584 
UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT. 
Americans the Ordnance is a branch of the Artillery, instead of a 
separate department as with ns. The cadets who pass out of the 
Academy highest are recommended for appointment to any arm of the 
service, the next seniors to any arm except the Engineers, the next to 
any arm except Engineers or Ordnance, and the remainder to Cavalry 
or Infantry. The number of cadets who graduate every year is not 
sufficient to fill up the vacancies in the army, although the United 
States standing army is a comparatively small one, being 25,000 to a 
population of 60 millions. The establishment of cadets at West Point 
is 345, but they are seldom up to strength, the average number at the 
Academy at one time being only 265. The Academy is wholly sup¬ 
ported by the Government, and the cadet receives his education as a 
free gift. The funds for the maintenance of the Academy are supplied 
through the Secretary of War upon the requisitions of the Superin¬ 
tendent. The average incidental expenses amount to £20,000 a-year, 
and the average annual pay of the cadets is £30,000. Of the pay of 
the staff there are no particulars, but it might be put at another £30,000, 
which would make the total cost of the whole establishment somewhere 
in the neighbourhood of £80,000 per annum. 
West Point. 
West Point is a promontory on the right bank of the Hudson River, 
about 50 miles above Hew York; it is a very pretty but somewhat 
desolate spot, and the neighbouring country being barren is thinly 
inhabited. The Government property covers 2200 acres, stretching 
along the shore for two miles; it consists of level plain and rugged 
hills. The bank of the river is, as a rule, high and steep—along the 
top of it runs a strip of level plain which is backed by mountains, the 
whole country for the most part being thickly wooded. On a portion 
of this level plain, which presents the form of an equilateral triangle 
with a side of about half a mile, are situated the Academy Buildings 
150 feet above the river, and close to it; this particular portion is 
known as “ the plain,” and makes a capital drill ground. There is no 
town at West Point, and no society other than the families of the 
Academy Staff. There is no garrison, no arsenal, and no dockyard. 
There is a small hotel and a post office. There are two lines of rail¬ 
way, the “ West Shore ” and the “ Hew York Central,” the station of 
the former is ten minutes' walk from the Academy, that of the latter 
on the opposite side of the river, at a small place called Garrisons, to 
which a steam ferry runs from West Point. The railway journey to 
Hew York takes two hours. In summer passenger steamers ply up 
and down the Hudson. 
The Academy Buildings. 
The Academy buildings are of grey stone and present a sub¬ 
stantial and ornamental appearance. Forming one central group are 
the Academy itself, the cadet barracks, the Grant hall, the head¬ 
quarter office, the chapel, the library, the hospital, and the riding 
“hall.” The officers' quarters form a line of prettily situated detached 
villas, extending over a mile, some looking across “ the plain,” and all 
