United States Military Academy West Point - Howitzer Yearbook (West Point, NY)

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A THOUGHT ABOUT STONE When a piece of stone is first cut from its mother quarry it is a shape- less mass, inanimate and without character, a cold thing, seeming to partake of the bitter winds and snows which, in winter, sweep across our native hills. It is a lifeless substance for chemists to analyse and for engineers to test, for it lacks a soul and beauty. . . . Yet from blocks of this spiritless stuff our West Point has been wrought, and who can say tt lacks a soul? But whence did it come? Did the mason impart it with his trowel as he set stone on stone, or does the clinging ivy covering the walls with verdant foliage draw it from the earth? Does the glowing life which moves and vibrates within breathe some of its own spirit and warmth into the surrounding walls? . . . But one cannot analyse the beauty of these buildings; we can only appreciate it. Living among them as we do, we reabsorb from them the spirit which they received from men of the Corps long ago. We give and we take; a cycle of exchange in which the supply is constantly increasing. ... If we wished, we could not reduce this beauty to words, but the eyes of an artist have seen its limitless inspiration and his hand has caught it for us on plate and canvas. The Class of 1934 proffers its sincere thanks to Mr. Alex Levy for this unusual set of etchings and for the ex- ceptionally fine paintings of Cadet life found throughout this book.

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4 I SWCT.

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