Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-27

the length of Long Pond and directly into
the military reservation of West Point.
sketch of One Burned.
The only sketch of the Benny Havens
house the writer could discover is one
made for the cadets camp illumination
Of 1907 by a graduate of the military acad>
envy who is now a brigadier general, re-
tired. 1t was drawn partly from memory
and the influence of the little house re-
Gently burned is seen in the location OF
the house in the sketch at a point on the
bank approximately the same as that &C.
cupied by the house long supposed to be
the real one. 1t happened that the artist
was aware that that house was not the
Benny Havens tavern, but for some rea-
son he does not seem to have communicated
his knowledge to his brother officers to
any great extent.
Actually, according to the new witnesses,
the Ravens house stood a little south Of
the more modern structure and on the
extreme edge. of the bank, so that It
almost o%verhung the water, Its front and
piazza in fact rising directly from a pier
whose pilings, finding a precarlous foot
@NN@N So NAR aNNNb 9ApPV W AONh at Tic IlNGE
bottom, were anchored in places by stones
and further held in position by re-enforcing
crossbeams. The land drops off so sharply
that large vessels could safely pull up to
Ravens dock.
To the north OF the house a little stream
tumbled down the bank and beyond a
precipitous mass Of rock rose we'll above
the treetops. TIL steep hill back of the
house was and is still covered with thick
woods. Such was Benny Ravens nest.
In the old days when the woods overhung
the river 1t must nave been an ideally
beautiful spot and even the coming OF the
railroad has not entirely driven away its
charm.
Some years before the railroad in
truded Ravens son, who had gone TO
New York, entered a bank and apparently
prospered, developed a fondness for the old
place and spent money on 1t renoyating
the house, building the present road which
leads to the river, and, not long before
Benny Ravens died, constructing the flight
OF stone steps seen in one Of the i~llustra-
tions which lead down TIE hill along the
side of the cliffs.
Benny an Institution.
Fully to understand who Benny Ravens
was and why his name Is so closely asso-
clated with West Point 1t would be neces-
sary to visit a class reunion or similar
gathering and hear the ringing song OF
Benny Ravens, oh!' Hsvens was a
veteran OF the war Of 1912. being first
Lieutenant Of a company organized and cap
tanned by a resident OF Highland Falls.
shortly after the war he established a
place on the military reservation where he
sold liquid refreshments Of various kinds
and sundry eatables 1t soon became the
thing among the members OF the cadet
corps TO visit Benny's, and these visits
were not necessarily confined to the limited
daytime hours Of respite from academic
duties.
Last taps frequently meant, not bed, but
Benny's. He is said to have dispensed
good cheer in comparative secrecy for a
long time in his little retreat, being vlr-
tually a squatter on the national domain.
but the authorities OF the military academy
were finally unable to overlook him longer
and he was expelled. Then 1t was mat he
took up his residence at the river bank
location a mile or more further south.
There were three things in particular
that drew the cadets to Benny's tavern. II
is not TO be denied that the character OF
the hbations offered there was not the
least OF them. Neither, perhaps, was It
the greatest. Almost equally famous with
the FLIP we're the pancakes and the other
edibies offered by his board. The cadets
were some times glad 10 get a square meal,
or at least one that was appetizing. for
mess IN the old days was the opposite Of
that OF today with it's high class kitchen
arrangements. Mess was described during
the Havens' regime as being almost ex-
eluslvely Of beef, boiled, roasted or baked
for dinner cold. sliced or smoked for
breakfast and supper; soup twice a week,
and bread pudding with molasses on soup
days" And 80. although the orders were
forbidden to so ~ Benney's the prohibition