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[489] call “The New Barracks,” having small diamond panes of glass, brought so little light into the cadets' rooms, that it was positively injurious to their eyes. It was not long before I had those properly replaced by good windows with large panes.

When I first reached the Military Academy, owing to a few things in the previous administration in which the general officer had striven to give the cadets more and more privileges with a view of relieving as much as possible the great severity of what had been called “the West Point system” of merit and demerit, the cadets had not realized what was being done for them, and were not appreciative of the favorable changes enjoyed; these they could not comprehend as well as the officers who had been there before. Boylike, on several occasions they showed themselves careless of their privileges, and taking advantage of the relaxation of discipline did several mischievous things.

On one holiday, for example, they brought in the night a cannon and a cow into a tower of one of the buildings; and the next morning a cow's head was seen out of the window of an upper story.

Immediately, of course, there was an investigation, but the cadets would not betray each other, so that the mischief makers were unknown to the authorities. At once there was a resumption of the old severe discipline, and, in fact, it was increased so that after going into barracks cadets were required, contrary to usage, to walk post as sentries all night in the barrack halls; commissioned instructors were ordered to live in the barracks so that every division should have at least one army officer constantly on the watch to supervise and report delinquencies.

What resulted from this sudden severity, indicated

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