The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 27, 1901, Page 8

THE SUNDAY CALL Az in 7heir /Alhery DISTINGUISHED -ANEESTRY [ASURES THE == ARING AT SWFST [POINT -AAD ANNAPOLI§ WORSI §7 AZING at the United States mun- ning “Al prac- other United and of blue- that more any the ory are democratic, in color ebeg' are inadrsing a traditions. ng were abolished by Public sen- t the acad- deemea it hed but tneir c willies, eagles,” hing.” Au were carried to ex- ng on the e knee joint. of the pe hand- andsome ubles up hambles a ¥ be cleanly re put through all urkish bath In perspired free oth sides of ets of water Down th T tires amd the gade and wr h Lee rge Lee, Cadet Philip H. Sheridan Jr., the son of General Phil Sheridan, rode a broomstick down the company street during his *plebe” encampment, in 1898, *“Turn. hoys. turn!” shouted Cadet Sher- 142n as he sat astride his broomstick. As was forced to repeat all the lines in the »m describing General Sheridan’s wous to Winchester. “Phil an also participated in a “bowl race.” Several of the “plebes’’ were ordered to take their washbowls from thelr tents. Sheridan placed the bow comrades s the com- and hi pany street. n his own washbowl " from an upper class ‘plebes’ half rose, with the white ill in positien, anc raced through pment. Phil Sheridan Jr. has a re r one of these races. Ulysses S. G the grandson of Gen- eral Grant, was severely hazed at the United States Military now a student in the thir ry of his experiences s required to do other men did, including ball ‘dips’ and exercises with dumbbe ““The hazing usually occurred at night, in my own The upper class men came in and 1 was qual- a'so on abbage. We had a rat funeral 1 made love to books and ifstruments af the command of up- after supper. I was hazed tent. told me to do what the: ified on ‘sam = prunes and and a ‘sammy’ race, said. or_molasses, per class men. “1 to, street and o corps. 1 out all the members o 1 to where a group-of fourth class men dre all exercised_at one time. One day an order was given by the upper cldss men requir- The ‘dips’ Included falling on my nands and knees and raising and lowering my- self on the ground. One exercise was usu- ally followed by another, They never last- ed more than six or seven minutes. to go to a hop at Highland Falls to ap- pear at a certain place. ““The \lpEer class men- also required me to do work for them. I was required to exercise by upper class men because I bart in several practical jokes. I was compelled to run down the com n:y the attend ‘plebe soirees,’ ) had obtained leave *Hobson, had a t “ wooperr w2z fuade biunders. I was required to sit on & locker with my feet out and holding In- fian clubs in my arms because I did not fo what I was told. - “Cadet H. S. Smith was dismissed for hazing me in September, 18%9. He ordered me to say. what is known as ‘teck’ and to ’v through ‘eagling.’ I was also punished or submitting to 1t." “Were you engaged in any hazing dur- lnqythe last encampment’? he was asked. “Yes; muestions of people. | made them brace ®nd required their ser: Douglas MacArthur, the son of General MacArthur, who is a student at the head of the third class at West Point, described His hazing and its effects. “T came to the academy in June a year go. 1 was haged. I took the ‘turtle’ and ade it go through the formation of pa- o, the turtle representing the battalion. “I' had to go_ through ‘eagling and twooden willles,” T kept th? up till T e slightly exhausted. The up- men required me to take a sweat th. Several of us ‘plebes’ were placed in a_tent, the walls were dropped and the bedclothes were wrapped about us. ‘@ remai lying down with the blankets over us for fifteen or twenty pinutes on a hot day. I was required to on a stretcher with m{ toes off the loor. I became very tired. I had cramps m{h:“.'i:” .?e?nh" thelr control in part ugh exe *“The hazing took rl;fm in my tent. ere are two reasons for hazing—first amusement, and second the desire to re- duce a man's rough edges. It is the only way to polish the rough edges of Eun who come from _the cnun{g. t requires about a week to take the conceit out of the ‘plebes.’ They are quickly cured." Cadet Hobson, 1 made the ‘{lficbe!' ask foolish brother of Lieutenant ing experience in ‘‘the sinking of the rrimac.” He was ordered to plunie into a bathtub and sink small floating chips. ““Where are you?’ he was asked. “This is Santlago Harbor,” he was ex- pected to reply. ‘‘What are you doing?' he was. next asked. “Sinking the Merrimac,” he said, as he plurged the chip again below the surface of tne water in the bathtub. Cadet Hobson was also the central figure In a West Point kissing bee. Ho was told to give a ‘‘Hobson” to the trees about the camp. At this command he fondly embraced ~ elant oak and pressed i to the rough bark 1 Academy in Lewis Nixon, “hazing of a hurtful nature was even then a thing of the past. While in former years c~dets had been made to sit in dan- Beorous jositions on window sills, drink ink, jump into ice cold water and te partly smothered between mottresses. the punishment had been so scvere upon conviction that the hazing had degenerated into a mild form of run- ning or badgering that served more than anything elss to bring eadets into cer- tein lines of traditional procedure, and when a cadet showed a disposition to com vn with the unwritten laws regulating he status of a fourth class man he could g0 through the first year without any in- convenience, and certainly without being subjected to any physical mistreatment. ‘A fourth class man must say ‘Sir’ to upper class. man when communicating with him in any way, and in order to fix this In his mind he is kept sirring almos* constantly during his first months at the academy. He will be made to say ‘Sir between every letter when spelling his name, and In a little while he is fortunate it he does not use the word when talk- ing to the mess bovs. “It used to be that plebes, or fourth class men, were not nermitted to drink milk during the first half year. I entered during the summer, and having the run of the academy that summer when all the upper class men were away, we drank milk as we liked. When the term began at the first meal in the main mess hall I remember seizing the milk pitcher and pouring out a glass. As I drank it 1 was transfixed by a cold stare from a second class man ‘across the table. In a few minutes all the pitchers on the table were near me, and I had to drink milk till T could hold no more and could eat nothing. 1.learned my -lesson and took no more milk during the forbidden season. “Beyond being made to sing a nursery ditty or climb a wardnobe I saw nothing that could even be called hazing during my four vears at the academy. “It must be remembered that obedience to autherity Is one of the most important lessons taught at Annapolis. Young men come from all parts of the United States. ‘Whether chosen by competitive exam- ination or lucky enough to be selected by his Congressman, the yvoung man is a picked boy and an object of envy to his associates. So, while we cannot always say that he comes spoiled, at least fe can be said to be elated, and his sudden bringing down to earth is of vast service . B ik to sl “‘Boys are quick to size up one anof and If there is any weakness it wntlhex;; shown up, and if one is found to be lazy tricky, cowardly or given to shirking. it is apt to be driven out of him an he will be all the better for it. “I remember a class that entere - ly after mine that was very siogchy i carriage. The third class took them in hand and every one when he appeared was seen to have his little fingers on the seams of his trousers and to march with head up and eyes to the front, and this ‘was kept up to such an extent that this class was afterward notable for its mi tary carriage. This might be called haz ing, but it was a good thing for them. “‘Can hazing be stopped? It can, easily. Let the superintendent be authorized to cause each cadet to pledge himself on his honor not to haze while a cadet and the practice will cease. “Should this be done? I personally think not. ‘I believe that when not carried to a hurtful degree hazing, as it was practiced at the Naval Academy when I was there, taught many useful les- lons of patience, self-control and obedience.” Rear Admiral Henry Erben, a graduate of the nited States naval academy at Annapel! in the class of 1854, said “Only mischievous pranks are played at the naval academy. When I was a naval cadet they held moek court-martials and sentenced chaps to certain ridiculous pun- ishments. We often sent fellows forward to ‘pay their footing’ by eating two shares of ‘duff.’ Even midshipmen would often take part in the sport, and send ‘Jacks’ aloft, there to threaten > put a rope on them unless they would prom- ise to treat the crowd. “I remember one new academy whom we ordered to stand sen- try on the ‘scuttle butt.’ He was not to allow any of the 500 men on board to take two drinks of water from the ‘scuttle butt.’ That cadet stood in full dress uni- form, with his sword at his side, for sev- eral hours, while every one else had quict fun at his expens On another occasion g cadet spent a sleepless night because e had been ordered by the upper class men to answer the captain's bells. “The sons of prominent men. get the worst of hazing. They are generally made to do extra duty at Annapolis. W loved to ‘rig’ them. They were often put on ridiculous posts, with orders not to leave until relieved. The hazing lasted for two or three weeks. I never saw any fights. Cadets are young at the naval academy, and their pranks are more boy- ish. I should say a chap named Booz’ would make a fit subject for hazing on account of his name.” Rear Admiral Sampson, commandant of the Boston navy yard, had this to say about kis cadet life: “In my experience at Annapolis—as a student, in 1857, and as superintendent of the academy from 1886 until 18%0—there was no.flagrant instance of hazing. There was no case like the recent one at West Point. In 1857, my freshman year, the cadets practiced what was called ‘nigger fleaing.” The significance of the term has never been cuite clear to me. ““The custom was for upper class men to catch a man asleep and set upon his hand several pleces of broom straw about an inch long and then set fire to them with a candle. The straws would burn down to the flesh, and then the freshman would wake up with a start and all the fellows would have a_good deal of fun over the experiment. You see, that sort of thing was perfectly harmless. Compared with several kinds of pranks In colleges In re- cent years it could not well be called ‘hazing.' I went through the experience of ‘nigger fleaing.’ “I think_that_hazing, as reported re- cently at West Point and in several col- leges, is brutal. Especially the prac- tice of forcing a little man to fight a big man should be discouraged, al- though it it not much worge than making freshmen clean tents and black boots for older men. “Of course, as long as the new man is not maimed or injured In any way the hazing practice does not become a mat- ter for public. attention; and, I'll admit, the cadets at West Point or at Annapolis may get much wholesome enjoyment out cadet at the therefore, 1 t mind stating that I belizve that all forms of hazing should b R A there ought e £topping this ce. The imposition of severe punishment would prompt end it, and I b e it is the observa his policy which has prevented haz- from thriving at the naval academ aptain Charles D. who manded the Maine whe: up In Havana Harbor, she was bl Hazing is a r pr e and aid exist at the Naval Acac when I was there. The boys were wont to ‘devil’ each other and ‘devil’ their s, and fre- quently on boarc pound ehot would be sent X the purpose of call us out “Sometim. litely as he sho have perfors. 1 recall that ment on one occasion intendent of the Naval Ac tigate a report at_a Patrl Leagy existed at the academy. After inquiry in- to the matter the superintendent called up a voungster and asked him if he were r nt of the Pa n League. sir,’ was the reply Then what i3 your position, sir? was next question. R F'%m the Lord High Sherlff. with the rank of Prince, the cadet replied “Sometimes the cadets would en- gage in fist fights, but there was no system which required a man of the lower class to ba hazed.” Brigadier General C. H. Charlton, re- tired, who was in the class of 1554 at the Military Academy, expre: © that hazing at West Point 28 brutal as at colleges. “There has always been more or les hazing at West Point,” he said. “T recall that the first time 1 saw General Wesley Merritt he was ‘marking time.’ The dets who had ordered him to perform exercise were chaffing him and he was giving them as good as they sent. ‘Mark- fag time’ was the only physical exerciss the boys were compelled to undergo. “Frequently at night their comforters would be pulled from under them; a plebe would be recuired to wait upon his sen- for, get water for him in the morning .a: 1 on one occasion, while goirg to get m shoes blacked, was ordered by one of m seniors to take his boots along. I obey his order. There was fighting among the boys, but it was not in the way of tfe appeintment_of a champion to represen the ¢lass to battle with the representative of another class. “In ecase 'of Insult, the boy insulted would challenge the man he thought had wronged him, and no matter what the relative sizes of the contestants, they would be allowed to settle their dis- pute. In the hazing at the academy 0 my time the main idea of the boys wn? to make fun. If a boy did a mean trick he was ostracized, and that was the ex- tent of his punishment.”