The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-30
cADETs AS CHAMBERS.
An Old Girls Shrewd Observations On the
Way They Have in the Army.

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Way They Have in the Army.
West Point Letter.
It was one Of Sidney Smiths notions that girls
ought to have military dolls to play with, just as
they have hobby horses to ride, to inure them to
the sight of the live article without becoming de-
moralized But the appetite for the military
grows by what it feeds on, and a girl who has
once taken a turn at o Irritation with q West
Point cadet is like a tiger who has got a taste of
blood. They are past help then. The infection
is deadly and ineradicable; they seldom stop
short of marrying a second lietenant and going
out to Puget sound to live on love and a seeond
lieutenants pay for fifteen or twenty years.
But, meanwhile, the girls swarm around West
Point like flies around o key of molasses-the
cadets couldn't fight them off with stickif they
were 50 minded-they are aHpretty all gay, and
all happy in the possession of just as much
cadet as they can capture. That isn't very much,
were forty cadets and precisely 100
girls. They observe the rule that
prevailed at old-fashionad Dutch tea parties,
whom lump of sugar hung from a string in the
turn about, Each girl has her cadet for a GER
tain limited period. when she is expected to hand
him over to the next one, who is always waiting
for himo on time. 1t so happens that only two
of the four classes of cadets are available at one
time, one class beng away each year on fur
Tough, and the fourth class, the plebes, being
forbidden, on pain of death, to show themselves
on any occasion whatever, except at parade
linus, q girl can nave Dub TWO fGally SuccoSSIul
seasons here, at the end Of that time the tive
classes that she knows being superseded by new
corners. She may pick up occasional stragglers
from the main body after her second year, but
she has no regular aud authorized standing as q
belle. The girls who persist in coming here
after their second year are called turnbacks.
These who are in good and regular standing
as in their first or second season are called rats.
There is no open warfare between the rats and
the turnbacks, hostilities being mostly carried
on in guerrilla fashion. The fact is, they are
remarkably affectionate in their manners and
entwine their arms around ono another and
kiss violently, but there Is as much bushwhack-
ing as kissing among them. An old cynic who
hangs around here summers says that when
women kiss the devil laughs.
The cadets are as trim, as well behaved, and
as clean as ever. Indeed, one of their chief
charms is their cleanliness. A cadet goes
through with such a series of scrubbings that
several skins are peeled off and grow cut again
during his four years course. The first thing
they are plunged au naturel into a tub of boil
ing water, there they are parboiled. When
taken out they are sandpapered and hung out
to dry. Then they are polished up, especially
their faces, which on hop nights shine like
Moses's in the burning brush. Once every day
they are washed within an inch of their Lives,
after which they are strapped up in their uni
forms, which bind the upper part Of their
bodies like the ancient Egyptian mummy cloths.
The young ladies can never see the cadets
unless they go to see them, except those who are
at the West Point Hotel the only hotel allowed
on the reservation, and which does not accom-
MEDIATE q large crowd. The omnibuses and car
riages which run from neighboring points, carry
the young ladies from the surrounding hotels.
1t is estimated that a girl travels several thou
sand miles going to and from West Point during
the season.
Sunday afternoon parade is always attended
by a large crowd. Promptly at half-past 6 the
parade is formed. The ~adjutant. a young gem
tlenan wearing a tall shake and a dazzling pair
of white trousers, is the exposure of all eyes.