! By ELMO SCOTT WATSON "
'W UlUNO the past few weeks at a score
W of places In different ports of the
«■ United States several hundred husky
^ young Americans between the ages of
j seventeen and twenty-two have been
■ taking the examinations for admission
to the United States Military academy
T nt West Point. They are the men who
have received appointments to fill the
iicles In the Corps of Cadets up to Its maxl
« authorised strength of 1,374, these vacan
f existing by reason of graduation, resigns
g and dismissals from the academy.
I those who received these appointments are
jessful In passing the rigorous mental and
glcal entrance examinations—for there Is no]
_e In the world where the demand for a
*nd mind In a sound body” Is more Impera
*thnn It Is In Uncle Sam’s school on the Hud
*-they will enter the academy during the first
tk of next July and begin that four years’
rse of Intensive training which makes “officers
I, gentlemen"—but, most of all, MEN!
-here do these 1.374 cadets come from? Well,
1 come from every part of the United States
from every stratum of American society,
rly half of them are from the farms of the
th and the East, the ranches of the West
the plantations of the South. A check-up
he occupations of the parents of the cadets
West Point In recent years showed the fol
Ing: farmers and planters, 1,149; merchants,
; lawyers and Judges, (545; physicians, 3(57;
y officers, 302; mechanics, 341; manufactur
151; clergymen. 128; bankers, 90; and one
li for the following: auctioneer, author, chief
police, cook, hatter. Iceman, Inventor, Justice
the pence, pilot, tenmster and warden of a
ion.
'rom different strata of society the newcomers
the academy may be when they get ofT the
|n at the little station nt West Point next
v, but 24 hours Inter the son of the teamster.
' son of the Iceman, the son of the,.Judge, and
son of the army officer are exactly on the
ae plane. They are nil “plebes” and, as such.
placed In the "beast barracks” to receive
Ir preliminary trnlnlng. Rich and poor, col
e man and high school graduate, they are all
a ted alike. They all rise at five-thirty In the
rnlng and go to bed at nine-thirty In the eve
jig. So far ns equality Is concerned, It Is democ
•y to the nth degree.
The course of Instruction during the period of
o months before September classes begin Is
dgned to give the new arrival a sound, erect
Jy, nnd teach him the fundamental principles
military discipline and drill. Throughout this
ase, the cadet has little or no time of hts
n. In what might be termed his moments of
sure, he Is required to learn the cleaning and
Ire of his rifle and equipment
The great melting pot Is at work: the egotls
al and conceited are brought down: the weak
3 strengthened; the surly nnd Indifferent are
jght to obey and act quickly—a democratic
oup of youths la ready to Join the Corps of
dets and start the school year. The first phase
over—the '‘beast" becomes a cadet.
The corps Is organised Into a regiment of 12
mpanles, In each of which members of all four
«tssps nre arranged according to height. In
det argot, the second battalion, composed of
4e short men, are called "the runts," while the
1st nnd third battalions are termed "flankers,”
descriptive of their station on the flanks at
trades and other functions.
Cadet commissioned officers and sergeants are
tpolnted from among the first-classmen (sen
rs). The highest In rank performs the duty of
glmental commnnder, and Is titled “first cap
ln"; subordinate grades range down through
ittallon nnd company commanders to lleuten
its, who command platoons, and to wergeants.
be second-class furnishes the corporals. All
iese appointments are based on the cndets’ rnt
Igs In leadership, military science, academic
anding, conduct, and personnl appearance.
I The "mass molding" or these men is carried
f no extreme; It ends with the military organ
atlons and disciplinary drills. In all other actlv
jles. Individual character-building, self-reliance
ad Initiative are stressed. A cadet never loses
■ght of the great primary aim of West Point—
le development of personal Integrity.
Academic sections are formed with never more
inn 16, usually 12, cadets to one Instructor,
fter the Instructor has discussed the lesson to
iplnln any parts which are not clear, each cadet
repares a blackboard assignment, and later re
Ites orally from the material on his blackboard.
Ivery cadet recites and Is graded each day. Ills
sslgnmont customarily Includes original work,
evelops thorough understanding of a topic,
ather than the mere ability to memorize, and
he language of his oral recitation must be pra
ise and correct Thus he acquires that quality
jost essential to his later career—self-reliance.
At West Point, participation In athletics Is not
ho special privilege of the swiftest and the
trongest Every fall and every spring through
ut the entire four years, each cadet Is enrolled
Sr some sport, which he attends twice a week,
luring the hour and fifteen minutes of each at
endance, he receives Instruction from competent
oaches, and, after short preliminary training,
days on hts company team In competition with
ther companies. In this system of Intramural
ithletlcs, no cadet repeats a sport; accordingly,
n four years he becomes familiar with eight
llfferent sports which, after he graduates, he
fill employ for the physical training of enlisted
□en In the army.
After the fltfst class has graduated In June, the
iew second class—which has completed two
\
1. Cadets receiving Instruction In aerodynam
ic*—airplane design and construction. y
2. “Chow” time In the me** hall at West Point. A
3. Cadet* building a pontoon bridge. /j
4. Instruction In the ordnance machine shop II
on mechanical engineering subjects.
5. Learning surveying by doing IL
6. Cadets on an artillery hike untangling a U
hors* that hae overstepped hie traces and be- ^
com* tangled up in his harness.
(All pictures, courtesy Urflted State* Military
Academy.) £
A_A I
years at the academy—goes on a furlough which
lasts until the resumption of classes In Septem
ber. Meanwhile, the new first and third classes
move into tents In a summer camp, located on
the edge of the parade-ground, and overlooking
the beautiful Hudson rtver. And here begins that
phase of cadet life which West Pointers always
remember as most Ideal.
Drill and play are in order, with no studies t$»
Interrupt the latter. Drill, held only In the fore
noon, signifies more than the mere forming of
ranks and execution of evolutions on the parade.
This drill means learning how various weapons
and arms, studied theoretically during the win
ter, behave In practice, out In the open and on
the road. The cadet will spend his mornings In
pursuits, always varied, always Interesting.
He will learn to adjust a McClellan saddle on
horses of odd shapes and dispositions. He will
do scouting, trotting alone down a country lane;
he will ride through villages, whose alleys and
rooftops hide Imaginary snipers. Or he will con
trol a team of wheel horses; behind him and on
both sides, will roll guns and caissons. He will
be a cannoneer, helping In the swift process of
unllmbertng and going Into action. He will lay
miles of wire, across creeks, under roads, through
underbrush, so that military units may feel and
speak to each other.
Or, perhaps, in tne quiet or a camounagea oo
servatlon post, he will turn the cross-hairs of a
telescope upon an enemy target, and by science,
will compute the data necessary to bring down
artillery fire. Then again, he will be transported
to an army flying Held, where he will learn to
follow maps and spot targets from a great alti
tude.
During the last week of August, the entire
corps takes the field In a grand final maneuver.
Under conditions approximating as nearly as pos
sible those of war, cadets learn how various
arms co-ordinate In battle; they begin to under
stand the difficulties of feeding and supplying
large bodies of troops. If it rains, If their feet
grow told and wet and blistered, so much the
better,«forNjey learn the limits of human endur
ance, and wuT'know what demands can be made
of men In war.
Although West Point has as Its primary object
the training of young men to be officers In the
United States army. It gives an academic educa
tion as well as the fundamentals of military
training. Its purpose, which has been followed
since Its beginning, was best expressed by George
Washington when he advocated the military
academy. He said that what we need Is a school
from which we can get an educated officer.
Although discipline Is maintained In the class
rooms, the academic training Is purely for the
education of the cadet The course of Instruc
tion Is planned so that a graduate will have
what corresponds to a bachelor of science degree
at the average university.
But more Important than the fund of techni
cal and academic Information which the cadet
has acquired during hls four years at West Point
Is another kind of training which he has re
ceived. Soldierly qualities are built upon a
foundation $f character and manliness.
The development of that character Is accom
plished through many different channels. As
hls military and academic education progresses,
hls social and cultural side Is not overlooked.
He has a regular course In gentlemanly conduct
and etiquette? His social activities are under In
telligent supervision and hls opportunities tor
contact with the officers and their families on
the post are frequent After all, he belongs to
the only profession In the world where conduct
unbecoming a gentleman Is an offense triable by
court-martial. So, “officer and gentleman” Is not
Just an empty phrase. It Is an Ideal to be lived
up to; and at West Point It is a livable reality.
And to crown the character-building process
which this picked body of young Americans un
dergo at the academy Is the system there of
placing responsibility upon the cadet from the
day he arrives and teaching him to accept re
sponsibility In an Increasing measure throughout
hls four years.
As the cadet's instruction advances, ne is given
more and more opportunities to show his capac
ity for accepting responsibility. He commands
at drills and ceremonies, Instructs cadets of the
lower classes and assumes more and more the
duties of an officer as the day of bis graduation
approaches. As an officer he will be entrusted
with the control of others, so by the time he
has spent four years at the academy he has
shown that he can control himself.
At West Point they make "officers and gentle
men"—but, most of all, they make MEM!
• by Wnttrn Nawapnpnr Union.
Scenes and Persons in the Current News
«... rf , t
1—Senator David I. Walsh of Massachusetts accepting, for the congress, from Gov. O. <X Peery of Virginia
the statues of George Washington and Robert B. Lee for the rotunda of the National Capitol. 2—View of
part of the Union Stock Yards In Chicago after the $8,000,000 (Ire that swept through the famous Stock
mart 8—Flags of many nations leading the "No More War" parade up Fifth avenue, New York.
Huge Sanitorium for Tuberculosis Sufferers
An aerial view of the huge building project now nearing completion la • Rome suburb and which will
be the “Benito Mussolini Institute" for the light against tuberculosis—probably the biggest Institution of Its
kind In the world. The building will contain 1,391 beds and will specialise In tuberculosis In women and chtt>
dren. The beet physicians In Italy will be members of the hospital's staff.
HER FIRST TRIAL
V
A magnificent view of the yacht
Rainbow aa seen from an airplane
(lying over her In Narragansett
buy. when the craft spread her aalls
for the flrst time. The prospective
America's cup defender was skip
pered by Harold S. Vanderbilt, the
society-sportsman who heads the
syndicate which constructed the
boat at Bristol, R. I. If successful
In preliminary yachting competi
tion, Rainbow will meet T. O. U.
Sopwlth’s Brltlsh-bullt Endeavour
late this summer.
Really Big Braexae
(Scientific measurements of wind
velocities by means of well-exposed
pressure tube-anemometers, fixed at
a height of 40 feet above the
ground, show that the wind never
blows steadily, its speed Is made
up ef a succession of gusts and
lulls. Thus the tremendous ve
locities that occur In tropical
sones are of momentary duration
only. While It Is believed that
gusts of wind In tornadoes some
times attain a speed of over 900
miles an hour, the highest wind ve
locity ever measured scientifically
fas 100 miles an hour. This has
been registered on two occasions—
at Black river, Jamaica, on Novem
ber IT, 1912, and at the mouth of
Colombia river, Washington, on Jan
nary 29, 1921. The fastest wind
ever recorded In the British Isles
was Hi miles an hour during a gale
at Sc Illy on December 6, 1029. As
proof of wind's fitfulness, the aver
age speed for an hour's run of this
particular wind amounted ts only
38 miles.- -Tlt-BIta Magnslne.
Gets the D. S. C. for the Second Time
ii wmmmmrnamm ■
Secretary of War George Dern (left) beetowlng a palm of the Dl»
tlngulshed Service Cross on Capt Albert F. Hegenberger, army air corps,
as a symbol of the second award of that decoration to the officer. The
ceremony was performed at the Army War college In Washington, where
the captain Is now stationed. The second decoration was awarded to
Captain Hegenberger for “extraordinary achievement while participating
In aerial flights, In connection with the testing and developing et the all
corps system of Instrument flying and landing."
Komodo Dragons in the Bronx Zoo
a
The two varanlkomodoenaee, or giant Uaarda of the Island of Kossodk
la the Dutch Bait Indies, which have been placed on show la the Brona
soo. New York, are shown at rest In their new cage-home. The twe
beasts, believed to be a survival of the prehistoric dinosaur, were brought
back from Komodo by Lawrence T. K. Griswold and Edward Harknesa.
4