Symmetrically arranged in the hall are the mess tables. They are made to accommodate ten cadets, but occasionally, here and there, two tables are shoved together for economy of floor space. At these tables are twenty cadets. It is a pleasure to enter the Mess Hall prior to any meal. Every table is immaculate with its snowy clean cloth, its polished cutlery, and shining crockery. The cadets are not seated by classes but by companies, each company having a certain number of tables in the section of the hall assigned its battalion. As a rule, the ten messmates are made up of three first classmen, two second classmen, two third classmen, and three fourth classmen. The latter are given, by custom of the Corps, various duties to perform at mess such as carving the meat, procuring the coffee and milk. [Illustration: The Carved Mantel in the Hall of the Academic Board _Sculptor--Laurie_ The Nine Great Warriors of the World _Note: There are also two figures on the sides, not visible_] Three long passageways lead from the main dining-hall to the kitchen. At first glance the super-cleanliness of the surroundings strikes the observer, but his attention is soon attracted to the numerous clever devices for cooking, and for saving time and labor. The preparation of the food for cooking occurs outside of the kitchen proper. Each department prepares its kind, whereupon it is carried to the chef to be cooked and served. The labor of preparation is greatly reduced by the liberal use of machinery. A clever electrical machine rapidly peels the potatoes, a whole bushel of them, in a few minutes; other contrivances make and cut the bread, sterilize the milk, freeze the ice-cream; and wash and dry the innumerable dishes. Without the aid of these labor-saving devices it would be impossible to maintain such an excellent mess for the cadets. Even now the capacity of the plant is tested almost to its limit, and with the increase in the Corps to 1200 cadets, it will be necessary either to enlarge the present Cadet Mess or to build a new hall. The disappearance of the present Mess, Grant Hall, will be viewed with great regret by many graduates who dined for four long years within its really historic walls.