The sun., 1900-12-18
INQUIRY into THE 4
CASE Of CADET
BOOZ HAS begun
Father, Mother and Sister Tell
Army Board How the Yonth
Was Hazed.
HE MADE NO COMPLAINT
Father Declares Son Informed Him
That Hot Wax Was Poured
on His Body and He Was
Forced to Drink To-
basco Sauce.
HE MADE NO COMPLAINT

Dy the relatives huu IfleuuS ol OsShf ~.
Booz, the former West Point cadet, that
he came to his death on Dec. 3 at his
home as the result of hazing by fellow
cadets at the academy two years ago,
has begun the taking of testimony here.
The board, consisting Of Major General
John Il. Brooke, commanding the de-
partment of the east; Brigadier General
Alfred Il. Bates, and Colonel ]. w.
Clous, deputy judge advocate general,
arrived here and was met at the railroad
station by William III. Booz, the father
Of the former cadet, and Rev. Alexander
Allison, pastor of the Bristol Presby-
terian church, the worshiping place OF
| the Booz family. The members Of the
| board were escorted to the church, where
| the inquiry was held in the pastors
| study. The entire Booz family was pres
| ent.
The first witness called was Mr.. Booz,
| who was invited to tell all he knew.
/ Mr.. Booz stated that Oscar entered the
| academy on June 20, 1898. Soon after
| letters were received from him stating
that he had been hazed.
| Continuing, Mr.. BOOK said that when
/ Oscar came home in the fall Of 1898
| he was broken in health and was never
well after that Oscar liked fun, the
father said, but not brutality.
He Made No Complaint.
In answer to question Mr.. Booz said
he made no complaint. He, however, ap-
pealed to a Lieutenant Blakely, who
said the hazing would stop when young
Booz got into barracks. The cadets were
then in camp. While in tents, the father
continued, Oscar said the cadets would
pull the blankets from him and pour hot
wax from a candle on his body. Mr.
Booz also said Oscar told him that tn
basco sauce was poured down his throat
both in camp and at the table.
In answer to another question ME-
| Booz said the only cadet he, the father
talked with at West Point was the son o.
ex-Congressman Phillips of Ohio. MIR
Booz thought the officers at the academ,
|, could stop the brutality, but he woult
, not say they condoned it, All the cadet
were not treated like Oscar was, he said
and he was at loss to understand VIII.
they had treated his son In such a sever
manner. Oscar spent all of last year a
J home in an endeavor to build up hi
! health. In June of this year he accepte
: n position with a law firm at Philadel
phia, but was compelled to leave this oe
: cupation owing to his throat trouble.
In August n letter was received i
which he said he had been in fight an
had received a pair of black eyes an
: that he had been knocked out by bio,
j over the heart. Mr.. Booz said he wen
to West Point to see his son and told hir
Il he must not stand it. Oscar told his fl
ther he expected to be hazed, but he di
not want to be treated brutally. The (,
ther said Oscar did not want his moths
TO know how he was being treated.
Mr.. Booz then told how Oscar had il
/ formed him that tabasco sauce had bee
s forced down his throat. The witnei
u started to deny the published statemeI
8 alleged to have been made by Superb
Il tendent Mills of West Point, but he WI
stopped by General Bates, who said the
e would later hear what Mr.. Mills had
u say.
a Evidence of Cadets Mother.
$, Mrs. Booz, Oscars mother, was the
called. She said that Oscar never told
lie nor ever acted one. Oscar wrote
her that he liked the surroundings
r West Point, but complained of the tren
70 ment he had received at the bands of Il
- upper class men. Her son told her in le
- =, tiers that the place was unfit for your
=, man who wanted to do right and tn
- parents should not send their sons there
~ "are brutes and bullies.' At this poi
Mrs. Booz, trembling perceptibly, sa
that Superintendent Mills should be ma
to apologize for calling her son a lii
g, She said the upper class men, accordi
ho to her son, were not fit to be soldiers.
nv Nellie Booz sister of the deceas
M young man, was next called. Her ties
ms mony related principally to a letter
,e. ceived by the family on Aug. 7 FRI
Oscar. In it he told of the fight he b
with another cadet and that he foug
until he was winded. The cadets beg
to taunt him and call him coward a
he said he was a disgrace to the corps.
BE- he did not go into the fight, they sa
on the fellows would make life unbeara
of for him." He was sorry that he W.
is into the fight. He thought it best
at him to leave West Point and asked
As- father for permission to resign. Os'
/, described many little indignities VIII
were practiced on him.
The sister in answer to quest
said that Oscar told her that il he
ON not swallowed the tabasco sauce
eet would have strangled. They were he
py ing him down, and he could do moth
'he else.
DR., Willis Weaver of Bristol, the n
witness, testified that he has known
Booz fnmily for 10 years. He said I
when Oscar went to West Point in Ju
:. 1898, he was in good physical conditi
NJ When he returned in October, the
ers was pale, thin and detected.