New-York tribune., 1891-05-25
WEST POINT CADETS AsTIR.
COMMENCEMENT SEASON NEAR AT HAND.
PROGRAMME OF ExEncsEs-Msr OF eRADU-

PROGRAMME OF ExERcI IsEs-LIsr OF GRADU-
ATEs-MANY NEW BUILDINGS GOING UP
AND OTHERS TO BE STARTED SOON.
West Point, May "a (speciaD-The studious cadets
who are peggng away at the art Of IN THE most
peaceful little mountain post are now coming down
the homestretch of the academic raccrack Soon they
will be within sight Of the judges stand, where the
National Board OF Visitors, the academic examining
committees and the annual collection Of sisters and
cousins and aunts viii assemble to see them come mp
to the finish Of graduation OF course everybody can
not win, but Of the contestants especially OF the
lower classes who have several more laps TO go, VIII
be glad II they simply allowed to finish and escape
being ruled of the track Examinations begin June l.,
and for ten successive days squads OF gray coated
white trousered whte-gov young soldiers VIII BE
deployed In the library and Room No OF the
Academic Building, there 10 do battle with learned pro-
fess0rs and fight for diploma a promotion With
heels together shoulders back and every part OF his
personality adjusted 10 attention. the cadet awaits
the onslaught Of the willy question calculated TO flank
his knowledge Of technics Of history, with chalk
and pointer he traces the blackboard The outline
of Impregnable fOrtresses and the formulae Of un-
utterable equations.
Through the open windows Of the recitation rooms
comes the view of the familiar and everpeassng West
Point landscape in all the virginia. beauty Of spring,
the smooth lawn the ree-clad mountains the ancient
hotel and the sparkling river But to the weary eye
Of the cadet, longing for the blessed freedom OF the
approaching Through the comparative liberty Of the
summer encampmeut. all this Is wasted sweetness,
tiresome monOtOny. Not for him the manifold
beauties Of the surrounding region barring trip to
New York when Sherman buried, IL IS probably
two years since he has been far from the barracks
as the little railroad station under the h1l. It's
terrible grind going through Uncle Sans educational
mill. The wheels rumble relentessy and continually
under the combined pressure Of military and boarding
school discipline, and play hours short and far
between But the picked representatives Of the youth
Of 300 and odd Congress districts the mark gal
antly, and the failures few. indeed, when the
low standard Of admission and the high standard Of
subsequent academic requirements considered
The struggle for class rank Is fiercer West Point
than at almost any other school, and naturally So fOI
It means The valedictOran Of the average col
ege swells in Importance upon the commencement
stage and then drops into nsrrow-chested oblivion.
The countingroOm does not for him nor does
the workshop, the mill the law Office. Little is left
to him but the schoolroom But the man who leads
his class at West Point Is taken into the Engineer
Corps upon graduation. His status In an organization
which is the flower of the United states Army Is fixed
at once and West Point revere him 70 the end Of
tme In the present graduating class the struggle
for supremacy S sharp between Cadet Sewell, Of
Kentucky and Cadet 5. Crosby one Of President Cleve
lands appontees Sewell led his class last year and
SILL kept first place at the January examinations but
Crosby mighty close second. The entire list Of
the sixtyfve members Of the graduating class Is as
follows;