Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-04
RELIEF OF HAzERS B0RAH WINS FIGHT
Congress Acts in Behalf OF
Dismissed West Pointers.
MATTER IN TAFT'S HANDS
Possible Reinstatement of Partici-
pants in Trained Ant" Episode
and Sutton Affair.

WEST POINT, February 4.-Word was
received here yesterday afternoon that a
resolution which had previously passed
the Senate had been concurred in by the
lower house of Congress. If the measure
is approved by President Taft it will
make possible the reinstatement of those
cadets who were dismissed from the Mill
the trained ant and the Sutton hazins
episodes. The trained ant incident oc-
Cured in the summer of 1908. while the
Sutton affair was the hazing sensation of
the summer of 1909.
The resolution provides that the Presi-
dent may appoint such as he chooses of
the cadets to the academy, and when APP
pointed they shall be tried by court-mar-
tial for the offense for which they were
expelled, and if any of them are found
entitled to be retained as cadets they
shall be permitted to resume their studies
at the beginning of the next academic
year in such classes the Secretary of
War may designatfa The language of
the act is calculated to waive the age
restriction. most of the cadets having
passed the year when they would still be
eligible for appointment.
TRAINED Ant" Hazers Included.
Those affected by the resolution are
two of the trained ant hazers, and the
seven whose dismissals were recommend
ed as a result of the hazing of Cadet
Sutton of Oregon, brother of the officer
of marines whose death at Annapolis a
year or so ago resulted in a court of in
quiry.
William T. Rossell. jr, who was an
honor man of the class of 1869 and "A
son of Col. William T. Ros.sel, Corps of
Engineers, L. S. A., and Harry G.. Weav-
err of Illinois are the former cadets who
figured in the ant incident. while the
seven who We're sent away by the Sbley
board Of inquiry for their part in the haz-
ing and injury of Cadet Sutton are John
III. Booker. jr., Albert E. Crane. Richard
febvre. Chauncey s. Devore and Earl w.
Dunmore. All of the cadets except
Weaver and Rossell were third classmen
when they were dismissed. Rossell and
Weaver were first clasSmen.
Under the regulation Col. Hugh L. Scott.
who was then superintendent of the Mill
tary Academy, had no alternative but to
recommend that the cadets be dismissed.
The order under which he acted states
that any cadet found guilty of partici-
pating in, encouraging or countenancing
such practice shall be summarily ex-
PEELED"
Lieut.. Col Robert Lee Howe. the most
famous of all West Point cadet COM
mandants. was the president of the board
that made the findings on which the SEN
tence of dismissal in the ant case was
based. The six third classmen who also
figured in that case have since been REIN
stated by act of Congress. Action was
not taken in favor of Rossell and Weaver
because they were first classmen and
because the evidence showed that one of
them at least had seen fit to do some
hazing of a different sort from the ant
business.
Problem Hard to Solve.
1t took the Howe board four weeks to
get at the bottom of the trained ant per-
formances that enlivened the month of
June, 1903. The corps of cadets was in
camp at the time and never in all the
history of West Point was evidence of
hazing SC carefully and skillfully con-
cealed. The ant part OF the hazing was
briefly as follows:
In June of that year a swarm of big
red ants appeared in one of the cadet
company encampment streets. Previous
to their appearance the "plebes' had
been required by the third classmen to
fail in at the first tap of the warning
drum instead of waiting the five minutes
that intervene between the beating of the
drum and the final call known as the
ASSEMBLY
Failure on the part of a fourth class
man to obey this mandate of his tor
mentors meant that the offender promptly
became an "ant trainer" When one of
the ''plebes' violated this fall in reg
ulation the offense was reported to the
proper cadet tribunal and the unfortunate
fourth classman was sentenced some
thing like this:
Cadet -- having violated the fall
in rule. will nrOcped fOrthWftb into bist
company street and Immediately gather
100 nice fat ants, put them in a proper
receptacle. and bring them back in half
an hour and in the presence of witnesses
will count them, and If any Of the ants
are absent or unaccounted for will report
accordingly. If all the ants are present
and accounted for he will properly secure
them and will keep them in such places
that they can be corralled and counted on
demand
Penalty for Losing Performer"
After the sentence was passed the
'plebe" proceeded to his company street,
and for the next half hour was the busiest
cadet in West Point. He had to have
exactly 100 ants. no more and no less,
when he returned. At one time it was
said that 1.0oO ants were in captivity
When ''plebe'' lost one he was generally
OTueTeu 10 go ana corral an additional
twenty-five or fifty for his collection.
Still another form of haZing that was
brought to light in this same investiga-
ton was the mess hall test" This was
to order the ''plebe' to place his toes
against the bottom of the table when in
the mess hall. and finish his meal in that
almost impossible position. Other forms
of hazing also came to light, and the
evidence showed tnat Ross-lI had been
more cruel than the other cadets WHO
were dismissed.
When the Sutton case came up Lieut..
Col. Frederick W. Sibley was the COM
mandant of cadets and he was the presi-
dent of the board that Investigated it
Sutton had been seriously injured while
on sentry duty, and was in the hospital
for several weeks. Sutton was himself
the most unwilling of witnesses and did
all in his power to keep those who had
injured him from being dismissed.
All of these cadets will have chance
to get back by way Of the cour1-martial
route if the President acts favorably on
the resolution that has now passed both
houses of Congress.
None Of the officers here would discuss
the resolution. nor would they hazard an
opinion as to its possible effect on the
discipline of the Military Academy.