Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 184, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1910 — No Corsets at West Point [ARTICLE]

No Corsets at West Point

Col. K. B. Collins, a retired army officer who was seen at the Raleigh, in disenssing West Pointers said to a reporter of the Washington Herald: "I have often hejird a question as to whether West Pointers wore corsets. It Is absurd, in a way, because should any effeminate youngster resort to such a thing It would be an impossibility to keep- the affair a secret, and, once known, his school life would become a burden to him on account of the endless amount of criticism he would receive from his fellows. He would be made the laughing stock of the school and would soon find himself the possessor of any number of effeminate nicknames that would grate upon his ears In any but a pleasant manner. It Is true,” continued the old soldier, "that many West Pointers acquire a flgure the perfection of symmetry and a carriage the acme of manly grace, but these are due not to any ingenious appliance, but to the systematic drills and exercises that make every cadet to a certain extent, an athlete. At the outset these young fellows are put through what are called the ‘setting up’ exercises, their object being to straighten the body and develop the chest. One might suppose that it would require a great amount of Buch exercise to make any marked showing, but three long hours of such exercise daily will soon produce beneficial results In the most stooped forms. The cadet uniform Is also a great help In this direction. The dress coat is tight, very tight The shoulders are heavily padded in order to give them a square effect The chest is made thick, so that there will be no danger of wrinkling. And in size, a new dress coat seems always to he designed for a boy several sizes smaller than the one who is to wear It A new drees coat, in fact, is always a source of suffering to Its owner. When he first puts tt on, it buttons readily about the neck, bnt seems ,to lack about six inches at the waist. The owner may squirm and wriggle and attempt-to reduce his waist to a minimum circumference, but his maiden efforts are never sufficient to button the new dress Experience is a great teacher, though, and the young feUow laughingly requests one or two friends to lend their assistance, and with their combined tagging and squeezing he finally succeeds In buttoning the coat All this for the sake of looks; comfort tags no place In the makeup of a West Pointer; It la and looks.” , :