Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-12-20
BOOB CASE BROUGHT OUT
INTERESTING TESTIMONY.
EXPERIENCES, BUT NONE EX-
PRESSED REGRETS.
BOOKS FIGHT DESCRIBED.
DID NOT RELISH PUNISHMENT, AND
LAID DOWN To ESCAPE HIS
ADVERSARY'S BLOWS.

OOIAS very 1AtO4tSlIuS lSSLlQlOuy Was
brought out to-day by the court Of in
quiry which is investigating the al
legged hazing Of cadets at the military
academy here in connection with the
recent death Of former Cadet Booz.
Thirty-five cadets were examined DUR
ing the morning and afternoon sessions.
Of these one was the brother of Lieut..
Richmond P. Hobson, Of Merrimac
fame, another was the son OF Gen. Phil
Sheridan, and third, Mark Brooke, of
Pennsylvania, is a nephew of Gen.
Brooke, who IS the presiding officer of
the court. All three told of the hazing
they got during the eacampment of SO
at the time Oscar L. Booz was their
classmate, and not one of them said
that the treatment received or those
things they had to do were either bru-
tai or degrading.
Hobsons worst ordel was when he
had to stand on his head in bath tub
in which there was about ten inches of
water. He said he was partially strang-
led but was all right in a few minutes.
Young Phil Sheridan was made to ride
a broomstick along the company's street
in commemmoration of his ilIustrious
fathers ride, and he had to keep shout
ing Turn, boys, turn all the time.
He did not think this was humiliating,
he said, although he did not relish the
task.
In nearly every instance the witness
said that all the more brutal forms Of
hazing were obsolete, and while 'brac-
ing was still practiced secretly, it was
against the regulations, and if anyone
were detected violating these regula-
tions he would be summarily dealt with
and severely punished. There are
about a score or more of Booz's class
mates to be examined, and as there are
several of the first class men to be
heard from, as well as some of the OFF,
GERS, the court may not get through the
IeNh4uS VI CCoI4AnOIg Until CdluIudy
The first fifteen minutes of to-day's
session was behind closed doors. When
the opening session was begun, Cadet
Raymond l.. Linton, of Michigan, was
examined. He said he knew former
Cadet Booz in 1898, and he seemed to
be in good health. He said that Booz
was not hazed or treated brutally SO
far as he knew. The witness described
"bracing' as an exaggerated form of
the position of a soldier. 1t was
drawing in Of the chin and the throw
ing back OF the shoulders at the same
time
Capt. Dean, the recorder of the court,
asked:
If a fourth-class man is unpopular,
is he subjected to more 'bracing' and
exercising than others?
"On the contrary, sir, a great deal
less replied the witness.
He is let alone by the upper class
men and members of his own class"
In reply to questions by Col. Helm,
commandant of cadets, the witness
said:
There are positive orders against
'bracing and exercising, and cadets
have been severely punished for VIC
lating these orders
On blackboard in the rear Of the
hall, the following was written:
TO haze-To play mischieYous or
abusive tricks on. try the pluck or tenn
per of, especially by physical persecu-
ton, lower class students in a college
or newcomer in an establishment of
any kind-Century Dictionary"
Cadet Stephen Abbott, of Illinois,
the next witness, when sworn, was
asked to read this definition Of the
words ito haze" and he said that was
not his construction of the words as
applied to the hazing by ''bracing,"
etc, which took place in the academy.
He was not quite clear on the rules
prohibiting this practice. He had
been requested as a fourth-class man
to take some few drops of tobasco
sauce of a spoon but was not forced
TO do it. He took it himself at the
order of two upper class men. 1t was
hot but did him no harm
Did you see Cadet Booz after the
fight with Keller?" asked the recorder.
Yes, sir. His left eye was black
ened.''
The witness went on to say that he
had never known Booz TO be abused or
in-treated, and denied that Booz was
interfered with on account OF his re-
ligious practices. In reply to Com
| mandant Helm, the witness said he had
known cadets as well as the COM
mandants Of the mess table to be Sc
verely punished for permitting or
practicing restraint" "bracing," or
"other exercises" on lower classmen.
Cadet Albert B. Dockery, Of Missis-
sippi, was questioned at length on
military regulations prohibiting haz-