Evening star., 1919-10-09
|NIOD|NE
CASESAT ACADEMY
Admiral Scales Has lnvesti-
gated Act of Midshipmen
in Taking Poison.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


ANNAPOLIS. Nd. October a.
vestigation of the cases of two mid
| shipmen- who apparently took Iodine
| with intent to commit suicide. and of
'their possible connection with hazihg.
has been received here. Rear Admiral
A. II. Scales. superintendent OF the
| Naval Academy, has made a thor
| ough and painstaking examination.
and is convinced that hazing had
| nothing to do with either case, and
that there is little OF it at the acad-
| emy-in fact, less than at any pre-
vious time an the history Of the In
| stitution.
Case of H. C. Wetherytein.
| singular development OF the situa-
| ton Is that Midshipman Henry C.
| Wetherstein of Philadelphia. who was
! thought to have taken iodine Thurs
| day evening, has no symptoms OF
poisoning by that drug or any other:
| though he remains in condiion OF
half stupor half hysteria at the Naval
Hospital and has not been able 10
make any statement on the subject.
Tuesday afternoon. he attended drill,
| but answered sick call afterward and
was seen talking in line: apparently
| i'll and with the bottle OF iodine in hts
hands. He indicated that he had taken
some of it, and an antidote was ad-
During his whole stay in the hos
| pital his condition has made 1t un-
wise to question him, but investiga-
Ftion along other lines failed to bring
\ out any connection between his 49,
| and hazing.
YOUTH cut himself and took Ink anA
| iodine Sunday afternoon.
It would be impossible for any one
to be more frank and open In hlQ
treatment of the public than AdmirN
Scales has been in this matter. Nat
urally. the incidents are greatly r.
gretted by. him and the officers undN
him. and there Is no definite ex-
PLANTATION of them other than coinci.
dental happening of those cases, not
unusual where the application for
the first time Of military discipline
and the strict requirements OF lie at
the Naval Academy unbalance certain
/ youths. Many such cases have hap
pened at the academy, and there have
been similar instances In every camp
and cantonment in the country.
| Admiral Scales Views.
Admiral Scales feels that it has been
unfair to attribute the cases OF haxing
or to charge that the Naval Academy
icountenances the practice.
| II tuGsSc WHO uidhc taSS0 oSSsS
lments" he said this morning. will let
me know upon what they base them.
or give me the slightest clue to case
of hazing. / will follow 1t up and do
Everything possible to get at the truth
land punish those guilty of hasing.
"At the beginning Of the year told
1.-THE midshipmen that would not toll
crate the slightest degree of hasing
land that any guilty midshipman
Iwould be dismissed. The first class rnep
voluntarily pledged themselves that
they would do all they could to pre-
ivent it, and I am confident that they
meant what they said. Hazing can
not take place to any extent IL the
midshipman officers do their duty and
1 feel that they are doing it"
Capt w. T. Ciuverius. commandant
Of midshipmen. also expressed. siliiitE
| views. He has talked to the mid
l shipmen as a body and dsfndividually
| and has been assured Of their loyal
| efforts to suppress hazing, though
| there may be exceptions, which the
| authorities admit. There 10 probably
some running" consisting Of harsh
/ admonitions 10 the underclassmen
| and misuse of authority by overzeal-'
| Gus midshipman officers, but the au-
| thorities are confident that physical
| hazing is not going on at all.