The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-24
RUNNING A MIXES.
THE MEN WHO ROUND UP DERELICTS
IN THE ARMY.

Guard Is Organized - sympathy some-
times shown by tho Guard with Its Com
rades-One Guard That Wa Captured.
W~AsutSaToN. July 23.-The provost guard
now uuartercd in WashlnGton's tough section
does business without much incident. Period-
lcal swoops are made upon tho resorts where
scouts have located punches ofliberty breakers.
and the soldiers who have overstayed their
leave from Camp Algcr are easily rounded up
and sent IN patches across the Potomac. under
guard. Few OF them show fight. Some OF them
make a run for 1t. and the spectacle OF fleeing
soldiers minus campaign hats, blouses ana
other gear is common enough on the
t~horoughfares south Of Pennsylvania avenue.
The mon who run don't exhibit much judgment.
They are certain to be corralled by the NOM
bers Of the provost guard twho. being neces-
sarily sober. have got the advantage in the
matter Of speed. and when they are landed
after running they are liable TO get n punch or
two for the extra e~xertion they have caused on
the part Of their pursuers.
This provost guard Of volunteer soldiers is q
different proposition altogether from the pro-
Vost guards that are occasionally organized at
Western military posts to corral tumultuous
regular army soldiers. They don't oall 1t q pro-
vost guard in tho regular army, except in tho
official reports. The soldiers call 1t q running
guard" and tho term has a double meaning, for
sometimes the guard has to do the running in
the wrong direction when It's members
arc set upon in force by ~recreant SOL
diers. A running guard IL not often
organized In the regular army, and when
an armed squad or platoon Of men is sent AWAY
from an American military post to do a bit OF
rounding up In q nearby town there is nearly
always trouble in sight. The famous Walla
Walla row. moro than ten years ago. is a case
in point. Nearly O dozen regular army soldiers
with good records behind them did ten years
each In q military prison for their share in this
Job. One OF the soldiers was killed In cold blood
IN a Walla Walla saloon by q gambler and the
gamblers part was taken by the hangers
on in the town. When the soldiers
heard OF 1t they made for tho locked
rife racks in their quarters. broke the locks,
and set out for the town In force. They shot
up Walla Walla In O way that had never before
happened in that one;time woolly town. and
they killed q number OF men. All OF the sol
took the largest provost guard ever oTEanizsd
o their comrade.
guard mixes in San Antonio. One OF these &C.
Cured in 1889. Two old-timers Of the infantry
went to town one afternoon to, make some pur-
chases. They Stopped at q saloon on. the way
cowboys, who desired to see how regular army
soldiers looked when engaging in the highland
aiI!shooters,, and With the bullets rattiine
dangerously close to their government straight
hhrrogans. the two old-timers danced all right.
Of their clothes and started them back to!
ward the post on a l9pe. When the pair Of
need to set up any howl, The regulars simply
looked at them and then looked at one another.
and two hundred mustered back Of the quar-
tiers and made the start for town 10, very quiet
order: News Of the expedition and the causeot
ten minutes after the men were under way, and
he knew that II something wasn't done quickly
fuI;Sdresa, uniform, wearfns IN attending gen
eral courts martial. The, Commanding officer
cavalry were sent after the soldiers who had
started to square things UP for the way the cow
Oq Tse 1 tro6 pps IS d 2R sno ike ike the the i sS50 oi founding
up Their c9mfaaes under such circumstances.
t G1S sfss . seS 90 0 q so9 9pHsG r. niles aRsy fF @Ss the
post and q the Hs, fsava4lFTSy H. officers SgSt commanded GdHtGd all
t%radginG on. The onaeers eo2nmsnded the
SSaHv s ny to to charge ahnaa1rGSe h upon thS infantrym,en;
niue Shar som was %ad th;e eu inf "a dlanrt am %ePtn e
rounded up, and they were making Roadway to-
ward ware the h saloon where the tw2 old soldiers had
by the cavalrymen without result. The officers
mere mere tTh6S s IA r4mag butt but they 9t could = ndG donG 3a =
body. and, mildly pursued by the horse sol.
diers, finally lcaped through the two doors Of
the aid Of fists alone, drubbed fifteen or twenty
finish, The success Of the avengers. together
with the rum they captured. made them a bit
cavalrymen who had been sent after them, and
had been giving them al the best Of it, against
express orders. .Then there was u riot that put
many q man in the bunch on the army's re-
tired iist; The cavalEymen were. Of course;
looking lot Of troopers when they finally got
into garrison with the captured doughboys. -,
down in Ph9Six iu Aria, ATE "a few W ye lHsH ag6: kSbboorn8t
one-thlrd OF the Fort Whlpplo soldiers had set
t sSrl the iSs p png poWH Of if%hm sSime eny % aoee Rsy G ahy' f t6s
jumpers. as, regulars call civilians down in the
st6E sir Issss a 9%t io tb tns 2b9 ayP' iSsf 81 10 o SS6T t{SaiE
hh ni9mho es6y v towa Ri 2 ,t SG99Rm m Gififer who
te y o Pfg SlIoWw WHY 5 tbcm M TibtanrffyYl h ThSdH b IN ne fSd mat
four hours leave, and the intendSdt9taE four
days. They made 1t stick. but they were
them returned to the post on time. a running
guard. composed Of nearly all the soldiers left
e q the post, was sent out after the derelicts,
The running guard was purely n mock affair
In orGanization. for al! is members were de-
from ten 70 twenty soldiers. and pretended to
similar TO the heavy work seen in old-time
np M T T9y DGn 19!Syy1 P Sitb ma noes; and e tn the mix.
making savage efforts to herd the soldiers they
The officers W. We're Su in, a q MST az! WR fTS S sfteI
the running guard had been out for two days
that they were being buncoed by the members
OF the running guard. and they formed a pro.
was on the third day, and the soldiers were
Ribout ready to come in Of their own accord
They had been absent from the post Just
ninety-siX hours, as they had intended. whe1
they finally. put their hands up and gave the
yelp: We're your'n." A post full OF soldiers
can't be general court-martialled at once, and
90, they gotoff with extra fatigue duty.
A party Of seven cayalrymen were absent G
couple OF days overtime from Fort Wingate IL
1891. and a running guard was sent out aftol
them to the nearby town OF shacks. The recre,
ant troopers were drunk. and therefore no
responsible, but they did a very foolish thing
when they ambushed the running guard, which
was composed OF ten Of their comrades undel
the leadership OF a non-commissioned officer
and captured the guard without striking a lick
The guard was completely taken by surprise b!
the d%erelicts. who were, concealed In a plot o
mesquite grass, and. as they were no
ready to shoot, they put up their hands. III,
drunken cavalrymen marched the RUNNING