The record-union., 1899-11-27

minutes on the stretcher is Mysteries.
Tears, entirely due to fatigue, pour
down the face and cannot be controlled.
Overtaxed muscles ache painfully. In
the case of heavy isoirees this year, the
effects have been much more serious.
When thirty to thirtyfi five minutes of
"eagling," ''chinning," hanging, rest
ing" or wooden willying'' and locker
sitting have been endured. the mind
loses control of the muscles. Convul-
sions follow. and endure for considera-
BILE time. Medical treatment is seldom
afforded the patient in such distress.
The sole thought of the yearling is to
hush the moaning and thrashing of the
semi i-conscious plebe. Each sound
strikes terror to his heart. He is now
abject with fear and groveling in his
Willingness to restore his victim, lest
some officer should hear and make in
vestigation. Occasionally surgical aid
becomes necessary, and the practiced
eye of the surgeon at once detects the
cause of the sickness. He asks ques-
tions. AS a rule the investigation avails
nothing. The plebe is loyal to his hon
or or his fear, and refuses to tell.
AuOlHeI RESULT OIL lHlS tAeI IClSlIS Is
vomiting, and it is not unnatural that
it is so when it is remembered that the
"soirees" frequently take place directly
after meals. Hanging results in pain
fully blistered hands, and it is not an
unusual sight to see row of blisters
as large as dimes running across the
two hands of the fourth class man. No
one ever asks how. 1t is a symptom too
we'll understood "Why do men sub
nit to things of this nature? Why
don't they refuse to comply with such
commands and orders, since they are
entirely illegal and unauthorized?"
The answer is simple. They put up
with them to avoid trouble 'Trou
ble,'' in the West Point vernacular.
means fight Refusal to obey one of
these orders makes a plebe subject to
calling out" by the yearling class.
When a plebe is informed that he is
''called out" he understands at once
that he is challenged to fight. He has
to accept. If he does not he will be
deemed a coward by the rest of the
corps. 1t would practically end his
days at West Point, as the corps would
render further life with it burden.
80 the plfDe accepts.
The challenge to fight is made
through a committee Of yearlings ap-
pointed for that purpose. Theirs is the
duty to act upon names presented to
them as subjects deserving calling
out" They are supposed to weigh the
charges against the plebe, and decide
accordingly. There is more or less
farce, as a rule, to this, because, by
proper wire-pulling, any plebe can be
called out.
Despite all ever said to the contrary
there is no fairness in a West Point
fight when it has for participants a
called out" plebe on the one side and
an upper classman on the other. Any
plebe is liable to calling out" 1t mat
ters not whether he be the strongest or
the weakest in the class. OMenSeS can
be trumped up by some one who has
taken a dislike to him, and pull cas-
lily doeE the rest.
Against him the yearling class puts
out man whose weight is the same.
Here the equality ends. The yearling
sent out is the best fighter in the whole
class of that weight. Besides having
had the benefit of whole year of hard
training in the West Point gymnasium
under a most efficient instructor, he is
a man who has proved himself a finish
ed boxer, a hard hitter, and man cap
able of taking severe punishment Cou-
pied with this, he is usually one who
has been training for such an emer-