The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-05
the willy Indian of the West, is not easily

the willy Indian of the West, is not easily
fooled by a cadet ~, aoo.
and an old gentleman dressed In a quiet
blue uniform, with a certain frlgldlty OF
manner about him, enters, the h foI tn Gs
is 1.-The professor" the head of the depart
ment and his business seems TO be 10 Ter
ret out those who do not know ana send
them out of the academy as soon as II may
be done conveniently. .,
This gentleman says nothing, uoes a Hotn-
on the boards and he notes every WORD
that falls from the lips of cadet Some
times he is not SO terrible. or,,,,o,+o,
One day the professor OF experimental
philosophy listened to cadet hounderlng
through a description of the oscillation or a
pendulum. -
What is the name of that motion?' he
'aThat is called an osculatory motion, sir.''
II am afraid, Mr.. Henry. you have not
recovered from the effects of the last hop"
quietly returned the professor.
When the regular examinations begin all
other duty is suspended and great deal or
nervous tension is noticeable among the
cadets. No one can tell what a day may
bring forth. The head of the class may
"fess" and lose many files. Frequently an
apparently hopelessly deficient individual
shows surprising acquaintance with his
topic and is passed, while another for whom
no fear was felt has failed so fully that he
is recommended for discharge There are
plenty of sober faces in the mess hall and
about the old barracks until the harrass-
Then each night at parade all eyes turn
toward the cadet adjunct as he approaches
with the usual batch of orders in his hands.
The uncertain cadets get very pale about
this time, and the longer the academic
board takes to decide who is to be dis
charged the more convinced they are each
night that the dreaded order is to be read.
And when at last it comes how absolutely
motionless the silent ranks remain while It
is being read. and when rest" Is given
how the lucky scapegraces that just
craWled through shake hands and embrace
one another. while some turn quickly away
to hide something hard to conceal. For
these the bold cadet life is over, a clap OF
the hand and they have dropped out of the
race.
AS rule cadets found deficient in a study
are not given another chance to redeem
themselves unless the academic board rec
ommends ii in it's finding. In that casa
the cadet is given what is known as a
''turnback" to the next class. After the
first two years are successfully passed the
danger of discharge is not so great, and
with studious habits maintained a cadet
should find no difficulty in being graduated.
to rank known as the stars" and
graduation can have the choice of any
branch of the service-engineerS, artillery,
cavalry or infantry.
The next ten or fifteen are recommended
for anything except engineers, and they
nearly always choose the artillery arm. The
rest Of the class take cavalry or infantry
as they find vacancies. When there are no
more vacancies left the young officers are
attached to regiments with the pay Of Sec
ond lieutenants, but are known as additional
second lieutenants. They have to wait years
sometimes before the slow promotion or
peace times advances them