Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1891-06-11
IN ORR ARNY's CRADLE
LOW HAzINc is DONE By 'nH
WEST POINT CADETS
8. i. a Question of Learning t." ,n o"e' o.
Learning to Fisht-''Ma"m"f
Boy Made Man"-Ro"s"
rx,erienccs They Have

odr.te of West Point. speaking
como Years after he had obtained us
a;nloma exclaimed and very serious,
w.. .,There was time when l wouiu
not 90 through the hazing al "es.
point again for million dollars ~,
now that I have been out in the worry
l;ah+ or ten wears, and have SORT Vi
half forgotten it in tender recoiieo'A'A'
of the old place -
II would not GO through IL "s"ln; ,
continued the graduate, ''lor 'cn lila
lion dollars. ,d,
II would be difficult to find grad",
o.o who would speak otherwise. Anu
vet very little is known OF the h GS
nt the great military academy "r'u
r,tes seldom talk about it, because, III
the first place they outgrow tne lue''
that existed in their minds when as
cadets, they thoroughly believed IN ~
and in the second place, because IL Is
wore than apt to renew old quarreis'
| The cadet, himself however-th"o is'
the man who has been through l1-oe-
lievas in the practice. He assures you
rr,velv that mo man can be gooo
otticer who has not been hazed at West
POINT He thinks that 1t levels al
the men of Il class to one plane "a
thing greatly desired at the academy
the cadets will not tolerate Il shoo)'
that il teaches one self-restraint hu-
militv and obedience, and that the man
who has been hazed will be kinder 10
men under his command than the man
who has not. The authorizes nave
ALWAYS attempted to abolish it; but al
though at times they have SUCCEEDED
in slightly changing its form, it un-
doubleday exists to-day just as it did
forty wears ago. The method OF the
hazer is very simple.
He simply orders the ''plebe TO do
particular thing. The particular
thing may be to get the hazera bucket
of water, to polish his saber, clean his
gun, air his blankets. read to him,
fan him, or stand on his head for him.
, These of course, are but samples.
Indeed, the upper class men speno
, half of their time during the summer
encampment inventing new things fol-
the .plebes' to do. 1t would seen
that it would be very simple to escape
from hazing, therefore. by merely de
elining to obey such an order; but the
idea would be mistaken one. Should
the overbold 'plebe' demur to the re
quest, he is quietly informed that h
l must either obey or fight, and that
.. is quite immaterial which h
. chooses to do. This ungente bu
. gentlemanly method of dealing wit
a the .'plebe'' is based, the cadet upper
class man will tell you, on SCUM
4 principles. The first thing the soldie
r should learn is to fight. If he doe
J.. not care to fight he must learn an eal
: lier principle. e., obedience. {
Z course, the 'plebe' often prefers
I fight In this case he is treate
: with punctilious courtesy ard
assured of fair play. A man
J. picked from the hazing class who
: smaller than he, usually by sewers
pounds in weight, and the affair
$ conducted with the decOrum of a due
y After the '.plebe'' has returned fro
l. the hospital and his eyes, nose az
. other members are resuming norm
appearance he is promptly ordered
a another member of the hazing class
l. do the precise thing he had previous
= declined to do. Very few have Il
y courage to decline a second time-nol
N the third. might say, parentheticall
v that while the upper-class man alwa
: gives the advantage in weight, he
always shrewd enough to take the a
vantage in skill, which. added to t
perfect training of the man who h
m been year or more under the d
)r cipline of the academy, is so gre
'p that the hazing class wins ninete
.e fights out Of twenty. When a ''pleb
~ does manage to come out victor he |
is comes hero of no mean consequent
1T and his achievement lives in Gao
VS. tradition for years; but he is prompt
I, challenged again, nevertheless, a
If the fighting is continued unit! the hi
~ less ''plebe' is lugged off to the h,
pital steward with his ever-ready r.
beef, arnica and bandages.
IN Again, it might seem easy to esca
t. a fight at West Point by simply
ID clining to indulge in that gentle p
at time, but this, according to the eth
Id of the cadets, is dishonorable, and [
e. man who declines to fight, be he
ct any class whatsoever, from the day
Is his admission to his graduation,
n promptly cut by the entire corps; q
a. it would be about as difficult for q, n
r, to go through four years of West Pc
or without being spoken to as it wo
ne for a sinner to go through Hades wi
out perspiring.
This sort OF thing lasts during
summer months only, but the plebt
I'd on strict probation for full We
he During this time he is never permit
it. to speak to an upper-class man with
a first humbly asking permission, ;
no then only on business. In speak
ad TO or of an upper-class man he m
'e. always prefix the title Mister"
tn when speaking to one must always
m the respectful term, sir" to ev
as sentence he utters. At the table
at pours the milk. water coffee and
DIS and waits patiently until the up,