Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1917-05-09
LETTER FROM MlDSHIP-
MAN LINCOLN ANDERSON
United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, Maryland.
April 80, 1917.

Editor Sheaf:
It is nearly year since I left
Warren to enter the Naval Acad-
emy and as far as I have gone I
enjoy it very much. I promised to
write you and tell you about acad-
emy life. was sworn in as a
'midshipman in the United States
inavy on June "a, 1916 My father
was with me when I took the oath
to serve the United States in the
navy for a period Of eight years.
It did not take me long to dof my
civilian clothing and don a mid
t.shipman's uniform It is needless
ITO say 7 was proud. I felt as if
; all eyes were turned on me as be-
/ ing %the center Of attraction. But
that soon wore off. 7 was sent to
/ the Midshipnan's store to get the
needed supplies and was shown to
jsmy room in Bancroft Hall and
There left with my roommate. AS
that day was. mid Summer day every
a.s.ne was given iberty and I had
! a chance to see my father again.
/ Then I had to buckle down to Ac-
ademic life. 7 went to bed, but it
didn't seem long before I was
| aroused by the ringing Of gongs
and the bugler playing the morning
/ j'reveille. This was at $40. Twen-
| tv minutes later ran to breakfast
formation. there to be inspected nv
an officer. ! was scared and did
rot know what tn do, But I threw
my shoulders back, looked to the
front and easily passed muster.
; During the day we were given var
ious drills. some going to the rifle
range. others to seamanship or to
infantry or artillery. At five
o'clock. the whole class was march
ed to the. gymnasium where we
were put through series Of Swed-
ish movements. The sun poured
down dreadfully on US and it was
over 100 degrees in the shade.
These various forms O. drills were
continued until September. During
this month we were introduced to
real Academic work We started
to study languages and mechanical
drawing. A month later ended
what, is called in midshipman's S
idiom "Plebe Summer: The upper
, classmen all returned from their
leaves of absence and plebes began
to realize how insignificant they
were. We were forced to march
i thru the corridor with a brace that
, nearly broke our backs. We could
not speak to any Of our classmates
as it. wasn't "P1ebe rate". AT
{ mess is where we catch the great
est running. A p1ebe must sit
Z on three inches of his chair, keeY
: his eyes in the boat (meaning the
table) and keep well braced
s Sometimes we sat on empty space
: in a sitting posture. The upper
. classmen soon discovered that
: was Swede, consequently I hae
i to sing Swedish airs at nearly
9 every meal. These and many othe7
: things could tell you would make
j you laugh, but I will tell some
: thing of the serious side of thi
life. And that is the studies. W.
o have an Academic year consisting
: of eight months. A midshipma1
IS must be satisfactory in ever,
e study. The grading is marked o.
: scale of 4, passing work bein,
2.5. This seems low, but when on
comes to make the work one find
ID it a great deal harder than on
Y, might think. Our first semeste
st ended Jan. 29 and there wer
le eighty-nine Of my classmates VIII
al failed This term will be over i
N three weeks. Then our class wi
g enjoy the privileges Of youngste
= (third classman). No more bracin
to and sitting on three inches Q
Il chair. Our yearly cruise shoul
le begin in June, but as the war ha
taken all the ships the cruise ha