The evening times., 1897-03-03

| ried person shall be admitted as a candi-
date, and if any candidate shall be mar
ried before graduation such marriage shall
be considered as equivalent to a resigna-
ton, and he shall leave the institution &C
cordingly" After a boy has passed the
prescribed examination and has been found
qualified mentally, physically and morally
! to Become a cadet, he must report on or
| before June 3 following the examination
to the superintendent of the academy and
sign an agreement for service ia the fol-
lowing form:
I--, of the State OF -, aged -
| years, - months, do hereby engage, with
the consent of my parents or guardian,
that from the date OF my admission as a
cadet OF the United States Military Acad-
envy will serve in the army of the United
! States for eight years, unless sooner dis
| charged by competent authority.
The cadet also subscdbes to an oath 10
support the Constitutlonofthe United States.
and that he will bear true allegiance to
the National Government.
The Fortunate Candidate.
The fortunate young man struts about
his home between the time that he passes
| and the examination in March until he
leaves for West Point in une and in many
! instances his hat bee ONES several sizes
/ too small for him. His parents Fat him on
the back for having brought them honor;
his companians lcok uIon him with envy,
and before he has sent his measure to the
| academy, where his fhst unii orm will
await him, he is liable 10 have formed an
exalted opinion Of him self, which is coomed
| N lao. SI,1 shortly after hp
| ported for duty.
| The young man whqGoes to college as
| freshman may, if he desires, he lost in the
! crowd. There is nothing about his ap-
| pearauce to make him conspicuous, and ii
he has friends in the institution and knows
how to make others his days of isolation
will he few, and he viii soon feel at home
| in his new quarters. But this is not true
of the cadet. The number of men in West
Point is comparatively small, about 500
in all, and the new student becomes con-
spicuous at once by the manner OF his
carriage and his lack OF military bearing.
This is just as true OF those who had some
experience in so-callcd military schools
before they came to West Point as OF the
boys who come fresh from their mothers
apron strings.
The "Seuting up is done by upper class
men, whose apparent severity has caused
many young heart to beat rapidly, and
whose shout of what 90 you mean by
Standin that way?" or ''YOu, / mean; you,
there or Don't you know what your
right foot is?'' has caused lump to rise
in the throat OF many new cadet, W no,
until that moment, faRcied that ne was
letter perfect, ana with points 10 spare.
The new man comes TO the academy at
that time OF the year when the hard work
for those who remain is over, and camp
life begins. Hard and cXacting work has
been the order Of the day; unCeasinE, tire
less application t. the studies, which ex-
tend over a wide field, has taken the
time OF the whole year, and tie student
halls the advent Of June with JOY, because
il brings the camp season and comparative
rest. I is particularly welcome To the
men who are just completing their first
year, who will emerge from their plebdCn
into full fledged cadctship, who will
throw off the calling yoke of underllng.
ami VIII have a new lot of plCbS with whCm
to get even for what they themselves have
endured And so, with every yearIing
standing in wait for him, the cadet enters
camp for a season OF about eleven weeks
Severe Ordeal.
II his heart is not broken by the upper
class men while in camp, and If he passes
the examination which follows a few
months later, lie becomes a fulI-fledged
cadet, with a prospect OF being graduated
from the schoolin four years. The camp
trial is the most severe test, and the man
who goes through the ordeal of the pc
cUlar hazing to which the pleb is subjected,
who can control himself sufficiently TO
take it a Il in the proper spirit, who can
keep up with his studies in the meantime
and acquire sufficient rudinentary knowl-
edge Of military matters to satisfy his
instructors, shows himself well qualified
for the work which win follow and for
the positions of trust and responsibility
to which he may be called later. The de-
Tenders of the educational system at West
Point do the institution an injustice when
they deny the fact that there is hazing
there and that plebs are subjected to
severe treatment at the hands Of the upper
class men.
"Or course, there is such a thing" was
said by one whose position gives him every
opportunity to know, land the man who
hazing in camp and the little which was
done in the barracks were among the most |
valuable parts of his West Point education |
In order to be a good disciplinarian one |
must have felt the strong hand OF discipline |
himself, AID TO know hevalge OF superiority |
of place il is well to have been an inferior: |
and these points are made plain to the pleb |
He is subjected to no indignity; he is COM
PEELED neither to do nor to say nor act any |
thing which would lessen him in his own |
esteem. and the upper class men show that |
by the care which they take to Mister |
the plebs, never thinking OF such a thing as
using nickname or the mans Christian
name"
1t does not matter who the man is,
whether he is the son OF a Senator,
general, a diplomat or a blacksmith,
whether he comes frCm tie Old Colony or
from the Bay State, whether rich or poor,
he is a pleb with the plebs, and no power
can save him from making love to
bloomstick in the presence of lot of
upper class men if they decide that he shall
do so, no oeinfluence can gain for him the
privilege of sitting in the presence of an
upper class man unless that man asks him
to do so, and his ancestry, station or fu-
ture prospects would avail him little if he
failed to "sir'' the upper class man proper
ly and respectfully. The line between the
pleb and the upper class man is drawn 80
sharply and is so impossible that the new
men, although scattered among the Others |