The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-12-18
CADETS DEATH
INVESTIGATED
Army Board OfInquiry Takes
Up BOOz Case.
FATHER TELLS OF
HAZING COMPLAINTS
Physician, Classmate and Others
Testify.

Bristol Pa, Dec. 17.-Ths military
board Of inquiry appointed by the secre-
tary of war to investigate charges made
b. the relatives and friends of Oscar /
Booz, the former West Point cadet. that
Ia cams to his death on Dec. 3 at his
L-o---- mere as the result of hazin- bv
Fellow cadets at the academy two wears
ago, began taking testimony here toliav
The board, consisting Of Major GenersI
JOnn K Brooke, commaudfDe. rba 5era~+
9t u t46 east; Brigadier General
s,fycS( a. Gu Colohel Clous, deputy Judge
ING Ihey were met at the railroad So
tl0n BY William II. BOOz the fsfbs5. -
f file former cadet, and Rev. Alexander Al
IsoIl, pastor OF the Bristol Presbyterian
church, the WOrShiping place of t6e Roo
fanny; Inc inquiry was held in the pas
Father is First Witness.
The entire BoOz family was prasen+
Inc inquiry began at 1850 O'clock and the
nrSL witness called was Mr. BOoz uJh1
Has invited TO tell what he knew. Mr.
eT2y on June 10, 1898.
In August letter was reserved in
W--,e-- oscar said he had been in a fight
ana received pair of black eyes and
Ihat ne had been knocked out bv = bioyy-
over the heart Mr. BOOz said he went ro
west Point to see his SON oscar toId his
LaLher he expected to be hazed but ne
dlo not want to be treated brutalIy The
Iather said Oscar did not want his moth
e
NJ. BOOZ then told how Oscar had in
IorI--1d him that tObascO sauce had been
I2Tc2-- down his throat. Mr.. Booz said
t---L Wnen oscar came home in the fail
OF 1898 he was broken in health ana was
never well after that. Oscar liked finn
the father said. but not brutality. while
IN their tents, the father continued, Oscar
S2ad the cadets would pun the blankets
from MIN and pour hot wax from a can
ole on his body Mr.. BOOZ also said Oscar
tGlG him that tObaSco sauce was poured
down his throat both in camp and at the
table
in answer to another question M. Rooz
said the only cadet he (thel father talked
wa at West Point was the son of ex-
Congressman Philips of Ohio Mr.. BOOz
thought the officers at the academy could
stOD the brutality, but he would not saw
they cOndoned it All the. cadets were not
treated like Oscar was, he said. and he
was at loss to understand they had
treated his son in such a severe manner.
oscar spent all MS last year at nome IN
an 9noe2Eo- TO build up mis- health In
June OF this year he accepted a position
with a law firm at Philadelphia, but was
compelled 10 leave that occupation owing
TO his throat trouble
In conclusion, Mr.. Booz said that Oscar
would never mention any names. When
! he felt very badly ne would talk of the
brutal treatment to which he had been
subjected, but never revealed the identity
Of his prosecutors.
| Lieutenant Biakely about-it he was told
that the haZfng would stop after the ca
! diets got back in the barracks. He told
Z
Complaining Letters Read.
Mrs BOoz, mother of the dead boy, and
his sister, Nellie, both testified to the
letters they had received from Oscar
while he was at the academy. He told of.
having hot candle grease poured on MIN
while he was in bed and of having had
tCbasCO sauce poured down his throat,
| both in camp and at the table.
The upper class men," Oscar wrote.
according to Mrs. BOOz. are brUtes and
| builies-' At this point Mrs, BOoz, tremb-
/ ling percepubiy; said that superintendent
I Mills should be made 10 apologize Tor
| calling her son a liar She said the upper
| class men, according to her son, were not
/ TT to be soldiers.
Nellie Booz's testimony related princi-
| pally to a letter received by the family
! on Aug Z from Oscar. In it he told of the
l fight he had with another cadet and that
I he fought until he was Wlnded. The ca
| diets ban to tauut MIN and call him a
coward and said he was a disgrace to
I the corps. If he did not go into the ngnt,
/ they said, the fellows would make life
| unbearable for him He was sorry that
he went into the fight He thought It best
/ for him to leave West Point and asked
/ his father for permission to resign Os-
! car described many. little lndIsnltles
which were Dracuced on him.
/ The sister, in answer to a question, said
/ t5sat Oscar told her that If he had not
/ swallowed the ttobaSco sauce ne WQulu
have StranSted-- Iney were hO4olhS nm
! down and he could do nothing else
! DE-. Willis Weaver of Bristol, the BOoz
| family physician. testified TO the general
/ faiIure of Oscars health after he return
! ed from West Point. but refused to say
| whether the condition OF ms throat COuld
/ nave been Induced by the drinking Of the
/ tObascO sauce.
/ Rev. DR. Allison paid a high tribute to
/ the character of Oscar BOOz. AFTER Jne
| vo51ua man had entered the academy he
| received a letter from oscar in which ne
| told of i'll treatment and said 1t was hard
/ to be a Christian at West Point, but tnat
/ he would stick to it at any cost Dr.
+ Allison submitted a. letter from Charles
/ Burnett, president of the Y NJ G. A at
| West Point. which stated Mr. Burnett
/ had investigated the charges made by the
/ Booz family and found them greatly eX-
aggera ted.
| Several other witnesses were heard
without eliciting anything new and the
court adjourned, the members leaving for
! Philadelphia