The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-18

written records Of the Naval Academy.
The old. old custom OF "cussin' out
has still to be endured by the present
plebe class. The upper class men do
this to them in a style that would
make the ordinary man shuddcr. They
are in%genious,y inventive In coming
profane expressions that border IN the
hlasrhemous. while still showing n re-
markahie ingenuity OF expression.
Moreover. plebes are required 10 "cuss
out" Others at the order Of the hazer.
While the midshipnrn will not VOL
UNFAIRLY eradicate hazins, it is a curl
u and suggestive fact that OF twenty
officers asked to give their opinion on
hazing by he Congressional COM
mittee that examined these conditions
In the Naval Academy III 1905 no. one
approved Of II. Not only was Il their
opinion hat only the mean and des-
picable In each class INDUCED in Sc
we're and brutal hazing. but an officer
now connected with the staff of the
havy and once a mldshipman said that
even should a hazer DO graduated bad
lack and dishonor generally follows
him in the service.
A large part Of the hazlng Is said
by some to be due TO the pusillanimity
OF the plehes. why didn't YOU as
Ger, YOU manhood" asked Rear Ad-
in!ral Mahan once when he was on
a board of investigation when a plebe
Fad old him Of the indignitics mat
"e suffered, The fourth class men.
however. enter the academy expect
ing To take the insults and to have
their self-respect lowered with the
idea that it is justified by custom.
For a brief time hazing ceased after
the Congressional Investigation OF
1908. The senior class promised mo-,
IN haze. The X class would not
promise. much 10 the disgust OF tho
Congressional committee. They re-
f"rred IN the action Of this class in
their report and said that that class
needed To he watched
The mldshipmen allege in defence Of
hazinG that It takes the conceit out
OF the plebes. The reason why hazing
persists. said an officer on returning
from a session Of a Court-martial try
ing hazers. seems TO he that no third
class wants II said that hazing ceased
when their class was the youncster
class. Midshipman Churchill Hum
phrey, president OF the senior class in
1906, said to the Congressional COM
mittee h a the system existed because
upper class men desired TO show "insect
authority" W. the pleNes.
h night OF all nights in the haz-
ing season Is the evening OF the first
class erman This takes place on the
day before commencement day. on
that day all classes left behind at the
naval Academy step up a pace. The
plebes become youngsters, or third
class men, and can, according to tho
we'll established traditions Of the Naval
Academy, he hazed no more. This
night then Is the only time when old
scores may he settled and existing GUS
toms observed. The plebes are hunted
like n hare before the hounds, and their
fur Is fairly taken of. The last ger
man occurred on Thursday night. June
3. h evening the hazing of the
rlenes by the upper class men was de-
'lared without parallel in its extern
siveness' Bancroft Hall was a vcri-
table trough house.
ON the night Of Monday, MAY 81
or this year, after the performance of
the Masqueraders, the dramatic as
ISOLATION Of the midshipmen, had been
given. nj l A. NJ, when the regiment
OF midshipmen had been up until after
midnight. a giant fire cracker was OK
ploded in Bancroft Hall. An hands
We're aroused for a night inspecti,r.
or n "pa1ama parade" as the miiship-
men call II. This done. the ,ypioanr
or the bomb confessed and was sent To
the Reina Mercedes FOR imprisonmcn,
and punishment, A plehe was the
culprit. The only reason alleged 10
account for his rash conduct was that
he had been hazed toe often with hot,
shower baths and that he turned tables
and hazed the whole Of the regiment to
&c. even.
few years ago ono Of "the mothers
OF the plebe class stopped the ger