries of the
9th United States Artillery from Astoria.
ore. to San Francisco, on the steamer Co
lumbia. about four years ago, will do. The
writer knows something about this voyage,
in which there was nothing unusual. except
that il was a characteristic movement of
soldiers by sea.
An EventfuI Trip.
These two batteries of heavy artillery
were ordered from Fort Candy, Wash, to
Alcatraz Island, in the harbor of San Fran
cisco. The men of the two batteries were
good average soldiers of the regular army
obedient men in garrison, and rather an
unusually sober and trustworthy lot. They
had been expecting the order to move from
the unspeakably dreary Candy down to the
harbor of San Francisco Tor a long time
When the order came, they were on edge
with joy, and moved in platoons across the
three-nile, bear-infested trail to the little
Siwash town of II Waco where they light
hearted1y RACED a few supeIftuous shacks to
the ground and otherwise SWAN in a night
of joy. The chain guard doubled up with
the post guard and brought the platoons
back from III Waco after day or so. and
then the batteries began to pack up for
the move. This was a hefty job that the
men went through like Trojans, for they
wanted to be a-move. Before the start
was made every man had a months pay
in his pocket The battery luggage was
dumped aboard the little steamer at the
N dnnk and hn ,her bod
for the thirteen-mile trip across the mouth
of the Columbia river for the town of AS
toria, whence the Portland steamer was to
ship them for the trip down the coast to
San Francisco. The post guard was taken
aboard the little Astoria-bound steamer.
and the members Of that guard had plenty
to do. Three-quarters of the men of the
two batteries had, before the start was
made, toasted each other at a canteen not
wisely. but too well, and by the time the
little steamer pulled alongside the dock al
up the next day and take the soldiers
aboard, this comfortable 70 per cent of the
outfits was pepned up in q corner Of the
lower deck. examining the CLINT of the
guards bayonets. They were all turned
loose when the little boat arrived at Asto-
ria. however. and put to work with the rest
In unloading the luggage of the batteries.
When this job was DONE the men were
shed. where they were to pass the night.
That is. where it was supposed they were
to pass the night. A strong guard. COM
posed of the men who hadn't toasted each
other at the canteen in Fort Candy, was
put on the entrance to the pier shed. The
guard was not corruptible-but the men,
see Astoria by oil light as were the mem
bers of the batteries penned up in the pier
shed.
Escaping Into the Night.
The officers were determined. however.
that there should be no liberty granted,
and their determination didn't ooze out at
all. But the men did. They oozed out in
the most mysterious manner. The pier
shed was filled with merchandise that was
to be loaded aboard the 'Frisco-bo
steamer. and this merchandise served to
screen the men in their plans of escape.
There surely were not many boards left in
the side works of that pier shed after the
men had been herded therein for an hour.
Each man went to work at board. after
approved Jack Sheppard style, pulled it
loose and slipped through the vacancy.
After a while the officers began to notice
the thinning out in the ranks OF the men,
and the door guard was employed to make
the rounds of the shed for the purpose of
corraling the soldiers engaged in working
their way through the walls. Twenty or
thirty of these were caught dead to rights
and put under guard in bit of a circle
formed by bales of merchandise. They
kept up an uproar, but they succeeded in
dickering with the guards. While some of
them dickered others found loopholes and
got out into the freedom of pierbuilt AS
toria. the widest town bar none whatever,
in the western hemisphere. The officers
jawed the guards. threatened them with
general courts-martial and all sorts of un-
pleasant things when the batteries arrived
at Alcatraz. and the guards looked prop
edy humble and tractable.
Even the Guards Left.
Then the guards began to disappear Now.
it is a pretty serious offense for soldier in
our army to jump his guard. All the same
these guards began to disappear: How in
the world the men were getting out the Of
dcers couldn't understand, but when the
officers returned. along towards evening.
to the pier shed from the restaurant where
they had been dining they found only about
twenty men IN the pier shed, and most of
the twenty were non-commissioned officers,
who would probably have gone. too, had
they not had their stripes and chevrons in
mind When they began to investigate the
officers found that a small boy had been
ma king slathers of backsheesh in carrying
escaping soldiers from the pier whereon
they had been confined to another pier
across the way, whence the soldiers made
for the joyous portions of the town. The
boy had only a leaky skiff. but 1t served
The officers formed a patrol guard of the
men remaining and set out at the head of
the patrol to gather in the runaways. The
commanding officer first hunted up the
town marshal and instructed him to bring
the escaped soldiers in dead or alive.
For ten dollars per head l will" said the
town marshal. who knew the legal fee in
such cases.
AT ten dollars per head" acquiesced the
commanding officer.
Getting the Men Back.
We'll. I've got twenty-eight Of 'em now"
said the town marshal who was an enter
Erising man. Sure enough, he had seized
twenty eight of the soldiers one by one in
various parts of the town and had them all
snug and safe in the calaboose. The patrol
went after them The patrol found the
twenty on very even terms, indeed with
the jailer, who was sitting among them
enjoying the solids and liquids they gener-
cusly provided. The patrol formed the cap
tured men and started them for the pier
shed. They went at a lope and most of
them got away again. The patrol spent
the whole night at this kind of work, with
little result. The two batteries had prac-
tically been effaced from the EARTH so care
fully did they secrete themselves. Every
man turned up for reveille at o'clock the
next morning. You can't general court
martial two whole batteries. but the officers
painted dreary pictures of what was in
store for the men who had run away All
hands embarked aboard the steamer and
the officers of the batteries breathed easier
The men at least couldn't get away again
without swimming for it Rut fhov couI,I