The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-12-14

year from Sl44 to S195; Of mules from
$40 to S195. i..r ~
The reduction of the army has ena
blcd the quartermaster's department
to dispense with large numbers of
horses and mules, and to the 18th Oc-
tober the sales Of animals are estima-
ted to have produced 100000.
The Quartermastcr General reports
the sale of 1888 horses and mules,
the receipts amounting to 81 100000
Eighty-three engines and ono thou.
sand and nine cars have been sold for
million and a half of dollars. Over
two hundred locomotives and two
thousand cars have been sold at ap-
praised values, on credit, to tho South
ern railroads.
Of five hundred and eigbty-eig
steamboats, and other boats employed
on the western rivers all but eleven
have been put out of commission.
Ofthe transport fleet upon the ocean
on the first of January last. four hun.
dred and sixty steamers and vessels of
all kinds have been discharged or laid
up for sale, and many ofthem have al
ready been sold.
| A million OF dollars has been receiv-
ed from the sales of vessels belonging
to the department, which will be in
creased by future sales. 81.
In all, 83,SS7 pei sons, employed on
wages, had been discharged from the
service of the quartermastcr's depart
mont at the end of September, 1865,
reducing its expenses per month S4,-
0S6,O93. .. - ....'s,. ,...
The sales of property of all kinds
reported and recorded on tho books of
the Quartermaster Generals Office,
from the goth Of April to the 9Th Of
November, 1865, amount to Sl3,357,-
345. .......e.. ..- . ......
The burial records of the quarter.
masters department, which do not in
clude the names of those who fell in bat
tie and were buried Immediately on the
field by their comrades, show theinter-
ment in cemeteries of 1l6, ,148 persons,
of whom 9S,S27 were loyal, 1886 dis.
loyal, and of whom 95,803 were whites
and 20,345 colored persons. I
r,sr ORDNANCE BUREAU. g., ..,H
The fiscal resources of the Ordnance
Bureau for the past year amounted to
S45, 7S3,96 10, and the expenditures
to S43, 1881 27, leaving balance of
$2,671,124 83 to the credit of disburs
ing officers in the governpont depos-
itories, on June 30. 1865
The number of permanent United
States arsenals and armories is twen-
ty.eight. Ine command anu pupor
vision of these. together with the in.
spection services required at the ar
sonals, the boundaries, the powder mills
and other private establishments en-
gagged in work for the Government,
furnish constant employment for the
whole number of ordnance officers
(sixty-four3 now authorized by law
The proper discharge of these essen
tial duties requires that that number
should be continued as part of the
military peace establishment of the
country. PEP ,- ..t
THE SIGNAL CORPS. '.
On the 1st of November, 1864, the
signal corps numbered 16S officers and
1850 enlisted men, distributed in de-
tachmentsamong the armies in the field
and the military departments, All
that portion of the Signal Corps on
duty east of the Mississippi river has
been mustered out OF service. the act
of Congress under which the corps was
organized having limited its organiza
ton to the duration of the rebellion.
There now remain 8 officers and 81 en-
listed men in the military division of
the Mississippi, and Is officers and 90
enlisted men in the military division
of the Gull. These detachments are
operating with the troops on the plains,
in Texas, and along the southwestern
boundary. ...
The expenditures from appropria-
tions for the signal service amounted
to $9,527 06, during the year ending
September 80, 1865. The balance un-
expended amounts 70 S24S,062.
..~ MILITARY TELEGRAPH.
The telegraph has continued to be a
most efficient and important instru-
ment in military operations, Its Off
GERS haveshown the same devotion and
fidelity which have signalized their
efforts during former years. There
have been constructed during theye
3,246 miles OF military telegraph i;
1928 miles have been in operation
during the year, and at its termina.
tion 6,229 miles were still in use. The
expenditure upon the military tcle-
graph during the fiscal year was ST.
100000 since the beginning Of the
war So, ,655,5O There have been con-
structed and operated in all during
the war about $4,000 miles of military
telegraph. g..
PRISONERS OF WAR.
Tho Commissary General Of Prison
! ers reports that between the 1st of jan
uary and the goth of October, there
were in our custody ninety eight thou
sand eight hundred and two prisoners
of war. OF these 1855 enlisted in the
U. S., service. 63,442 were released
after tho cessation ofbostilities and thir
ty-three thousand one hundred and
twenty-seven were delivered in ex-
change. Besides these, one hundred
ard seventy -four thousand two hun
dred and twenty.three prisoners sur
rendered in the different rebel armies,
and were released on parole, viz =