Evening star., 1924-05-18

army post set down on the
1ar-Huns outskirts of civili-
zation. with the nearest rail-
road station 500 miles away. the gar
rlSon of half hundred soldiers re-
duced to bakers dozen of defend
ers-their companions being out on a
man-hunt after criminal Indians-and
the fort surrounded by hordes of
ruthless redskins, whose purpose was
to slaughter and scalp the palefaces.
The officer in command calls to-
gether the soldiers and scouts He
tells them their situation is desper-
ate. There is but one chance. A
daring man familiar with Indian
technique and tactics might be able
/ to run the redskin lines and bring
help to the greatly outnumbered gar
r1son. The officer called for volun-
teers. An experienced Indian scout
and guide and the post telegrapher
stepped forward and signified their
Willingness to match wits with the
cunning of thesaborigines
In the inky blackness of night, the
pair wormed their different ways
from the frontier stockade-one to
follow the well defined trail, the other
to make a crosS-country dash, de-
pending on his knowledge of the sur
rounding mountains and deserts to
lead him to the distant ranches.
The Indian scout, who elected to
take the trail route, was discovered.
killed and scalped by the warpath
redmen. Subsequently his bones
known section of the desert, where
the Indians abandoned his body
Will Barnes. the soldier and post
telegrapher. by extreme hardness
and uncanny intuition, which enabled
him to outguess the Indians, broke
through their lines. finally secured
armed assistance and returned with
, the reinforcements in time to put the
Apaches to flight before they had
raided the garrison.
For this courageous act Congress
presented Soldier Barnes with spe-
cial medal, emblemtic of extreme
bravery.
There is no resident of Washington
who better knows the frontier west
as it was during its widest and wool
hest days than does Mr.. Barnes. who
is now a permanent taxpayer in the
District of Columbia. and who is in
charge of the grazing of S.7I6,O00
head of live stock on 100000 600 acres
of range in our national forests.
When thousands of Washingtonians
visit the movies" and watch screen
celebrities perform dexterous tricks
/ with six guns and venturesome
*"stunts" on bucking broncos, we are
thrilled with exaggerated IDEAS of
what the far west was like during the
days when sombreros, sidearms and
constant watChfulness were the pre-
requisites OF livelihood in that region
of iawlessness. When Will Barnes
watches one of these motion picture
thrillers he recalls actual events
which he has seen and participated in
that make the staged scenes seem like
sessions of some neighborhood sew
ing circle
= y :; :.
WAY back in 1879. when the city
"A of Washington was beginning to
outgrow it's swaddling clothes and
bid for considerat tion among the law
making centers of all creation, Will
Barnes first visited the National Capt.
tai. He did not come to Washing
ton to see the sights or to get a good
look at the President of the United
states. The youthful westerner was
bound for Fort Myer, Va, to investi-
gate the Signal Corps training school,
which then was maintained at that
national Army post.
Barnes had always cherished the
dream of going to sea. All his air
castles were built on the great ships
of the seven seas. In his imagination
he fought battles with pirates, ex-
~sored new countries, became ac-
ruainted with all the leading seaports
snd won recognition as an able
puifed seaman.
1 Finally. young Barnes received an
appointment to the Naval Academy at
Annapolis. Unfortunately, he did not
quite make the grade in negotiating
all the entrance examinations. This
debarred him from training at Uncle
Sans famous school for midshipmen.
He determined to go to New York and
sign before the mast on some ocean
going snip. happening " aeai ooou@
,he Signal Corps training school at
Fort Myer, the westerner decided that
he would give it the "once-over' be-
fore he enrolled on the pay list of
some merchant mariner
He Investigated the opportunities
offered in the Signal Corps and finally
enlisted in that branch of our national
defense service for a period OF hve
years. At that time the Signal Corps
took the official observations in diff
ferent sections of the country for the
United States weather bureau. Barnes
attended school for ten months at
Fort Myer, where he was introduced
70 the intricacies of scientific me-
terology. After completing the'course