Iron County register., 1883-07-12
West Point Hardships.


"The boys who pass the examinations
are only furnished with cap and jacket
at first, and have to go about in their
civilian trousers. On the first day |
was about dead. Going through the Sc
we're physical examination is hard
enough work itself reported in the
old hospital building, and was ordered
into a.baek room to prepare for examin-
ion. There were fourteen or, fifteen
other young fellows there, all with the
same amount of clothing.on that had,
which is just about as much as you
wear in Turkish bath, barring the
towel. There we sat, like so many
beautiful young cupids. We talked a lit
tie, and sympathized with each other.
Each of us was given a number, and
when our number was called out we
went out into the surgeons hands. He
fired me around pretty lively, made me
run around the room three or four times
to see whether my heart was all right,
and then made be blow in q respirator
to test my lungs. / was so confused l
couldn't make the thing stir. He said
| was nervous, and should try it again
and in few minutes | made the old
thing hum. After examining every
muscle in my body, l guess and look
ing for more. he said was a very good
specimen, and passed me. / felt as if
| might have been sewed to card like
a horn button and sold at six for quar-
ter. -tE*
'.Then was marched to the quarter
masters, or some place, and furnished
with a mattress. wash-stand, two pals,
and whole lot of bachelor housekeep-
ing truck. A cadet officer took me in
charge and took me to barracks. He
put on more airs than hand-organ,
He made me open what little baggage
l had and show him everything |
brought along. He was particularly
anxious about tobacco and cigars, 1
guess because he wanted some, for they
used to let the cadets smoke in those
days. He was hardly gone before an
other cadet officer slammed open the
door, bounced in, and made me go all
through my baggage again. The room
was fair size. with two little alcoves
and an iron bedstead in each, for each
room is occupied by two cadets, each
with bed to himself 1 had to put my
bed in shape and fix up the room.
Then they brought me some red stuff,
and [ had to make a curtain for the
window. All this time cadet officers
were coming in, ordering me to do this
and that till [ was about wild and near
ly dead. l had to say Yes, sir, and
No, sir, to them all, and it was impos-
sible to do anything to please them.
The second day was here the ex-
cadet continued, lone of the first-class
fellows walked into my room without
knocking and began to talk to me. l
had little onyx pin in my scarf. for l
had not yet put on the cadet clothes,
and | saw that he had wicked eye on
it. After a while he said: That pin
of yours makes me feel very bad, Mr..
Smith. l had one exactly like it when
1 came here. 1t was given me by my
grandmother, and had been in the fam
lily over a hundred years. | was so I'M
fortunate as to lose it, and when [ get
home the first thing they will ask me
about will be that pin, l suppose YOU
wouldn't care to part with yours, Mr..
Smith?' '.u.. ..T .---. 49,.
Il was not quite so fresh as some of
the boys coming from New York, and
of course saw the dodge. So | told
him l could not part with the onyx pin,
but that had small cameo pin in my
trunk, that 1 would be happy to give
him, when it was unpacked He said
he supposed that would do nearly as
well, and he would call in the next
morning to get it.
4 g What is your name?' I asked him;
and his face stretched out
abouta yard long. OF course, he had no
notion of telling me his name, and he
was so taken back by my effrontery in
askineit that had to laugh, and this
made him as mad as q hornet. .,g
'''Don'tyou know, you beastly, Ill
hammered young plebe,' said he, that
the greatest ,affront YOU can give ca
diet after asking his name is to laugh in
his face told him l didn't know it,
and that l was very sorry to have Of
Tended him. SO he went off, and
never saw anything more of him. still
have the pin. A few days afterward
was in, need of postage stamp, and a
cadet had got acquainted with said he.
would find me one if would go with
him to his room. / went, and when he
handed me the stamp | offered him
three cents. He looked at me as if |
had asked him to black my boots.
Young man, said he, 'as long as you re
in this academy never offer money to a
cadet. A cadet never takes pay for
any thing!' One evening during visiting
hours four or five fellows had come
into my room, and we had been
smoking pipes till the smoke was
so thick you could cut it.
We We're all fresh enough about
the rules, and were singing
song. Suddenly the door flew open and
q cadet officer looked in. He was fairly
paralyzed at first to see what was going
on, but as soon as he recovered his
breath he gave us a good rating and
told us if we wanted to be reported we
should just open our heads again that
night. Nobody dared say word-for
YOU don't know the dion.tY of a cadet