Show LU eaf PC ini 0 rn e ri af ia ir I 1 lk X A W A W 70 jr hi 4 iaz v all S t t 00 f k 7 li r by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 0 O NE does not usually think of the U united cited states military academy at 1 west est point as other than a mans world yet there have been several women who have hare had such a part in its history as to make their names a part of the west point tradition the first of these was the woman known to fame as captain molly holly 11 in the cemetery at west point stands a monument bearing a bronze tablet which shows in bas relief a stalwart woman standing behind a cannon ramrod and in band and below it Is 1 this inscription in memory of I 1 margaret fa rgaret corbin a heroine of the revolution known as captain mollie 1751 1800 who at the battle of fort washington new york when her husband john corbin was killed kept his field piece in action until severely wounded and thereafter by act of congress received halt half the pay ud and allowance of A soldier in the service she lived died and was burled buried on the hudson riverbank near the village now called highland falls in appreciation of her deeds for the cause of liberty and that her heroism may not be forgotten her dust duet was moved to this spot and the memorial erected by the national society of the daughters of the american revolution in new york tork state 1926 such Is the brief story which the he tablet tells but there are other details worth recording until her death in 1800 she lived in a private home near west point supplies tor for her being sent direct from the secretary of war an interesting sidelight on that part of her career was revealed recently when capt walter 11 wells intelligence and publicity officer at west point in digging through some of the old flies ales at the academy came across the manuscript letters written by maj george fleming commander of the arsenal and ordnance and mill tary storekeeper at west point to the honorable maj gen knox secretary of war on october 7 1786 fleming wrote to knox 1 1 have sent ent another account of mrs swims for taking care of captain molly up to the of september and have removed her to another place as I 1 thought she was not so well treated as s she ought to be on july 8 1787 there was another letter which does not paint a very flattering portrait of the revolutionary heroine it said 1 I have hare drawn three orders on you for the maintain ance of captain molly in favor of sir mr denniston one Is from january 19 10 to april 12 the other from april 13 to july S 5 1786 inclusive which accounts were lodged in the war office last fall and are mrs swims the other Is from september 28 to july joly 5 1788 1786 inclusive and will be delivered by mr denniston for mrs ales randall handall As volly holly Is such a disagreeable object to take care of and I 1 promised to pay them every quarter I 1 have been obliged to borrow the money to pay the people it if it can possibly tie be replaced I 1 should be very glad on april 21 1787 there was another letter with a curious touch of an eternal feminine problem something to aearl on that date fleming ity vr ites rites 1 I am informed by the woman that takes care of captain molly that she Is much in want of shifts if you think proper to order three or sow lour I 1 should be glad two months later on june 12 he be wrote again to knox it if the shifts which you informed me should be made tor for captain molly are done I 1 should be glad to have them sent as she complains much for want of them whether or not captain molly ever got ter ler shifts Is unknown for there Is no further reference to the matter nor does her name again appear in the records after 1789 in contrast to the militant spirit of captain molly both in war and in peace was the spirit of another woman whose name Is written high in the annals of west point she was bliss susan busan warner the daughter of a new york tork rity city attorney who upon retiring from practice in the metropolis made his home on constitution island in the hudson river opposite west point he was accompanied there by his two daugh tars anna and susan and every sunday afternoon for years miss susan conducted a bible class tor for the cadets cabets at the military academy bad she lived she would have found among the names of the general on officers acers in the world war many who had attended her classes A frail small woman who still dune clung to the poke bonnet and the silk dress of the civil war period she as rowed across from her island home and carried la in a military conveyance to the hall set apart for her in one of the academic buildings she came to be regarded as almost a part of the teaching corps of the institution and on her 00 1 lj I 1 1 J k N i e 14 0 t e ll 11 it I 1 mrs louise regan maker of chevrons che for west point cadet uniforms for 50 years 2 letter to general knox secretary of war from the military storekeeper at west point referring to an account for mrs randall taking care of captain molly twenty four weeks being from june 7 to november 21 1787 inclusive 3 miss anna warner sister of susan war ner author of the wide wide world and sunday school teacher for west point cadets cabets A 4 the monument to captain molly in th the cemetery at west point 5 inscription on the captain molly monument telling of her heroism in a revolutionary war battle 6 picture of cadet henry moore harrington framed in indian beadwork death she was burled with military honors beside the cadet monument in the west point cemetery her sister anna following her wishes gave constitution island to the united states government ern ment and their home there Is preserved as a memorial but miss bliss susans connection with west point was not her only claim to fame under the pen name of elizabeth wetherell she wrote two books the wide wide world published in 1851 and queechy Quee chr published in 1852 which attained a wide popularity of the wide wide world it has been said that it was wag the most popular novel ever written by an american with the single exception of mrs famous story uncle toms cabin it attracted as much attention in england as in america and it was translated into french german and swedish however miss bliss susan was indifferent to this fame for it Is recorded that she never liked her book the wide wide world perhaps she unconsciously anticipated the criticism that followed its publication A french critic marveled at americas reception of a three volume novel devoted to the history of the moral progress of a girl of thirteen an american critic described it as having little story not a semblance of melodrama and declared that its success was purely artistic it Is one of the literary traditions of new york that after the readers for or george P putnam had advised against it he was persuaded by his mother who read the manuscript to publish it long before miss bliss susan became the sunday school teacher tor for the cadets cabets there was another woman who had an important place in cadet life at the academy she was miss blanche berard Br ard who was postmaster there for halt half a century appointed by president polk in 1847 miss berard held her position there until 1897 and few of the cadets cabets perhaps realized that back bach of her pleasant smile as shi she passed out their mall mail to them there was the bitter memory of a tragedy in her life As a young girl miss berard was engaged to an officer attached to the academy one afternoon this officer rode his spirited horse of which he was very proud to the post office to demonstrate its good points but the horse became frightened suddenly and threw the officer off killing him so the woman postmaster remained miss berard to the end of 0 her days true to the memory of her first and only love but one big thrill came to her in tier her later life while on leave of 0 absence from her duties at west point which she spent in europe miss bliss berard had the honor of being presented to queen victoria of england y m it Is an interesting coincidence that the ent postmaster at west point Is a grandniece ot of miss berard and that there has also been tragedy in her life for she Is miss grace alleen aileen harrington and she Is 1 the daughter of henry moore harrington of 0 troop of the seventh cavalry who perished with gen george A custer at the battle of the little big horn on june 25 1870 and who was one of the three officers whose bodies were never found at least not identified after the battle not kot only Is the ignorance of her fathers fate one of the tragic incidents in the life of the woman who Is postmaster at west point where so many of custers Ou officers were once cadets cabets but there Is another tragic memory which she sha has carried through life ilfe a memory of her mother who suddenly disappeared several years after the custer battle amnesia it would be called nowadays miss bliss harrington says but at that time it was ascribed to grief and the uncertainty of what had happened to my father several times we heard from indians that a lady dressed in black had been seen on the battlefield other reports came from indian territory we investigated all these rumors and finally after two years we found her in texas where a severe attack of pneumonia had served to bring back her memory so that she knew who she was but she was never able to give av any account of her wanderings while she was gone or why she was waa there As miss bliss harrington stands behind her desk in the post office amid the busy turmoil of mall mail distribution tor for the 1260 cadets cabets at the academy and an equal number of officers and regular soldiers she can look up to two pictures on the wall which serve as a link between the bloodstained battlefield of the little big horn in far off montana and the peaceful banks of the hudson one of them Is a picture of her father in the regimentals of the seventh cavalry the U uniform which he wore on that fatal day in june more than half a century ago the other la Is a picture of cadet henry moore harrington it Is enclosed in a frame made of beads and these beads were obtained by her mother from indians in dakota perhaps members of the very s same ame tribe who overwhelmed custer rod and harrington and all the other gallant officers and troopers of the old seventh among the other west point traditions Is one of perfection in attire and one of the requirements for that perfection Is perfectly aligned and perfectly sewn chevrons che worn as the insignia by the officers and noncommissioned commissioned non officers in the corps of cadets cabets those ornate chev rons of gold lace black braid and broadcloth are very difficult to make since they require great skill and experience in the making but there Is a woman who has proved herself capable of the job for more than fifty years without a break mrs louise regan of highland falls N r Y has hag made every chevron gold or gray worn b by the straight standing west pointers she really started sewing them when she was ten years old but her uninterrupted service with the cadet store of the academy began when she was eighteen and since 1879 an the corporals stripes and Inbi insignia gnia from sergeants up to regimental commanders have come from her hands bands she Is past seventy years of age now and she has made stripes for many cadets cabets who are generals in the army today it Is difficult says harris P scott manager of the cadet store to turn the straight rolled gold lace into the curves necessary to make those long Vs turned up without drawing or wrinkling the material flie fhe yards of gold lace are required to make a pair of chevrons che for a regimental adjutant of the corps of cadets cabets there Is also the background of broadcloth with ith the silk striping between the gold lace this lace Is of real gold find and Is imported from france it Is all hand band labor and the material must be worked in cool weather as hand perspiration oration deadens it she works from january to june each year making chevrons che for the cadet officers tobo tobe to bo be in june after graduation mrs regan began Is a widow and without children she was born in highland falls moving to yonkers upon her marriage and then returned to her birthplace the cadet store has sent her the work wherever she was her health lg is splendid and though the work Is hard on tho the eyes she hopes to continue as the only maker of the splendid gold and gray and black c hev chev rons that grace the uniformed sleeve of the west pointer W C by western newspaper union |