The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-08-14
ders. forming convenient seats for q tete-
a-tete, on either side and ferns and Wild

ders. forming convenient seats for a tete-i
a-tete. on elther side and ferns and wild ".
4 flowers.
It is an unwritten law 8 mongst the
cadets, that no '.plebe,. shall come into
the ballroom or en- Joy any social p-iyi-.
lege3 till he has been a Y West Point e.
year This seems despotic. bu z there IS
some rat ionality IN II. The lebe..s IS apti
10 be raw and uninf formed on his first Al ar
rival at the 5Acad enly-a clumsy dancer,
nc he can dance al e all, and he would show
to great disa dvantag &c in the ball room
amongst more experienced cadets who
have ACQUIRED q fine carriage. polished ad-
dress and remarkable grace in dancing
At gradual ton, the graduation class first
recognizes the .-plebes'sa (then yearlings)
By shaking hands with them, and this is
considered to remove their social disa BILL
tiles. They make their social debut at the
graduation hop, and after that enjoy the
social privileges Of the others. But OF
late the 5au thorl ties ii + West Point have
issued ord ers 4 hat the plcbes shall be al
lowed to enter the ballroom and have
the social privileges OF the other cadets
himself OF this permission. nor do IL be-
ilteve they will. The force OF he unwrit-!
ten law and OF long estab lished Gust tom
is too strong for them. Nh "a
S here Is a. large floating population q 3
West Point during the summer, consist
Ing largely Of the, mot hers. sis tiers and
other rela tives of the ca dets. This ele-5
ment OF refined female society a dds the
finishing touch to 4 he polish of the Scade cts,
Ia touch which thing else could givc.s
Even Chesterfield, cynic IS, he was, adj
vises his son to ningle freely wit sWom men
of refinement and fashion. for fry olousl
as he considered them, he acknowle dgeds
that nothing gave such polish to q young
ma n as associa ton Wit them. 4
On the grounds at West Point and in
tho ballroom am reminded Of Tenny-3
son s IL expression, rosebud garden sof5
girls. When i see the numero GUS lovely,
fresh young girls from all spa rts n Of * he
country, SO full OF young life and 10y,
but to my partial eyes the South car lies
off the palm for ttractiyene ss.
Religious Services.
s5 Not only d q the cadets enjoy every I'D =
yantag GO in the way of physical and men
lis carefully attended to- and the moral
standard OF the place is very hlg b. ~ n
ty honor, country being the OH cial mot
to Eof the Academy. The !, II NJ .5 c. A.,
fiourlshes at West Point, and T have had
the pleasure since being here Of hearing
DR., Lyman Abbott address II s. members,
n, One Of The many al tract tons of West
Point Is It's fine library, presided over by
a capable librarian, DR.. Hold en- 81 y he coll;
lection OF books Is excellent and varied
and constantly on the tncreas rhe IL
brarlan takes special pal ns to get every
thing that is published on elt her side rel-
atlyes to the civil war. I asked him Il he
had gotten Mai X Stiles book, IF ,ou n ears
Under Malse Ro bert IIe said he had
land considered 1t admirable, iii asked for
lf"Joe Mortimer" but found 1T loaned out,
as was also the case with The ! II tile
Shepherd of Kingdom Come and Gor-
don IL eith,,'$iall these being We Try popular
works. You a lso find all the leading PEE
lsriodIcals In the library, and t as IL de-
Elightful place to while away an hour or
two whilst waiting for an opportunity tn
see your soldier hoy, gsts3
The sudden deat TIL of Mrs q eneral lilies
on the night of IA ugNst q ! Sca 8 IA shadow
over West Point, She was on the Post,
visiting her son, Sherman Miles. wholiis
now gflrstclassman, Thoug h her health
had been failing for some time she had
apparently raj lied n some ext ent ndnc,
the tght ot her dea til, her son an d daug1
I ter we're both In = he ba llrroom. on qllttilig
which they We're met by + he nc Avs OF their
mothers death, whic had occurred in-
simultaneously from hea ~ 9 sea "a, lfs
being extinct efore the hast Ilyy SUM mons
ed physician could reach her, Yer N, m
the midst Of life we are IN deaf
4