Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-02

navy to bring buckers to their senses, and
the majority Of buckers eventually achieve
Sc nse enough to appreciate what hard
proposition they are up against in endeavor-
ing to bring the trainers of regulations to
an understanding Of their incapacity and
they subside into good soldiers. few
buckers, however, stick 1t out to the end.
There was such a bucker soldering with an
artillery battery stationed at AlcatraZ Is
land, Cal, a few years ago. This man,
however. thought he was right and there
fore differed from the ordinary run of
buckers, who buck not on principle, but
because they were born that way. He was
accused of neglect of duty on post, and the
general court-martial sentenced him to
three months in the Alcatraz guardhouSe.
Guardhouse prisoners are turned out at
fatigue call every morning to work around
the post This prlscnee, was turned out on
the morning following the receipt of his
sentence. along with half a dozen other
minor prisoners. When he was counted off
to walk in the van of sentry, he turned
to the provost sergeant, and said he
II cont work"
Hey" inquired the provost sergeant
Il don't work" repeated the prisoner.
ION. 1 guess YES said the provost ser
geant. Sentry, take this man out behind
the officers line to dump the swill cans
The prisoner gently slipped down ami
stretched himself at full length on the pet-
lily walk in front of the guard house.
q,
other morning Nor any other evening. No
work This mans army is just about enter
ing upon a huge and determined effort 10
&C: along without my prisoners fatguc
service / hope it'll succeed. But work.
You hear that, cont you? hope l make 1t
Gear to YOU. No work for me. noT or here
after, for the pushing along of this post or
OF the United States army"
Then the prisoner yawn.d. placed mis-
arms under his head and took it easy.
The provost sergeant looked ut the man
with his eyes sticking out.
Heavy Talk.
Look a-here, my man. said re to the
prisoner, who vas chewing blades Of grass
that he idly tucked from the lawn along
side the walk; that's heavy talk. You don't
expect to make it stick, do you?"
watch me- said the bucker, complais-
aEtly.
The officer of the day was called
Get UP out of that, said the officer Of
the day to the non-workng prisoner.
I'm tired said the bucker. And this
provost man wants me to work. Not much
No work
Alcatraz was not Fort Sheridan, and so
the bucker was not prodded with bayonets
or dragged to the commanding officers Of
flee by rope, but he was put in the dun
geon. The Alcatraz dungeon is below the
level of the sea, and the restless and often
stormy waters may be heard, from within
the dungeon, beating against its outer
walls. The Alcatraz dungeon is infested
With rats of quite remarkable 1erocity. For
resting place the occupant of the Alcatraz
dungeon has six-foot plank, and for ra-
ton bread and water. This bucker was
given three days of it. Then he was brought
out at fatigue call on the fourth morning.
He was bit pale, and he didn't look the
$50 pounds that he weighed before he went
into the dungeon.
Ready to work now eh?' said the pro-
vost sergeant to the prisoner.
Inc bucker plucked wisp of grass from
the Sward.
Nope said the prisoner And never
will be ready. You can put that down.
Dungeon or no dungeon. / don't work out
that sentence not day of it, nor a minute
OF H. You hear me, don't you?"
Would Not Give In.
The officer of the day got the same re-
ply. Three more days of the dungeon was
dished out to the bucker by order of the
commanding officer. The prisoner was
paier and thinner-looking yet when he was
through with this dose
You've learnt sense now I'll bet" said
the provost sergeant.
If sense means work, I'm still a-learn-
irg," replied the bucker
The man had to be kept, by regulation,
three days locked up in the guardhouse
proper before being again relegated to the
dungeon. When the three days were up
into the dungeon he went again, this time
for six-day trick.
UP in the prisoners line on the seventh
day
Willing to do little coal-hauling chore
or two now?' inquired the provost ser
geant.
mo. and 1 never will be- Might as we'll
get that fact drilled into your thick skull
l never Will be-
Then the man was taken before the
commanding officer. He was talked to
rather nicely by the commanding officer
and recommended to take a quiet little
tumble to himself.
Go to work. like the other prisoners
my man, and save yourself misery and get
yourself restored to duty when your SEN
tence is worked OUT
Never" said the prisoner And he was
pretty pallid and thin-looking lot too
by this time.
During the ten-day trick in the dungeon
that followed this, the man was found in
the dungeon in state of collapse. He
was surveyed by the post surgeon. The
commanding officer thought it better, after
the man got out of the hospital to bob
tail him outright-that is. dismiss him
the service without further ado The man
would have died before he would have
worked under sentry. He was one of
the few buckers who ever came out ahead
in contention with military authority in
the regular army.
Too Young to Know Better.
An apprentice boy aboard one of the gum
boats OF our navy performed a star bit of
bucking about three years ago, but after
getting very much the worst of 1t his nerve
left him, and he succumbed. This boy took
dislike to one of the chief petty officers
The lad was a striker for the chief petty
officers mess, and one day in fit Of temper
he threw the chief petty officers mess stool
violently away from the mess table. Grown
men In the navy are not permitted to spank
the apprentice lads, much as the boys occa-