THE 8EMI-WEEKLY TRlDUNE. NORTH PLATTF, NEBRASKA.
West Point Cadets M h TncferuflnT
'tonv Havens, Ohlljj
m i.jpi ;w-" ii
77ie famous old ballad has
been sung for nearly a century
by the cadets of the Untied
States Military Academy, Its
history makes good reading
Oh?Vel" 10 t0 u Uonny Havens,
no was Benny Havens? Abk tno
next West Pointer you ntout to
tell you somolhlng about Ucnny
Havens. Ho knows hnd you'll
And Mint his eyes will klndlu at
tho mention oC tha nunve. uy tho
Nuw York Sun.
West Polntors for half a con
tury hove told tho story of Benny
Iluvona thoy huvo bled and
died with It on their lips.
Wherever Duty called they1 went, thotr steps were
never slow ..... .
With Almu Mater on tholr lips, and "Bonny Iluvona,
cmr
"Benny Havens, Oh 1" is tho ctflc of West Point.
It la n story in song, tho story of West Pointers
and their Eucrltlces for duty, honor, West Point
Hiid country.
This old academy of West Point, laid out ou n
nigged shelf overlooking tho majestic sweep of tho
Hudson, has many prized traditions, unsullied, In
alienable, hut nono moro sacred to hur sons than
that of Benny Havens. Oo to Cullum Memorlnl
hall at West Point and read in Imperlshnblo lot
tors of bronze the story of nor sous. 8ho Iirh scon
them march out of her sallyports singing "Ucnny
Havens, Oh I" and seen thorn brought buck whllo
minute guns were echoing among tho granite hills
tint surround her. The history of West Point is
closely interwoven with that of our country; West
Pointers have wrlttou bright pages la the annals
of the land.
Their blood haa watered Western plain and Northern
wilds of snow,
i Has ntalned Bterra'a holiest peaks, where piercing
wind e'er blow:
Haa uyiul deep red the Uverglades, and deeper atlll,
you know,
I The sacred Montexuma shades and walla of Moxlco.
I Wherever duty has summoned them West Point
ers have carried "Benny Havens, Oh I"
Tho story of Benny Havens la almost ns old as
that of the academy Itself. Many, many yours ngo,
In 1824 to bo precise, Benny Havens took up his
residence on tho southern border of whut then
constituted the post of West Point Alnlost Im
mediately ho and tho cadets became friends.
Ho was a genial soul, generous, and of good com
pany and an Inimitable spinner of yarns, 'iind he
Invurtably piled Ms visitors with buckwheat cakes
and maple sirup, Soon his refreshments acquired
uucb famo that cadets ofton sllppod away from
(heir duties and mado their way to Benny's retreat,
where thoy found oblivion for tholr disciplinary
jWocs. Almost every night after taps suw half a
dozen daring cadets, who should hnvo been In bed,
gathor!d around Benny's bountiful table.
Only for a Bhort Umo did Benny's fara confine
Itself to buckwheat cakos and maple sirup, tirog
and wlno wero addod to tho menu, an addition
whereby Bonny's popularity Increased tenfold.
About this tltno tho West Point authorities, who
bad previously shut their eyes to Benny's liberali
ties, decided that tho time had coma to ceclaro a
blockade on Bonny in so far as cadet wero con
cerned, and consequently Benny's haven of delight
became "off limits" for tho futuro gcncruls and
puuisbmcnt was meted out by those caught run
ning tho blockade. Jefferson Davis, afterward
president of tho Confederate states, had tho dis
tinction of being among tho ilrst butch of cadets
court-martialed for midnight revels at Benny
Havens'.
Beuuy wus warned that his generosity to cadets
was demoralizing to discipline and Hint unless ho
culled a halt' summary proceedings would result
Ho was unublo to refuse those low cutlets who
"ran It out" to hlH homo nnd dually ho wus oxpelled
from the post shortly after 18'.t), taklug up his nbodo
at the Daso of a high cliff near the river' edgo
about a mile below West Point. Hero ho lived In
a small frame house until tils death In 1877 at tho
age of ninety. Ho wus burled In Union cemetery,
about midway between Highland FiiUh and Fort
Montgomery ou the West Point road.
Many men who rose to famo after leaving West
Point Qraut, Fltzhugh Lee, Shenuun, Custer uuU
othors spont happy hours in Benny's retreat
In 1838 Lieut. Lucius O'Brien of the Eighth
United States infantry paid n visit to Cadet Ripley
A. Arnold, who was then a ilrst classman.
Arnold Introduced O'Brien to Benny Havens, a
warm friendship ut ouco springing up between tho
two. In tho academy at this tlmo wero John
Thomas Metcalfo, who after graduation studied
mcdlclno and became one of the foremost surgeons
In tho country, nnd Irvln McDowell, who com
manded tho Union forces at the first battlo of Bull
Run. Both Metculfe and McDowell were great
friends of Benny,
Benny Havens, Lieutenant O'Brien, Metcalfe and
Arnold together composed tho original flvo verses
of tho song "Benny Havens, Oh I" and set it to tho
tune of "Tho Wearing of tho Ureen." An obltunry
notlco of Doctor Metculfo says : "Ho had an early
tasto for versifying, and with skill at tho guitar
nnd a good tenor voice, composed many a ditty
to pass nwny tho ldlo tlmo. It was thus that ho
wroto tho -celebrated song 'Benny Havens, Oh I "
It Is not what would bo called good poetry. Somo
of It Is crude. Today there nre about 50 vorscs,
almost nil of which were composed beforo Benny's
death In 1877. CIubs after class added a verse. In
the waning year? f Benny's life almost every
night tho cadets sang them through, crowding
rouud Benny, with glasses full, whllo their host led
thorn with ills fiddle and his low clear barytone.
This fiddle, by the way, Is still In possession of an
old citizen of Highland Falls.
Come, (111 your glasses, fellows, and stand up In a row,
To singing sentimentally we're going for to so.
In tho army there's sobriety, promotion's very slow,
So wo'll alns; our reminiscences of Bnnny Havens, Oh I
Soou enmo along tho Mexican war to furnish In
spiration to Uio cadot poets. Several verses
wero added to the poem In commemoration of tho
deeds of those whoso gnllautry carried tho Amer
ican Hag from Vera Cruz to tho heights of Ohapul
tepec, overlooking Montezuma's anctant capital.
Two of theso nre:
Hero's a health to General Taylor, wttose rough and
ready blow
Btruok terror to the ranoheroa of braagaU Mexico
May hi country ne'er forgot ls deeds and ne'er for
get to show
8ho holds him worthy of a place at Denny Havens,
Ohl
Wo'll drink to Grant and Sherman and to the subs
also;
To Thomas, Meade and Sheridan (these come In apro
pos), '
We'll toast them all with goblets full at Benny Ha
vens, Ohl
Eurly In 1S0O den. Wlnllcld Scott UL
this verso appeared:
For hlra
To the "vent, vldl, vlolt" man to Scott.
nero,
the greatest
Fill tho itoblet to the-brim, let no one shrinking: iro.
May life's cares on his honored head fall light aa flakes
of snow .
And his fair fame bo ever groat at Benny Havens, QUI
The civil war saw stressful times at tho Point
and tho cadots turned their attention to sterner
things than pootry. The ranks of the corps wero
thinned by tho loss of tho Southerners, who went
homo to tnko up tho causo of their respective
states. Many of those from tho North aud South,
who had been friends of Bonny, fell on tho field
of glory Manassas, Antlotam, Gettysburg, the
Wilderness and a hundred other places wero
stained with tho blood of West Polntors.
There was llttlo gayety at Benny's during tho
stern four ycurs, for Benny wns getting old nnd
thu almost dally news of tho loss of his former
friends on tho battlefield robbed him of his old
time HghthcartcdncBS.
Some of tho verses of the poem which wero writ
ten Just after tho war are lost Thcro seems to
bo only tho following Intact:
To the army's Wrave commanders let now our glaiies
flow,
FORESAW VALUE OF SUBMARINE
"Tho facts recorded in this report
prove, beyond shadow of doubt, that
submarine vessels arc u distinct prac
ticability nnd that, therefore, suhma
rIn.o warfare is capable nnd wocthy of
development."
This sentence is from a report to
tho nnvy department written In 1893 by
Captain and Chief Engineer John Lowe,
U. S. N., on the submarine Holland.
It was tho deliberate Judgment of
an experienced veteran of three naval
wars, then sixty years old, who, when
he wrQte tho report knew well Unit ho
was calling down upon his head the
contemptuous assertion of many so
called authorities that "Lowo Is u
senile old fool who has been carried
away by this toy."
And now the writer of the report
Rear Admiral John Lowe, U." S. N. (re
tired), vigorous, good natured, keen
and active, from his summer home at
Fortunes Rock, Blddeford, Me., looks
out upon a nation and a world that holds the submarine in tho highest respect
nnd refrains from saying, "I told you so."
He wns the first olllcer of the nnvy to make- u report on tho submarine as
a wnrcrnft following actual service in ono beneath tho surface. In many
respects ho may be termed tho father of the submarine. And yet ho declines
to boast.
Rear Admiral Lowo was born in Liverpool, England, and migrated with
his family to Columbus, O. no enlisted In tho Union nrmy, was wounded nt
Bull Run and on recovery entered tho naval service as ah engineer olllcer.
Ho was a member of tho Greeley relief expedition, nhd did valiant service In
the Spanish-American war.
WHEN PERSHING WAS A BOY
In Linn county, Missouri, where he
vvas born, John Joseph Pershing Is re
vered clear up to the limit He Is the
apple of the eye of the countryside.
Residents of Laclede, Pershing's
home town.Jlngle nnd glow nt the men
tion of his name. Those who knew hlro
ns a boy bask In the reflection of his
distinction. To have known Pershing
to hnvo gone to school with him is
enough.
Pershing's seatmnte in school, C. C.
Bigger, a lnwyer, snys John they all
cull him John had almost white hair
until ho was nearly grown, nnd that ho
wus nicknamed "tow head."
"Ills complexion wns almost as fair
ns a girl's," Mr. "Bigger contributes.
"I've hud many a fight with him and 1
always could whip him becnuse I was
bigger, but he was always ready to
keep right on fighting. Whip him ono
day nnd he would be right back to
tackle you the next. When ho took his
examination for West Point with others who were trying for the appointment
to bo given by Congressman Burrough my brother was on the examining board.
The United States camo nenr losing a great soldier" right tlrare because John
was only one point ahead of tho next man, a fellow named Hltfglnbotham. The
wrong answer to one question would havo sent the other man to West Point,
and Pershing would have been a lawyer, because he always inclined thut way."
DUVAL WEST
Another star has faded, wo miss Its 'brilliant glow,
For the veteran Scott hus ceased to be a soldier here
below;
And tho country which he honored now feels a. heart
felt woe
As wo toast his name In reverence at Benny Havens,
Ohl
During the Inst year of Benny's Ufo camo tho
stunning news that Custer and his men hnd fought
their last fight James E. Porter, Harrington and
others, lieutenants and West Pointers all, perished
with that gullant bnnd. Not until Benny had died
did theso verses appear In memory of Custer and
his command:
In silence lift' your glasses; a meteor flashes out
So swift to ilea t)i brave Custer; amid tho battle's
shout ,
DeatlTVallcd and, crowned; he went to join tho friends
of long ago.
To the land of Peace, whore now he dwells with
Benny Havens, Ohl
We'll drop a tear for Harrington and his comrades,
Custer's braves
Who fell with none to see the deeds that glorified
their graves;
May their memory live forever with their glories pres
ent glow.
Thoy'vo nobly earned the right to dwell with Denn;
Havens, Ohl
Some of tho other verses aro fraught with thi
magic spirit of West Point that spirit that is best
summed up In the words, "Duty, Honor, Country,
West Point," which are part of tho motto of the
academy.
Nowadays at West Point every cadet memorizes
tho first three verses of "Benny Havens, Oh l" Tho
Ilrst has already been given ; the other two are an
follows :
To our kind old Alma Mater, our rock-bound Highland
nomo,
May we cast back muny a fond regret as o'er life's
sea we roam;
Until on our last battlofleld the lights of heaven shall
jtlow
We'll never fall to drink to her and Benny Havens,
Ohl
May the army be augmented, promotion bo less slow,
May our country In the hour of need be ready for
tho foe;
May wo find a soldier's resting place beneath a sol
dier's blow.
With room enough beside our graves for Benny Ha.
vens, Ohl
Whorover duty has led thorn West Pointers havo
sung "Benny Havens, Ohl" Slnco Benny's death
these verses have appeared In commemoration of
tho deeds of West Pointers In all parts of this
country :
Their blood has waterMl Western plains and Northern
winus or snow; i
Has stained Sierra' highest peaks, where piercing
winds o'er blow; :
Has dyed deep rod the ISverglades, and deeper still,
you know,
The sacred Montnsuma shades and walls of Mexico.
From Nevada's hfary ridges, from stormy coast of
Malno,
From lava beds and Yellowstone the atory never
waned;
Whoreyer duty clled they went their steps were
never slow
With Alma Hftfcvr on Uielr lips and "Benny Havens.
Ohl
It Is the old, old story of West Point and they
who know It woll lovo best to tell It It will never
die; It is as firmly fixed in tho highlands of tlw
Hudson as the academy Itself.
President Wilson's Inter policy in
dealing with Mexico is attributed, by
those who know, to the Information
supplied to him by Duval West of San
Antonio, Ter. Mr. West is one of tho
leading lawyers of Texas. Ho knows
Mexico and tho Mexicans lntimutely,
closely. He Is lehrned in international
law. He hus no axes to grind. He is
not a politician. But he is an Intense
ly practical, hard-headed lawyer who
knows how to get at the root of any
thing ho undertakes to investigate.
no investigated Mexico and its
factional leaders and he reported" to tho
president his findings, hts estimates of
tho men who ure to the front there, and
his conclusions. His report is a con
fidential document in the hands of tho
president But that it is fo havo a
tremendous bearing on the futuro of
Mexico is admitted by all who havo
knowledge of the facts.
A slender, erect, small-boned flguro
he has; not tall, neither short, but tho
figure of tho cavalryman. A fearless erectness of tho head, a cool, steady
glance out of clean, clear bluo eyes that aro set in n maze of tiny wrinkles;, a
squaro, stern Jitw, a close-clipped light brown mustache over an Irish mouth
theBo are things that Impress the observer.
There is a dellberateness of manner and speech about him that betoken
tho man of poise, strength, determination aud bravery. Ho looks llko one who
Is ufrald of nothing on earth.
QUEEN OF PITCAIRN ISLAND
Queen Emily McCoy of Pltcalm
Island recently started back from tho
United States to her tropical kingdom
of ths South raclflc, -where Bin Is un
known nnd the slmplo life Is led. Sho
Is tho daughter of John R. McCoy, tho
present ruler of the island.
Queen Emily, who has been In this
country for the Inst eight years
studying economics, nursing, medicine,
dentistry, music nnd tho other arts of
modern civilization in order to perfect
herself as ruler of her 175 subjects,
returns to her homo unmurrlcd. Sho
says that everything is "up to" tho
ruler. In view of this statement Queen
Emily was asked It she didn't need a
strong man to shure her royal burdons.
"Aren't you looking for a prlnco con
sort?" was tho question put directly to
her.
"Well; I haven't mudo such an an
nouncement yet" she replied, "for that
Is to be." Then as an arch smile
lighted jip her features, which glvo a hint of her Polynesian ancestry, Queen
Emily continued: "If tho right prlnco consort Bhould como along I might bo
Ycry glad to havo his advice. Ho must bo a teetotaller, however, as alcohol la
unknown among my pcoplo and I am not going to tolerate its introduction."