The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-12-03

repositories OF gunpowder, provided for by an
and the erection of such magazines as will fur,
nish secure and suitable storage for all our pow
early next spring. The arsenals at the South
which were seized by the rebels, having been
Carolina arsenal. which was destroyed, the
Harper's Ferry armory, the work hops of which
were burned and which has been used as an
ordnance depot, the arsenal in Florida, which
has been transferred temporarily to the freed
which is occupied by troops of the line,
The Chief of Ordnance is OF opinion that It Is
not advisable to rebuild the North Carolina
arsenal, or to re-establsh the armory at Har-
pers Ferry, and the sale of both is recon-
Tnended. All the small arms and some of the
Rouge, San Antonio. Augusta Charleston, and
Mount Vernon arsenals have been removed,
and the only supplies which have been sent to
them were such as were required for Immediate
issue TO troops The commission appointed
report the value Of property on Rock Island
taken by the United States by authority OF
that act, has entered upon its duties. As soon
as good titles to the property shall have been
acquired, the construction of the armory and
arsenal, as required by law, will be hastened as
portant that this establishment should be built
mp as rapidly as possible, and O considerable
sum has been estimated for that purpose during
the next fiscal year. 1t is believed that all OF
1t Is necessary and can be judiciouSly and ad-
vantageously expended; The operations at the
during the past year have been confined to clean
ing and repairing arms used during the war,
converting the Springfield muskets into breech-
leaders
The power and endurance of the S-inch and
12-inch cast iron rifle cannon have been SUBJ
jected to practical tests, and the experiments
Wiii be continued; Inc Grdnanoe returns Tor
active service and ordinary repairs, show an
average duration of five years for cavalry car
bines, of four years for cavalry pistols, sabres
and accoutrements, of seven years for infantry
muskets, and of six years for infantry accoutre-
ments. From January l, 1851, to June 30, 1865,
the ordnance department provided 1892 cannon;
1l.7S7 artillery carriages 4,O22 100 small arms;
Infantry and cavalry; $50 544 compile sets cavalry
horse equipments; & l64 sets of horse artillery
harness; ,022, 474 cartridges for small arms;
l220,5 ,555, ,435 percussion caps; 1882 III rounds of
fixed edammunition; II ,507. .6S2 cannon primers and
fuses; l2S75,29l pounds of artillery projectiles;
Of nitre, and &C, ,4l6, ,265 pounds OF lead In addi-
tion to these, there were immense quantities of
parts provided for repairing and making good
articles damaged, lost or destroyed in the
service.
for the year amounted to S35,30l, ,O6256, and the
expenditures Sl6,5jl ,671'5S, leaving a balance
S1S,749,3S5lS, Of which SlS,Oi3SOl'$ were un-
drawn balances in the Treasury, and S705, ,5S0'9
were to the credit of disbursing officers in the
Government repositories on June 80, 1850. Tue
estimated appropriation required by the
Ordnance office, including. only such objects as
require early attention, is 81 ,593,2 ,242
In the office of the Commissary- General of
Prisoners a reduced force has been engaged in
receivingand completing the records relating
to prisoners of war, in furnishing information
required by the various bureaus and in the
investigation of claims for commutation of
rations to United States soldiers while held as
prisoners of war.
The clerical force at the Office of the Signal
Corps is employed in arranging and putting in
through or emanated from the corps during the
war The expenditnres for the signal e. sdo service
| s30OOl5; the total amount appropriated and still
available for signal service September 80, 1866,
| was 52,565'97. Noappropriatfon was requested
| of last Congress, and none will be required for
| the next fiscal year.
at the Military Academy. numbered two hun
dred and twenty-eight members, and forty
cadets of the graduating class completed the
course of studies and were commissioned lieu
tenants in the army Under the provisions of
july JUL IS tie RSry Aeade@ @ss
separated from the Corps of Engineers, which
together with certain professors and cadets, had
heretofore constituted the institution, and the
officers of which had exercised exclusive SUPER
vision and control over it, Brevet Major-Gene-
raj Edmund Schrver, Inspector Gepral, has
been assigned as Inspector, and Colonel T. G..
Pitcher, of the Forty-forth Infantry. appointed
The report of the Board Of Visitors for 1867
bears ample testimony to the usefulness and
excellent condition of the academy, and recom-
II ends the increase of the number of cadets to
400. With the present number of cadets but one
graduate can be supplied TO each regiment every
second year, after the ordinary demands of the
staff corps are met. During the past session of
| Congress important measures were adopted re-
| specting the academy, raising the standard of
| Qualifications for admission, and requiring that
appointments be hereafter made one year in
advance OF the date OF admission The inSpec-
| tor, from personal observation, reports the au-
thorities OF the Institution most assiduous in
their efforts TO advance the interests of the aca-
DENY and its cadets. Its administration is
characterized by economy, and habits of fru-
galily are inculcated. Excellent discipline is
maintained and judiciously enforced. The es-
timated appropriation Tor the Military Aca-
deny is $2l3,S67.
In the Bureau Of Refugees Freedmen and
Abandoned Lands, the Commissioner reports
that there is no material change of organization,
but business is facilitated and veXed questions
settled by the law OF 1866. The jurisdiction of
assistant commissioners comedies generally
with department and district commands, but is
distinct in Maryland and the District of Column
bla. Under the new law Maryland and Ken
lucky are embraced, and these States seem TO
require aid from the Bureau in promoting
the interests of justice and education. In the
Northern cities employment offices, of little
expense TO the Government, and not source
OF revenue, have been established, with view
TO obtain work and homes for dependent freed
people. and to relieve crowded Localities. The
Importance of self-support has been urged, by
proper means, upon the laboring classes. Wages
have been determined, not by orders of Bureau
officers, but by circumstances ordinarily affect
ing the price oflabor in different localities. The
education of freedmen and refugees has been
carried ON vigorously, under the immediate
patronage of benevolent societies.
A superintendent of Education, devoting his
whole time to his work, is stationed at The
bureau headquarters in each State, and all
bureau officers cooperate with him. 1t is es-
timated that $50 900 freedmen and their children
States. Schools for refugee white children are
also established. Their formation is every
where encouraged by the bureau. There has
been but little uniformity of action in ditfe-
rent States in respect TO the administration OF
Justice. Assistant commissioners have been
INSTRUCTED to transfer military laGisdiGtion as
This has been done completely IN some States,
while in Virginia, Louisiana and Texas bureau
courts are still in existence.
A claim division, instituted in March last
and aided by officers and agents throughout the