Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1901-01-08
HAUNTED HIS DEATH.
Breth Went Through Hazing
Motions In Deathbed.
HE AND BOOB BADLY TREATED.
Shocking Testimony of Members of the
Dead BretIfs Family--sister Sent For
Some of Dead Boys Letters Ex. Cadet
Burnham One of the Witnesses.

Philadelphia, Jan s.-Accoraing to
the testimony adduced before the con
gressional investigating committee.
which Is inquirng into the charges
Of hazing at the West Point military
. academy. Oscar l.. Booz, of Bristol,
Pa, anc John e. Breth, of Altoona.
Pa, had rough time Of it during
their ''plebe'' year at that Institution.
The star witness Of the day was
former Cadet Anthony J. Burnham,
Jr., son Of Judge Burnham, of the
court of appeals of the state of Ken
lucky, who was Booz's tent mate
while in camp. The committee also
heard for the first time testimony in
regard to the experiences of Broth
from the lips Of his father, brothers
and sisters.
Said Booz Was a Good Fellow.
Burnham, who was dismissed from
the academy for deficiency in studies,
said Booz became unpopular after
his first fight with Keller. Person
ally he was a good fellow, but the
cadet of the upper classes always
tainted him as a coward. During
the IL months Burnham was at the
academy there were 10 fights, and as
far as he knew no one was punished.
Abused cadets, he said, feared to
make complaints, because they felt
the hazers would make life all the
more miserable for them. Booz,
while In their tent, had told him of
how upper class men had compelled
him to swallow tobasco sauce under
penalty of being called out The
fourth class men were allowed their
liberty on Saturday afternoons, ac-
cording to the regulations, but the
upper class men would not allow
them to leave camp. If they dis
obeyed them, the s'plebes," as rule,
would be punished for 1t.
The case Of John Breth, of Altoona,
Pa. who died from an ailment which,
1t is alleged, he received Indirectly
as a result of hazing at West Point,
was taken up The first witness
called was DR.. e. e. Goodman, of
Altoona, the Breth family physician.
DIR. Goodman said Breth entered
West Point in June. 1897. and died
last October. His physical condition
before entering the military academy
| was excellent. DR.. Goodman treated
him two weeks after he came home
from West Point for hemorrhoids.
Later on young Breth went to Pitts
burg. where he was employed as a
salesman by, a Pittsburg tobacco
house. He returned home two months
later suffering from nervousness and
insomnia, but soon returned to Pitts
burg Last October he again treated
him for typhoid pneumonia, from
which he died. Young Broth never
told Dr. Goodman anything about the
hazing at West Point. All the infor-
nation the doctor had come to him
from the boys family. He became
very nervous about year after he
returned from West Point and the
physician often wondered what could
have caused it,
Eating Soap Could Have Caused IT.
It had been reported that Breth
was compelled to eat soap at West
Point. The doctor knew nothing
about that, but If the boy had eaten
soap it would have explained his
physical condition on his return
| home.
Samuel ]. Breth. father of Cadet
Breth, testified that his son was ap-
pointed by Congressman Hicks. in
March, 1897, and was dismissed from
| the academy because of deficiency in
mathematics. in January 1898. Mr.
Breth said members of the family
| had received letters from the son in
regard to hardships at West Point
| The father and mother knew that the
| boys ut the academy were more or
| less hazed, and Cadet Breth and his
brother Harry had an understanding
| between them that if he had any
thing to write about hardships John
would write to Henry only, so that
| the parents would not worry. lie
/ said Harry and one of the daughters
visited John at the academy in Au-
gust, 1897. and on their return home
| they said John had been severely
| hazed and that he had nervous pros
| tration. At West Point John told
| them he had been so severely haZed
| that he became unconscious. The
only one that was mentioned as be-
| ing among the hazers was cadet
named Bender The father was
| questioned at length as to what the
cadet told him of the hazing but the
young man, 1t appears, said little to
! the parents. He told his brothers
! and sister more, and they kept the
! information from them. The father
| learned from the son Harry that
John had been "choo chooed On
his death bed. the father said. the
! boy went through the "choo chooing''
motions.
Wanted the Original Letters.
Harry Breth, the brother, was call
! ed and offered to submit copies of ex-
! tracts of letters he received from
John. The committee decided that
| it wanted the originals. which are
now at the Breth homestead in AL.
toona. He was excused until the let
ters could be produced, and in order
that Miss Rosa NJ Breth. a sister
might return home and send them to
theeommittee her testimony was
! then taken. She received letter
from her brother while he was in
West Point hospital, in which he said
the surgeon told him that he had a
! light attack of nervous prostration
from overwork John however. told
other members of the family when
they visited him at West Point that