Color-blind Patriot

Happy was Henry Sherwin Rupp, 19-year-old son of a Long Beach, Cal., businessman when his appointment as a midshipman to the U. S. Naval Academy came through last spring. Happier still was he when he arrived at Annapolis last week to take his examinations. The mental ex- aminations were stimulating. He passed them handily. Physically he was found whole and sound--except that when a bundle of many-hued yarns was set before him, he picked yellow for green, green for blue, blue for purple. The Navy wants men who can recognize colors. The Navy rejected Candidate Rupp for color-blindness.

Candidate Rupp was downcast to the point of desperation. He went immediately to Washington, secured permission to take another eyesight test. Then he visited an employment agency, asked for a young man "to help run a gas station." From likely candidates he selected Paul David Schooler, a youth of 19 not unlike himself in size and appearance. He gave Schooler $15 and a careful explanation. Next day, a youth calling himself Henry Sherwin Rupp appeared at the Navy Department to take a re-examination in vision for the U. S. Naval Academy.

This time, the candidate picked red for red, blue for blue, yellow for yellow. So speedy and accurate was he that naval surgeons marveled to see how a pair of human eyes could improve in 48 hours. They questioned the candidate, soon confused him, discovered the deceit. Candidate Rupp and his employe were soon arrested, lodged in a police cell under $2,000 bond, charged with attempting to defraud the U. S. out of a $12,000 education at its Naval Academy.

Explained Rupp: "It was not what you would term honorable but I figured people know human nature and that others would do the same thing if they wanted a certain thing badly enough."

California's Senator Shortridge called for "human consideration rather than legal technicalities," extenuated the offense on the ground of "patriotism and zeal to serve." Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams, who has a son of his own keen on the sea, was understanding. At a signal from him, color-blind Candidate Rupp was set free, sent home to his parents.