Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-15
WILL Be THE FINEST
Proposed Improvement Of the
Military Academy.
WEST POINT BUILDINGS
AUTHORITIES WANT LIMIT OF
COST RAISED.
It is Intended to Provide for the
Future-Aim Of tho
Architects.
WEST POINT BUILDINGS
BY VIM. E. CURTIS.

for the support OF the military academy
provides that work on the new buildings at
West Point shall commence at once. by
contract or otherwise, as the Secretary of
War may see fit, but does not make pro-
vision for the entire amount Of money
needed. The plans, which have been Sc
cured after SO much trouble and study, and
which have been so much admired by those
who have had the privilege of inspecting
them, contemplate the expenditure of
81, 400. 600. In this total is included $4O0, 900
already appropriated by Congress to pro-
vide for an increased water supply, and
$146.00O for the completion of the cadet
mess hall and for the purchase Of additional
property. The total of these items, $546.000,
has already been provided, which reduces
the amount needed to carry out the original
plans to little less than 100000. But
Congress has appropriated only $6.046.OOO.
or 81 ,444 600 less than the estimate, and has
placed a limit upon the cost of the i'm
provements. which is very embarrassing to
the War Department and the officers of the
academy.
The amount of the appropriation was re-
duced and the limit was fixed in the House
of Representatives on the closing day of
the session last year. with little or no de-
bate upon it's merits The Senate restored
the original amount. but in conference COM
mittee 1t was again reduced without reasons
tendent of the academy, has made a con-
vincing argument in favor of an appropria-
ton sufficient to carry out the original
plan, and the Secretary of War and the
President have both earnestly urged such
action upon Congress. Unless the limit Is
extended to the original estimate the entire
plan will have to be revised, and materially
altered. which will destroy, or at least i'm
pair, the harmony of the plans or else some
of the buildings will have to be omitted.
The Secretary of War has asked authority
to proceed with the execution of the orig
inal plans with limit of 81 100000, instead
Of the s., 600 provided by the Congress
last year.
The Finest in the World.
If the plans are carried out the military
academy at West Point will be the finest in
the world. and appropriate to the wealth
and power of this country. The inspiration
for them. like so many other great and har-
monious architectural movements that are
now in progress in different parts of this
country, can be traced directly to the
worlds Columbian exposition-"The White
City" which suggested not only the idea,
but furnished the. ideal. the strength the
force of the designs, and the standard In
proportions and arrangement. The neceS-
sity of enlarged facilities at West Point
has been discussed for a long time. The
present buildings cannot accommodate
more than one-half as many cadets as are
actually required to supply the vacancies
that occur annually In the officers list of
the army Nearly every year since the
Spanish war, when the military establish
ment was increased, the President has been
compelled to appoint from civil life almost
as many second Heutenants as have grad
uated from the academy, and this will con-
tinue to be necessary until the facilities
at West Point can be doubled.
The plans for the new buildings provide
accommodations for 200 cadets, instead of
the $50 that are there at present That Is
81 for frryO ,ttvyia md
perhaps for all time, because the United
States is not a military country and never
will be one. At the same time. so long as
we have army we should have a good
one, commanded by trained soldiers, and
the incomp arabic prestige and record of
West Point should be maintained. No
American appreciates the high standard
which that institution has already attained.
or the reputation of the officers of the
United States army, until he visits the Eu-
ropean countries and hears the comments
and compliments of professional soldiers in
other countries
The influence of West Point upon foreign
military education has been extraordinary.
Both the English military schools at Sand
hurst ard Woolwich have been reorganized
within the last four years, with West Point
wrote to a military expert that the acad-
envy at West Point was the finest military
school in the world" Its methods have
been introduced into the military schools
of Spain and Italy, and even the French
military educational system has recently
been modified to include several of the
special features of our own academy.
In Japan both the military and the naval
academies of the United States have been
adopted as standards for imitation and en-
ulation.
Typographical Advantages.
1t is proposed to make West Point a
model military post, as well as a model
school for soldiers. The typographical adj
vantages are very attractive to architects.
while the location is convenient to New
York city, the most important strategical
point upon our coasts The historic grounds
furnish splendid setting for a group Of
imposing buildings-there Is no more pic
turesque scenery in the eastern states than
the wild and rugged rocks and the dense
forests overhanging the Hudson river ard
stretching back toward the CatSklllS The
architects have made the most of all this
and In their plans have adopted the ancient
gothic, making the proposed buildings a
mixture Of the citadel and the university.
They are to spring from the edge of the
cliffs; they are to be of the same material,
SO that the walls and towers may harmon
ize with their natural foundations and the
buildings. like the castles on the Rhine
will seem to grow out of the rocks, solid
stern, dignified, impregnable, and in every
way appropriate to their environment as
well as to their purpose. They began with
a railway station ana Ierry-nOuSe on me
bank of the river. and stretch back into q
park with several miles Of drives, which,
sooner or later, will be enlbellished by
monuments and statues of men worthy Of
the imitation of the cadets. The steep and
rocky walls of the Hudson will be ter
raced and a monumental gateway will be
the central feature of the architectural
scheme.
AS you know, a similar institution on cor
responding lines, as complete and conyen-
lent and magnificent, is already in progress
of erection for the Naval Academy at An
napolis, and that gave impetus to the up
building of West Point. There were differ
ences. however. Annapolis was wreck:
the buildings were intended to be tenn
portry when they were erected half CEN
fury ago, and became unsafe, and insani-
tary.
The West Point Project
Those at West Point were in much bet
ter condition. and several of them with
historic associations can be preserved
Elihu Root, who did so much for the army
during the brief period that he was Sec
rotary of War, was the forceful agent.
President Roosevelt backed him up with
his characteristic energy. while General
Mills the superintendent of the academy,
was always ready with facts and figures.
reasons and arguments. Colonel Charles
w. Larned. professor of drawing at the