No School on Monday (Cont.)
Screen 3 of 3

After listening to Crawford and watching the movie--always a silent one until the first sound movie, "The Jazz Singer" with Al Jolson was produced in late 1928 or early 1929 -- my fellow cadets and I would walk to the interurban station and catch a train back to the Institute, usually arriving at the school stop about five o'clock.

The front entrance to K.M.I. campus was marked by a huge iron arch bearing the name of this oldest private military school in the United States, and its motto, "Character Makes the Man." Beyond the arch was a long winding avenue guarded by a double row of stately trees, most of them oaks and maples.

A slow walk down that avenue which led to the cadets' barracks was the last leg of our Monday trip to the city; and even though we had been anxious to leave the school that morning, we were always glad to return to it in the late afternoon. Louisville was exciting and full of different things to do and see, but it was also crowded, noisy, unpredictable and often confusing - quite a contrast from the quiet setting, the orderly life-style, and the comfortable security of a military school. We rarely ever described this contrast to others in these terms, because cadets are generally quite reluctant to admit there is anything good about the "prison" they live in. And yet I was sure that most of us felt that way about the school - especially when we returned from a very tiring day in Louisville.

After my return on Monday afternoon and before the bugle sounded "mess call" for supper, I would usually spend a few minutes sitting under my favorite shade tree near our barracks - on in bad weather lying on my bunk - quietly reviewing the day - what I had seen and done in Louisville and what I thought about those things. The monetary cost of this free day had certainly been most reasonable: 35 cents for transportation; 30 cents for lunch; 20 cents admission to Loew's Theatre; and occasionally 10 cents for street car fare--a full day of fun and entertainment, along with some education, all for less than one dollar!

The Monday-off day was good for the cadets--a welcome break before the next week's demanding schedule began on Tues- day morning with a prompt and eye-opening reveille at 5:45.

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Chester C. Travelstead

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