United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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Night Owls nearly came functions that a cadet has thrust upon him. This evident unconcern created much com- ment at the time, but the reason for our actions is known'to the youngsters of that day. It was but the work of something like eight months to slip through that blithesome sport and blossom forth as youngsters ourselves. As the' cadet made a plebe, so inversely he made a youngster, for a good plebe is a bad youngster the world over, and a bad youngster is the most cloying of all evils. This year was spent in the usual wicked and thoughtless way that cadets succeed in acting, the discipline began its gain rapidly on us, so that a man who had, during plebe year smoked and Frenched and made merry with wine and spirits, now considered himself positively devilish if he whistled during ' study hours. u I i , But some of the worst, whom this f l i l i 'N sort of discipline made even more wicked , QQKX 1' , O ' in than before, presumed so far as to have E x?er ,xg KX milk punch at midnight on the Cadet-in TJ' l W I Charge's table. It was then that the i5,.,iQi i 1 Ancient and Honorable Order of Night T TI 1 fl' Owls was formed, and many a time and , 'L Q'iN R35 L 4 - . it ffl 's f oft they pl'lCCl the staples on the refriger- jg U s--.T ator door, in the basement, with their MQW! faq' Xfglfafb drawing instruments, till such sport be- EBIKMLX -QA x, came too easy, and X- ,. the Night Owls cast curi- .NN ous eyes around to find . 'Emi I O ff.. ' out what else to do. Per- ll- ui gd -. if ' ?7 haps it would be only E7 wus, rgfgyxg ' just to say, at this point, M l V V ' 'Vi l 'E , that the Officer-in- Qffff PENSE2' ,il ll 3-'iii-s I , Charge also cast a few Vous, it lN iinitgf 115 I I curious eyes, and, in l if if ff! T some instances, in a d e fl, ' such good casts that the 7 Y Q 1 to an untimely end. We will leave them here, however, and continue with the p1'ocession. During this year the Night Study Party was invented, and the idea was so attractive that it became an institution that will never go outof the minds of some of our luckicr members. This Party is for the purpose of literary advancement, in order that cadets will not feel backward about speaking of popular books, such as G2rl!z'wr'.s' D-fzwly and G1'z'11zf1z'.r Ifhzkjf Ylzlvs, when they go out in society. If the kind reader will permit me I will here digress a little, to say that society is one of the most trying evils of our life here, cadets will spoon, and go calling, and all 29

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The History of the Class of '98. IIICRE are a great ,many things that I might write about in this class his- W 7 f-7-,X tory, but we will draw a few curtains over some of the less important Ill il'l'fll V scenes. It is, I suppose, unnecessary to tell you that the prime object of l llM.iQ ,, i ' a cadet's life is to enjoy himself, see the world, and read poetry. These l . aims are thoughtfully provided for by the curriculum and the regulations, I, ' D' by the situation of the school in this busy metropolis, by the three months , 'l H i q 'I a year spent at sea in a wooden ship, by the high Naval Academy fence, I W x ,ft the conduct report, and the unlimited time he has for thinking about the 1 ' . . I ,la good things of life. I X fi I The cadet has a little dabbling of studies to dally with occasionally, 'AM-'Q but we all know that too much pleasure ruins the nervous system. You 'jggfgisr must remember that cadets come to Annapolis mere infants, and too much innocent amusement cannot be given them , they are permitted to go out and look at beautiful Annapolis once a month, if they are good- to ride out to the parks on the street-car, or go to the operas. fCadets are not allowed to engage season boxes at the operaj Four years ago-twelve months to the year being allowed, according to the calcula- tions of the Bellman-the class of Ninety-Eight came under the protecting wing of the Navy. I-Iow well I remember the wet, dreary day that we passed our last exam., and came into the gates for the last time, what lucky dogs we thought ourselves, but how soon that illusion was dispelled! Plebedom, with all its pleasures, came upon us in the most fetching way. We soon learned many things about modern warfare, such as making beds, splicing rope, and wear- ing rain clothes. It was then that we made the acquaintance, in a roundabout way, of Savvy and Dutchy. I say in a roundabout way , but at that time an acquaintance sprang up that has largely iniiuenced the subsequent existence of every cadet in the class. Little did we think how often, afterward, we should be reminded of that acquaintance, but we know better now, we have lived some years since then, a few gray hairs are added to the IVIajor's head and to McIntyre's eyebrow. As plebes, we were shy, we didnlt go to the theatres much, nor dress in the height of fashion, we didn't even go to the hops, which, of course, are among the minor social 28 ,,. .,, ., .

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such nonsense. But this evil is almost remedied now by having drills at every recreation hour, and prohibiting cadets going anywhere in the yard where a lady might go. Among the principal features of youngster year the Drawing Department has a big lead. It grieves me to confess it, but we didn't cut any very large morsels of ice in that department. With tears I remember our introduction into it. Colvo had looked us all over, shown us how to let our desks slide down, explained in detail how every instru- ment should be used, warned us against the thoughtless practice of leaving our Compasses out in the snow, and had concluded in the most touching tones with the words If handled with care they will last a lifetime. At that moment Cy Thorpe dropped his desk with a bang, and let his drawing-box go helter-skelter down two iiights of stairs. But let us draw a few curtains over this scene. Youngsterdom finally came to an end, as all youngsterdoms usually do, in the Ann., though some of ours ended at the Semi-Ann. But this is no time for tears. We then began our long-expected Second-Class summer. I cannot describe the bliss of living at Old Quarters during the summer, with little work to do, no studies, spooning and golf at the farm, picnics, boating, sailing, skyrockets and firecrackers, beer and watermelons. No, I can't describe it-for the principal reason that we were not there. We were safely ensconced aboard the good ship lVlonongahela, far from the madding crowd-three months of heaven Guileless reader, did you ever take an altitude? Did you ever get up from your impromptu breakfast of salt horse and sea-water cocoa, and take an altitude? If you have never done this, have never picked the mean right ascension of the moon out of the apparent sun column for the next week, if you have never waited for the navigator to announce his noon position, so that you may cook up your sight to fit the case, truly, shepherd, thou art eternally damned. But all this came to an end finally, and we had one short month in which to live. We lived fast lives during that month, to catch up with the time lost in the two years past, but, at last, we came back and buckled on our Oehm's blouses again. If you have never come back from real life, on the last train, reported to the Officer in Charge, Commandant, and the Assistant Master-at-Arms, and wandered into your new room, piled up with beds, wardrobes, blankets, trunks, mattresses, boxes, books, washstands, clothing, lamp-shades, chairs, overcoats, valises, and your unhappy room- mate, have never sat down in your cit's clothes and sworn gently in silent despair, and hopelessly endeavored to calm down the az ' affairs, to buy your books and other unnecessaries, to stow your clothes, to find ye, . .... c is, and study the lessons for the next day, you have missed one of the most touching phases of existence. Skip all that, you may say, and I agree with you. We were steered up against Second Class year in the most unkind and heartless manner. First, there was Steam and Leo: then Skinny and Tau, and finally, Math and jack, besides other ladies. But we lived in Old Quarters in those days, and nobody worried our supreme pleasure. Evening smokers and general gayeties were in order, and fortune smiled upon us for a long time. 30 I