A Hanging in the Armory: The Unpopular Corporal and the Men Who Stuffed His Uniform

Corporal J. E. Boyer, of Company E, First regiment, National Guard, was hanged in effigy last Friday evening in the company quarters at the Armory, and there are now very good prospects that the matter will be brought before a military court of inquiry and several of the members taught a lesson in military discipline.

Corporal Boyer, it appears, is unpopular in his company from the fact that he is a close student of the tactics and attempts to make the men live up to them. He has only been enlisted a few months, and within a few weeks after his enlistment was appointed corporal by Lieut. Joslin. This appointment, after so short a term of enlistment and over the heads of other members who felt they had been ignored, is said to have been the beginning of the feeling against Boyer, which became intensified as time went on by a counter-feeling on the part of Boyer, who, seeing himself disliked, stood up to his authority as corporal and insisted on obedience. The camping season gave the members a chance to talk over their alleged grievances against Boyer, for when he joined the company a few days later he was given a very cool reception. He is accused by the members of being too officious, and there was strong talk during camp life, at one time, of "blanketing" him — that is, tossing him in a blanket. Disobedience to his orders cropped out at all the drills and culminated last Wednesday night in the members making a farce out of a squad drill commanded by him. It is also alleged that while the company was so marching out of time several of the officers were standing by and laughing at Boyer's efforts to maintain discipline.

That night, Wednesday, after the drill, the dummy was created. Boyer's own fatigue coat, with the corporal stripes on it, was taken from his locker for the effigy; a service hat and belt, a pair of regulation pants, dancing pumps and white gloves, all neatly stuffed, made up a complete figure of Corporal Boyer. For his face the back of a fencing glove, painted with eyes, nose and mouth, made a fair representation of a human face.

This dummy was kept hidden until Friday evening, "hangman's day," and hung over the centre of the large table in the room by twisting the electric light wire around its neck, with the remainder of the wire and the incandescent light hanging down its back. The feet of the figure rested on the table, making the legs somewhat bowed — another attempted bit of licence on the corporal. The head was twisted to one side in true hangman's style, and the thumb of the glove that formed the face made a good representation of an ear, behind which a pen had been stuck, in keeping with Corporal Boyer's duties as secretary of the company. Corporal Boyer wears glasses; these were not overlooked, and a pair of odd-coloured glasses gave a grotesque appearance to the hanging figure. Obscenity formed a large characteristic of the figure.

On the table over which the effigy hung, and to the right of it, facing the door, stood a stool on which lay an open book, the opening chapter being headed "The Bold Dragoon," with a pencil mark drawn around a paragraph reading: "What did they do to him? Did they hang him?"

Back of the figure, also on the table, lay a short-handled spade, on which was chalked: "Don't dig my grave too deep."

On the door in front of the table a camp cot had been placed, with a coffin drawn on the canvas, and a skull and crossbones at the head of the coffin. Tacked to the door of the room was a large cardboard bearing the following inscription:

"DIED! Died from the effects of a swelled head. Funeral services at our next business meeting. Signed, VIGILANCE COMMITTEE."

Last Friday Corporal Boyer received a decoy postal card alleging that the rifle team would have a meeting that evening, and asking him to attend. Corporal Boyer reached the Armory about 8 o'clock, and on entering his company room found all the lights out except the one hanging down the dummy's back. About half a dozen of the members were in the room at the time. When he came in one man came to meet him, saying: "Hello, Boyer; glad to see you." He took him by the hand and led him up to the effigy, where, addressing the figure, he said: "It's all over now, Boyer, to treat you like that."

Corporal Boyer was dumfounded for a few moments, but when he recovered himself he said: "Well, boys, this is a good case for libel." He then reprimanded them for their action and told them that as honourable soldiers, if they had any grievances against him, they should have faced him manfully and not resorted to such a cowardly act.

That ended the incident. The dummy was taken down and Corporal Boyer recovered his uniform. He is said to have expressed a determination to discipline the company for it before a military court composed of the general officers of the state.

The men guilty of the affair seem to be keeping very quiet, realising when too late that they went too far in the matter.

Second Lieut. E. Dickson, of the company, when questioned about it yesterday, admitted the incident and the cause of it in the unpopularity of the corporal, but denied that it was the act of only a few of the members of Company E, although they did not realise the magnitude of their offence. The officers of the company, he said, deprecated the whole affair as unsoldierly, and regretted the odium it cast on themselves and the company. Lieut. Dickson, however, would give no particulars of the affair, deeming it best that it should be hushed up as soon as possible.