Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-21
FOUGHT WITH BOOZ
Cadet Keller Testi6es Before Court of
Inquiry.
DECLARES FORMER WAS NOT HURT
He Would Not Stand Up and
Make Fight.
OTHER CADETS TESTIFY

WEST POINT, N. Y, December 21.-The
taking Of testimony as to the alleged ILL
treatment of the late Oscar l. Booz while a
cadet at the United States Military Acade-
my was resumed today by the court Of in
quiry, of which Major General J. r. Brooke
is the president.
The first witness called was William l..
Guthrie of Missouri, a cadet Of the first
class. When asked if he knew Booze, ne
replied:
Il knew him just as any upper-class man
would know a lower-class man." He was
not at the fight, but saw Booz shortly after
1T, and noticed that one of his eyes was
blackened. He also knew Cadet Breth,
who was his classmate, and was positive
that Breth had never been placed in a
straightjacket. Such thing would be so
very unusual that if it We're done to any
one on the post the witness would certainly
have known it.
He knew OF men being dragged in a.
blanket from their tents to the company's
streets. Personal violence has never been
used in 'bracing"
Story of Fight With Keller.
Cadet Lewis Brown, jr, of Rhode Island
who was one of Kellers seconds in his fight
with Booz at Fort Putnam on August g.,
1898. was the next witness He was direct
ed by the court to tell all about the fight
Il was one Of keller's seconds" said he
Cadet Barnes was the other 1 cannot re-
member the names Of the referee or time
keeper but the latter was of the class Of
49, There were Booz and his two seconds,
and we had three sentinels, Cadets Hay
den, De Young and Spalding, all of The
now first-class. The contestants stripped to
the waists and met in the center at the call
of time by the referee.
There were few exchanges and then
Booz turned his back to Keller and ran
around the ring. Keller followed, and in
consequence, Booz got hit several times on
his back. In the second round Keller land
ed a blow on Booz's eye, cutting it slightly.
This was the hardest blow of the fight
Before the second round was half over Booz
laid down without having received a blow
Immediately before doing SO. He would not
get up"
To General Clous: THE reason we posted
sentinels was that in case an officer should
appear, they could give the alarm so that
we might get away"
Then you knew you were violating the
rules and regulations Of the Military Acad-
emyY
YES sir"
you say the men were stripped to the
waist?"
YES SIR"
Did you see any marks on Booz's body?"
BOoz Had His Eye Blackened.
"He had black eye"
ANY other marks? Was he hit on the
mouth, or was he bleeding from the nose?"
asked Gen. Clous
No, sir "
What were the relative proportions Of
the two men?'
"Booz was the taller and heavier"
Whom did you think would VIM"
From the looks Of the men | had my
doubts of keler's being able to win,' was
the reply.
The witness was then asked a number Of
questions regarding hazing in general. but
nothing new was ELECTED.
Cadet VIM. G.. CapleS Of Missouri, who
was examined last evening, recalled.
He was asked If he had ever given hot
sauce to any of the cadets Of a lower class,
and he said he had given it to several. hut
not more than four or five drops 10 any one.
Lieut. Frank w. Coe, instructor in math-
ematics at the Military Academy, testified
that Cadet Booz was deficient in his mathe-
matics. He next to last In his section.
He never could have passed his examina-
ton. He was mentally far below the
standard required by the Military Acad-
emy
Cadet Frank Keller, who had the fight
with Booz, in reply to General Clous, said:
Cadet Keller Testifes.
'I was chosen by a committee of my
class to call out Cadet Booz because he
disobeyed the orders Of the corporal Of the
guard and made insolent remarks to an
upper-class man. I was told to weigh in
ami l turned $50 pounds. Booz was 152
pounds He was taller than 1 and had a
longer reach than l had. We went to Fort
Putnam on Saturday afternoon, August 6,
1898. The referee was Cadet J. B. Wray.
I'VE stripped to the waist" continued
the witness, land my seconds told me l
had a tough customer to meet, and they
tod me to do my BEST For the first thirty
seconds after the call Of time Booz showed
a little fight, as he struck me coupe of
times about the shoulders. 1 struck him
under the left eye, cutting 1t slightly.
After this I found great difficulty in gel
ting to him, as he turned his back and
kept running away. l frequently told him
to face me or I would hit him in the back.
did hit him couple of blows under the
right arm. He kept running and did not
want to stand up and fight.
Case of Cadet IBreth.
The name of former Cadet John E.
Breth Of Altoona, Pa, who, it Is alleged,
died eighteen months ago as a result of
brutal hazing at the West Point Military
Academy, was associated with that of Os-
car I. Booz in the inquiry yesterday. Rev.
Father O'Keefe, the Catholic priest,
who was personally interested in Breth.
testified that the young man never COM
planned to him of hazing. but rather SEEM
ed to look on it as mere fun. Breth was
discharged in January, 1898, for deficiency
in his studies. The medical records were
produced. and they showed that Breth
was in the hospital twice, first for a week,
when he was treated for external hemor-
rhoids, and the second time for twenty
four hours, suffering from a slight fever.
He was treated another time in his own
room for acute indigestion, and In conse-
quence was excused from sections for one
day.
Superintendent Mills emphatically denies
that Breth was injured white at West Point,
and said today that the assertions to that
effect were absolutely false.
Movements of Naval Vessels.