Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

Page 13 text:

HEX the conductor calls ' ' East Lexington, don ' t get excited; just sit perfectly still. If yon are asleep, do not wake; if you are reading, keep on reading. In fifteen or twenty minutes you will pass entirely through this suburb, which is over three hundred yards long. Then the train will execute About Face, and, after three or four fruitless attempts, will finally shuffle up the hill and deposit you safely on the platform of Lexington itself. Now just follow the crowd, and when he steps into the Lexington Livery Service go right in behind him : and Siamese will conduct you to our famous Alma Mater, where you will lie more than repaid for your trip. V. M. I. is the old headquarters of the Xew Market Battalion, the victim of Hunter ' s raid, for a long time the home of Stonewall Jackson, and the birthplace of The Bomb. In the glow of the beautiful sunset, you will hear the Boom of the Evening Gun, and the martial strains of the Institute Band. Along with this you will see the grim walls of Barracks, the lowering flags, and the shining- breastplates of the Corps as it passes in review. You feel a thrill, and want to be something besides a mere onlooker. Now the object of The Bomb is to let you see more, to give you an idea of what takes place behind those walls, and to tell you about the men behind those breastplates. Kind reader, we have tried faithfully to carry out this object; and we earnestly hope that the 1914 Bomb, in spite of our many mistakes, will be read with interest by our civilian friends, and bring back fond memories to all those who have ever been connected with the dear old Institute.