Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1901-03-12
THE FRENCH SOLDIER
SOME OF THE BRUTALITlES TO WHICH
HE IS SUBJECTED.

he 10 SO6JES EOs
Haxfngs and Other Punishments
Which Sometimes End In the Vic
tins Death That Are Winked at, II
Not Ordered, by the Officers.
Soldiers in the French army are not
subjected by law to corporal punish
mcnt any more than it has been a part
of the regulations governing the Mill
tary academy at West Point that ca
diets should "brace" or qualify" on
molasses and prunes. Nevertheless
the French soldier is put through
hazing process which is most severe
and several times has caused death.
The French soldier is known as Picton
or Dumanet, just as the English soldier
is known as Tommy Atkins. Dumanet
finds when he joins the colors that life
is not all skittles for soldier.
The thing which distinguishes the
hazing in the French army from the
hazing in American colleges and uni
versities is that 1t Is suggested and al
most or, .ered by the commissioned Off
GERS. An officer will say to corporal
or sergeant, you have man here
who has done so and so" naming some
trivial offense, more than likely to be
some neglect Of the Difference due to
the officer. 1T would do him good If
he were tossed In blanket"
The officer turns on his heel and
walks away, while the unfortunate SOL
der is placed in blanket, with saber,
spurs, jack boots, bayonets and such
pleasant bedfellows, and the combina-
ton is tossed until the hazers are too
tired to continue. This is great sport
for the mans comrades, especially II
they are half drunk, which they are
likely to be. This diversion has rather
gone out of favor just now, becaus
several soldiers who have been tossed
had the bad taste to die after the disci-
pline.
In some of the French barracks
favorite method of punishment is to
hang the offending soldier up by his
heels and then to spank him with
sword bayonet. In Algiers, where the
men are far removed in the outlying
garrisons from the central authority
and at the mercy Of their tormentors,
they are subjected to many forms of
hazing at the suggestion Of the officers.
At one time the "vllo" was much III
favor among the hazers in the Algerian
army of occupation. 1t consisted In
putting man in deep hole made In
the shape of reversed funnel dug by
the Arabs in the ground as place for
the storage of corn. The unfortunate
man was left there sometimes for days,
with hardly anything to eat or drink
and exposed all the time to the heat OF
the sun. while at night the place was
cold. Many died from hunger. thirst
or cold, while many others became in
sane.
The military authorities when they
became aware Of these fortunes issued
an order prohibiting such punish
ment, but it is still practiced in isolated
parts of Algiers where no eye can see
of which the officers are afraid.
Several years ago Prince Piguatelli
dAragon, young Spanish noble, ran
away from his home and went to AL
giers to join the foreign legion, the
refuge for men with a past" His
friends announced to the French MILL
tary authorities that the prince had
gone to Join the legion, but the authori-
ties were able to get no word OF his
arrival. At last soldier suggested
that perhaps a stranger who wandered
into camp and had considerable diff
Guilty In speaking French might be the
prince. The sergeant to whom the
prince had spoken was drunk at the
time and became annoyed at the Span
iard's broken French, so he ordered
that the stranger be placed In the
"yilo" without more ado. Here the
miserable young man remained for two
days without eating or drinking, and
then a good natured sentry broke the
rules and gave him food. AS soon as
he was rescued from the "vilo" the
young man started for Spain, having
most thoroughly reconsidered his de-
Termination to enter the celebrated
for Ign legion.
Another form Of punishment which
used to be popular In Algiers was the
"carcan." A piece Of wood. usually
the trunk Of tree, was used. The
man was laid on 1t, usually bound so
that the middle Of his back would be
resting on the wood, with his head and
feet hanging down to the ground. His
feet were tied to an iron bar and his
hands to another, and, left lying face
upward. he was exposed for hours to
the terrible heat of the sun. Some men
have survived II hours Of this torture.
A form of punishment still popular
among the French colonial troops-that
is, popular with those who infiict 1t and
not with those who suffer It's the
"crapadine." 1t consists of throwing
the man face downward and tying his
wrists and ankles behind his back so
that his wrists and ankles are brought
Vnrt pracs