New-York tribune., 1905-08-26

MILITARY SCHOOLS.
Beneficial Effects of Their We'll Or
dered Discipline.


The military school is an institution or
less the outgrowth of the Civil War. Before
that period there were several military schools,
particularly in the South. that trained some of
the best regimental commanders in both armies.
but particularly in that of the COnfederacy. AT
that time the country at large, while militant,
not at all military in its taste discipline
considered irllsome, and the military idea
was not popular it became two decades
later and the spread of it's system to it's present
magnitude to-day not dreamed of.
The first schools in which the military idea
was predominant started in the South. less
with an idea TO furnish military training than
to provide the necessary. and even severe. dis
cipline demanded by the precocious and unre-
strained Southern youth. This idea of iron
bound discipline almost irksone for the
American youth would be the austere routine
of 4 monastery of the Middle Ages. still survives
in the South in several instances.
Prohibition of smoking. the use of LIQUOR and
profanity are common to nearly all military in
stitutions. hut sometimes the limitations go to
peculiar length. One institution in the South
has the queer house rule" of three demerits
for splitting on the principals dog"
After the Civil War the military well as the
militant spirit was abroad The youth of the
North and the South had become accustomed to
the idea of discipline. Not only that, but uni
forms, thing to which the average American
had never taken kindly. had become an accus-
toned sight and for while the American
youths most popular dress uniform. The
thrifty New-England housewives took advantage
of this. and many a Yankee schoolboy strutted
around in his fathers cut down regimentals
Boys formed themselves into military com
panies of their own volitiOn and parades and
sham battles popular boys sports Shrewd
educators took advantage of this military spirit
and military schools and academies in which
the manual of arms and the school of the COM
Fany ranked textbooks with Euclid and
Cesar sprang up like mushrooms. Many of
them failed after the ferceness of the fever had
abated. but the intrinsic value of the system
kept the best of them alive. and the military
school remains a valuable feature of our educa-
tiOnal system.
So highly does the United States government
think of military education in the preparatory
schools of the country that officers of the regu-
lar army detailed to those which make
feature of it to give instruction in infantry
cavalry and even artillery drill. The results
have more than justified the action. Some of
the best men in Annapolis and West Point for
several years have come from military schools
In the late war with Spain the speed in which
the raw recruits in many of the State regiments
licked into shape due not to regular
army officers. for there were not enough to go
around. but to National Guard officers and
young men who had received military training
in the prep" schools
The beneficial effect of discipline on uniformed
character, not the encouragement of a taste for
bloOdshed. is the keynote of the military schools
Almost without exception they prepare for clas-
sical. English commercial courses in the
higher institutions.
Because of the attention paid to military
training and outdoor life, most of these schools
are situated at considerable distance from the
larger cities. and generally near some large body
of water. In fact, at many of the institutions of
the Lake States and Middle West much atten-
tion is paid to boat drill and "marlnspike
seamanshp" the students getting much the
same instruction a naval apprentice with the
addition of infantry drill and practice with
small field pieces.
Said principal of military school the
other day:
Il believe the peculiar advantage of the
military system lies not alone in the wholesome