Under this strong influence of discipline come men from all sections of our great country and from all classes of society. Viewed exteriorly they are, upon reporting, as motley a looking lot as could be imagined. An examination of their interiors would reveal natures and characters of equal variety. Some come from homes where they have received the most careful moral nurture; others from environments of vague and lax standards. Side by side with youths who are models of truth are lads with uncertain ideas of right and wrong. Among the throng are brilliant boys and stupid ones; well-educated lads and those whose advantages have been of the most limited sort; sons of rich men and boys who have known the meaning of want. From everywhere they come: from the city and from the farm; from the mountain and from the plain.
It is interesting to dwell for a moment on the following table showing the sources of the personnel of the cadet body. Herein are listed the occupations of the parents of the cadets and the number engaged in each, covering a period of fifty years.
Accountants 3 Agents 62 Architects 5 Artists 4 Auctioneer 1 Auditor 1 Author 1 Baggagemaster 1 Bakers 4 Bankers and bank officers 90 Barbers 4 Bookkeepers 18 Brewers 3 Brokers 40 Builders 2 Butchers 2 Capitalist 1 Chief of police 1 City marshal 1 Clergymen 128 Clerk of House of Representatives 1 Clerks 90 Collectors 4 Commercial travelers 13 Conductors 2 Contractors 38 Cook 1 Cotton buyer 1 County officers 74 Cutlery commissioner 1 Dairyman 2 Dentists 14 Detectives 2 Distiller 1 Dock commissioner 1 Dock master 1 Draftsman 1 Druggists 13 Editors 62 Electroplater 1 Engineers: Civil 13 Mechanical 10 Locomotive 3 Stationary 1 Enlisted men 4 Express business 2 Farmers and planters 1,149 Fishing master 1 Foreman 1 Gardeners 3 General business 5 Hatter 1 Heads of corporations 10 Hotel keepers 55 Iceman 1 Importer 1 Inspector of buildings 1 Inspectors of factories 2 Inspectors of police 2 Insurance business 38 Inventor 1 Jewelers 3 Journalists 8 Justice of peace 1 Laborers 29 Lawyers and judges 645 Letter carriers 1 Librarians 2 Lithographer 1 Liverymen 15 Lumbermen 20 Manager of brewery 1 Manager of engines and boilers 1 Manager of factory 1 Manager of land company 1 Manufacturers 151 Marble dealer 1 Mechanics 341 Member of city board 1 Member of State Legislature 1 Members of Congress 32 Merchant tailor 1 Merchants 722 Messenger 1 Millers 11 Mining 26 Museum keeper 1 Musician, band leader 1 Musicians 2 Newspaper correspondent 1 Newspaper manager 1 No occupation 191 Nurserymen 6 Officers of the Army 362 Officers of the Navy 59 Officers of volunteers 21 Oil business 2 Overseers 4 Photographers 6 Physicians 367 Pilot 1 Policemen 7 Police justices 2 Politicians 3 Postmasters 5 President of manufacturing company 1 President of steam heating company 1 President of wire mill 1 Presidents of colleges 4 Presidents of insurance companies 3 Printers 12 Professors 27 Proprietor of elevator company 1 Publishers 8 Railroad employees 6 Railroad officers 13 Ranchmen 2 Real estate 37 Restaurant keeper 1 Salesmen 5 Saloonkeeper 1 School teachers 56 Secretaries 14 Ship captains 25 Speculators 10 State officers 27 Steamboatman 1 Steward 1 Stock dealers (cattle) 10 Stock raisers 6 Stocks 1 Superintendent of coal and iron company 1 Superintendent of factory 1 Superintendent of iron work 1 Superintendent of mine 1 Superintendent of prison 1 Superintendent of railroad 1 Superintendents of gas works 2 Superintendents of schools 4 Surveyors 5 Tanners 2 Teacher of garment cutting 1 Teacher of music 1 Teamster 1 Theater manager 1 Undertakers 5 United States civil officers 85 Unknown 39 Wagonmaster 1 Warden of prison 1