Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1906-01-31
COURT MARITAL TO ADJOURN
1T WILL TRY NO MORE CASES
FOR TWO WEEKS.
Midshipmen Meriwether And Mil
ler's Cases Hang Fire In
Washington.
DELAY IN ANNOUNCEMENT OF
THE VERDICT.

At the conclusion of the trial of
MidShipnan William I. Boyd, Jr.
of Peoria, III. when will probably
be tomorrow the cuurt-martial which
has been trying cases of hazing at the
Naval Academy viii adjourn ior a
period Of about two weeks The court
will take this course as it is found
that the continuance of the session Of
the court and the consequent attend
ance of a number of midshipmen ~
witnesses. is likely TO interfere serious.
| ly with the examinations. which began
today.
II the sessions were continued the
court would also be without the aid ot
lis president Captain Corwin 4.
Rees Captain Rees has been called
to his home in Portland, Me-, by the
sudden death Of his only son, which
occurred yesterday. The greatest sym
pathy is felt for Captain Recs. HIS
son was n very promising youth ana
expected to enter the Naval Academy
next year. The details OF his death
arc not known here except that it &C.
CURED while he was under the inhu-
| once of chloroform It is not known
why it was administered
The adjournmcnt Of the court mar
| tial is particularly pleasing TO the
members of the first class as 10 will
insure the fact that oil of them who
have not been tried so far will gradu-
ate even If they then have 10 face
charges. A great many of the mid.
shipmen who fear that charges viii
be filed against them, hope that az
least they will be able 10 get their
diplomas. as it will mean great deal
to them by putting them in line for
GOOD ia tpahmffrul nr9tTn-
| sioBs. IL is also generally hoped that
during the interim some way will be
found TO stop the further proceedings
of the court However, it is known
| that there are number Of cases to be
tried, in which the authorities believe
| the charges are as well founded ag ~
the cases already tried
Ii is not understood here why there
is so much delay in the announcement
of the verdict and sentence Of the
| court in the cases Of Midshipmen John
Paul Miller. OF Lancaster, KY, Minor
| Meri wether, Jr., of Lafayette. La.
| and Charles n. James, of Grinnoll, Ia.
| The rrecords in these cases have been
in the possession Of the Secretary Uf
the Navy for periods ranging from
one to two weeks 1t is known that
/ Meriw wether was convicted, as tue
court asked that the record Of previous
| convictions be laid before IL. This iH
only done in cases OF conviction. As
/ it is the iuvariable rule that persons
who have been acquitted of any offenso
are released rs soon as possible after
| the verdict, it is now also certain that
| Miller and James have been convicted
| by the oouft There were extenua-
| ting circumstances in all the cases,
| however, and It is conjectured that
the Secretary Of the Navy may bo ex-
amining into the power Of the super
| inteudent of the Naval Academy or
his own power to inflict punishment
less than dismissal.
The precodents cited by Lieutenant
o. S. Bookwalter in the case of Mid
shipman De Saussuie today are being
given very serious consideration.
The officer cited dozen cases Of mid
shipmep who had been convicted of
hazing under tho Act Of 1874 and had
been punished by the inhiction Of a
penalty less than dismissal. in one
case cited the superintendent Of the
Naval Academy appealed 70 the Sec
rotary of the Navy TO know II he had
any authority to punish i'm this man
ner and was informed officially that
he did. II is strongly believed that
the court would include rccommen-
datiou Of clemancy to tile reviewing
authority in several of the cases II
it thought il had the power.