Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-23
'rr~spontencs Of The Evcainx star.
l. - NAVAL Ac,Dv~v

csLLT DYING oUr-THE Class OF '95-SoTEs
COrr-spOudsncs Of The Evsainr star
T. :. NAVAL ACADEMY,
ANNAPOLIS, Nh, September 81. 1891.
With the first, second and third Glasses on
leave the Naval Academy IL n quiet. ireary
place socially. but items of professional in
terest are still to be found The Sr.a CORE
spOndent sone time las; spring voiced the
general sentiments of officers and cadets in
regard to the old Wyoming. which for the Las,
i've years has served n '.harbor practice
vessel for the cadets, when he called attention
to her general untitness iO- any service owing
to the worn-out condition % hull, engines and
battery. II the object Of the school is to train
efficient youag officers for the service.
and every one admits tina. 1t rs.
there should surely be some efficient
vessel for their practice drills. The old I. s.
$ Wyoming which was long ago retired from
active service. does not by any means come up
to this requirement. as her battery Is worn out
and her engines in IA ramshackle cOudinOn
and her rigging old and rotten The officers
dill the best they could under these adverse
conditions and the results of their iabors have
been quite eommendable- SO. at last after
many urgent requests. the L. :. ;. Enterprise,
late OF McCalla court-martIal fame. has been
detached from the North Atlantic squadron
ana lcrGu 70 AtnlpOIr. WlcFc sue VIII DC
put on. Of commission and placed at the dis
posal Of the superintendent of the Naval
Academy practice ship for the cadets. The
Enterprise IL wooden vessel of the same
class as the Wyoming. but she
has been in active service, she has been kept in
repair. and although far from being modern
vessel, she Is still much better than the Wyo-
ming. The new practice cruiser Is still In pro-
cess OF construction a. Ehzabethtowu, y. j..
hut when completed. which will not be before
- RI 81. .rsRll .lNNr-
qaired. AS she Is oEly Of 80 tons displacement.
Still the guns are modern. as Is every thing else.
and the cadets will then have an opportunity TO
learn some practical knowledge Of n nature that
will be an improvement on the days of FarrGgut,
which could scarcely be said when their train
ing was acquired of such ships rs the Wyo-
ming
Row TO WORK REPAIRS.
The work Of grading and clearing the late
western extension TO the academy grounds is
progressing slowly but surely. Instead Of tear
ing down the old buildings on the new ground
and building suitable officers quarters. these
old buildings are being reftted and changed
into quarters for the officers. 1t is strange
that this course should have been pursued. ~
the cost Of remodeling these old shanties so
that they will be fit 10 live III will be nearly If
not quite as much as building entirely new and
modern houses l understand. however, that
, the reason for this Is that while no appropria-
lion can DC ncquireu lOr new Dnllulnps tntre IL
On amount available for repairs" and this is
being used TO remodel the old buildings. They
have been tenement houses for the lower
classes. and the associations will hardly be
pleasant. Two new double houses similar to
the ones in Blake row are being built
on the high ground near ST. Johns College and
these will have all the modern improvements.
Little Is being done toward the new gymna-
stun, that was expected to be done in the
fall of this year. Every one admits that the
rnl
training. and a suitable gymnasium is in great
demand. Owing to the encouragement given
by the cOmmaHdant of cadets and other oili
GERS, quite advance has been made in the
direction OF shell rowing. and all through the
summer tine cadets Of the second class have
been spending their evenings rowing on the
Severn. which is surely beautiful sheet of
water for such exercise.
Although IL can scarcely be hoped that the
foot ball team for the next season Will excel the
one of last year, vet much good work is ex-
IecteG- Cadet Hasbrouck OF 80 will be the
captain and johnson, 80, the other half back.
Brice, Trench and Macklin will give weight To
the line, and some good members are
pected TO come from the entering class
HAzISG ALMOST DIED OUT.
What Congress in a prohibitory bill called
''the ungentlemanly, degrading and obnoxious
practice known as haziug'' has almost disap-
peared- A few years ago the older cadets hailed
a new class with a sort of initiatory ceremony
The new corners were made to stand fins out,
that is with their arms extended down the sides
and the fingers all extended. A grotesque
salute WAS required OF the 'plebe" by making
him stand on his head and crack his heels to-
gether. The cadets of one years experience
especially Wed with each other in thinking up
new snd original WAYS of ''hazing' or run
ming the ''plebes.' On one occasion / remem-
Der a 'plebe' who had just come on board the
Constellation thoroughly IMMERSED in sailor
ways and vernacular was sent double
tine over the ship to look for q box Of ''star-
board taeks. another was toasted on candle
pudding with vinegar sauce" and 'Carter's
INK a ''side dish. 4 favOrite diversion of
one summer cruise was the human hand
organ" On the berth deck of the practice
ship Constellation there IL Il row of wash basins
with large cupboard underneath il. Into this
through small door a dozen OF more ''plebes'
were crowded. and while one stood at the end
and pretended to turn the crank the others
sang from within Crowds of upper classmen
stood around and enjoyed the sport But the
days of hazing are past and now it is only a
tradition, but assure you to some of the for
mer victims 1t Is a very vivid tradition.
THE CLASS OF '95.
So far there are only about fcrty members in
the new fourth class or the class Of 1895. This
j. q remarkably small number and taking the
average of fifty per eentum as failures, the
class in all probability will not graduate over
Twenty iahinS the Cls.sS that re-
Gently graduated-that of '9l-it started with
ninety-seven members. and of that number but
fOrty-o graduated four years later. The
large number of failures Is not due TO choice
but to the difficult course and rigid mental and
physical examinations. Still il Is az nearly as
may be Of the survival of the fttest, -
and in that way is a good thing.
NOTES.
Lieut. II. H. Knapp has reported for duty at
the academy. lie was here four years ago IN
the physics dePartment.and now tales vacancy
in the applied mathematics department
Lieut. W. T. Irwin has reported al the acad-
envy for duty. and IL assigned to the depart
nrcnt OF mechanical drawing.
The work of moving the testing and proving
appliances from the Old ordnance proving
grounds across the Severn e. the new grounds
a. ln-iIan Head. on the Potomac. IS nearly I'm
i-hci. anu very little more work will be done
here IN testing new ordnance u. W.