The Law of March 16, 1870, relative to the appointment of Beneficiary Cadets, provides that each parish shall delegate two, and the city of New Orleans, by its Board of School Directors, twenty cadets, to be selected from the members of the highest class in the public school of such parishes and city, distinguished for their scholarship and good conduct, and whose parents may not be able to provide for their necessary expenses for tuition and maintenance at the State Seminary; and at the expiration of their residence at the University which can not exceed four years, these Beneficiary Cadets are required to teach school within the State for two years, on penalty of default to the amount of the sum paid by the State.
[WABASH COLLEGE, CRAWFORDSVILLE, INDIANA.]
By arrangement with the Trustees of Wabash College, the Legislature of Indiana has authorized the County Commissioners of each county to appoint one person to receive the advantages of the institution for five years, free of tuition, in consideration of a portion of the State’s quota of the United States Land Grant, for agricultural and mechanical Arts Colleges; and to meet the requirements of the law of Congress, the college has established a Scientific Course, and under the superintendence of a Professor of Military Science, daily instruction in Tactics and Gymnastics is given to the students by divisions with a weekly drill of all, as a battalion. The College Courant thus notices the new hall for Gymnastics and Tactics:
The physical culture of this institution is under the charge of the Chair of Military Science, and for the purpose of this culture a building has been erected which is more comprehensive than usual in gymnasiums, and is quite unique in some particulars. Work was commenced last August, and in fifty days the roof was receiving the slate. The building presents the form of a cross, of equal members, and the ground service of seven thousand five hundred feet, is thus divided: A marching and running course, of three hundred feet, twelve feet wide, and seventeen feet high; a gymnasium sixty feet by twenty-six, and twenty-four feet high, ventilated and lighted by a central tower fifty feet in height; an armory and gun-room, for care of small arms and artillery; and a room for fencing, boxing, quoits and other manly exercises. In the four transepts above, are topographical room, model room; reading room, for maps, charts, etc., and bath rooms. All these, through interior glass fronts, furnish a full view of the Exercise Hall, within and below. The small-arms used are the “light, cadet, breech-loading rifle,” similar to those last issued to the Military Academy at West Point, and were manufactured by the United States at the Springfield Arsenal for the use of students receiving their instruction.
[CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY.]
The University of the State of California has a Military Department to meet the requirements of the Act of Congress, under the directions (1871) of Professor (General) Welcker and Assistant Professor F. Soulé, graduates of the West Point Academy. The Adjutant General (Thos. N. Cazneau) of the State in his Report to the Governor, dated September 1, 1870, remarks:
The gratifying success with which the military department of the State University has been conducted is worthy of special notice, and I am happy to announce that perfect discipline and a high state of proficiency pervade the department of military study at that institution. The cadets were incorporated with the National Guard of the State by Act of the last legislature, and have been formed into four companies of infantry, and instructed most fully and perfectly in that branch of military service. A personal inspection of the battalion enables me to speak of its condition with confidence. I find both officers and cadets thoroughly up to the requirements of the infantry soldier, perfect in carriage, most proficient in the use of arms, steady in marching and all company formations, and, in the manœuvres of the battalion, challenging an admiration worthy to be elicited by a veteran soldiery. Their ensemble is striking, and the effect of a thorough military training upon the young gentlemen of the University is largely manifested in their erect and graceful personal appearance and movements, apparent not only when upon duty but in their ordinary walks of every-day occupation; while the gentlemanly and high-toned courtesy that pervades the whole body may not unjustly be attributed, in a large degree, to their military studies and military habits. The young officers evince excellent characteristics of command, great dignity of deportment and admirable ability in imparting instruction. I can not too highly commend to your attention the whole military condition of the cadets of the State University, and to ask for them your fostering care and encouragement, and that of the Legislature.
There are several colleges in California in which military instruction is introduced; prominent among them is St. Augustine College at Benicia, and McClure’s Academy at Oakland. At each there are about 100 boys, fully equipped and drilled as infantry soldiers.