Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1915-08-02
THE HAzING PROBLEM
AND ITS HISTORY
As Practiced at Naval Academy
and Solved Hundreds Of Miles
Away.
DIFFICULTY OF DETECTION.
Is Due to Point Of Honor That New
Men Called 'Plebes' Maintained in
Order Not to Betray Their
Prosecutors.
From Evansville. III. Jonrnal News. July 2d.l

1
PART i.
What are you doing with those red
eyes?" asked a friend in Annapolis of
a fourthc lassman
why, / have been under the shower
bath fourteen times in one day and
had to go to bed in wet paiamasl"
| This is supplemented by the expert
ence Of Nidshipman Thomas r. wyn-
lkoop. Jr., of Ohio, who was made to
stand on his head at the Naval Acad
emy, upper class curriculum of edu-
eating the ''plebes," a course forbid
| den by academic regulations and act
| of Congress, so many times that he
| fell unconscious and had to be taken
10 the sick bay for treatment
Now standing on the head" in mid
| shipman parlance, is not the usual
| gymnastic performance of altering the
| posture of nature, but consists i'm the
and kicking up both legs in The air as
fast as he can. There must be no re-
Taxation or the actor will receive a
rude reminder to proceed with the ex-
| ercises. On the 150th or 200th time
| the victim is near to, or does, collapse,
as did Midshipman Wynkoop.
The plebes are not allowed, after
day of strenuous work in the setting
| up drill" "at cars" infantry tactics or
gymnasium exercises to eat i'm peace
They are made to sit at table on the
| edge of their chairs, throw back their
shoulders and sit erect as ramrods and
eat. If they unbend for moment, an
upper classman will call to them
Brace up"
One midshipman was required to
sit up with a tumbler of water on his
| head and eat his meal in this awkward
| position. Then the 'plebes" are re-
| quired to tell stories, at the end of
which they are told by their superior
ofiicer'-an upper classman4-that the
story was rotten. If this does not
furnish enough amusement for the
gentlemen at the table" the plebes are
| required to get under the table and
| finish their meal
| These incidents have also occurred
in the brief life of the new fourth
classman, whose practical organiza-
tion began about month ago and is
not yet completed The masters os
the ring, in which the "plebes" gave
their show were upper classmen quar-
tered at Bancroft Hall for being on
the sick list .midshipmen in attendance
on the court of inquiry into the theft
of examination papers and others on
leave from the practice squadron.
| They have paid dear for their mischief
some in not going on thep annual
| practice cruise, being left behind To an
swer charges, and others will. IN the
END, be dismissed from the navy.
| Even midshipmen of the next grad
uating class have been caught in the
| meshes. One of the midshipmen now
On trial before the board Of investiga-
tion appointed by Rear Admiral Full
lam, U. S. ~. superintendent of the
| Naval Academy, is a son of high
ranking naval officer and another is
the son of governor of a Southern
State. Between thee ourt of inquiry
on the theft of examination papers and
the hazing investigation about sew
enty-five ensigns and midshipmen com
bined failed to start on the cruise.
How the hazing came to the eyes
and ears of the authorities has not yet
been made public. BY act of Congress
the hazing Investigations now are all
in star chamber courts at the Naval
Academy unless the accused demands
naval court-martial for his trial. No
mldshipman accused of hazing has
ever asked it. Publicity of his misde-
meanor, is, apparently, regarded by
hazerS worse than Dismissal
Two statements are current as to the
way in which the present hazing was
discovered. One report says thatLieut.
A. NJ. Cohen, U. s. N, of the executive
department. formerly called the de
partment Of discipline. whose spec
ial duty il is to look after the order of
the Naval Academy. unearthed the
running" and hazing which brought
into being the present board of inves-
ugation, whose powers only extend to
the finding of verdict of guilty or
not. II guilty, the case will be pass
ed upon by the superintendent of the
Naval Academy and the Secretary of
the Navy. This is almost a formality.
as the act of Congress provides for the
dismissal of all midshipmen found
guilty OF hazing. and even OF those
present while it is in progress, though
they take no part in the proceedings.
The second account gives the credit
of the detection of hazing and bring
ing the knowledge of it to the ears OF
the authorities of the Academy. to an
irate New York father, whose son was
given soap and water with which to
wash himself. and. at the end of the
repeated ablutions. was ordered to
drink the contents Of his basin" Ii
transpired that an upper clasman who
rated the hazing. prevented the order
from being carried out, but the father
of the plebe learned of 1t and informed
the Naval Academy authorities.