US Naval Reserve Midshipmens School - Capstan Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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OIC pwf NTO sick hay we hledg into 21 room replete with doctors and pharmz1cist's mates. Quietly, quickly, elliciently theyjahhed hypodermic needles into the limp arms of a hapless procession of mid- shipmen. Out of the other end ol' the room moved a line of grim faces, sore arms, heztdztches. Cold sweats and levers. But classes, athletics. drills and every- thing else XVCIHOIIQISll1OLlQl1I10llllIlQll2lCl happened. Each Tttesdzty lor un endless numher of weeks our study hours . . . to stty nothing of our morale . . , were shztttered hy the mute piping thztt horrible eztll, More shots! Muster outside. more shots. But the day etune ut last when we were immune to ztlmost everything hut zt smiling lltee in the Oliver lohhy. But ntztyhe we're lucky we had them. XYl1t1t else is :ts fertile lor converszttionl' 611

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E DITCHED the cigarette, Hung the door open, and flew down the passageway to the spot where everyone in the battalion was congre- gated. The big fellow in front obscured his view. Then there was another with an elbow on his shoulder using him as a support. He pushed a little this way and a little that but made no progress. Two men who had been close up front, their curi- osity satisfied, nudged backward indicating that they wanted to leave. Wlhen he moved to the side a step, three others squeezed in ahead of him and now he was almost completely buried. 'fGangway! Gangway! Blake room for the Captain !', he yelled, and as the crowd jumped aside he thrust his body forward. Only two files away now, his heart was thumping on the double and he heard it beating above the din of the many voices. The man ahead muttered an 'innocuousa curse, stamped his foot, and moaned, Ah know ahim not that dumb. Ah won't be- lieve itlw There he was at last right up front facing his doom or salvation. His eyes leaped from one col- umn to another and his face was blank. Hjackson, Jensen, johnson, Kent, King, . . , ' And then his 60 HRPKN stomach felt as though it had dropped down to his toes. He tried to think of something funny to say for those who might be watching, but c0uldn,t think of a thing. f'Two point four in Nav! Can you tie that? And there I am again hanging from the branch they reserved for me. Gee, I knew I was close, but I kinda thought that maybe . . .', No one was paying attention so he broke off and began to head back, brushing through a group who were rejoicing because the axe had missed them. Twenty or so paces from his room someone called out, '4Big week end in Chicago, eh matelu And then it all came to him . . . She,ll be waiting at the Palmer House. Come all the way from Joliet, too. But I can't get there now. lVhat am I going to do? Donit want her to suspect that Pm dumb . . .N He wondered and wondered and then he phoned YVestern Union. 'fHoneywFate has made it im- possible for me to keep the Chi date STOP Aw- fully sorry STOP One of those secret things be- tween me and the Navy Department STOP This is war you know STOP IN'ar is hell STOP Know you'll understand STOP Love

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if T-T-fr X X ff 4 g 1 5.9 ' f EX' X 1 3 ! ! 5 -'B 2' I ' ffiif ' I if t' lf ,J j , C ,1 i f ,g f X Q fb t 'Q -, J ff I A fa ' . ft' ' , l X' E Zi X - K ROM fa Like the rising tempo of a Vlagner orchestra- tion the sound increases until it fills your room with an infernal din. r off, at first, a bell begins to clang. Then come the shouts of the mates in the pas- sageways. Reveille! Hit the deck! 'fCome on, you guys, pile out of there! Rubbing sleep-sodden eyes, you hazily throw back the covers, step down to a deck so cold that it could be used for an ice-rink and then rush to close the windows and drape yourself over a radiator. Such is reveille, a daily ordeal. And then there is Captain's Inspection, that 62 , ' gufwfif Saturday ritual which involves with dust motes, lint, and collar buttons. a desperate struggle A last hurried brush with the broom, a flick at the sink, a ginger Hnger test of locker tops, and a critical glance at the gleaming surface of desks per- fectly aligned, a final prayerful glance at your roomie, quailing at parade rest d for Captain,s inspection. , an you are ready Yes, ready at last, you fondly suppose, because you have corrected, with infinite patience, the mis- takes so generously indicated by your Chief in an uninterrupted series of room slips throughout the week. You learned to know well a curious appliance, called a i'swab, and you waited in a line just for a chance to use it. And there were other indis-