Something for James

At 117-year-old Peekskill (N.Y.) Military Academy, Head Chef James Hankins is almost as much a tradition as the oak at the corner of the parade ground which once served as a gallows, for a Revolutionary War spy. White-capped James, a Virginia-born Negro who has been known to generations of Peekskill cadets, has a simple explanation for his steady popularity. "Good cooking is the main thing with boys."

James has been backing up this philosophy for 50 years with such Hankins specialties as " Southern fried chicken, corn muffins, peanut-butter ice cream, and jumbo apple pies.

When James joined the P.M.A. kitchen staff as a 17-year-old in 1900, the school had less than 100 students, was housed mainly in three frame buildings on a hill overlooking the Hudson River, 45 miles north of Manhattan. In 50 years, while Peekskill has been more than doubling in enrollment and gradually accumulating a 13-unit, $1,000,000 plant, James estimates that he has turned out about 9,000,000 meals, not counting thousands of between-meals snacks.

Working with the cadets who take turns waiting on table, he has also handed out plenty of man-to-man advice. "Boys need kindness and kind words," he says. From time to time, he addresses the boys at Sunday evening chapel.

This week Peekskill let James know what it thought of him. In their full-dress blue coats and white duck trousers, the cadets marched in special review before him. Then, after James had completed his inspection, students, faculty and alumni went to the auditorium for a convocation. In honor of "50 years of long and faithful service," James Hankins was presented with a plaque, a chest of silver, two purses collected by fellow employees and alumni, a gold watch and chain. For the wall outside the dining hall there was a big bronze plate with the academy seal and James's name below it. Said Head Chef Hankins, who intends to stay on at P.M.A. as long as his big capable hands are nimble : "The Lord has always blessed me to work for fine people."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.