New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-11-14

After the reduction of the army in 1869 number
Of officers were deprived Of commands by the con-
solldation of the infantry regiments. In order that
employment might be found for portion Of them,
Congress authorized the President to detail them to
act as Indian Agents. \ number were assigned to
duty in that capacity and proved honest and capa-
bic. They were not allowed to remain long at the
agencies, however for the friends Of the displaced
officials got clause put in an appropriation bill. at
The next session of Congress, forbliding the APP
pointmcnt of army officers to any civil positions.
The experiment, although it lasted but year, was
entirely satisfactory to the President 1t is worth
recalling now that the proposition TO transfer the
care of the Indians to the War Department is
vved If the persistent effort Of the Democrats to
reduce The rank and file of the army should be sue
ccs3fu number of officers will be rendered vrtu
ally supernumerary for there will be no need of
captain and two lcutenants to command companies
containing only score of men, hundred officers
could no doubt be spared for the Indian Service.
We do not think however, that it would be wise TO
discharge all the civilian agents. Some Of them
have shown conspicuous ability for the duties of
their positions We have in mind the case of an
agent on the Pacific coast, who, in five years, has
brought a tribe from complete barbarism into compar
alive civilization, so that they now live in good frame
houses but by themselves with lumber sawn in
their own lllllS cultivate VI AIRES o Nltit
and corn. send their children to school. 20 to church.
and behave in all ways like good citizens. 4 man
who can accomplish work like this Is invaluable,
and should not be set aside by a general law chang
ing the relations and methods of the Indian Bureau.
The President should be authorized in his discretion
TO retain such of the agents now in service as have
shown remarkable capacity.
H0ype's UcekIy has done very good thing in r.
publishing PtOiemy's Map Of the World, from the
copy printed Rome in 1905, and now in possession
of the American Geographical Society Every one
interested in the subject may now convince himself
that the knowledge of the ancients was astouiSh-
ingly exact. far as it extended. Especially in re-
gard to the Nile it might readily have been assumed
that If the Egyptians succeeded in circumnayigaing
Africa they must also have been able to trace the
course Of the one river which makes Egypt habit
able. The map Of Ptolemy indicates both the lakes
discovered by Spoke and Baker, and the snowy
mountains Of Klimandjaro and Kenia, from which
the Victoria Nyanza is fed Even before the lakes
had been redscovered. DR.. knOblechor, one OF the
first Europeans who assembled the White Nile, said
TO a correspondent of THE TRIBUNE, in Khartoum-
in 1852: "All our explorations IN Africa simply
prove the truth of Ptolemys geography Chief
Justice DAILY president of the American GeoTaph-
zeal Society called attention to the existence OF the
lakes on Ptoemys map, some years ago. The
river Niger is also given although its course is in
correctly laid down but there is no indication of
the Congo. The map covers that part OF the earthS
surface between Ireland and Siam in longitude, and
from lat. 100 S. to the Shetland Islands. Ii is al
exceedingly interesting contribution to genera.
knowledge. and should be cut ont aud preserved by
all who study the growth of man III his relation 10
the earth.
Five years AGO the proposition of Charles Sumner
10 remove the names of the battles of the civil war
from the regmental coors of the regular army
caused a great deal of discussion. and provoked
much hostile criticism. Now, the Secretary Of War
orders all mention of battles to be omitted IN future
issues of The Aymy Register, and the change, more
important than the one Mr. Sumner proposed, eX-
cites no attention, and gets only brief mention in
the Washington dispatches. Since 1852 The Regisia
has contained, in connection with the roster OF
each REGIMENT list of all the battles it has taken
part i'm since its organization. Most OF these battle
names and dates come from the rebellion, but the
record of the older regiments opens with the
earlier history OF the country. Thus, for example,
the First Artillery begins its long and honorable list
with Queenstown, Fort George and Fort Erie. in the
War of 1912 follows with titles of many bloody
encounters in the Florida War. and adds such glO
-, Dol,