The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-06-14

tssz 7. C x
 .ho -, pssseas, sas saeszsd as sAs ia. ssat asd psempelY iafesned the e6snder he mnss apoaoEise er he wesld sAsAsA him. he baly, believing Ainssf a cvefmatch fcr his antagoaist, declined so do =. whsreepoa Jacksca pluckily ss. tacked him. cad leae and hloody kshs follosed. Finally Jacksoa cane elf viesorioas aad compelled his ansasoniss, much against his viii, to apologize fos hss cowardiy conduct. i.
 "The military genius Ia Jackson ss- serted itself early. WAiie yes bat . boy be became eluse student of history and the laws of var. and nothing delisAted him uacre than a loag winter evenings tc discass vilA 0e the qaaiisies of sAe vosld's martial hwoes and .he ueaaies made between vaxriag natioaA Familiar with the history q Rome, Greece. France, Germany and EnglAnd, the Iives cf com madden like Cesar, Napoleon. Wsaliae- ingsoa and rrsdesick the GseAs, plesssd him most lohkine back nos upoa those days l can easily sse vha, pourished the spirit which inspired the dashing. rapid marches aaa voadessul successes ot Jachsons campaigns in shs Valley of the Shenandoah. He had, too, . convic- ton of what his akss life was to be. for often he would cicse oae of the long talks ef which have 6rst spsken, with the remark: have but one talent aaA will never be an.tAiag but Tom jackson unless the United Seales engage in vAr."
 Easly ia rssa shs caAsasAip as Wea Point iRon lhas eeausssianal dissssct suddenly became vacant thpoueA tAe failuze of the ap0lntse to report tor ex. aminasion, and Jackson announced to me hls desefmiuaiioa O seek the place. kaowine that he had uo influential friends to urge hts appoinimeal and that even Il he secured tt. he vas poorly prepared to pass the preliminary examin. asioa, | at first discouraged him tn hts parpsss. bat 6nally, sssing that his mind was fully made ap; yisldsd and did all that could to advance his intezests. It was near the end Of . summer day that he came to bid me goodbye before scstlag oa, upoa Aorsebark fos Washisg- ton to see the secretary ef war. and ask him m person for the appointment A tall. awkward boy of eighteen, dressed in a suit of plain homespun which fitted him Ill and added to the awkwardnexs of his homely figure and with mAnneu hesitating and retiring, he was . person little calculated to make favorable inn pression upon a stranger. However. .n hss earnes.ness o( purpose he seemed ua- conscious of all this aod wiih the hearty godsPeed oi the hule group oi friends, among them his gruff old uncle Cum m,nS he started od on his long ride oi three hundred miles.
 "on arriving aa the capital he lost no time in presenting himself to the seere- tary Of war and mak,ng known his case. A gentleman ~ho vas present at the time once told me that the interview which followed, though amusing, was one ,o .a- spire respect for the would -be-cadet
 Judge Spencer was then a, the head oi the var department Always stern and distant man, the execution ol his son tos
 mutiny by the order ol Commodore Mckenzie a short time before had made him still more stem and uneompTomising and he was in far from giving hnmor.
 He urged that tho vacancy should be gwen to the son of some soldier of sailor
 who had lost his life in his country . service, and that there were already a score of applicants for the place. Young
 Jackson, however, vas determined and
 would neither be blufIed or driven from
 his purpose. As an orphan and the de- seendant Of the men who in many des- perate tight had wrested norhwes, v,s- ginia from the Indians, he had lrttle dif. hcuity in overcoming the objections of the secretary and in gaining his point. Judge Spencer in giving him his appoint ment papers said Sir, you have good name, that oi Andrew Jackson. Go 10 West Point, and the first man who insults you, knock him down and have it charged to my account He obeyed orders to the letter. as shall shew you further on.
 ''' By the skin of his teeth, as he after wards expressed it to me, Jackson passed the entrance examination at Wssl Point and though an isvitisg sub,ecf sos the cadets to put through he decided to go through himself or die in the attemp ps. His awkward appearance and country mAsaess made him aa inviting subject tog the ridicule of his compasi0ns and they hassened to inssoduce him into the mysteries of West Point tic. Indeed, % unbeafable became their coaduct that Jackson st lass turned on ose of his chiei tormsnaoss and gave him . fsasfni beAt- ing. This saved him from fusthss a. noyance but brought him to a trial. which would have led to his dismisssl had hs sos effectively pleaded the order of Sec. retasy Spencer to thrash the 6rsa eaas vho insulisd him.
 During his student life st West Point Jackson and were constant conespoad- ents. and his letteu used to tell me In the modest, seii-depsocsaing waS, vhich through lie wAs ehAra<sssisei{ ol the man, how he vas faziag. Hs vas oae of the hardest studens ever at West Point, asd during the fise two yezrs daily studied sixteen houss ous ef the twosay- four. He made h . pEnctics, dsriag study hours, to sit with his hack e the door with his book before him, and to speak to ns one who entered the room. Bve soswithssandisg shsss sxsnerAiaasy