The record-union., 1899-11-27

ing ). Inc pleDe is lOlQ 10 TepOie a.
another plebe's tent because, by order
OF the commandant, no upper class
man is permitted to go into an under
classman's tent and vice versa. Any
cadet detected disobeying this order is
subject to speedy and severe PUNISH
ment. So the yearlings get around 1t
| by sitting in his own tent-or IT may
| be that of a classmate-and calmly sli-
perintending the hazing from across
the company street. The plebe reports
| if he does not, he knows that worse
trouble will be in store for him--and is
ordered to 'eagle." This exercise IS
| executed by bending the knees as far as
possible toward the ground and at the
same time extending the arms out
from the sides to the hight of the
shoulder. perpendicular with the hooy,
and gently moving the hands up and
down. The original position is then re-
| sumed and one eagle" mas been done.
| The movement, simple in itself, soon
demonstrates that a number OF mus
| cles is called into play. But the oolect
of the yearling is not to give b9nenclai
exercise. but to torture. The Plepe
soon becomes weary Fifty eagles pro-
duce fatigue; one hundred aching mus
| cles. But the number required IS II
that is. the indefinite number which
can he done before consciousness reefs
or cramps ensue. Three hunoreu'
| three hundred and fifty. and tour nun
dred are forced upon the plepe. NeF-
er does it happen that he succeeds III
doing that many without a matt peihs
called by torture. The time soon comes
! when in lowering himself to the Srouhu
! the muscles give out and ne 1ails "
his knees. Is the yearling sa,isneu
No: the fun has but just begun Inc
plebe occupants of the tent IN Which
the ssoiree" is held are peremptoriis
ordered to set the man on ms iee''
That done he is told to "eagle asai''
Despair in his heart and face, ne mas
no alternative and again begins MS
sa1f-+orture This time the end comes
,,,ora ouickly. The muscles, already
overtaxed. give out again. he laiis'
;s nlaced on his feet again, anu goes
on In doing four hundred eagles Inns
takes place usually three or tour tliiie9'
Some times the plebe faints. Il IS DEL
for so for in that case fright CAUSES
tbe vearling to desist- In the event
however. of his continued resistance -
oo,lanse the yearling at last tells MN
to .corne off that and take a rest oN
the ''stretcher.'
Tba tents in camp are very smaH anu
to accommodate two and often three
neonle space must be economical very
co rafullv The stretchers aid IN thls.
Tbav are shelves extended from the
ridoa noles of the tents. In each tent
there are two, and they are hung al
right angles with each other.
On one of these the plebe is told 10
..rest" He rests" by grasping the
stretcher, one hand on either slde' anu
suspending himself by his arms Inc
stretcher being about six feet from the
floor. he must draw his feet we'll under
| him to insure their free swing ms
weight of the body soon becomes tco
much for the arms, which are bearing
the whole unaided; the fingers become
cramped and the hold must be looseo-
Lest the plebe should attempt to dead
! beat"-and no matter how we'll he ever
| does ANYTHING, he is told he is dead
! heating-he is warned that if he loosenS
his hold he must drop to the floor on his
knees. The danger of a two-foot drop
on a board floors nerves the plebe to
further efforts; but at last. usually in
three or. four minutes, down he drops
d
ordered back If he cannot rise him
self the tent occupants are ordered to
put him there" A minute passes,
and again he falls And so it goes on,
| usually through six or eight minutes
of agony, and embracing sometimes
four five and seven plunges to the
floor, each time on the knees.
| In each tent are, two rectangular
boxes about three feet in length and
eighteen inches in depth and width.
! These are the tent lockers. They take
the place of drawers in which to stow
articles The exhausted plebe is now
told to sit down on one of these and
rest He is told to sit on the extreme
edge of the locker, hold his legs out
parallel with the floor, and at the same
time touch his toes with his finger tips.
There are few positions more difficult
or painful, yet the time allowed for this
exercise" is usually from five to eight
minutes. Having endured this till al
lowed to stop finally, the next thing he
| is told to do is to pick up the tent clean
/ ing-box and hold it out in front of him.
This box is a heavy wooden affair,
strongly bound with metal. and used to
! hold cleaning materials of different
sorts. Sometimes the Krag- -Jorgenssn
rifle is made use of in this exercise in
stead OF the box. The effect is the
same; the arms give out. AS in all the
rest of these ''amusements' the first
signs of exhaustion do not suffice. The
| box, or rifle, must fall again and again
| from the weary arms.
| The exercise of "chinning'' is taken in
this way: The plebe lies face down.
ward on the floor, and by means of his
arms raises himself as high as possible,
his hands and feet only touching the
/ floor. He then lowers himself till he
can touch the floor with his chin The
movement is repeated while the plebes
strength lasts. An athletic person with
well-developed muscles may succeed in
doing this twenty or twenty-fiv times
with difficulty. The yearling sees fit as
! in all else, to force the victim to do one
more than he can. In some cases the
required exhaustion has been resisted
by gritty plebes till eighty have besn
| done. each one of the last forty being
productive of extreme pain.
A wooden willy brings into use the
Krag- -Jorgensen rifle. The heavy gun
is grasped in the two hands. thrust out
as far from the shoulder as possible.
and then drawn back to the position of
firing. When thirty or forty of these
operations have been executed the arms
ache painfully. Yet, from that stage
on the plebe is driven till three hun
dred are completed, and sometimes