New York Military Academy - Shrapnel Yearbook (Cornwall on Hudson, NY)

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-' THE FIRST FACULTY-1889 Mr. Russell Colonel Wright Captain Hill Mr. Donald Mr. Green Closer and closer to the building came the company! The front ranks also became jittery awaiting the word of command. Faculty officers and spectators began to shift nervously from one foot to the other. Zittell gradually be- came the color of a ripe tomato as he struggled to bring his vocal apparatus under control. Then his stentorian but frenzied voice crashed into the strained silence: For God's sake, stop! he howled. fZittell, now prominent in the real estate business, still howls when he recalls that paradej. The Quarterly, cadet publication, had been issued dur- ing the latter months of the first school year, but did not Mr. Schultz Mr. Vincent become firmly rooted until the school year of 1891-92. An active editorial board increased its size and added new features, as well as issuing the little periodical at more frequent intervals. The following year the Academy met and successfully weathered its first crisis. Friction had developed between Colonel Wright, the principalg Rev. C. Wyckoff, and the commandant, Lieutenant Edwin S. Curtis. This was further aggravated by the fact that Wyckoff and Curtis were not in complete agreement on methods of conducting the school. This unfortunate situation had its effect on discipline Page Eleven

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OLDEST LIVING ALUMNUS Mr. Joseph F. Taylor, oldest living graduate of N.Y.M.A., as he appeared at the 1939 Commencement. first graduating class but whose name was not called when the diplomas were awarded. Astounded by the fact that he had been left out, Cadet Captain joseph F. Taylor made a bee-line for Colonel Wright the minute commencement ceremonies were concluded, and asked why he had not re- ceived his diploma. Colonel Wright explained that it must have been a mis- take and later forwarded the diploma with a letter asking Taylor to take a postgraduate course and offering him the rank of Cadet Major. Accordingly, Taylor returned to the Academy for another year and took a commercial course, receiving a second diploma at the 1891 commencement. Still hale and hearty, and looking much younger than his actual years, Taylor chuckles now over the fact that he is the only man ever to attend N.Y.M.A. who received two diplomas from that institution. While New York Military Academy was thus born at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, the world moved on outside. Benjamin Harrison was president of the United States and the nationally disastrous Johnstown flood had taken its place in history. Not so widely heralded, but destined to train citizens for their part in that history, the Academy entered on its first decade. Eminently successful in winning the respect and love of the boys, as well as the confidence of the parents, Colo- nel Wright opened the Academy's second year with a to- tal enrollment of eighty-six boys, an increase of eleven over the initial registration. The capacity of the original building had been severely taxed during the first year and work upon a second build- ing was begun during the summer of 1890. The new struc- ture was completed during the winter and was occupied for the first time when the cadets returned from their Christmas holiday. It contained a chapel, gymnasium, and five classrooms, releasing a large amount of space in the main building for dormitory and executive purposes. The new building also incorporated an observation tower for astronomy students. Football once more held the attention of the cadets during the fall, and this time the team actually saw action against an outside opponent. In the only interscholastic encounter of the year at Cornwall, the New York Mili- tary Academy engaged the Westminster School of Dobbs Ferry and won by an 18-0 score. The baseball team of 1891, however, played a com- plete schedule of eight games, winning five and losing three. Peekskill Military Academy, arch-rival of all Ny- manians for years to come, was nlet twice on the diamond, each school winning one game. A high spot of that school year, too, was the first pro- duction of the N.Y.M.A. Dramatic Club. After weeks of rehearsal, the Club presented a minstrel show on March 15 before an enthusiastic audience of cadets, parents and townspeople. Individual stars were G. Mayo deReamer, Edward Carpenter, Easton R. Gibson and Edward Spring. Frank Zittell gained undying fame and convulsed the entire Academy in the spring of 1892 by introducing a new order into the list of commands given during the usual dress parade. Zittell, who had just been promoted to Sec- ond Lieutenant, was given charge of his company that afternoon when his best girl unexpectedly appeared upon the scene. The result was astounding. Panic struck the dignified Second Lieutenant, and he barely managed to avoid stumbling over his own feet. He had the company in columns of fours marching across the parade ground to form battalion line, and headed toward one of the Academy buildings. His mind did a complete blackout when he discovered the lady and he could find no words to stop the column or divert its course. Page Ten

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FIRST OFFICERS - 1889 and school spirit and for a time a general order had to be issued banning all fraternities. Few light notes were struck during the year, but one fwhen viewed from the perspective of 46 yearsj seems worthy of remark. The Quarterly, of December, 1893, quotes the new eligibility rules for college football and editorializes: This rule seems a good one. It puts a stop to the practice of taking a good man from one of the smaller colleges and paying his expenses .... The only objection is this: These rules take effect immediately. Pennsyl- vania has gotten together a very strong team . . . Candi is scheduled to play Princeton and Yale. She claims that as these dates were made before this rule was considered, she should be allowed to play the team organized before this rule went into effect. But Princeton, Yale and Wesleyan are against her and she will probably give in. But the end is not yet. Another touch of humor broke the tempo of school .--.-..-...,.....1...,...............,........-..-u,..e.,L.., ...w.k-..- aefmfu.. ..... ,. ...-...L.............,......... days when Colonel Wright was harassed by the famous for infamous, Crow Incident. A spirited discussion in cadet barracks one night, concerning the ability or inability of crows to talk, resulted in the organization of an expedi- tion to put the matter to the test. Plans called for the cap- ture of a crow, subsequent slitting of its tongue, and then a course in elementary English. The expedition was all too successful. Five young crows were captured in a nest and brought back to the Academy. The problem of finding a home for them was settled by their installation in the upper part of the private stable maintained by Colonel Wright for his own horses and car- riage, although the cadets in charge of their feathered friends neglected, through some oversight, to obtain per- mission first. An infrequent visitor to the stable, Baldy, as the ...........,-.. -.-A-.-is . M..-.-.. -.........:...-L.-. ,f.:--,v,....s.. .. . .... .W..m,m-. .i. Page 'Twelve t