The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 19, 1896, Page 17

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 19, 1896. \ - o (HE GADET. WEST POINT IN A D. 1893 Trials of a Latter- Day Gandidate for Gadetship Howli Uik Boy o fdeals of the Givilizatian” ‘of the . Effefe East Were- Shattered by Unpleasant Realities It was the middle of May, 1893. The little city of Ukiah was m a fever of ex- | citement. The weekly papers had come out a day or two before with the statement that Con- | gressman Geary had ordered a competitive examination held at Santa Rosa for the purpose of selecting an aspirant for en- trance into West Point Military Academy. Of course, every boy in the district who was eligible to compete had his heart set on going. Among all of them there was none more keenly desirous of the honor thian I. Why this was so has always been a mystery go me. My ambition was not to be a soldier; in fdct, that mode of life was extremely distasteful in my eyes. It must have been that I had inherited the instincts of a pol- itician and wanted to be known as *‘Major”’ or ‘“Colonel.” Happily, this trait in my character has since been entirely eradicated. After a deal of coaxing my father’s con- sent to taking the examination was ob- tained, and May 26 I was in Santa Rosa, prepared for the worst. Thirteen other youthful candidates from the varions counties in the district were also there. To .this day it is doubtful whether they fully understand how kind fate was to them in defeating their hopes. The examination was held in the high school building before a board of three— Attorney Burnett of Santa Rosa, Professor Bull of Healdsburg and Professor H. C. Aoshire of Sonoma City. The resuit of that examination was that I won the appointment. Every act of my life has since been directed toward atonement. June 3found me in San Francisco, under- going & physical examination at the Pre- sidio. Having been pronounced eligible in that respect by the army surgeon, I wandered round the City viewing the sights for two or three days, and then boarded the train for West Point. To one of my inexperience that trip was the turning point in lite, an insight into the vastness of the country, the grandeur of natare, and the attainments of man. It was also a revelation, comparatively speaking, as sweeping as that made to the seer of Patmos. The alkaline deserts of Nevada and Utah, the majestic Rockies with their snow-capped peaks towering toward heaven in thedistance, the rolling plains of Kansas, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, the broad “Father of Waters,” the Windy City, Lake Erie, and lastly the scenery along the banks of the Hudson— all these were to me a source of infinite wonder and delight. And then Isaw a few things that effec- toally dispelled whatever illusions I might have been laboring under as to the com- varative degrees of civilization attained by the East and the West. Take the State of New York, for instance. “Now,’”’ I mused, “this is the oldest and most thickly populated State in the Uniop; this is the ground stained with the blood of our ancestors in their noble battle for liberty; here is where the father of his country tramped at the head of the Con- tinental army; this is the region where Burgoyne met his Waterloo, where Ar- nold gained the reputation so well deserved by all traitors, and where Nathan Hale 50 nobly gave up his life in an heroic en- duyor o aid nis country in her struggle for independence; from the Catskill Moun- tains Washington Irving derived the in- spiration to write of Rip Van Winkle, and from a dell rear Tarrytown, where Major Andre was captured, to pen the ‘Legend | my ears hear the polished phrase of Lind- | I: her hands was a large hoe, with which | My ideas of the acme of civilization, I | even yet I am inclined to think it would A CALIFERNIA of Sleepy Hollow.” Burely I shall see here the very essence of civilization and refinement. My eyes are now going to be- hold man in the forefront of progress, and | ley Murray.” An exclamation from a passenger roused me from my reverie. Involuntarily my eyes sought the window. They rested on a scene the memory of which will abide with me for many, many vears. Fora moment I was dazed. Rubbing my eyes to clear their vision I looked again. Yes, it was so. There could be no doubt that I was viewing a cornfield. Thestalks with their pendent green leaves were lightly swaying to and fro in the breeze. The sight of a cornfield was nothing new to me. I had seen many before. On the edge of that cornfield stood a woman. 1 was sure of that, too. When it comes to recognizing 8 woman I am more expert than in the case of cornfields. The strange thing in connection with the incident, however, was the woman’s garb and occupation. Her head was crowned with a very broad-brimmed straw hat, her dress was tucked up nearly to the knees and her bare feet and ankles were tanned by exposure to the elements. she was industriously turning the sod. plainly saw, had hitherto been sadly crude and distorted. On the evening of June’1l I reached West Point, but had to go to Highland Falls, about one and a half miles further down tbe Hudson, to fina board and lodging. The accommodations there were different from what I expected. The price exacted for them also failed to har- monize with my ideas on the subject. Tired and dusty from the long trip, a bath was the first thought that entered my mind. This desire was at once communi- cated to my hostess. Evidently she was not prepared to hear so strange a request. “Where did you come from?” she que- ried. *‘California,” was the laconic answer. “Goodness gracious! Here, James (ad- dressing the only servant the place af- forded), see that this gentleman is pro- vided immediately with an opportunity for bathing.” James looked slightly dubious, but, like the dutiful little man he was, set forth to obey orders. In about fifteen minutes he summoned me into & gymnasium at- tached to the building and, telling me everything was ready, departed. An inventory of my surroundings dis- closed the following: In the center of the room was a small zinc tub about 13 feet in diameter, the kind we uncivilized Ca) fornians use for washing handkerchiefs in. It was half filled with cold water. On a bench near by was a bar of castile soap and two enormous towels. By this time it was plain to me that I was not in touch witn the age—that I was born a few hundred years too late. But have been a charitable act iu James to have left me written instructions how to proceed with the bath. However, I managed in the course of an hour and a half, with James’ co-operation wealth and beauty. Many of the boys, I am happy to state, are imbued with a more laudable aspiration. It is merely to acquire an excellent education and then resign. Whnen the crowd reached the Point everybody registered, giving age, birth- place, place of residence and name of the Congressman who appointed him. It was also necessary to file the certificate of ap- pointment. Then we were piaced under the charge of the cadet officers, who took us in a body to the commissary’s quarters and had us procure biankets, sheets, pil- lows, bowl and pitcher for water and a few other articles necessary for existence during the examination to follow. Then we were marched back to the barracks and placed three in a room. One of the three was appointed orderly, who was responsible for the condition in which the room was kept and for himself and the other two being in bed promptly at 10 o’clock. At exactly 5:25 A. M. reveille was sounded in the quadranele, ana then began a fight against time. Every one was expected to get into his clothes, down two or three flights of stairs and into line in the ‘‘quad’’ by 5:30 o’clock. If a man were a moment late, one of the cadets would run at him as he lined up asif he were going to rush right over him, stopping with his face within a few.inches of the “‘candidate’s” countenance. “Don’t you know better than to get into line late, Mister?’’ he would bawl. “Wait till you get in here and we'll take that slowness out of you.” One of the cadets then passed up the line, grasping each one by the shoulders and drawing them back. *Throw out your chins,’”’ he would howl, “and gaze straight ahead.” If anybody laughed at any of these gen- tlemen’s antics or even smiled, the cadet who observed it would rush up to him and yell: “Wipe that smile off your face, Mister. Don’tlet me catch you at that again.” 3 At 6 o’clock everybody was marched to the mess hall. The candidates had one side of the immense building to them- selves and the cadets the other, If a cadet caught one of the newcomers gazing at him he would at once yell to him to *‘turn those slimy orbs off me,’” and in case of disobedience wouid rise and pound the table with his knife. One strapping fellow from 1daho named Roberts once persisted in gazing at s cadet despite these demonstrations and had the whole room in an uproar. cadet in the hall rose to his feet, stamped the floo~ and pounded the tabi with a knife. Roverts calmly sat there, tilted back in his chair, and never took his eyes off the cadet once. They finally quieted down, murmuring that when he was ad- mitted they would make life sore for him. Their veracity remains unquestioned. Another riot was precipitated by seat- ing two colored candidates at the same table with one Dawson of Maryland. He | flatly refnsed to acquiesce in this arrange- | ment, and made a scene by getting up | and attempting to leave the hall, but was seized ana brought back after a furious | struggle. In the interest of harmony it | ONE OF THE HUDSON RIVER BATHTUBS in providing a few changes of water, to make out fairly well. I was afterward informed on reliable authority that this enterprising person, on learning that I had come from <California, had run all the water I used in bathing through a sieve in search of gold dust. The next day several ’busloads of can- didates left Highland Falls for West Point. On the way there was a deal of conversation anent the coming examina- tion and the felicities of West Point exist- ence. I picked up several “pointers’’ dur- ing that short journey. One was that in this land of civilization the rules laid down by Lindley Murray are in most cases outlawed. A modern school now holds sway, of which “Chimmie Fadden” may be mentioned as a member in good standing. Another thing I learned was, that the ambition to enter West Point does not always origi- nate in the desire to emuiate the great American generals in military prowess. That notion is behind the times. It is sad to - be the ambition of every heiress and society girl in that region to keep company with a cadet. Naturally this often leads to re- tirement from the army upon graduation from the academy and a union with was found absolutely necessary to place him at another table. It might be mentioned here that the lot of a colored boy admitted to the academy fallsin stony places. He is not even con- sidered of enough importance to haze, but is left entirely to himself, with no com- panions but his own thoughts. In course of time the inevitable result is a resigna- tion. There is another strange fact in connec- tion with the mess hall deserving of inci- dental mention. The room is entirely en- circled by a row of life-sized portraits of the famous Union generals of the Civil War. On entering the hall nothing isseen but blue uniforms. Turning round and looking toward the door there appears one solitary form in gray. That martial figure and venerable face cannot be mis- tagen—it is the likeness of ‘‘Stonewall” Jackson. There he stands in all his glory, in the same attitude—one might imagine—as at the famous battle where he gainea his nickname. His picture is the clasp that connects the ends of the belt of paintings encirciing the room. To take up the thread of the narrative, after the candidates had breakfnsted they were marched back to the “‘quad” and dis- Every | | bathroom one morning and told to strip | Not they! Roy ATWEST PoINT- GOLONEL JOSEPH STEWART of Berkeley, Who Was a Class- mate &f General Liongstreet banded. Until 8 o'clock they were per- mitted to wander round that place as they pleased. If one of them failed to stand or walk erect some caaet would spy him and at once see that he did. The finest exhibition of wrath I ever saw in all my life was given in a case of this kind by a cadet named Connor. A mild-mannered youth from Iowa, Murphy by name, didn’t getinto position quickly enough to satisfy this little czar of a cadet, and the result was appalling. He just foamed at the mouth, yelied orders with. such strength and volubility that the frightened air fairly quivered with the concussion, hopped around like a Sioux Indian engaged in the ehost dance, and gestured so frantically that his eyes bulged out with the exertion. It was dramatic. It was thrilling. It was simply marvelous. Yet that cadet | wasn’t in the least angry. Subsequent events conclusively proved it. After he | had tried this dodge on about ten candi- dates, I got used to witnessing it. At the last the performance began to retrograde; Connor had grown weary. But for an exhibition of rage where none existed, he was entitled to the lnurels. Any candidate caught with his eyes on a cadet was promptly ordered to ‘‘turn those slimy orbs off him.” X few in- stances was this command disobeyed. Observation showed that compliance was not so much due to a belief in the beati- tudes asto a realization of the wrath to come. Fear of punishment here was greater thanthe hope of reward. This interval between breakfast and 8 o'clock was an elysium of bliss to the cadets. The coast was clear for hazing, and they made hay while the sun shone. The pranks they played were something we never see in the wild and woolly West. Our minds need development in this respect. If they werea commercial com- modity we would either be obliged to have ! a high protective tariff or go out of the business. K Two candidates were inveigled into the | 1 off their clothing. demurring. One of them was then plunged into a tub of cold water and the other into a tubof water about as warm as could be borne without blistering. After they had become acclimated their positions ware suddenly reversed. The result can be imagined. This trick was not tried until after the physical examination. Those cadets pos- sessed many traits of the fox and didn’t intend to run the risk of killing any one. Oh, no; this would lead to an investigation and severe punishment. Be- sides if the victim died he couldn’t be hazed any more. At 8 o'clock the boys were marched to the mess hall and put through au exam- ination until 12. The tables were all cleared for the occasion; pen, ink and pa- per provided, and a set of questionsona given study laid before each candidate. Several regular officers walked monoto- nously up and down the aisles to see that no one received any assistance from those near him. One of the colored youths mentioned in the foregoing was detected in the act of copying from another’s paper and “fired” w:thout ceremony. This ef- fectually disposed of any further copying which may have been contemplated. As each boy finished he was permitted to return to the *‘quad.” At 12sharp the laggards were forced to hand in their pa- pers. Half an hour was given for recrea- tion, and then the candidates were marched to the mess hall again for ‘luncheon. At2 . M. the examination was continued. After 4:30 o’clock no one was permitted to write further. Thep came dinner, a brief period for wandering around in the “quad” and all were sent to their rooms. The candidates' quarters were in the barracks to the north of the square, The room in which my two companions and I were placed was situated near the stairway on the second floor. A Georgian youth named Ashley was honored by being appointed orderly. Afterward he re- pented this distinction in sackcloth and ashes. A partition ran half the length of the room. On each side was an iron bedstead. We took turns about sleeping in bed and on tbe fioor. Each of us was forced one night out of three to bunk on the floor. The first evening Was spent entirely in unearthing the mysteries of-the room. The ingenuity with which its former oc- cupants had managed to conceal pro- scribed articles was almost incredible. Holes had been cut in the baseboards and the pieces of wood taken out cleverly re- placed. In oneof them was a half-emptied package of tobacco and in another a corn- cob pipe had been abandoned in its old age. On top of the partition had been cut grooves for storing digaretted. A loose brick in the fireplace was removed, re- vealing & cavity beneath. A tin tag bear- ing the brand of a well-known chewing tobacco afforded circumstantial evidence as to what this hiding-place bad been used for. Even the brass cup on the gas chandelier had the half-burned stump of a cigar in it. At 10 o’clock sharp all lights were or- dered extinguished. A cadet would run up each flight of stairs, and poking his head into the room shout, “All in?"” The duty of the orderly was to answer, They stripped without “Allin, sir.”” The first night he made the egregious blunder of replying, “All right, sir.”” He never made the same mistake again. Into the room came the cadet with one great bound. “Don’t you dare to tell me it is all right, Mister,”’ he roared; ‘‘certainly it’s all right or I shouldn’t have asked you. In the future you answer ‘All in, sir.” That boy Ashley was a perfect genius for doing things wrongly. The second night he fell asleep before 10 o’clock, and when the cadet got no answer to his query he woke the whole building. Ashley thought the barracks were on fire, jumped out of bed and made a rush for the door- way with a yell of terror. Then there came a terrific smash, a heavy thud as of some weighty body striking the floor, and the next instant Ashley and the cadet were having a rough-and-tumble fight on the floor. When both had bad time to re- gain their senses they separated. The invective heaped upon Ashley by that ca- det would have made Henry Grattan turn an emerald hue with envy. This cadet’s name was Cheney. He was proud not only of his name but of his bandsome person as well. The third night he fell from his lofty position as chief dude and invective-slinger with a ‘“‘dull, sickening thud.” Among the candidates was a large, pow- erful fellow of the name of Hall. Now, Hall was morally certain that he would not pass his ‘“‘exes,’”’ so was in a fit frame of mind to resent any .bullying. When Cheney stuck his head through the doorway at 10 o’clock and called out *“All in?” Hall, who was acting as orderly, made some surly remark in answer. Cheney bounced in to reprimand him, but had hardly opened his mouth when he was seized by the muscular candidate, carried into the haliway and pitched haif- way down the stairs. That one of his limbs was not broken is a miracle. He made his exit without visiting any oi the other rooms. 4 The same night everybody was in a state of intense excitement. A cadet named Connor, the gentleman with the propensities to exhibit violent rage when none existed, and a candidate from [daho, Roberts by name, had had a row during the day over some insult offered by Con- nor, and it was rumored that the affair was to be settled during the night with rapiers. All the boys were flitting about up and down the hallway in their night garments, peering expectantly from the windows every time a group of the cadets was no- ticed in tne ‘‘quad.”” The latter learned thisin some way and captured a young feliow named Klein, from Indiana, while he was stealing through the hall. taken downstairs to the cadets’ quarters and double-quickstepped until he fainted. For the benefit of those who have never experienced the delightsof double-quick- stepping, it may be explained as follows: The person chosen as the victim is made to stand erect, his shoulders thrown back and his chin eleveted. Then he must lift one knee as high as possible, drop it and raise the other. When forced to execute these movements rapidly the muscles of He was | tory, next morning between breakfast and the forenoon examination. Everybody did as ordered. After much questioning Latimer and I were detained. He was shortly afterward dismissed. I was commanded to stand erect and gaze fixedly at a live butterfly pinned to the wall, on a level with my eyes. They wan- dered to Smithers’ face once, but upon the stern demand to “‘turn those slimy orbs off me,” again sought the poor butterfly. Then ensued this colloquy : “Mr. Perkins, you are from California, are you not?” *Yes, sir.” “Did you learn that war-whoop from the [ndians?” “No, sir.” “Icome from an Indian country my- self, Mr. Perkins, and as an imitator of the classical Indian tongue I pronounce you a howling success. What made you do it?” “I didn’t do it, sir.” “No,” sarcastically, ‘“‘you didn’t even hear it, did you?” “No, sir.” “Isn’t it strange that you could lie within a few feet of that cyclonic disturb- ance and not be awakened by it, when it waked everybody in the lower rooms, sir?”’ “I was always a very sound sleeper, sir.” “Well, we will wake you now, so you won't sleep for a month. Get out there, and double quickstep. That’s right; a lit- tle faster now. Oh, you are doing fa- mously.” When { began to experience muscular pain the quick - stepping involuntarily slowed down. I was reminded of the fact that Smithers was in the vicinity by feeling a pin punctpre my flesh. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Maddened beyond endurance I grabbed a chair and rushed at him. The blow was ghincing and did no barm and in a trice we were mixing things up in very lively fashion. Several cadets heard -the racket and came rushing in. I was promptly collared, dragged forth under a hydrant and soaked to the skin in a jiffy. “Your temperament js too warm, young fellow,” said a worthy named Qakes, tan- talizingly. “This will drive the hectic flush from your brow.”’ After this fiasco I was suffered to go to my room withoutany further questioning. The language I used when I got there has largely come into vogue since the Scrip- tures were penned. That afternoon we were all lined up in the quadrangle, and one of the higher officers in command of the academy read off a long list of names, each boy being required to step forward as his mame was pronounced. I wasnot among the num- ber, and my heart sank within me. How- ever much my ardor to enter the Point may bave been cooled by my experiences, I didn’t care to fall out on the mental ex- amination. But the mental tension was soon relieved. There were many sore and disappointed candidates standing there at the conclu- sion of that brief sentence, one may be sure. A few words of instruction as to the phy- sical examination were immediately given, and the line disbanded. Those who had FOR THIS THEY STUDY THE ARTS OF WAR the legs soon ache so acutely that lifting the foot from the floor causes one poignant misery. The next day I got a taste of it myself. It was caused by my own superabundant spirits, but felt none the better for all that. About 2o’clock in the morning a candi- date quartered in Hall’'s room—he came from Ohio and I believe his name was Latimer—and another chap stole from their beds ata preconcerted signal and stood directly over the stair opening. Drawing deep breaths one of them gave a first-class imitation of the midnight war- bling so frequently indulzed in by the common domestic cat, which the other followed up with a series of Comanche warwhoops and a clog dance. His feet were shod for the occasion with Ashley’s number nines. Then the two skurried back to bed andin ten seconds were ap- parently sleeping the sleep of the just. Up the stairsbounded four or five cadets and at each door furiously demanded information as to the identity of the malefactors. Of course, nobody knew anything about it. One of the cadets had to shake me violently to awaken me from my siumber. I knew no more about it when awakened than the rest. Allin the vicinity were ordered to report to Lieuten- ant Smithers, a chap from Indian Terri- failed packed their grips at once and started homeward. Few were sorry at leaving, but hated to admit having failed in the mental “‘ex.” “The names I have just read,” said the officer, taking off his eyeglasses and wiping them slowly, as if to punctuate his words, ‘“are the names of those who have been found deficient in the required branches.” When the time arrived for my physical examination I marched boldly in. It wasn’t two minutes until 1 saw my fate, “Weighed in the balance and found want- ing,”” written upon the wall as plainiy as did the trembling and terror-stricken Bel- shazzar. I was a few pounds under the weight required for my height and chest development. The causes of this were plain. For six days1had journeyved across the country, had drunk a different kind of waterin every State, had lost my appetite almost completely, had worried through a three and a half days’ ‘‘ex” in a most sul- try climate had undergone the hellish experience of being shaved by a fiend- ish Highland Falls barber, and had been hazed every day I was under the cadets’ tender mercies. It shames me not to confess that my heart was as light as my weight when I started for home, parents and friends. Feavk L. PEREINS, | WEST POINT IN A. D. 1838 Golonel Stewart Jells of Hazing in the Old Days Benham Had Splints Jied on His Legs and Then Fell Down Stairs and Was Laid Up for Time Colonel Joseph Stewart entered the mil- itary academy at West Point July 1, 1838, and his recollections concerning the cus- toms at that institution of over half a cen- tury ago are fresh and vivid. “There was the case of Benham,” said Colonel Stewart at his home in Berkeley. “Benham comes to my mind particularly because he was hazed more severely than any man in the academy during the four years I passed there. You have read about the haging of Cadet Edwin G. Davis of Idaho by Cadet Captain Patrick A. Murphy, the champion boxer of the acad- emy, recently. I wish to say that in for- mer times there was no such brutal hazing as Davis has experienced. In fact, for a captain of the first class to engage ina slogging match fifty-eight. years ago would have been considered disgraceful, and I am too much of an old-timer to under- stand how such prutality has come to pass. “'Hazing? Yes, of course there was haz- ing at West Point fifty-eight years ago, but the first class had nothing to do with brutally hazing lower classmen. Benham, of whom I spoke, afterward went to the engineer corps. He was a fine fellow and spirited, too, but perhaps a little 100 cred- ulous. He fell in with one of the self- elected and bogus ‘board of officers’ soon after he arrived at West Point. “Bitting in their borrowed finery these mock official boards would lay down all sorts of absurd regulations for the new- comers, and have s great deal of fun. The novice in turn took delight in hazing the uninitiated, and got even in that way. I was hazed. So was James Longstreet, afterward lieutenant-general of the Con- federate army, who was in my class, and who and a very few others are the sur- vivors of a class of fifty-six. That class, perhaps it will interest you to know, was represented in the civil war by nineteen general officers, ten being in the Confeder- ate service and nine in the United States Some army. "1¥ha bogus official board which caused Benham to be hazed brought him before them in due military form and caused him to undergo a physical examination. They frowned, looked wise, criticized and con- demned, and wound up by informing Benham that his legs were crooked and that he must wear splints, extending pretty near the whole length of his legs. The splints were accordingly fastened on at night. Benham could not bend bis knees as & matter of course, restrained by the splints, and so the next morning when he tried to go downstairs he fell ana broke one of his legs and was laid up for some time. But that was an accident. No one supposed that he would attempt to go downstairs stiff-legged and the men were genuinely sorry that such an accident had befallen.” There are proba bly few men who have served continuously half a century in any line of public duty. To the former class- mate of General Longstreet has come a large share of service and excitement. Colonel Stewart said that he was promised a cadetship at West Point when he was only 8 years old, and as soon as he came to the eligible age he entered the academy, the appointment being secured by Sher- rard Williams, then Congressman- from the Eighth District of Kentucky. At the end of his four years’ course Colonel Stew- art was appointed brevet second lieuten- ant and was attached to the Third Artil- lery, being stationed at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, the scene of the composition of “The Star-spangled Banner,”