VMI Cadet. February 4, 1924

              THE CADET THE HOME STRETCH
ISSUED BY
THE CORPS OF VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
VOL. XVII. L E X I N G T O N , V I R G I N I A . M O N D A Y , FEB. 4, 1924 No. 14
GENERAL NICHOLS
TENDERS RESIGNATION
A c t i o n Did Not Come As Complete Surprise, But It Was Not
Expected So Soon.
B O A R D W I L L N O T T A K E A C T I O N ON R E S I G N A T I O N UN-T
I L M A R C H 5th.
DR. W. H. MILTON
BEGINS PREACHING
MISSION AT V. M. I.
Former Cadet, Class of 1888,
and N o w In Wilmington, N.
C., Opened Week of Services
Y e s t e r d a y .
N o Successor Has Been Named As Y e t , But Several Men Have
Been Named A s Possibilities.
A t the recent mid-winter
m e e t i n g of the Board of Visi-t
o r s , General E. W. Nichols
c r y s t a l l i z e d the many rumors
which have been circulating by
t e n d e r i n g his resignation as su-perintendent
of this institution.
T h e resignation which was ten-dered
is as f o l l o w s:
Jan. 10th, 1924.
Capt. L . W. H. Peyton,
President Board of Visitors,
V. M. I.
Mr. P r e s i d e n t:
A f t e r f i f t y years' service
( u s i n g " s e r v i c e " in the army
s e n s e ) , I r e s p e c t f u l l y tender my
r e s i g n a t i o n as Superintendent
of the V i r g i n i a M i l i t a r y Insti-tute,
t o take e f f e c t six months
a f t e r date, or as soon t h e r e a f t -
er as my successor shall have
been elected and reports for
duty.
W i t h a v e r y g r a t e f u l appre-ciation
of the cordial co-opera-t
i on of the various boards un-der
w h o m I have served, and
of the many courtesies extend-ed
me, I beg to remain, with
g r e a t respect,
Y o u r s v e r y sincerely,
E. W. N I C H O L S,
Superintendent.
A l t h o u g h the resignations did
not coime as a surprise, it was
hoped that since a f f a i r s at the
I n s t i t u t e had been progressing
in such a highly satisfactory
manner, General Nichols would
postpone his retirement and
In order to answer, at one
time, the various inquiries
that have come to our o f f i c es
r e c e n t l y as to why there has
been no issue of the " C a d e t"
since b e f o r e the Christmas
holidays, we are using this
method of reply f o r the pur-pose
of covering the general
f i e l d.
T h e last issue of our pub-l
i c a t i o n — o n December 21,
1923—contained an editorial
in which it was announced
that there would not be an-other
paper until the conclu-sion
of the examination per-iod
on January 24, 1924. The
exams ended last Wednesday
and here is the " C a d e t , " on
time, and running according-ing
to the schedule previous-ly
announced.
continue' at his present post.
T h e General, however, saw f it
t o set the f i f t y year m a r k as
the time of his retirement and
submitted his resignation.
Upon receiving the resigna-tion,
t h e Board of V i s i t o r s ex-pressed)
deep regret and de-clined
to consider the matter
immediately, postponing con-sideration
until March 5th,
when a special m e e t i n g will be
called f o r this purpose. The
f o l l o w i n g resolution was adopt-ed
b y the B o a r d : "General E.
W. Nichols, h a v i n g tendered his
r e s i g n a t i on as superintendent,
i t is resolved t h a t this board is
deeply sensible of the splendid
s e r v i c e rendered to this institu
t i on by General Nichols and re-g
r e t s that he has f e l t he'should
tender bis resignation a f t e r f i f -
t y years of s e r v i c e ; that it does
not desire at this time to pass
upon a matter so g r a v e l y af-f
e c t i n g the f u t u r e of the Vir-g
i n i a M i l i t a r y I n s t i t u t e ; that it
postpone consideration of his
r e s i g n a t i on until a special
m e e t i n g of this board, which is
called for this purpose, on
March 5, 1924, in t h e city of
Richmond, can be held."
During the f i f t y years that
General Nichols has been con
nected w i t h V. M. I., he has held
numerous posts, ranging from
" n e w cadet" to superintendent.
He has been connected w i t h the
department of mathematics,
and also the engineering de-partment.
His ability in these
lines has been recognized
t h r o u g h o u t ' t h e country and his
t e x t books on Analytical Ge-o
m e t r y and Calculus have been
w i d e l y used. Aside from his
posts at the Institute, he has
held many positions of honor
in the educational and scientific
world. He is a member of the
V i r g i n i a Geological Society, of
the States Geological Commis-sion,
of the Committees of Col-l
e g e Presidents, Chairman of
t h e V i r g i n i a Council for De-fense,
and President of the Na-tional
Association of Military
Colleges.
T h e respect and esteem which
he has won f o r himself in these
positions and in his position at
the Institute may be evidenced
by the following press com-
CADET "FLYING QUINT' CAN
SECURE ONLY EVEN BREAK
IN ITS FIRST EIGHT GAMES
Sunday marked the opening
of a Preaching Mission which is
being conducted by the Rev. The V i r g i n i a M i l i t a r y Insti-
W i l l i am H. Milton, D. D., of tute basketball quint has corn-
W i l m i n g t o n , N. C., under the pleted half of its playing sea-auspices
of the Y . M. C. A . Dr. son, and so far has received
Milton is a v e r y well known and only an even break in the eight
a v e r y prominent minister and games played
his f a m e as a talented speaker, The Big Team met a reverse
organizer, and minister is par- in the opening battle of the sea
ticularly wide-spread. He is son when the fast Bridgewater
himself an alumnus of the place, quintet went home with the
having graduated very young long end of a 26 t o 15 score, a f t -
in the Class of 1888. Since that er a furious struggle, but the
time he has had a son here, K e y d e t s came back strong in
" R o s e b u d " Milton, Class of '20, the next encounter and turned
whom some well remember, back the Roanoke College Ma-
F o r the simple reason, then, icons to the tune of 30 to 11.
that Dr. Milton has himself Success did not perch long
been a Cadet and has had the upon the banners of the F l y i ng
same experiences common to us F^vc, however, as the Wake
all, he is especially adapted f o r Forest "Deacons" invaded our
the work ahead of him, is pre- i calms next and we s u f f e r e d an
pared as can no outsider be to 18 to 14 set-back at the hands
cope w i t h the circumstances, of the future preachers. The
and has plans and icleas particu- j T a r Heel a g g r e g a t i o n has been
l a r l y suited and acceptable to a ' g o i n g unustially strong of late,
Lose Opener to Bridgewater College; Defeats
V. P. I ; Suffers Defeat at the Hands of
Carolina and Virginia
Cadet. He has conducted simi-lar
missions on t w o previous oc-casions
and he was very suc-cessful
and very well received
by the Corps at those times.
These services which will
consist mainly of lectures and
discussions of the prevalent
problems of religion will be con-ducted
each night of the week
F e b r u a r y 3-10 in the Jackson
(Continued on Paue Five)
though, and has the scalps of
clhc.' teams hanging upon their
belts.
F o l l o w i n g hard upon the
heels of the Wake Forest club,
came the V i r g i n i a Tech "Gob-b
l e r s " into our midst, and the
F l y i n g Cadets romped upon
Tech in a game that was a great
deal more strenuous than the 22
t o 11 score would indicate. This
game put V. M. I. ahead of her
(Continued on Page Be van)
ancient r i v a l s f o r the y e a r ' s to*
t a l s of athletic events, and
g a v e us a clear m a r g i n a f t e r the
v i c t o r y of the F l y i n g Squadron
in Roanoke on Thanksgiving
Day, in one of the g r e a t e s t foot*
ball games ever seen on the
F a i r Grounds.
I n the next battle, the Red,
White, and Y e l l ow again emerg-ed
on the top side, this time the
f a s t Roanoke Elks basketeers
f a l l i n g prey to the caging abili-t
i e s of the Cadet quintet by the
t a l l y of 26 to 22.
Saturday, January 26, saw
t h e V, M. I. cagemen invade
f o r e i g n soil f o r the f i r s t time
t h i s season when the Keydets
j j o u r n e y e d over to Charlottes-j
v i l l e , only to meet defeat at the
j hands of the Orange and Blue
| o f the U n i v e r s i t y of V i r g i n i a in
I a 32 to 23 wind-up. This game
i a v e n g e d for the Cavaliers the
drubbing the F l y i n g Squadron
handed them in footbaii last
f a l l on Lambeth Field.
Coming back home for the
Wednesday game, the Cadets
succeeded in taking the Lynch-burg
A t h l e t i c Club into camp in
one of the prettiest f r a y s ever
witnessed on a local court. The
f i n a l 28 to 21 score does full
j u s t i c e to the bitterness with
which the contest was fought.
Both f i v e s saw the l i g h t of vic-t
o r y in the distance, and both
were determined to reach that
beacon. The honors went to the
F l y i n g F i v e in a clean, hard
battle.
The most important game of
the season, perhaps, was staged
on the Keydet floor Saturday
night against the snappy, ag-g
r e s s i v e University of North
Carolina quint, Southern cham-pions
f o r the 1923 season. The
T a r Heels lived up to their repu-t
a t i on as champions, and cer-tainly
displayed the best ball
MISS KATHRYN T. PACE, of Hampton, Va.
Sponsor for li»24 Cadet
(Continu-d on Page Eight*
The " C a d e t , " on behalf of
the Corps of Cadets of the
V i r g i n i a Military Institute,
extends to Samuel G. Nei-kirk,
and his relatives, it sin-cerest
sympathy in his recent
hour of bereavement occas-ioned
by the loss of his f a t h -
er, who died at his home in
Graham, V i r g i n i a , last Fri-day
morning.