Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1903-08-24
stringent MILITARY RULES.
MlDSHIPMEM At NAVAL ACADEMY MUST
OBEY ORDERS.
Superintendent Brownson's Or
der Concerning Fourth
or Plebe Class.
WHAT THEY MAY EXPECT
IN THE FUTURE.

Inc superintendent Oh the naval ACad-
emy has issued an order which says in
effect that. as the present fourth class has
been in the Academy long enough to
learn military discipline and now that
they are fully acquainted with the ms
and outs OF the Academy. after August
all dement's given TO midshipmen for
violations Of rules and for neglect of
duty will count.
II any midshipman has more than 900
demerits, the number allowed to the
plebe class. he will be Immediately forced
TO resign. Up TO August l the dement's
awarded the members Of this class were
only given TO warn them what to avoid
in the future. but now any dereliction OF
duty will be punished with dement's and
possibly other means, as midshipmen
caught smoking are first given number
of dement's, varying from IS to IS. and
il caught the second time. they are given
a term on the prison ship Santee. where
they are isolated from their fellows and
are compelled to walk several extra miles
day to and from the ship. which lies at
the end Of the Academy.
This is no small punishment when it is
taken into consideration that the drills
given to the midshipmen are both trying
and hard, and the MILDLY has but one
holiday week-that of Saturday after
noon. when he is at liberty if he is on
the first. conduct grade and has signed
| the book to come out in town to visit his
| friends. He may then enjoy himself till
after o'clock, when he must attend
supper formation. There are three con-
duct grades At the Academy. If mid
shipman is on the first grade il means
that in the last month he has not re-
ceived over twenty-five dement's, and he
is allowed all liberty which is given; the
other two grades are allowed to midship-
men who have received over twenty-five
dement's. and they must remain within
the walls Of the Naval Academy.
Since the new fourth class has been at
the Academy there has always been
Santee squad. as it is called. sometimes
reaching quite number and sometimes
falling to only two. This punishment
and guard duty with the heavy rifles
used by the navy are the two things the
midshipmen learn to hate, but they are
effective in disciplining the "plebes.' as
they are called in Academy vernacular.
The new class is the largest that has
ever been at the Academy and
numbers almost as many as the rest of
the midshipmen ofthe upper classes COM
bined. They are good representative
body Of the American youth from the
ages OF IS TO 20, and they come from
every state in the Union, and are of all
sizes and all builds, from several who are
over six feet four down to two. who are
but one-half and one-quarter of an inch
over FIVE feet-the minimum height.
An amusing incident happened when
a number of candidates who had recently
passed their entrance examinations
mentally and physically. came down to
the Academy to see some of their friends,
who had already been admitted. as ex-
aminations for the Academy were held
three times this year-in April, May and
June-when the greater part Of the class
was admitted. The candidates seemed
surprised at these little fellows, who are
both short OF weight and stature One Of
them said to one of the little fellows,
jokinglY: "You ought to be tied to your
mother apron strings instead of being a
midshipman. Nothing daunted. the
smallest pulled out his jack-knife, which
was attached to his blouse by small
cord, and in high, childish treble said:
Eyes, here are the apron strings" This
apt reply created great deal oflaughter,
as the youngster had answered with
great spirit and the candidates liked it.
Probably the largest midshipman in
e1.a ~1aee &c L1~aaa n.ra~ <C Msr~aeoer
who is nearly six feet FIVE inches. and is
now cadet commander Of the plebe bat
talion-the highest Office a plebe can
hold. He is closely pressed by Cadet
Ad utant Pritchard, who is also over six
feet four. There are also tat and thin
middies, and already there have been
picked out midshipmen who show an
especial aptness for mathematics to in
struct membe;s of their own class, A
high standard viii probably be set by
the leaders of the class. as quite number
made exceptional fine grades on their
entrance examinations. One candidate
made almost perfect in all of his mathe-
matics. One OF the hardest cases this
year was that Of Candidate Jeffries. of
Iowa. who made about the best marks
on the entrance "exams," having an
absolutely perfect mark in two subjects.
and then was rejected physically on a
near -sightedhess in his left eye.
The storekeeper had laid in large
supply of shoes in the most common
sizes, and also dozen No. los, thinking
possibly that they might be used. L
turned out that the three stalwart mid
shipmen who were admitted required No.
ii Shoes, and they had to be made TO
order, as the department did not keep
such large ones in stock. The naval
hospital always had some inmates, the
principal cause Of complaint seeming 10
be sore and inhamed feet caused by the
new regulation shoes which each mid
shipman is compelled to wear. There
are no serious cases at the hospital.