Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-09-19

bolic of the discipline and strength
. of the academy, made an impression
upon Pershing that has never been
effaced.
HE knew by this time-what cadet
entering West Point does not?-
West Points history, dating back to
the revolution, and so interviewer
4 with the revolution as to be part
of the very heart and soul of it. But
it had all been as dream. Now it
was real-John Pershing was there.
All Remember Woods.
He reached at last the Office
where the new cadets of those days
reported. There is at West Point
today man who was there on the
day of which l write. He is Will
liam c. Woods, messenger to Col.
Samuel E. Tillman, the present SUI
perintendent of the academy. And
there is not West Point man alive
today but who remembers Billy"
Woods. Nor is there alive, either,
West Point man but whom Billy
Woods remembers.
"Yes," the old man told me when
I visited the academy, II was here
the day Jack Pershing arrived. 1t
was to me that ne presented his let
ter of appointment. All the young
men did. Then l had to line them
up and march them to barracks.
"What do l remember about Cen
eral Pershing-Jack? Not much.
He was as the other boys who re-
ported that day as the boys who had
reported before him, and as the boys
who have reported since-a fine,
clean, outstanding young man,
worthy of West Point and of West
Point traditions"
| Pershing Becomes Beast.
Barracks" to which old Woods
marched Jack Pershing, was then,
and is today, known as Beast Bar
racks" And the cadets marched
there are known as Beasts" de-
gree lower in the cadet hierarchy
than Plebes. There followed the
usual program for Jack Pershing.
He deposited with the proper off,
Gals the small sum of money re-
CURED by government regulations
and with it all the jewelry and valu-
ables he carried.
Government regulations prescribe
the amount Of money they shall
have to spend-50 cents week, as
l recall it-and the amount of
money they shall be paid. Which
amount, however, is not paid until
they are graduated. Each boy has
the same chance. A true democracy
is West Point-giving much, de-
handing much.
Oh, the commands of that break
ing in" period. snapped oat by stern
drill masters, yearling corporals,
who act under the direction of for
mer cadets, now officers in the army
and back under special orders to
serve for a time as tactical in
structors, or "Tacs," as the cadets
call them in their own slang.
Fall IMP
Fall out!'
| Hold up your head!"
| Drag in your chin!'
| Suck up your stomach
Get those shoulders back! More
yet! More yeti"
Lordly Young Men.
How those Yearling corporals
could yell and did yell at Beasts"
And if one forgot to salute those
lordly young men or the TAGS" or
forgot to address them as "Sirw
Oh, those Beast" days! Especial
ly the days when that most high
est of all, commander even of the
TAGS" the Commandant of Cadets
and Tactical Officers, put in appear
ance! Why, it was even prescribed
| how cadets should sit at mess!
There was no end of regulations.
Rooms must be kept just SO; beds
must be made just SO; bedding must
be kept just so; equipment, all of
it, must be kept just so; everything
| must be kept just 50. An inch out
Of the way, shoe or a paper mis-
placed, and-woe to the offender!
Camp lasted until September
camp with all that the name i'm
piled. It meant sleeping in the
open, Misunderstanding drills
guard duty, swimming, dancing.
Oh, the fun of it and the work of
it'll The trouble was then, even as
today, the Plebes were always the
butt Of the fun.
Will Jack Pershing ever forget
the first time he heard the order:
"Chase the Eagles"
Turn out, YOU Plebes, and chase
those eaglesp
What did it mean? An unoffend-
ing, chirping sparrow had alighted
in company street, between rows
of tents. Poor sparrowl He was
trespasser and must be elected.
So the Plebes chased eagles.
Or did Jack Pershing forget an
other order:
GPick up those logs Of wood, you
Plebesp
The Funeral Of a Rat.
What did it mean! Some one
had thrown matches in the company
street. The Plebes must pick them
up. Yes, most of the police duty
fell to the lot of the Plebes. And
the tasks they had to do for upper
classmen. For West Point, in the
days of Jack Pershing, boosted that
English school system of Tagging"
How the yearlings and the second
class and first-class men did all
within their power to make guard
duty for Plebes memorable.
Jack Pershing walked his post
Out of the darkness of the night
would appear a number of white
wrapped forms-suspiciously like
cadets with sheets draped about
them.
"Who goes there?" the sentry
would cry.
"a flock Of angels" would come