Evening star., 1901-08-10
ONE OF kl6E'S. TRAGEDIES

oNE VI ki1Eo inA0CO'Co
How would YOU like to do ninety-nine
years in r8ilitary. PRISON. asked for
mer non-commissioned officer of the army.
who is now b1h the war Department rolls.
of group of friends the other evening.
They replied that the temperature was
such hot stuff as ,tha.
fes, ninefyAnine years, said the e1-non-
COM, refectively That's a pretty fairish
bit OF whtzz fer,.a young fellow to face
on miserable seven-acre rock like Alca-
| traz Island, .asn't IT.
They askedl hims4 it was a sea-gull that
had been condemned to that term OF ser
vitude. and die went on more seriously:
mo. But there is the way of it. About
eight years ago a. young recruit came to
my battery. We were then stationed on
that aforesaid miserable Alcatraz rock,
where the military prison is This recruit
was fine young chap from Kentucky.
He was of good family and he had had
good education He drifted into the outnt
PACK east through bit OF wildness, ana
tney sent him, a recruit, out to the Alca-
traz battery to be hammered into shape 1t
fell to me to drill him, and took an In
terest In him. After he'd had chance to
LOOK around him and size up the service
ne began to take an interest in the game,
u
mission. He had the head and the educa-
tion to nail one too, If he'd only listened to
the advice Of us old chaw-bacons. But he
went wrong with the drink every once and
a While, and his chances were considerably
damaged. Nevertheless, he studied hard
lor the commission, and the officers OF the
battery, liking the lad overlooked his oc-
caslonal lapses and, at the end of couple
OF years, sent him along to take his pre-
liminary examination for promotion from
the ranks to the shoulder-strap wearers.
He passed the examination. difficult as
1t was hands down. But before he left the
post at which he took the examination he
went of on bat with some of the nom
CONS of the garrison, and that uueered
MIN. his name was stricken from the roll
or successful candidates for final examina-
tlon at Fort Leavenworth, and he was
sent pack to his battery on AlcatraZ to
mediate upon his boyish imbecility in
throwing away the chance Of lifetime
ior little liquor. The boy was a heap
broken up over the hash he had made Of 1t,
naturally enough, but when he came to
Iull realization of 1t he went bravely to
work and Strengthened out and got ready
TO stand for the examination the following
year. he Kept straight the entire year.
ana the officers overlooked his previous
preaK and he went up again for eXamina-
tlon. He could have passed the mental ex-
anlnat1on again without any trouble, but
very slight visual defect that had de-
Feioped during the year knocked his
NiAe'iiSoS, dllO lie was turned down In the
physical examination given him by the sur
geon He was discharged from the SER
wee. he came back to AlcatraZ to pack
Ills thinss 1 never saw young man in
more stunned state of mind He had had
commission right within his mitt twice
and both times it had got away from him
lie went to work in San Francisco. and 1
saw him once in a while
1he last time saw him he was embark
Ing on board a transport at San Francisco
bound for the Philippines He had enlisted
In regular army outfit under an assumed
name, after having successfully passed the
examination at the surgeons hands, eyes
ana all-but It was another surgeon of
course-and he was in or some hard SOL
dlering. He was one of the sort that loved
soldering, and he stoudn't keep away from
II, even II he shads to enlist fraudulently. I
had chat with him on the transport, and
he pointed to the bleak old Alcatraz rock,
lying In the sunlight of the harbor.
wen, thank God, anyhow he said to
me, that L N not going to soldier there any
more. Say,a he went on, impulsively, I
used to feel so sorry for the poor devils Of
prisoners there that I often felt like help
Ing the batohes was on guard over to get
away; It's bad enough soldering on Alca-
traz, but it must; be fierce to be a prisoner
on the gloomy oldqboulder. None of it for
me, thanks.'c 40
That: 1 say. isIthe last ever saw of
this athletic. fresh-skinned, clipper built
young fellow. -whaaoved soldering lust for
the sake Of soldering. and who aspired to
commission that would surely have been
his had he possessed bit of self-control
on one occasion fand a soupcon Of luck on
another r. -. ri - ..--.,
THE youns fellows, outfit was sent to
one OF the remote Philippines. The men
went on on a payday toot about a year
ago, my former young swaddie from Ken
lucky with them. While loaded up with
the horrible fntoxicants OF that neck of
the world the young fellow had an alterca-
tion with one OF his comrades and in a mo
mentary flash Of passion, helped on by his
condition. he pulled knife and killed him.
Still dazed with drink, and desperate over
fear of the consequences of this rum
caused crime, he could think of nothing
else to do but to desert to the enemy
HE deserted to the enemy. They got
him In roundup Of Filipino prisoners a
few months later, and he was recognized.
He was tried for the murder of his pal and
for deserting to the enemy and condemned
to be shot. His sentence was commuted to
Imprisonment for ninety-nine years on AL
catraz Island, and he's out there on the
rock, in a coarse suit Of woolly gray. TODAY.
I often get to thinking of the boy In the
middle Of the night. when I'm restless and
can't sleep. I can't help but believe that
the pity he felt in his heart and expressed
to me, when he was clothed in his clear
mind, for the prisoners he guarded as a
soldier on Alcatraz, will somehow or an
other make 1t easier for him nou, tbo+ ri.