Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

Page 19 text:

History cf ' 85. URS has been a momentous history, made illustrious by our own illustrious achievements ! It will soon be time for us to step down and out, and what is the old Institute going to do without us? Do better, some one suggested, but he has been sat on most uncere- moniously, and the question is still unanswered. We have been hiding ourselves under a bushel for the last four years, and we are now going out to shine ; hitherto only a few stray pilgrims from S n have been dazzled by our brightness — this is not right, and we are going to do better. The prospect is bright and we are as happy as our dignity will permit, but, mingled with this, comes a feeling of sadness, and we will soon be parted forever. It is sad, even to us, yet we can sympathize with those in their loneliness — girls who will not see us any more. This is why we dread the coming end, and examinations have no terror for us. It is even rumored that F ' ather Spex is going to take a number and thus give all a chance for The First Jackson-Hope. Our career, so covered with glory, was begun in the Fall of ' 8i, when fifty-one brave youths started out to make a name ; we have made a name, and will devote the next four years to the un-making of said name. But we are not fifty-one now ; some did not stick close to their desks, the result of which was that they were soon all at sea ; some left with unlimited furloughs, granted by the Superintendent for reasons un- necessary to mention, while death has gathered in three of our brightest and best. In the Fall of ' 82 we were strongly reinforced, and our ac- quisitions, though they might not excite admiration, were certainly such as to attract attention. Through the altered class we passed victorious, and successfully ran the gauntlet of professional jokes that have )iot grown better with time. When we did attempt to make ourselves useful, by methods both inge nious and original, our efforts were plainly not appreciated, as the follow ing distinctly shows :

Page 18 text:

CADET OFFICERS. STAFF. A. H. Fitzgerald Adjutant. W. L. Hopkins Quartermaster. S. G. FiTZSiMONS Sergeant Major. H. Mansfield Color Sergeant. J. D. Ward Private Secretary. E. Blake Librarian. COMPANY A. I. Hudson Captain. G. B. Miller First Lieutenant. M. B. Corse Second F. Bell - . . . . Third C. P. Barnett First Sergeant. E. A. Palmer Second F. A. Jacobshagen Third J. A. LuDWiG Fourth J. M. Redfield First Corporal. J. A. Ventress Second L. S. Thompson Third E. B. DuBuissoN Fourth R. T. GooDWYN Fifth COMPANY B. J. H. Winston Captain. G. W. FiTCHETT First Lieutenant. J. J. Hager ... Second G. L. Nicholson Third M. W. Doty First Sergeant. A. C. Spotts Second H. J. Redfield Third J. N. Camden Fourth A. B. Luck Fifth R. L. Wilson Sixth J. C. Mechie First Corporal. W. Dickinson Second T. T. Terry Third W. W. Bkander Fourth G. T. Langhorne Fifth W. B. Corse Si.xth

Page 20 text:

12 THE BOMB While one of our professors was demonstrating a problem of mathe- matics in a manner more satisfactory to himself than to the class, one of us kindly volunteered to throw some light in the professor ' s face by means of a looking-glass, the room at that time being rather dark, whereupon the ungrateful professor remarked, If you want to throw any light on this subject just step up to the board. Let us draw the curtain. Notwithstanding this and many similar adventures, we still looked upon ourselves as a model class, and none attempted to un- deceive us, till alas! one fatal night, December i6th, sixteen of us proved plainly that we were only human — verily more than this — proved that we might be wrought upon by Love; for, having gotten per- mits to go to the Y. M. C. A. m.eeting, we proceeded to taste of the sweets of Love ' s Labor Lost, but it was a bitter sweet. We did not notice the lapse of time, and when we got back, behold it was after taps. For this we lost four months of liberty and went out of the model class business — it did not pay. On the matrimonial line we have not done anything very startling. This is not because we can ' t, but because we won ' t. Our dude, Lord B., is just grand at this, and we may lose Jiim even yet. We claim also to have the greatest of living curiosities — even the Siamese Twins. They are bound together by a bond of mutual worthlessness and there is no difference hardly, except one has a little down on his upper Hp, and down is the normal condition of the other. Repeated attempts have been made to purchase them at prices varying from two pies to a schofield, but we will not part with them — no, not for twice such a price as this. As engineers, our progress has been great. Machines have been de- signed so fearfully and wonderfully made that the. world will never be able to utilize them.. For example, one of us has already built a Howe Truss out of fiddle-sticks. But our end is at hand, and the annals of the V. M. I. will no longer be graced, or disgraced by our deeds. W must go into the world ; if we fail, on us be the dishonor, and not on our Alma Mater. Ja.s. D. W. Rn, Historian.