Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-31

the officers keep open house.
The great day. the day whicn pflnss
an end to the four wears of arduous
labor, is filled with happenings from Hs
earliest morn until sunrise of the neSt
day. At Annapolis the graduating eNeS-
cises take place in the armory. II issa
wonderful scene. The seats that sun
round every side of the great building
are filled with beautiful women, young
and old in the very finest frocks Their
wardrobes afford. There are grave men
among them who give tone and balance
to the scene. and everywhere are glitter.
ing uniforms worn by gray-headed
admirals and smart young officers.
The services at West Point take place
in the open air near the Bethel monu-
ment, in a great amphitheater with
nature for a setting. The gay dresses
and auttering ribbons of matrons and
maids are a charming foil to the gray
uniforms of the corps and the blue OF
The exercises at both schools are
similar. There are prayers. addresses
by distinguished men and some noted
man. the President, If his engagements
permit. or the cabinet officers to whose
department the schools belong present
the diplomas. 1t would be Impossible
to paint the expressions of the young
men who march up the aisles to take
the scrap of paper for which they have
worked SO hard and which means so
much to them. Joyous relief best ex-
presses it.
Once the young officer has the sacred
roll in hand he turns to the one he
loves the best among the lookers-on:
it may be father. mother sweetheart
but wherever he flashes glance an
answering glance is flashed back, ana
one can hear hum of joy go up from
this group and that.
their diplomas they make for their
quarters. put on cts and then rush
for the railroad station. where they take
trains that will bear them home.
signs run wild with enthusiasm. form
a procession, and, with hands on each
others shoulders. march around the hall
singing the old navy songs and throw
ing their midshipmens hats. which
they will need no more, high in the
air.
When they have worn off the edge
of their enthusiasm they go to their
quarters change their uniforms for the
latest cut in civilian clothes. knot the
ties that some fond feminine hands
have made. and assemble on the lawn
to be decorously congratulated by their
relatives and friends. Then there is
more entertaining. and it is nightfall
before the last ensign has said good
bye and is off for the vacation home.
The friendships formed at the naval
and military schools endure forever. The
love Of man for his classmate. IL that
classmate has been his friend through the
greater than brother for brother. AS the
rhymester of one of the classes put it:
"oh. 1t hasn't all been roses,
And II hasn't all been sad
But ere your own book closes
In it's written more good than bad:
So With thankful hearts We hail you.
Comrades through JOY and Ill,
Even sweetheart and wives may fail VOC.
But n classmate never Will
Greater still than his love for his class
mate is an officers love for his alma
mater. Under whatever skies or CIR
hn ic hi he ri
back to Old Gro Nest or the smooth flow
ing Severn. according to the branch OF
the service claiming him. and what mem
cries to the graduates of long ago the
singing of ''Oh. Benny Ravens. OH.
and STAND Navy Down the Field
brings no one who has not Joined in the
singing of these classic ditties on the
academic green or foot ball field can pos
sibly appreciate.
A feature of June week at both West
Point and Annapolis is the meeting of the
alumni and the reunion Of the classes.
1t is interesting the lure the military
academies have for their sons and the
numbers 1t brings back every June to
their old stamping ground.
At the german given by the graduating
class at the Naval Academy. the chief
social affair Of the whole four years the
grand finale. the alumni. who have their
annual dinner on that night invade the
hall singing songs of earlier days. and
the gray heads who were once middies.
snatch the pretty partners from the arms
of their Young colleagues and whirl away
with them in the dance. despite ST n
joints and feet unaccustomed to the new
steps.
Last year Admiral Upshur. who gradu-
ated from the academy sixty-siN years
ago, was among these venerable jewellers,
and at West Point was its Oldest living
graduate, Gen. Horatio Gibson. who six
ty-seven years ago stepped from its
wharf into the war with Mexico. max
ing the Horn around to seek fame and
fortune in the FL Dorado Of the west,