The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-10-06
LOG HUMPING IN THE ARMY.
What Was Once n Regular Form OF
Punishment for Refractory
Soldiers.

fuhIshmeHt LOT heIfhctOFS
Soldiers.
81 read the other day" said an old
soldier of the regular army, that one
OF the districts lads in blue down in
Tampa was given bit of log-shoulder-
/, ing to do as punishment. This is the
ffrst time I've heard of that old-time
army punishment being revived. 1t
used to be a regular guardhouse pun
ishment when | was in the regular out
fit. A man sentenced to ten days in
the guardhouse would either be sent
around the post, or he would be given
his two hours on -and-two-hours-o
tours of log-humping. He'd have to
carry his logs 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 en-
ployed in the regular army, but this
was finally considered too much of
good thing, and when log-humping
punishment was abandoned, the
chunks of trees only weighed some
thing like so pounds. But it was no
soft snap to pack even a 50-pound log
up and down in front of a guardhOuse,
in the hot sun especially, for two hours
at stretch, as | happen to know. In
truth. the punishment was calling, and
rot so many men drank and fought
themselves into the summary court
martial when The log punishment was
in vogue as is the case now, when polio
ing around posts is the guardhouse
punishment of mi!.tary offenders on
minor scale.
when | was stationed at Fort Leav-
enworth in N. Chief Douglass. one of
the high muck-a-mucks of the frac-
tious Nez Perez tribe that had recent
ly been rounded up, was put in the
guardhouse for safekeeping. The
whole tribe of Nez Perces was cor
rallied and under a 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 guardhouse. Douglas
was a magnificent big specimen of a
brave. and after he had been in his
guardhouse cell for week or so the
officer of the day recommended to the
commanding 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 guardhouse
and shown the log he was to carry.
Four or five soldiers. serving a guard
house sentences, were humping their
logs some distance away, under the
eye of a sentry. Douglas looked at the
log with an expression of contempt.
grunted as if TO say: Not much,
won'tH and the officer of the day, see
ing that the chief didn't want any ex-
ercise. had him taken back to his cell.
After thinking it over, however.
Douglas sent for the officer of the day
and told him that he was not only will
ing 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 patrolling No. l post. in
front of the guardhouse. 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 lad begun his long pa
troll the sentry saw dusky figure fly
ing through the air from the porch
above, and by the time he had got his
wits and saw that the dusky figure was
Douglas the Indian had picked himself
up and was off for the woods, only 100
yards or so away, like a deer The
sentry gave a whoop, and he yelled
after the flying Indian to halt. There
wasn't any halt in Douglas, however,
and he kept right on like race horse.
The sentry fired after him twice, but
the Indian chief disappeared in the
brush. Fort Leavenworth was a big
post at that time. for it was the ma ton
al 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 it was no go. al
though the sun shone brightly for six
hours after the chief made his escape.
They got Douglas just four months
later in Oregon, good $500 miles
from Fort Leavenworth. Washing
ton Star.