Examinations of the several classes are held in December and June, and, at the former, such of the new Cadets as are found proficient in studies and have been correct in conduct are given the particular standing in their class to which their merits entitle them. After each examination, Cadets found deficient in conduct or studies are discharged from the Academy, unless the Academic Board for special reasons in each case should otherwise recommend. Similar examinations are held every December and June during the four years comprising the course of study.

Military Instruction.-From the termination of the examination in June to the end of August the Cadets live in camp, engaged only in military duties and exercises and receiving practical military instruction.

Except in extreme cases, Cadets are allowed but one leave of absence during the four years' course; as a rule the leave is granted at the end of the first two years' course of study.

PAY OF CADETS.

The pay of a Cadet is $500 per year and one ration per day, or commutation therefor at thirty cents per day. The total is $609.50, to commence with his admission to the Academy. The actual and necessary traveling expenses of candidates from their homes to the Military Academy are credited to their accounts after their admission as Cadets. There is no provision for paying the expenses of candidates who fail to enter and they must be prepared to defray all their own expenses.

No Cadet is permitted to receive money, or any other supplies, from his parents, or from any person whomsoever, without the sanction of the Superintendent. A most rigid observance of this regulation is urged upon all parents and guardians, as its violations would make distinctions tween Cadets which it is the especial desire to avoid; the pay of a Cadet is sufficient, with proper economy, for his support.

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Each Cadet must keep himself supplied with the following mentioned articles, viz. :

Two pairs of uniform shoes: six pairs of uniform white gloves; two sets of white belts; *eight white shirts; *four night shirts; twelve white linen collars; twelve pairs of white linen cuffs; *eight pairs of

socks; *eight pairs of summer drawers six pairs of winter drawers; *twelve pocket handkerchiefs; *twelve towels; two clothes bags, made of ticking; *one clothes brush; *one hairbrush; *one tooth brush; *one comb; one mattress; one pillow; four pillowcases; eight sheets, two blankets, and one quilted bed cover; one chair; one tumbler: *one trunk; one account book; one wash basin.

Candidates are authorized to bring with them the articles marked *.

Cadets are required to wear the prescribed uniform. All articles of their uniform are of a designated pattern, and are sold to Cadets at West Point at regulated prices.

DEPOSIT PRIOR TO ADMISSION.

Immediately after being admitted to the Institution, Cadets must be provided with an outfit of uniform, the cost of which will be about $100, which sum must be deposited with the Treasurer of the Academy before the candidate is admitted. It is best for a candidate to take with him no more money than will defray his traveling expenses, and for the parent or guardian to send to "The Treasurer of the U. S. Military Academy," the required deposit of $100. This amount is sufficient to equip a new Cadet with uniform and to supply him with all articles and books.

PROMOTION AFTER GRADUATION.

The attention of applicants and candidates is called to the following provisions of an Act of Congress approved May 17, 1886, to regulate the promotion of graduates of the United States Military Academy:

"That when any Cadet of the United States Military Academy has gone through all its classes and received a regular diploma from the Academic Staff, he may be promoted and commissioned as a second lieutenant in any arm or corps of the army in which there may be a vacancy and the duties of which he may have been judged competent to perform; and in case there shall not at the time be a vacancy in such arm or corps, he may, at the discretion of the President, be promoted and commissioned in it as an additional second lieutenant, with the usual pay and allowances of a second lieutenant, until a vacancy shall happen."

raised from 396 foot-pounds to 448. Other data regarding the new piece are as follows: The caliber is 0.30; the rifling is made up of four grooves of a depth of 0.004 inch, the twist being one turn in 10 inches. The bullet

weighs 220 grains, which is the same as that of the Krag-Jorgensen, but the powder charge has been raised from 37.6 to 43.3 grains. In spite of the considerable increase in its power the weapon has been greatly reduced in weight; for while the present service magazine rifle weighs 10.64 pounds, and the Mauser 10.5 pounds, and the German military rifle 11.54 pounds, the new weapon weighs only 9.47 pounds. It follows, as a matter of course, that, with such high velocity and fairly heavy bullet, the trajectory is corre

spondingly flat, the maximum ordinate of the 1,000 yard trajectory being only 20.67 feet as against 25.8 feet for the Krag-Jorgensen, 24.47 for the Mauser and 23.73 for the German military rifle.

In addition to those mentioned above there are other improvements, such as housing of the magazine in the stock directly below the chamber, instead of having it project at the side of the gun, and there are many changes of detail which both improve the rifle and cheapen and accelerate its production.

In closing it should be mentioned that the new gun is considerably shorter than any existing rifle, and is only slightly longer than the military carbine.

The great 16-inch 126-ton gun, built for the United States at the Watervliet arsenal, is 494 feet long, over 6 feet in diameter at the breech, and it has an extreme range of over twenty miles. Its projectile weighs 2,370 pounds, and costs $865 to fire the gun once. The map on page 102 will give graphic illustration of the range of this gun.

If fired at its maximum elevation from the battery at the south end of New York in a northerly direction, its projectile would pass over the city of New York, over Grant's Tomb, Spuyten Duyvil, Riverdale, Mount St.

Vincent, Ludlow, Yonkers, and would land near Hastings-on-the-Hudson, nearly twenty miles away, as shown in our map. The extreme height of its trajectory would be 30,516 feet, or nearly six miles. This means that if Pike's Peak, of the Western Hemisphere, had piled on top of it Mont Blanc, of the Eastern Hemisphere, this gun would hurl its enormous projectile so high above them both as to still leave space below its curve to build Washington's Monument on top of Mont Blanc, as shown. The model, page 101, was exhibited at St. Louis.