In the lower halls are tablets to Superintendents and to the deceased Professors of the Academy, besides fitting bronze memorial shields, recounting the battles of the Civil War in which graduates of the Academy participated. Bronze trophy cannon are freely used in the adornment of the walls, both in the lower hall and in the hall on the second floor. They are chiefly Mexican and Confederate trophies, but a few were captured from the British at Stony Point (south of West Point) in July, 1779. Among the most interesting perhaps of the cannon are the two large bronze ones in front of the main entrance. Both were made at Douay, France, in 1755, under the supervision of J. Béranger, royal commissioner of foundaries. The one on the right (as one enters the building) is inscribed “Le Fâcheux,” and the one on the left “Le Conquérant.” Both were taken from the Punta Blanca Battery in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba. These cannon are almost the exact duplicate of the five cannon at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., and very similar to two cannon at the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va. The latter guns, cast about eighty years before the others, are part of several cannon purchased from France by Virginia in 1778 for use in the Revolutionary War. It is surprising that the Spanish should have been using them in Cuba, since the Spaniards manufactured guns of equally high quality. The four inverted bronze mortars that surmount the corners of the piazza were made, two at Sevilla and two at Barcelona, in Spain, and were surrendered by the Mexicans to the American forces, April 22, 1847. These mortars were known as stone mortars, and they were employed in siege operations to precipitate large masses of stone upon the heads of the enemy in the advanced trenches, or in like manner to clear the trench of its defenders preparatory to an assault. The second floor is called Thayer Hall, a large, beautifully proportioned room used for public functions, officers’ and cadets’ dances. At one end there is a small stage and a few scenic fixtures. In this hall are the portraits of graduates who have not only gained the rank of general officer, but have commanded _in time of war_ units commensurate with their rank. The building south of Memorial Hall is the Officers’ Mess, where the bachelor officers obtain their meals. The building was constructed and partially furnished from Government funds, but it is kept up and managed by personal funds of officers on duty at West Point. In design it conforms closely to Cullum Hall, although plainer and more modest. It was so built as to be inconspicuous and not detract from the classic beauty of its stately neighbor.