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

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-- -- , A 1' .5 ta FIRST SET OF UNIFORMS AT THE ACADEMY- 1889-1910 Oliicers' Dress Fatigue Full Dress winner of this inaugural event was Herbert Bonnie, '01, Four graduates of the Academy met in New York in the fall of 1902 and formed an organization which was destined to have a profound influence on the future of the school-the New York Military Academy Alumni Associa- tion. The four founders were Cord A. Meyer, '98, L. Rob- erts Walton, '99, William Lloyd Brooks, '99, and Charles J. Brooks, '00, First officers were Meyer, president, Lloyd Brooks, vice-president, and Walton, secretary-treasurer. Another of N.Y.M.A.'s outstanding football teams took the field in the fall of 1903. Captained by William Wood, this squad won five out of six games by decisive margins, and captured the Hudson River championship. Addition of a business department to the curriculum in 1903 attracted more cadets than ever to the Academy. Courses previously offered had been college preparatory only. The new course not only opened the doors of the school to a different group of students but resulted in a change of studies by many of the cadets already enrolled. The Athletic Association found itself short of funds in 1904 and the corps thereupon decided to stage a dramatic production as a benefit. The result was an extravaganza called Molly, the Miller's Daughter, one of the most suc- cessful productions in the history of the Academy. A spring issue of The Quarterly of that year says that 3150 was real- ized for the athletic fund. Continued growth of fraternities at this time is noted by the fact that Alpha Chi Sigma had outgrown the room originally assigned to it and was moved to a larger room in the main building. Formal opening of the new quarters was attended by Colonel and Mrs. jones, members of the faculty, and most of the cadet corps. Random reflections of john G. Shattuck, '05, who at- tended the Academy during those years, cast some light on the quiet life at the Academy in Cornwall. Life was simpler then, Shattuck recalls, but we seemed to have a pretty good time in a quiet sort of way. We were allowed only fifty cents a week spending money and if a cadet got eight demerits in any one week, his allowance was cut to a quarter. Twelve demerits meant that he got no spending money at all, and if he went over twelve he had to walk them off, ten minutes marching for each demerit. I must have walked halfway around the world in my first year at the Academy. .. . ,- m e- I t - , , V 9 if Us he r y Page Ei ghleen

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all THE OLD SWIMMIN' HOLE from usual custom as to emerge from a fourth Hoor window attired in shako, sash, sword, gloves-and absolutely noth- ing else. He stood erect on a narrow ledge in full view of the entire battalion and then, from this lofty eminence, received the reports of the cadet officers. ln 1900, Benjamin Lee Wilstmn, who had been head- master for six years, left the Academy and was succeeded by Charles Sumner Havens, who held that position until 1907. liarly years of the twentieth century saw Colonel Jones continuing the progressive policy which, even then, made New York Military Academy one of the leading prepara- tory schools of the United States. Attendance increased from year to year and, as the reputation of the Academy spread, cadets were enrolled from ever-widening areas. Not only were most of the states of this country repre- sented, but Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico and other foreign lands sent their annual quotas. lixcept for the Boxer Rebellion in China, the United States spent ten peaceful and fruitful years during this first decade of the twentieth century. Paralleling the course of the nation, New York Military Academy was growing strong, sending its young men out to take their place in the world with a good body of knowledge and habits as the foundation of their characters. Back at the beginning of the century, social activities were far more simple than those of the present day, and a cadet show followed by a dance was an event to be planned for weeks in advance, and remembered for months afterward. A minstrel show in November, 1900, for in- stance, was a high spot on the fall social calendar, while a musical production called Cadet Days, followed by the Midwinter Hop, left the Academy limp and exhausted in the early part of 1901. It was at about this time that the school invested in a pool table and a new indoor sport was introduced. The cadets were immediately anxious for competition and a tournament was arranged, with twenty-two entries. The Page Serenleezl t

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.jr lilly nu I-I -ll if -I ll 1' l-I - ll -L , Saturdays were always good days because we were al- lowed to go into town, but if it happened to be a Satur- day when the football team won, we really had a time. The whole corps would form a torchlight procession and march down into the middle of town. Then the 'new guys' would be forcibly called upon to entertain with speeches, songs, and dances. It was on Saturday nights also that the weekly danc- ing classes were held. Miss Foote fl can't remember her Grst namej, the teacher, would come down from New- burgh in a horse-drawn carryall with a bunch of girls, and some more girls would come up from Cornwall. Of course, the big social event of the year was the mid-winter show and dance. We used to give a minstrel show each year which was attended by our girls and some of the parents. The big dance would follow the show and how we were chaperoned! No one was allowed to leave the immediate vicinity of the dance floor all night except to go home at the end of the party. I guess we were pretty well taken care of, all right. Looking back now, I know that we were certainly well-fed even if we did kick about the food most of the time. Oc- casionally the kitchen would seem to get a run on one dish -fried eggs, for instance-and then we'd simply go on strike until the menu was changed. This was a pretty mild demonstration, though. Why, I went to West Point with the football team one time and we ate with the cadets there. Waiters came in with large platters of pancakes and those disciplined West Pointers made a shambles of the place by throwing pancakes from one end of the room to the other. Shattuck recalls that the steady growth of New York Military Academy during this period was already taxing the capacity of the main building. There were only about forty-five rooms available for dormitory space and some of these would accommodate only one cadet. With eighty-six boys housed there in 1904, it was impossible to find room for a single additional person. Shattuck, a member of the board of trustees of the Academy for several years, has sent three of his sons to Cornwall. John G. Shattuck, jr., was graduated in 1935 and I-Iarold Morgan Shattuck in 1936. Both were winners THE RAMBLE AS IT APPEARED 50 YEARS AGO Page Nineteen