The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-10-06
THE H.AMNG OF CADETS
a Practice which Crops Ont Year Afser
Xeas NJ the Naval Academy IN Spite Of
An ERorts 20 Exterminate Il.

a Practice which Crops Ont Year After
Year NJ the Naval AoaAeny IN Spite Of
An EForts 70 Exterminase t.
WASHINGTON. Oct 5.-The recent affair at
Annapolis offers fresh proof OF the hold which
hazing has at the Naval Academy. and Of the
great difficulty encountered In breaking It up.
In some OF the colleges the ancient custom 10
now more honored In the breach than in the
observance; at West Point, although Il might
be not safe to say that It is stamped out yet at
least Of late years 1t has attracted less atten-
tlon. But In Annapolis 1t has deep and tsna-
cious root, and efforts to eradicate It have thus
far proved futile Ono may recall. perhaps.
that the sailors profession has always been fa-
NOUS for practical Jokes on the sreenies. evon
II tho ceremony Of crossing the line is. In these
busy and practical days, less frequently OBJ
served than Of yore. At any rate the very last
Board Of Visitors at the Naval Academy ex-
pressed themselves In this language:
The odious. brutalxins. and non-American habit Of
sssar ssn has ys &
a SS S ssS
equity that eenslaily, prevail AMONG sdacs.ed and
raj sdaessioa sss svsrs%ens upon nos. wSo
Lesson they are 70 practise life they ought
4
sdSshtsse o. po.tion wong sn interior hcasS
sS$! !Ss.. q sss.l sSa L.
suit those Or lower class.
Possibly the Board Of Visitors might have
been less severe in it's structures. were the
habitual result Of these practices like that Of
the recent one at the Naval Academy. The
man who tainted was one OF the hazers. and not
the unfortunate wight squeezed between .
pair Of mattresses. 30 that his head might
show Like q turtles: although In weather like
the present 1t was he that might have been
justified in swooning. But It is certainly true
that some Of the acts committed at the Naval
Academy under the plea Of hazing cannot be
justified under the plea OF harmless fun.
Among the performances resorted to in past
years have been those Of making the victim turn
out Of his hammock at night and stand on his
head: or sit cross legged upon his hammock
and be swung till thrown to the deck: or 60
through the motions Of swimming on Q ham
mock. one end Of which is made fast with q
throw him to the deck: e or lie motionless for
ten minutes in a tank: or sing out Of his sea-
ma ma. note book. . private journal kept BY
standers; or 60 through mock drills in the
Mushroom; or crawl around o table leg: or
basin allied with Water ' or eat soap These
are examples Of familiar forms Of hazing: and
while some Of them are merely intended to
provoke amusement. and are often taken in
good part and perhaps submitted to with q
tact which wins. good, opinion, for the victim.
yet others are indignities such as some lads
ind 1t hard to bear.
1t is obviously impossible for the authorities
to discriminate between acts Of ha1ing In q
way to overlook some and punish others.
although there may be varying degrees Of pun
ishment administered, in accordance with the
facts Of the case, The Board Of Visitors Is
undoubtedly right In declaring that quite
apart from the question of the effect on the
victim Is the effect on the character of the
hazer. who gives way to what Is at best mean
II not brutal spirit In taking advantage Of the
newcomers Exactly how, the evil fs to be
treated be subsGt Of less differ
sH Va Eh. q the Military Academy 10
R.scedins tySsPty- Axe ysa . his pfsdsssssoTs
been broken up. but were always mistaken.
He would not favor the plan Of taking pledges
from cadets that they would not violate the
regulations In this respect. but he believed In
summary and certain punishment where the
offence was Intentional. He thought that ca
diets in hazing considered "either that they
will not be detected or that come influence
will prevent their punishment" Accordingly
he held that the aim should be to prevent reli-
ance on either Of these sources of escape. Per-
haps the trial Of the cadets arrested at Annap-
oils will lead to further disclosures Of tho eI-
tent to which haZing Is still carried on there.
and Of tho views OF the academy authorities as
to how IL can be put down.