New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-06-14
CADETS LAST PARADE
GRADUATION rs TODAY.
Colonel HOzCze addresses First Glass
annual Hop Brilliant.
LRy Telegraph 70 The Tribune. ]


West Point. n. Y June 13.-Beneath a sky heavy
with rain and low hanging the great green
plain at the United States Military Academy the
annual graduation parade of the cadets was held
here this afternoon. while fully two thousand Wis
itors trimmed the tree lined rectangle. This cere-
mony. which has become a rite of the Point by
| the usage Of years. marked the end of the long,
hard course of the first class, and was the first
time that the class body had reviewed the
rest OF the corps. All day visitors had been arriv
/ ing, most of them young women who had inter-
est more than ordinary in the welfare of the gray
/ coated soldier fedgings.
Long before o'clock. when the parade to
begin, they had found places where they could
take in the view, impressive in itself, of the plain
( that looks like overgrown college campus. And
! out upon this stage whose scenery the woody
range of the highlands. came first the band. There
was a wait as the musicians stood silent and the
cadets began to file of their barracks and form
in long line of white and gray and gold. AT last
It came. this last parade. The cadets marched out
into the and the music started amid the APP
. plause of the crowd As they marched and
termarched the music became medley in which
Aud Lang syne and Home Sweet Home" were
intermingled
Lieutenant Colonel r. L. Howe. commandment OF
the cadets stood close to the edge of the plain
and near the spectators the side After all
/ 1t was only the ordinary dress parade that takes
place every night, and the boom of the sunset
gun and the flag lowering Of the usual order. But
nnaIIy there came the expected change. After the
manual of arms had been executed. at the adju-
tants sruf orders Front and Center" tn first
classmeu. who had been line as file cosers came
forward into line with the company officers. As the
order given they marched forward, the first
class of o. to halt few PAGES In front OF Colonel
, Howe As he moved q step toward them they
removed their hats. lie gave the following address
ana congratulations:
Gentlemen of the graduating class: For the las,
time you have Uartded with the corps Of cadets
Tomorrow You lay aside The uniform you have
worn for the last four years and graduate from
TINS institution, Where You have been trained Tor
the duties ana responsibilities which are soon u de
NoNe upon YOU. In u few months you VIII be scat
every cline from the neat of the tropics to the
cold of tie Arctic regions, never TO meet together
not dimmed by war clouds, and. it is to be hoped
aratious which YOU have had and if the time does
/ come to do your part to make worthy the tradi-
You. Gentlemen. / Welcome you as officers of the
army of the United States.
the first class then stood in line behind the
adjutant while the three lower classes passed in
review before them AS the under class went
off the grounds the seniors broke ranks. and We're
at once surrounded by throngs of friends one
little old woman with white hair had been sitting
beside a tree and eagerly watching the affair. Now
a big. yellow haired cadet up to her and he
clasped both her HANDS a., mis- sdIo, Don't cry,
mother, because there are tears in my eyes, too.
cadets had their final dinner together in the
hop the SlebSs are Moved ' To- attend Fully tour
hundred guests We're present, and. with the cadets
there. The hop is managed by the second
? class I'm honor of the graduating class, and y. g.
Shverick second class man, shared the honorS
of receiving with Mrs Scott wife Colonel Scott.
. superintendent of the academy. 1t q brilliant
affair with all sorts OF uniforms. but with military
precision 1t due to end at | o'clock Shortly
before that hour the orchestra struck up the ira
ditionaI Army Blue" in which all the cade Is
Joined the close Of this the officer OF the day
marched in with a drummer Of the regulars who
. sounded the recall. All four classes lined up on
the floor and gave their wells, cheering each other
and the graduating, added ut the end OF theirs
Never again II might be remarked that See
ing Nellie Home In these parts is a swift per
furmauCc. for under the regulations any cadet Who
took girl 10 a house the parade ground was
allowed just ten minutes in which to do IL and
report back to quarters. An equally unrOmantll
scale was arranged for the time limit In taking
The girls % Highland Falls.
To-norrovr viii wind up the year with the Eradu
alton exercises when Colonel a. r. Iawton viii
oliver the address and TriEadteT General William
T. Duvau will give out tho diplomas