The Winslow mail., 1899-05-20
The LOG PUNISHMENT
A Penalty That Used to Be Imposed
Upon Soldiers.
HOW a Captive Indian at Fort Leuv-
enTOrtA Made His Escape
While dumping
LG. About.

Leg About.
q read the other day" said an old
soldier Of the regular army, that one
of the districts lads in blue down III
Tampa was given bit log-shoulder-
iIg I o 60 as q punishment. This is the
first time I've heard of that cld-time
army punishment being revived. 1t
used 10 be a regular guardhCuSe pun
ishment when ] was in he regular out
fit. \ man sentenced to ten days in
the guarGhousc would either be sent
out to work in the morning. policing
around the post. or he would be given
his two hours on -and-two-kCurs-o
tours Of log-hunFi2g. He'd have to
carry his logs lst as the men on guard
carried their rifles in so far as hours
OF Gut.y were concerned, except that he
was permitted to sleep in at night.
The logs weighed from SO TO 100 pounds
when tbe punishment was first en-
rloyed in the reEular 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 4 50-pound log
up and down in front Of guafGhcuse,
in the hct tsEn especially. fer two hours
at stretch. IS happen TO know In
truth. the punisdment was calling, and
rot 50 many men drank and fought
themselves into the summary court
martial when he Ice punishment was
il: vogue as is the case now. VIXEN polio
ing around posts Is the guardhousc
rrnichment Of ni':tary offenders on a.
minor scale.
when | was stationed at Fort Leav-
enworth in II, Chief Douglass. one of
tie high r!Uck-amucks CT the frac-
tious Mcz 2 cree iriLe that had recent
II been rounded up, was put in the
guarGhouse fer safekeeping. The
whole tribe of Nez Perces was cor
rallied ard under strong chain guard
back Of the post, and at first Douglas
wac permitted to remain with the
tribe. But he was an Indian of the agi
tating kind, was Douglas, and he
caused so much mutiry 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 n1agniio ent big specimen CT
brave, and after he had been in his
glarGhouse cell for q week or so the
officer of the dav recommended to the
commanding officer that the Indian
be given some log exercise to keep him
from pinicg away. The commanding
officer agreed and Douglas was led out
of his cell to tho porch running around
the second story CT the guardhouse
and shown the .og he was TO carry.
Four or five soldiers, serving a guard
house sentences, were humping their
legs some distance away. under the
eye of Il sentry. Douglas looked at the
log with an expression of contempt.
grunted as if to say: Not much, |
WON'T and the officer Of the day, see
ing that the chief didn't want any ex
crcise, 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 log Up and down the
porch, but that h was anxious to do
it, So he was given an 80-pound log,
and began his march up and down.
The sentry pa1rolling No. post, in
front of the guardhouse, was told to
watch the Indian. but the sentry didn't
anticipate any treachery, and so be
GiGn't Pay much attention to the
straFpirg chief walking Up and down
the porch above with the log on his
shoulder. But about Ten minutes
after Douglas had begun mis- long pa
troll the sentry saw a dusly figure fly
ing through the air from the porch
| abcre, and by the time he had get his
wits and saw hat the dusky figure was
Douglastae Indian had picked himself
up and was off for the woods, only 100
Yards or so away, like a deer. The
sentry gave Il Whcop. 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 big
post atthat time, for it was the nation
al school Of application, aEd there
we're over 2,CG3 troops there. They
were all turned out within six minutes
after Douglas made his leap, cavalry
ard infantry, brt It was no go, al
though the sun ahone brightly for six
hours after tbs chief made his escape.
They got Douglas just four months
later III Oregon, good 2,500 miles
from Fort Leayenworth."- "-Wash shing-
ton Star.