Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1904-03-25
MEN IN CAMPS
Subjected to Hard Mental Stra:,
Which Renders Them Capable
Of Any Crime.

deep snow covers the ground ana tLf
dense stiffness is broken only by tbl
sharp ring of the woodman's ak, TIL
time hangs heavily on the hands q
the crews Of the logging camps. Fol
miles in all directions there is an IN
broken expanse of trees and snow. Tt
great world outside rUshes on, but thesi
men know nothing of elections. strikes
disasters and horrors on land and Sc;
until months after they have occurred
says the Boston Transcript.
They are buried in the wilderness ara
sometimes they go mad or fall i'll q
melancholia, but for the first part theJ
spend the time when their labors ar!
over in deyising some new form of di
version or variations of amusemenj
that have become traditional like thai
Of compelling new hand to climb
tree, after which they proceeddo chol
the tree down, permitting the unhappy
victim of their sport to make sudGeg
descent into some convenient snow
bank
If, however, the camp is provided.with
a Jumper" the men never feel called
upon to look further for means and
source of amusement Now Jumper
in the woods is about as luckless speci.
men of humanity as walks the earth
He is seldom found far away from ths
woods, because it is in their shade that
he first begins his jumping career. To
start with, he is simply a man whoss
nerves are abnormally sensitive. There
are many such among the half-breed
FrenchCanadians.
Ordinarily, they would simply be very
nervous men, but when such one 10
J discovered in a logging camp drastic and
persistent measures are taken to de-
velop him into a full7fledged Jumper"
by which is meant one who has so LOST
control Of his muscles that they will ad
involuntarily at the command of an.
other.
This result is securedby constant nag.
ging and ceaseless petty annoyances, un.
It'll the nerves of the victim become com.
pletely unstrung, as the saying is. and
he is helpless in the hands of his tor.
mentors. The luckless logger straight
ems up from his work and a stick from
some unknows source strikes him IL
the back. He goes to bed at night and
no sooner is he asleep than shower
of boots and shoes beats down upo1
him. Al string is tied to each to.
as he dozes in his bunk and one string
pulled at time, until his foot seems te
be burning up. He gets no peace by
night or day and before many month";
his nervous system has become com.
| pletely shattered and the camp has Sc
cured it's Jumper" the butt of all it.
| jokes and the cause of boundless
| hilarity
A fully developed Jumper is as help.
less as baby in the lands of strong.
willed man. A shout sends him high
| into the air. A poke in the ribs sends
him almost into Mysteries. In order te
| control himself he often resorts to bet
| ing his fingers and have seen Jump
err with hands bleeding and raw from
| constant gnawing. Point finger at the
| unfortunate nan and he will beat his
hands fiercely against a board or q
| stone wall.
Sometimes a Jumper" acts like q
man hypnotized. He wild sway from
| side to side or go in any direction in
| dicated by the motion of hand. HI
| will even beat another with his fist
when commanded: but, being perfectly
| conscious of what he is doing, although
1
piteously: 81 can't help it, don't hit
| me-
Sometimes q tragedy follows an at
tempt to have sport with one of thest
unfortunate individuals. 1t is related
that several choppers, among them g
Jumper" were once walking through
the woods in single file, their axes ovel
their shoulders, when some thoughtless
fellow threw a stick Of wood which
struck the Jumper" The latter sprans
into the air and brought down his keen.
edged ak with great force, cleaving the
skull of the man walking in front OF
him. More often it is the Jumper" him.
self who is injured, for the men of the
lumber camps are not inclined to think
first before playing their jokes on theil
afflicted comrade and may cause hin
to come tumbling down from pile o
logs or even jump into the fire.
1t all seems very pitiful. for the lif,
of Jumper must be one of the ut
most misery. He is always an ignoran
man, however, and knows of no way Il
escape the thralldom. Perhaps as arul,
his intellect is not very strong to begin
with. Probably in nearly all cases hi
mind becomes affected after few years
He gets neither sympathy nor help from
his fellows. for they cannot understan,
his weakness, and tkeir sport is nearl,
always rough. His antics make then
laugh and relieve the tedium of a lon,
and lonely winter, far away from civ
iliZation.
New Method Of Identification.