The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-10-23

who has Just entered the Naval Academy.
Lnese are termed jumping, running, and
aa cnl1eecr; nne term jumping" is essentially
although 1t is used today wherever slang is
nearu. jumping" plebe means pouncing
upon MIN with shower of abuse, scolding
n MN roundly 1t is the form of abuse mos y
often employed at the academy, because II
cannot be termed hazing, and hence does not
iail within the list of punishable ouenses:
III a plebe has been observed IN tne act OF
committing some breach OF Wnat us TOT
mentors are pleased to term good behavior,
he is waited upon after gun-hre by CON-
mite of five or six of the largest of them,
who surround him at close range and below
in his started ear angry rebukes that never
fail to terrorize. Sometimes these rebnlkes
are mingled with threats of the severest
punishment, and sometimes there are hal
ligerent fists thrust in the face of the victim.
who Is always awed, Inundated. and frigh''
tened by the number of his adyersarjes. n
not by their warlike demonstrations =
Running" Is form of persistent taas,nc
that closely approaches hazlng, the dlstinc.
tion petween the two forms of torment being
SO siignt tnat courts-martial decline to recor,
nize 1t. Nearly all the milder forms of bss-
Ing, sucn as singing, dancing, making love
ana initiating birds, beasts, and fowls arc
ciassed under this head in Naval Academy
Ten years ago the plebe at the Nava, Acaa
envy occupied in the minds of the nnner
classes position infinitely more depraded
than that Of the scum of the earth. Ha was
not permitted to do anything that smacked
Oh u ease ease r Oh pleasure. he was always in
was invariably, the end toggle Of the artllIery
drag. de might be easily picked ont of q
group OF midshipmen by the geometricai
squareness with which his hat sat on his
mead, ana as Ior MS Jacket, 1t was a marvel
OF precision In the matter Of buttons. M
plebe was permitted. in those days, to walk
In the grounds with a grl-dearest of ali
cadet Joys-nor did he enjoy at any time the.
pleasures OF the Saturday night hops in the
In the mess hall this most despised of NOR
tails was forced to walt until the very last
before being helped to his meals, and Ii per
chance ne ate too much or too rapidly he was
subjected 70 the severest jumping" When
an upper.class man entered his room he
srose and stood erect, with cap off and little
fingers touching the seams of his trousers.
answering all questions and closing all sem
fences with an invariable Sir" Ii he
omitted this very essential monosyllable he
was requested to spell his name with "Sir"
after each letter. Thus Smith would say.
Is sir. III sir, l sir, T sir, "a SIR" until the
marx Of respect became strongly-pro-
nounced feature OF his conversation. At sea
ne was required to lash the hammock Of an
upper class man. in addition to his own. and
as tne plebe was nearly always dreadfully
seaslck, the task was Onerous to a degree
ashore his duties were to sweep the room
Oh one OF his superiors and to make the
All these things served to make the first
year of the course at the Naval Academy
one of privation and misery, although they
were by 30 means the only trials that beset
the plebe's path. Several times day, for
example. he was requested to stand on his
head for the amusement and edification of
his torment0rs, and at other tin es he was re-
quested to make of himself a sandwich be-
| tween two mattresses, In the manner des-
cribed by the cadet whose case is now being
heard at the Naval Academy. Still another
form of torment was that of designating GER
tain birds and beasts which were to be imi-
tated by room full Of victims: Alta given
signal one agile youth writhed and twisted
on the floor In the manner of a python, an
other assumed the manners Of polar bear,
another initiated roaring lion, another
grunting pig, and still another. perched on
the uppermost corner OF the wardrobe, flap
ped his wings after the manner of the odious
vulture.
ENobody was permitted to laugh while these
antics progressed, although the situation was
| In the minds of the t0rmentors at least,
| were the full dress parades held after gum
fire In remote upper corridors. Plebes
were summoned from far and near. and to
| Of which were alike. Promptly after gun
| fire they could be seen falling in. One wore
| nightgown and weather-beaten old sou'-
wester; another was adorned solely with
Odtu INV o., WulCu coIvtQ tut DuTDOS0 OF
Roman tunic; another had his feet encased
in expansive fencing slippers, and still
another appeared In fulldress uniform
turned inside out. When this grotesQue bat
TALON was formed, with brooms at right
shoulder they would be marched up and
down the corridor in dignified solemnity.
The victims of this revelry being,frighteued
out OF their wits only served to addto the fun.
These are but few Of the many forms of
nazlng that were inflicted upon the youthful
mariners at the Naval Aandomu xuba r..
ing was at Its height. There used to be
custom when at sea of making the plebes eat
half dozen bareback followed by pint of
water Anybody who knows the character
istic textures of ablebodied hard tack will
understand the ballo0n-like sensation that
prevailed the region beneath a plebe'siwaist-
coat alter undergoing this inhuman treat
ment One Sober, young man from New
YORK, OF marked appetite, Is on record in the
academy traditions as having eaten ten hard
tack within an hour under these trying cir
cumstances, but tradition does not saw
whether he survived the ordeal.
years ago was that Of q. G. Craig Of Illinois,
| This young man was in his room polishing
his skates. when the door was suddenly
thrust open and he was confronted by three
him to stand on his head. Craig declined,
and they advanced on him, but the first to
| come within reach OF the plucky youngster
was knocked Senseless by a blow from one
VI Tue SKATES. his companions, surprised
by the suddenness with which their plans
had been frustrated, could only retreat.
Craig was the hero of the hour among his
own classmates, but among the upper class
men there was cherished against him deep
and abiding enmity. which found vent one
night In a concerted assault upon him as he
was leaving the mess hall after supper.
Fortunately some of his friends were near
at hand and they made plucky stand that
will never be forgotten by its participants. A
riot was imminent, when the officer in
charge rushed in sword in hand followed
| by his orderly. The effect was magical.
The fight was stopped and Craig was never
| again molested, thanks to the interference Of
| a eourt-martlal which summarily dis missed