New-York tribune., 1910-07-25

and "sow a few wild oats and nave
done with it. But after time they re-
allied that it was a serious matter, that
going the pace that kills" had such
grip on him that it would take ali MS
will power to ''cut 1t out
Friends Tried to Help Him.
They gave him ali the help they couio'
even begged him to steady down Bacon
either could or would not Frequently
according to his classmates, he returned
on board ship from shore liberty IN
badly intoxicated condition, and there
were other things that they did not IKE
and could not stand for long.
Finally, the day came when an orncer
| caught him intoxicated on duty. Ac-
cording to the story which is going the
! rounds of the ward rooms, this olllcer
| decided to give him another chance. he
! told him he would not report him II ne
would pledge his word not TO drink
again Bacon gave the officer his word
not to do so.
But several days after that he violated
his pledge, and, in fact from that time
on until his court martial broke II re-
peatedly. While all this was going on
| his classmates were doing all they coulo
TO keep him in the service
On several occasions Bacon overstayed
his shore leave, it is said, and returned
too late to stand his watch. Now,
standing a four-hour watch on board
ship, either in port or at sea, is no tun'
but they willingly stood it for him. AT
other times, even though he was on
board, he was in no condition to stand
| his watches, and again his friends Voiun-
tarily took them for him.
| Bacon seemed to take this as mat
ter of course, and apparently showed
anything but appreciation. On the con-
trary, he laughed at his friends and
called them easy" When one of them
went up to him one day and said, "Ba-
con. l stood your watch for you last
night he remarked: We'll, what a
damn fool you are!"
| Naturally this attitude made his
friends indignant. Several Of them got
together and went to him and had
plain talk They told him a few things
about himself and his behavior that were
more forcible than polite, and they also
warned him that things could not go or
much longer as they were, that some
thing was about due to drop, and he hao
better stand from under"
He did not take this talk much &c
! heart Then the story of his pledge te
the officer began to be runlored around
and a little later, according to one OF
! his classmates, he got out Of a report
for drinking by making a. false state
ment.
These two things were enough The
run1or of his pledge to the officer was
investigated, and substantiated. 1t was
also proved to the satisfaction Of the Of
fcers in the junior ward room that he
was intoxicated when SO reported, anc
| to which report he made a false state
ment.
Class Meeting Held.
Midshiprnan Douglas decided that il
was time for Bacon's own classmates
to act. He called a meeting Of the mem
bers of '09 on board the New Hamp'
shire and put the matter before them.
This man Bacon" Douglas said. ''ha:
been reported for intoxication, and go
out of the report by q false statement
He also gave his word Of honor TO AZ
officer that he would not drink if tha
officer did not report him. He hai
broken that pledge repeatedly and ha
shown no regard for his word. Now. III
question is. What are we TO do? Are W
to allow this 70 pass. or is it our dut!
70 report Bacon and have him cour
rlartialIed?
There was some general discussion O
E the case. The nlidshipmen, however
5 were unanimous in agreeing that the,
s had done everything possible fo- Bacon
! and that he, in violating his word, wa
: guilty of conduct which they should no
, permit him to pass and for which h
could have no excuse to offer
l. The code at Annapolis, they pointe
out, prohibited lying at the academ
= and provided for ostracisna and clas
; action for q nlidshipman guilty of Il
and they argued further that if tina
applied TO undergraduates, it should az
5 ply even more forcibly to graduates c
: the academy
The question whether they should &C
was put to vote, and the vote was unani
2 nous that they should Midshipne
= Douglas and Lowell, two of the mos
Z liked men Of their class, were appointe
a committee to prefer charges of lynn
and drunkenness against Bacon. The
! did SO, a court martial was ordered, an
I in due time Bacon was convicted on bot
counts, and his dismissal from the ser
vice promptly followed.
1t was a case of too much of tn
; Great White Way" said a passed mid
= shipman yesterday. His classnate
gave Bacon the benefit Of every doubr
They stood by him as long as they could
} and, in my opinion, were even to
= lenient with him. But when he brok
his word and made false official state
ments, they could take no other acto
: than that which they did,
, DON'T WANT SAITH ST. WIDEl
Property Holders Prepare Petition, an