The age-herald., 1901-01-08
GETTING AT TRUTH OF HAVING METHODS How Booz and Breth Were Treat
 ed at Academy A TENT MATES TESTIMONY Cadet Breth's Statement on His Death Bed Was Il hat West Point Had Caused the Breakdown in
 His Health.
A TENT MATES TESTIMONY

Philadelphia, January 7.-According to the | testimony adduced before the Congressional Investigating committee, which is inquiring
 into the charges of hazing at the West l Point Military Academy, Oscar L. Booz of | Bristol, Pa, and John F. Breth of All | toona, Pa, had a rough time of 1t during their "plebe' year at the institution. The | star witness of the day was cadet Anthony | J. Burnam, Jr., son of Judge Buram of the | Court of Appeals of the State of Kentucky, l who was Booz tent mate while in camp. | The committee also heard for the first | time testimony in regard to the experiences l of Bneth from the lips of his father, broth CTS and sisters.
 The committee had fixed o'clock for the l commencement of the third days work, but | it was 10 o'clock before the first witness
 was sworn in.
 l The committeeman attached much inn portance to todays witnesses. The Breth 1 family firmly believes that John Breth died indirectly of hazing at West Point. Burnam, a terminate of Booz, was the first witness called. He was told to state in his own way what he knew of the ques-
 tion under consideration. Burnam said he went to West Point in June, 1898. He asked Booz to become his tentmate swhen they
 went into camp in July of that year. Oscar
 Booz, he said, was a nice sort of young man, and up to the standard of other Ca
 dets. The older cadets had lot of fun with Booz on account of his name The up-
 per classmen, and cadet named Bettison
 in particular, Burnam said, ordered new
 cadets to do various things, to see if the
 new men would obey them. He did some
 things asked of him, but finally refused to
 do them, believing the third classmen were
 only trying to harass him.
 Burnam said Booz like all other class
 men, was always tired out by the severe | routine of the camp. Keller, his opponent in the fight, was expert with his fists, Bur
 nam said, and was fine gymnast Booz
 studied very little on account of his eyes
 hurting him. On this account he stood low 1 in his class.
 | Severe Fights.
 While Burnam was in the fourth class,
 period of about twelve months, there were | about ten men called out to fight All | the contests were severe and the fourth | class men were usually roughly handled. | Fighting was prohibited at the Academy, and although every contestants face showed l much evidence of his having been in fight, | yet no action was taken by the Academy | officers to punish any one so far as Bur- | nam knew. When fourth class man bat
 tered up came through the company s
 street from a fight the upper class men al-
 ways called out all the '.plebes' to witness
 the mans miserable condition.
 When the hearing was resumed this af- ternoon the case of John Breth of Altoona, 1 Pa., who died from an aiment which, it 1 is al ha indractlV a q a i suit of hazinG at West Point, was taken | up. Dr. F. r. Goodman of Altoona, the | Breth family physician, said Breth's phys l ical condition before entering the military l academy was excellent. Dr. Goodman treat | ed him two weeks after he came home | from West Point for hemorhoids. Last | October he again treated him for typhoid
 pneumonia, from which he died. Young ! Breth never told Dr. Goodman anything
 about hazing at West Point All the in-
 formation the doctor had had come to him
 from the boys family. He became very
 nervous about the year he returned from | West Point, and the physician often won- | dered what could have caused it. | It had been reported that Breth was com | pelled to eat soap at West Point. If the
 boy had eaten soap it would have ex- | plained his physical condition on his return
 home
 Samuel J. Breth, father of Cadet Breth,
 testified that his son was dismissed from 1 the academy because of his deficiency in | mathematics {. MT. Breth said members of 1 his family had received letters from the
 son in regard to hardships at West Point 1 The Original Wanted. l Harry Breth, the brother, offered to sub- l init copies of extracts of letters he received | from John. The committee decided that it | wanted the originals, which are now at the
 Breth homestead in Altoona. He was ex-
 cused until the letters could be produced l and in order that Miss Rosa M. Breth, a
 sister, might return home and send them
 to the committee, her testimony was then | taken. She received a letter from her l brother while he was in West Point Hos | pital, in which he said the surgeon told him
 that he had a light attack of nervous pros | tration from overwork. John, however. told
 the other members of the family when they
 visited him at West Point that his condi- 1 ton was due to hazng. John said he was l hazed three times in one night. John wrote l home that he had to eat eight slices of
 bread soaked in molasses. On his death l bed he told me that West Point is the
 cause of the breakdown in my health" He mentioned the names of Bender, Wood
 and Young as being awful hazers." | While in the hospital, she said, John told
 her that he was visited by upper class mer | and told that he had better get out oi l here tomorrow" @~
 1 William A. Breth, another brother, tolt l substantially this story:
 EagIing Exhaustins. | "When John came home he told me that | he had to do so much eagling' that he of- | ten became exhausted and his muscles left | like leather. A cadet named Bender made 1 him sit on the point of a bayonet until he l fell off. He was made Ito sit on 1t again | and during this operation Bender played
 violin On another occasion, holiday, af- | ter hard days drill, he was compelled to l don a raincoat and hold out dumb bells. 1 On Sunday all cadets were given a certain l amount of liberty, but Bender prevented l him from leaving camp.
 l Mary c. Breth, another sister of Breth, l was called and corroborated the testimony of other members of the family.
 1 At o'clock the committee adjourned un- l til o'clock tomorrow morning. | The Hoff Test.
 | Lonodn Cable in the N. Y. Journal. 1 Hammann passed another progressive