At Nebraska it
had become pretty lax--but the arrival of the new instructor changed
all that. A student of this time, in a recent article in _The Red
Cross Magazine_, gives a humorous account of what happened.
It was the general belief that the students in these Western colleges,
many of them farmers' sons, could never be taught the West Point idea.
"But the Lieutenant who had just arrived from Lincoln received an
impression startlingly in contrast to the general one. He looked over
the big crowd of powerful young men, and, himself a storehouse and
radiating center of energy and forcefulness, recognized the same
qualities when he saw them.
"'By George! I've got the finest material in the world,'" he told the
Chancellor, his steel-like eyes alight with enthusiasm. 'You could do
anything with those boys. They've got the stuff in them! Watch me get
it out!'
"And he proceeded to do so.
"By the middle of the first winter the battalion was in shape to drill
together. Moreover, the boys had made a nickname for their leader, and
nicknames mean a great deal in student life. He was universally called
'the Lieut.' (pronounced 'Loot,' of course, in the real American
accent), as though there were but one lieutenant in the world. This he
was called behind his back, of course.
Pages:
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240