Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-08-05

Knowing that he had no ina.s,,,s, ,-,..s.
70 urge his npDolntmeat saS ~, a .s.enus
~ secured u be was paorly prenarea "a
hAas me Preliminary aNaminasi6n a,
40, uiAc5nraged him IN his purpose hi,
many seeing that his mind was fnliv
s,,S W did all could to advance his
~ was 90 a summers afternoon that he
anne 10 bid mo Eoodby before ssttinr oi,t
on hozehack Tor Washincson ~ ses ~ ~
Secretary u War and ash him IN rsrsa,
~ sn appointment A tail. awkward boy
" ~ uressen In a suit OF plain hnr,nar,,n
Wnicn dld not III him and added 10 the
a M. OF his homeiy figure. ana
Nm manners hesitatlng and retiring. the
IL 5s were against his making a favor
aule Impression upon a stranger. but IN his
eaFnestness OF purpose be seemed unron-
sg'gus Of all THIS, and with tho hearty good
WISHES Of little group Of friends. nnnnr
tnein DIS grun old uncle Cummins. he
started out upon his ride o. 800 miles.
on ARRIVING At the Capital he at once pre-
scented himself to the Secretary Of war
and made known his case. Judge snencer
was then at the head Of the War Depart.
mont alwaya stern and distant man. The
execution OF his son for mutlny by the or
DER OF Commodore Mckenzie a Short time
before had made him sill more stern and
uncomnromislng. and he was In Tar from
= sNlhs humor, He urged that the va
oaucy should be given to the son Of some
n9ldlor or sailor who had lost his life In
ms eonntry's service. and there were. he
urged. acora OF applicants fer the place.
young jackson. however, could neither be
hluhed nor driven from his purpose. In
tne end he overcame the objections Of the
Secretary and gained his point Judge
spencer in giving him his appointment
papers, said'
Sir. you have n good name. that OF An
drew jackson. Go TO West Point. and the
hrst man who insults you knock him down
and have Il rherged to my account"
by the skin Of his teotn. as be afterward
expressed II to me- Jackson passed the en-
trance examination at West Point. His awk-
Wnrd appearance and country manners made
MIN an inviting subject for the ridcule OF
his companions, ard they lost no tlmo IN in
troduelng him into the mysteries OF cadet
hte. indeed. so unbearuble became their
conduct that Jackson at last turned on
ono on his togmentnfs and gave him a
sound thraahlng This saved him from fur
tAer annoyance, but would have brought him
to trial that would have ended In his
dismissal had he not pleaded the order Of
secretary Spencer to thrash the first man
that insulted him During his student life
at West Point jackson and correFnondcd
regularly. and his letters used TO toll me
In the modest way, through life Character
was one OF the hardest students ever at
West Point, and during the first two years
studied sixteen hours out Of the twenty
four. He made It a practice during study
hours TO cit with his back to the door. with
his book before him, and to speak to no one
who entered the room But despite these
extraordinary efforts his early training had
LEFT him far behind his fellow-students Al
tho end Of the second year II was thought
he would not be ablo to get through, and
ono Of the professors, who had taken a
warm interest IN him advised him to re-
sign ard thus save himself from tho hui
initiation % o failure IN the end jack
sons pride was touched at this, and he To-
Piled that he would not resign. but would
70 through or die, aud he did. About the
middle Of the third year, to uso his own
woyl1 the scales fell from his eyes. and he
comprehended In On Instant things which
he'd puzzled him Tor weeks a year before.
After that he bad no trouble: took high
rank IN all hts classes, and graduated With
illnguishel honors az the end OF the fourth
year
Upon leaving West Point be entered the
regular army and soon saw active service
the Mexican War. His gallantry won