Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1896-06-05

Gfeever, one OF he chunS OF ms cOyhOOd.
are perhaps the sole remains Of his CORE
spOndence.)
WEST Po'-T. Aug. II, 1850.
My Dear Blair-GOur letter of the pa
inst. has been received, and | assure yOu
that it : with great deal Of pleasure THAI
l read it, showing as it did that, although,
absent, ann not forgotten 10y my old
friend. only regret tlirt Ihave not more
such friends. And although everything
with me has taken complete revolution,
yet Will look back upon those days, for
example, when we were pulling fax, as
the happiest Of my Life.
suppose you would like to Know what
're are doing at West Point that shohld
keep me here So long. l have been here
now little over three years and have yet
almost two to stay. But the hardest is
over now. When | entered in 81, as a
Plebe, for the first year Had n very hard
time of it, MT only having to study very
hard, but also having to pass through a
Plebeship, which is tire most debasing
thing yori could imagine Being in camp
at that time, wc had three drills day,
which is harder work titan pulling FAX Of
course at night we would be very tire,l
and feel like sleeping very soundly but
no the older cadets would steal out 81
their tents and catch hold Of dtir blankets.
and before we would get awake; we woti!d
be lying about forty feet from our tent, m
the con pany grounds. Well it was hard,
but we could not help it; for wien we had
rubbed our eyes AMI hooked around, there
wus no one 10 be seen, and mOre than
likely the same thing wo,,,d BE performed
Il h.df dozen times night, more especially
if the rlebe was a little faust.
Then the next year we were tlfe cd Ca
diets, and there WAS new Plcl'e class of
course we did rs old Cadets DO, afld with
our second cncalnpmvnt we commenced
eni ,ying West Point life. At the end oi
the second year we had our furloUyh for
nearly three months, 'and of course We h,,d
a very pleasant time visiting our friends
after lIcing absent 80 long But our thitd
year We had our hard studying to 40, Bart
let's Mechanics being one Of the principal
stu lies and IL considered the hardest book
in the course.
{ At tlic end of that year..we came to the
present encampment, which | have enjoy
eel very much. We came into camp ON
the 10th day Of June, and We 20 out again
on the 18th ofAugust To commence study
my agun.
During the crcainpniclt, IL J. something
like Il watering place. There are Il great
many visitors here every year, "a regular
summer resort. Besides our drills and
military performances, We have TO enter
tain visitors; three hops week; We dance
al sorts of dances square, round, straight
and fancy, and in mct enjoy ourselves
amazingly.
To-day there was party of about TWEEN
~ or thirty persoI.s who came up from
Brooklyn, near New York, on a pleasure
excursion, and in walking about looking ut
the public buildings, sorne dozen or 70 of
them came INTO our Dancing Hall, where
there WAS n small class pmcticing of which
! was one. We invited them in and
found them inclined TO shake the light
fantastic toe. We put them through.
danced four fancy dances and one qua
drille with them, and YOU may believe l
was wet with pcrspiNtion when we stop
ped, but the dinner drum beat and we
had to leave them quite abruptly, in order
TO attend the roll call iii int inquire
the names of any OF tho Young ladies with
whom IdAnced, nor did they know mine.
Our hop room is crowded every night
with some very beautiful ladies, but they
have not the feeling and goodness Of our
back-woods girls.
And for all of this we get $50 per mo-,
and have to live upon It. The regulations
are such that we have to. wear exactly the
same clothes, 1--we as the same. table, ETC.,
and for that reason the cadets are all on
an equality. They ere not allowed to re-
ceive money from home if they could, and
you could not teltone from another unless
you were Intimately acquainted with him.
These little details may not interest YOU,
but then you remember that there is no
one here that you know or care about. 1T
Is raining like bazes now, and having no
convenience for writing in my tent, shall
have to stop. Give my kind regards to
your family. FELL me in your next every
thing that is going on, and especially where
your post IL situated.
Your friend ever,
Cadet w. II. BROWNE.
WEST PoINT, Feb. 10, 1851
Dear Blair-I received your third letter
few days since, and this is only my sec
ond. You will say that have at least a
slight cause for my seeming neglect when
explain that your second letter was received
just before my Jan. examination came on,
and l suppose that you very well know
that that is very busy time with a stu
dent, and since then would have written
long since, but the Comnlissary Dept. has
been .out of stamps and as YOU know
upon it am dependent. / hope that 7
will cause you no more uneasiness by neg
ligence in future.
Ill