The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-15

the court martial of prejudice The mill
tary committees of the house and the
senate reviewed the, testimony taken be-
fore the court, and both unanimously re-
ported in favor Of the reinstatement Of
the army officer, saying that he was con-
victed on the fimsiest kind Of evidence.
MAI. THROCKMORTON'S CASE.
Maj. C. B. Throckmorton, who Is still
an army officer. was once tried on the
charge of attempting a fraud in order
that his wife might go shopping. The
major was acquitted unanimously after q
trial marked by peculiar features. The
major was accused of going to the house
attorney of large New York dry goods
house and making false representations
to him, so that Mrs. Throckmorton could
obtain credit at the store for dresses and
bonnets. The claim was made by the
lawyer and by another civilian that the
representations were fraudulent. Throck-
morton was placed under arrest. An
army officer has the right to select a
fellow officer as his counsel Throck-
morton chose an officer as his counsel
and unburdened himself to him. A few
days afterward the general commanding
the department selected this counsel as
judge advocate of the court, position in
which he would become to some extent
| a prosecutor. To the surprise of his
he had received the condolences of the
accused. Throckmorton considered it
traitor-like act but 1t eventually led to
his acquittal, because the act was not
considered consonant with justice.
Capt Carter had a friend and a West
Point classmate who not long since fin
ished a term Of three years in the Still
water (MinnD prison for theft. dupli-
cation of pay accounts and desertion.
NJoo off ar'c VilCnY
Carter went to the engineer corps and
was stationed at the most desirable posts
the army afforded Wilcox was sent to a
hard-riding cavalry regiment, which was
in the field ten months out Of every
twelve. About Wilcox were none of the
softnesses of civilization When his regi-
ment would return to its post near soma
frontier town, after an exhausting In
dian campaign, there was for the officers
socially inclined and of the weaker tenn
permanent the temptation to indulge In
such designations as the garrison town at
forded. Drink got the upper hand of Car
ters classmate. He was little more than
boy, and with his drink went more than
a modicum of gambling. He broke away
from his surroundings and went back
into the field. On his return he fell again,
and IN order to pay gambling debt he
duplicated his pay accounts for one
month, believing that he could easily Sc
cure the small sum necessary to take up
the duplication before the next pay day.
Then he got to drinking again, time
slipped by, and one night the boy, half
crazed, mounted a government horse and
rode away.
For two weeks drink made everything a
blank to him. In his senses he could have
secured the money to have paid the small
amount Of his duplicated months pay ten
times over, from his friends He made no
effort to do It, Two weeks after leaving
the post he gave himself up. Ten days Is
the limit Of the time Of absence without
leave that charge then becoming deser-
ton. Wilcox went to Saltwater prison.
RULE OF. WEST POINT
At West Point if a cadet takes it into
his head that he would like to pay mid
night visit to the saloon successor Of Ben
ny Havens at Highland Falls he must
take his chances Of there being night
| inspection of quarters by the army Off
Ger in charge Of his company. If the
officer should go through with a dark
lantern and a cadet is found missing his
punishment is much more than likely to
be dismissal from the service. Time was
when II the yearning for a drink of the
famous Highland Falls punch was strong
upon the stripping soldier he would SIM
ply rig up a dummy man and put 1t in
his bunk, trusting to the device to deceive
the lieutenant at his dark-lantern inspec-
ton. When Gen. Howard was superin-
tendent of the military academy a dummy
was discovered in the bed of a cadet who
bore the good old Virginia name Of Fair
lax Gusts Montague. Gen. Howard then
established the rule that thereafter the
putting of a. dummy in a students bed
| should be considered the equivalent of
the making of a false, official statement.
Now, making a false statement, either IT
l. West Point or in the army, means cash
lerlng and disgrace, and the fact that
sucn an apparently harmless ATTEMPT to
deceive should be considered in the light
OF black lie shows how strictly Idea 6
Of honor are construed.
Nearly twenty years ago there grad
uated from West Point a cadet named
Schroeder. He was one Of the most
brilliant men In the academy end was a
great favorite. 1t took Schroeder six
years to graduate from the institution,
because court decreed that he be sus-
pended for two years for attempting TO
deceive the commandant Of cadets. This
was Schroeder's attempt to deceive: His
sister worked him pair of slippers and
sent them by express to West Point.
Slippers, like carpets and other refine
ments of civilization, IRE contrabands of
war at West Point. All packages coming
by mall or express are turned over to
the commandant Of cadets; who sends for
the cadet to whom they are addressed
and has them open the package in his
presence. Ii the contents prove to be
such things as cadets are allowed to have
the commanding officer gives UP possess
sion.
CADET SCHROEDER'S ERROR.
When schroeders package came the
on mo T11o inf Pa
Schroeder suggested that he would better
take the package to quarters to seal up
and readdress. The commandant &C.
back the box, neatly tied up and with his
sisters address written on the outside.
The commandant, for some reason or
other, was suspicious and reopened the
box. There were no slippers inside The
military authorities considered this
fraud OF high degree, and Schroeder was
sentenced to two years suspension in
rank and pay as a cadet. This case
stands in army annals AS combining
more tri1ing crime to more extreme
punishment than any other case upon
which a couft-martial passed Judgment
There was time when the simple
duplication of pay account did not
mean the dismissal of a man from the
army. Finally, however, the offense was
declared to be 4 fraud of the first class
and the penalty was fixed at dismissal.
Many man has gone by the beard for
the duplication of his pay accounts, when
the simple appeal to his friends would
have saved him. Lieut.. Marcus Max
h. Il; Il, e.,