The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-07
A CADET as A WITNESS.
He Te~tffeS Concerning the Treat
mcnt OF Rcoz at West Point

mCut OF RcOE at " est Point
PHILADELPHIA. Pa. Jan The
House Committee to investigate the
charges Of hazing and brutality Al the
Military Academy at West Point espc-
cially in reference 10 the case Of the late
( Oscar l. B0oz. resumed its work this
morning ii the Lafayette Hotel
Cadet Anthony s. BUruham. Of Frank
fort, Ky, was present in response to q
telegram sent him by the committee as
were also the father of the late ez-Ca-
Diet Breth, of Altoona. and several wit
nesEes in the case. which the committee
takes up today
Cadet Burnham was the first witness
lie said he was tent mate Of oscar
booz while the latter was at West Point
He stated that when he first went TO
( West Point in June, 1895, he met Bcoz
and considered him Ia be such pleasant
/ fellow that he asked him 10 lie his tent
mate BUrnham said that at first Booz
was liked and considered rather witty.
Later Booz was ordered to leave the
ranks by an upper class man while the
cadets were on dress parade. This he
made no effort 10 do. and the incident
created bad impression. as Cadet Burn
ham said, and the upper cIassmen called
him out.
Do You know of whom the scraDping
/ committee was composed" asked Colonel
Dick.
i DO not" replied the witness: = sup
| pose Cadet BetJisOn was member OF it
Booz asked Burnhan to be MS second.
but The fight took place while Durham
! was on duty de said that the fight was
| over on his return, and ne found Oscar
J IN MS tent and noticed that Booz had
/ been crying After The fight. ieering re
I marks were made about him. He was
4 tod i
answer no. Then the cadets would ask
| him if he thought that was the sort Of
stun Of which soldiers were made Shortly
after he fell behind in his studies and a
little later he resigned. The witness said
/ BcoZ gave sore eyes as a reason for mis-
/ resignation He spoke of the pain over
| MS heart once or twice Tabasco sauce
was given him at the table. He once left
some sauce which an upper classman
compelled him to eat His naessmates
, were. the witness SAID Bull. TafTery.
/ Clark Of Kentucky, Dean Of Texas and
/ Myers Carter was in charge of the ia
/ bic. In the opinion Of the witness. com
/ plant TO the authorities would rot have
/ stopped the iu-treatment Of Booz
Burnham said that about once week
I the upper classmen ould come in and or
der feet Inspection" As the fourth
ciassmen stuck their feet out. hot grease
would be dropped on them. He suffered
this ordeal Al the same time as Boo2. hut
he knew Of no one suffering any iil-ere IS
from the treatment. RuTnham told Of he
incident Of an oDossum being brought 70
/ the tent occupied BY him and Booz The
animal was there for three or four days
and they we're required 10 keep guard
! over IL During the INSPECTION Of tre
/ quarters the animal vas not discovered
+ by the officer OF the day
/ The witness also tod CT ten cadets being
put through the Sweating process BY ba-
and many blankets and The walls OF the
/ tent closed down tight The "pIebes"
made no complaint 10 the army officers
/ He never knew of BCcz being stopped from
reading his Bible OF punished for l.
Cadet Durham stated that the class
/ men have a ''scrspping committee ap-
: pointed by the president OF the class and
I when q tCurrh-class man refuses 20 obey
orders Of the fTst-class men he Is invited
+ cut 10 me=t the --sCTapPing committee"
. The wit1es named several cadets called
I ont by the committee 10 fight
In several instances witness had seen
/ the cadets return from these encounters
with their heads and faces so badly
bruised that he could scarcely recognize
them He named TWO cadets who he
said came back IN this condition ~
that time fighting was prohibited and the
witness admitted that the army others
could readily have noticed the condition
Of the men and ascertained the cause.
When q victim returned from one OF these
encounters all the plebes'' would be or
cered TO turn out by upper cIassmen and
line I'd TO see the unfortunate cadet as he
passed through the cOnBany street