The morning call., 1891-02-15
TRYING FOR
WEST POINT.
How Preliminary Examinations Are
Conducted in New York.
Twenty-Eight Applications for Admission as
Cadets to the Military Academy. and
Only One Can Get 1t.
TRYING FOR
WEST POINT.

Only One Can Get It.
Twenty-eight young men, between the
ages of Is and %, gathered in the Second
District Court, one night lately, and made
formal application for admission as cadets
TO the Military Academy at West Point.
Each OF these twenly-eight young men was
from the Seventh Congress district Of the
State, and all knew that only one of them
could get the appointment; yet they all
entered the lists with brave fronts and
smiling faces, as if each was sure that he
would easily distance all competitors, says
the New York Sun. Some of them weren't
SO sure about it by the time the stiff physical
examinations of the night were over, but
the big majority of them doubtless will
remain smiling and confident until some
time next June or July, after the Govern
ment examiners have put them through an
ordeal which will make their brains buzz
and their muscles crack.
The city examinations are only prelimi-
nary to the finals conducted at West Point
in the spring. They are held in each Con-
gress district, and determine who of the can
didateS are worthy of admission to the final
contests to decide which is the particular
young man of the district most likely to be-
come famous warrior. These preparatory
examinations are " no snap however, to
use q student phrase. There are two of
them, the physical and the mental, and both
are severe. The physical examination is
conducted by three physicians selected from
| the district by the Congressman, and the
| mental examination Is presided over by
| three professional teachers of as high rank
AS can be found. The applicants are re-
| cd fn Inn and Ia LOT in
| but they must be pretty thoroughly up in
arithmetic and algebra, ami must be able
| to pass good examinations IN all the Eu-
| glish branches.
| the physical examinations on the night in
| question were made by Drs. j. \. Maggie of
| the Board of Health, j. f. keefe and NJ. 3.
| Feeney. Their instructions were vague,
| but they knew about the sort of men wanted
| at West Point. and gave the applicants
| pretty stiff oyerhauling. The courtroom
| was crowded with boys and young men
| from the time the doors were first opened.
| Nearly every applicant brought at least one
friend with him, and many brought three or
| four. II the visitors expected to witness
! the examinations there must have been con-
| siderable disappointment. The doctors re-
tired TO the Judges private room and ex-
ainlned the candidates individually.
The first young man summoned into the
private room was II years old. He was
nearly feet tall aud we'll prop0rtioned.
| DIR. Nagle sat at de SIX with formidable
| looking blank behind him. He entered the
boys name, age and address. The boy re-
| moved his shoes and stood up under
notwithstanding while his height was
| recorded. Then DR.. keefe said:
| Now. IN the very start, my friend, you
| had better tell us about your physical weak
nesses. We shall find them out any way,
| You know, and it is better To be frank about
| it. If you've ever had any disease other
| thon those common to all young folks tell
us all about them. If your family has any
| physical ailments peculiar to it. speak oat.'
| The young man replied that he'd never
| had anything worse than measles, and, so
| far as he knew, his ancestors were not SUBJ
| jet to any other particular disease. Then
DR.. Keefe said:
strip to Jour underelothes"
The boy did so. He was an excellent
! specimen when his physique was so dis
closed, rather slender, hut giving every
promise OF fine manhood. The doctors
! felt his muscles and nodded approvingIy.
| Dr. Keefe got out tape and took accurate
| measurements OF his chest, contracted and
| inflated. These were recorded. Then a
silver knife was produced to hold his tongue
| down, and all three doctors made critical
| examination of his throat. A stethescope
| was applied to his chest and back, and his
heart and lung sound listened 10 and dis
cusSed. II was decded that both of these
organs were In excellent condition. The
| doctors hauled and mauled the boy for
quite while, and at length said they were
|
AS final test they examined his eyesight.
! DR.. Feeney produced several cards with
| coIored spots and black lines of varying
| thickneSses. He stood the boy at one end
of the room and made him read as far as
| lie could from card filled with letters of
| constantly decreasing height. Then from
| the same distance he was required to tell
| which were the thicker of certain lines, and
| then was asked to name. or at least describe,
| the slightly varying shades of color on the
4 odd I'D will no hn,z
! passed the tests successfully and was sent
| out. All the boys were by turn subjected to
the same examination. They were an ex-
| cellent lot physically, all giving good PROM
| Use of robust manhood. Most of those
| VINO failed to pass were found to have de-
| fectiVe vision.
| a visitor asked Brother James of De la
| Sale Institute, who was one of the examin-
ers into the intellectual qualifications of the
applicants, wherein lay the fascination of q
| laborious four years course at West Point,
| He said he thought many of the boys wanted
| to take the course for The sake of the fine
! education it afforded 1t was frequently
| possible, he said, to escape serving three
young fellows entered the Academy with
| the distinct purpose of resigning
| from the service soon after graduation
and entering other paths in life. Brother
James has been conducting examinations
| for West Point for the past twenty years,
and knows good deal about the boys who
apply. He said that some were doubtless
influenced by the glamour of the service and
| a romantic yearnlDg to become great, which
! perhaps they outgrew before they graduated.
| Perhaps most of the applicants, he said,
were the sons and nephews of army officers.
| and wished to get into the service as the
most natural and fitting thing for them to
| do. just as bankers sons take to banking
and BARRIERS sons naturally think of earn.
ing their living by shaving chins, so do the
/ sons of army officers, born and brought up
| in the barracks, consider a West Point
education the only thing in the world.
IF / am not very much mistaken" said
| Brother James, pointing to tail and rather
| handsome young fellow. ''that boy has
| already tried in another district and failed.
You would be surprised at the persistency
of some. They begin at IL years of age and
keep on trying year after year, until they
| finally get in or pass the eligible limit of
age. Some, after failing in one district,
will move into another in order to try
| there"
Value of a Penny.
1t is worth noting. as the exemplication of
/ tba Ipa nf small thinge fhot n l., mr. ono