New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-21
D,HLT LIFE or + HEST POINT OFFTCER
EH Of Eraoing Duties Jat Not Dc5od of Fine N
WESS HILL
Ness Hall.

when an officer ~ the United States Army is
tI4rsf.-re8 from a frontier post 90 become an
Instructor at West Point he usually alcnues
tla order AS II it were an inheritance. DE has
nd enough OF the hunErurn camp life. he says
10 himself lie is tired Of tha Wilderness OF
Indians and mule teams. where about the only
e,la.e Of the outside world are week ola New
Yo.k iapels. occasional scented envelopes and
roA and then battered express package
Al West Point De feels that Ea VIII find
fuII,- Enjoyment iE life He remembers the place
wei Il was only ten or fifteen years ago that
he a.s a cadet there II he had any uupleas-
ant experiences during the days Of the gray
uniform he has forgotten thgrn now lie uict-
tires ir his eye the broad blue Hudson at the
foot ~ the cliffs. the wooded mountains behind
eul should he he stiI a bachelor. he wonders II
th.rc are as many pretty faces 20 be found on
SUNNI evenings along Filtration walk Then
again ne viii he near a great city. where on
visits he can see crowds and hear the roar q
tr.rGc He c0Eied the lie Of "A West Point officer
vh,n he was cadet Now he is 20 Doe one him
ser For the reason that the government has
erected a new mess hall for the academy's Off
rore us complete iu its appointments as city
clubhouse "a transfer thither is now regarded
rtfr letter piece Or good luck than in the old
tiu.es
J, Is not until he Officer has settled in his
no.. homo however, and has begun his new
round ~ duties that he realizes he has been
--rr.-ha ae,uE.l and that The life OF "a West
Point uE1ccr is not so easy as he had pictured.
IL ie assigned, Tor example 20 the department OF
mathematics Isie work each day is 10 teaeh two
divisions o. cadets course o. study In which
to probably finds himself w0fully rusty. The
x and rs Of his algebra have become wonder
f,..v anieuatir. Instead OF tr.ls TO NeU-lork 70
GO tr.s c-rra De GnGs himself at night digging
AWAY In a corner Of the library, preparing Tor
mex s.s's rcritatfous. Tn place q pretty faces
a1ur- "Frir,ation walk" be sees little more
t1..r tfiarrles and tausents lie soon begins 70
Chin, that ygcst Point is more Of a grind for an
officer than e. is f0r a cadet
Among the captains Of cavalry in the cam
-4ie, I'm the Philippines there was a young man
who was transferred to West Point two years
am lie was made an instructor in the depart
--o-f Of modern languages. For the first year,
en- Dc told a brother officer the other day at the
moss he spent three hours in the classroom and
fourteen in preparation at work in his apart
r-,rts And do you know" he added, i de-
welcomed the most perfect species OF indigestion
Won can imagine. The change from an outdoor
lie that was one OF bodily activity to
sa5orta-v occupation almost made me age ten
years in one I knew that I ought to get out
r,ore. take more exercise and spend less time
=, my hooks. but I could not without feeling
myself insecure before those cadets 1 tel you
they know II the teacher knows his lesson
v-bether OF not they know their own
The work OF West Point officers Is divided INTO
two distinct fields. In one they teach the cadets
hooks. in the other guns The first are called
academic officers, the second tactical officers
II an officer Is married. be lives Win nN
family in one OF the red BRICK houses al tne
northern end OF the post II q bachelor. he
has a saIite OF rooms in OF the academy
halls and takes his meals at the mess or the
eifhty-nine men on the stan OF Colonel Albert
L. Mills. superintendent OF the academy thirty
three SIT at the mess table