The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-02
A Somewhat Crowded Establishment.

n SOHtNHa OIoWueu LSluDlsnhthts
with characteristic promptness Ancient
Mariner THOMPSON published during the
past week the annual Register OF the
Commissioned, Warrant, and Volunteer ON
GERS" OF tho navy" to Jan. I, 1879" as the
titlc page says, thus showing that the Ok
hIbit Is less than five months behind time.
Between Jan and juno there is margin.
OF course, for many changes In the personnel
Of the navy. But, taking the record az 1t
stands, We find on the active list one adj
mral, ono vicc-admiral, eleven rcar-admi-
rails, twenty-five cummOdUres, fifty cap
taius. nincty-unc commanders, eighty lieu
tenant commanders, two hundred and
eighty licutrnants, one hundred masters,
and scvcnty-cight ensgus--nOt to reckon
some hundreds OF midshipmen and cadet
midshipmen, who will iil the shoes OF their
superior officers In due time.
Next. we find encouragement with the
relative rank Of commodore; fourteen med
ical directors with that of captain; fifteen
medical inspectors with that OF commander,
foity-eight surgeons with that Of lieutenant
commander; two surgeons and thirty-eght
passed assistant surgeons with that of leu
tenant; twenty-nine passed assistant sur
gcons and one assistant surgeon with that
OF master; and twenty-oght assistant sur
gcons with that Of ensign.
To these must be added thirteen pay d.
rcctors one with the relative rank Of COM
modore, and the rest with that OF captain;
thirteen pay inspectors with that of COM
mandcr; fifty paymnsters with that Of lieu
tenant-commandcr; and thirty assistant
paymasters with that Of lieutenant. besides
three with that Of master and thirteen with
that Of ensign.
We then discover seventy chief engineers,
OF whom one has the relative rank OF COM
modore. nine have that Of captain, fifteen
that OF commander. and forty-fve that Of
lieutenant commander; ninety-six passed
assis tant engineers, OF whom seventy-nine
have tho relative rank OF lieutenant, and
the remainder that OF master; and forty
assistant engineers, OF whom four have the
relative rank of master, and thirty-six that
OF ensign We make no reckoning OF the
cadet engineers.
or miscellaneous officers we discover
twenty-iour chaplains, Of whom four have
the relative rank OF captain, seven that of
commander, and seven more that Of lieu
tenant. while six rank as chaplnins only;
twelve professors OF mathematics, OF whom
seven have the relative rank OF captain, and
five OF lieutenant; the Admirars secretary
and the Vice Admiral's secretary, each rank
ing as lieutenant eleven naval construct
ors, and five assistant naval Instructors,
distributed among the grades OF commo-
dore, captain, commander. lieutenant, and
master-fnally, nine civil engineers.
Thus we get total OF thirteen admirals
Of various sorts, twenty-nine commodores,
ninety-one captains, one hundred and fifty
one commanders, two hundred and twenty
three leutenant-commander four hun
lred and forty-nine lieutenants, one hun
dred and siXty-eight masters, and one hun
dred and iity-tlve ensigus. But besides
this we have TO note the retired and reserved
list On this there are of the line forty-three
rear-admirals, twenty-thrce commodores,
sixteen captains, twelve commanders fl
teen ACCOMPLISHMENTS six lieuten-
ants. fourteen masters, and five ensigns;
so that the line Of the navy, active and re-
tired or reserved. would sum up flfty-six
admras OF various sorts. forty-six COM
modores slxty-six captains, one hundred
and three commanders, ninety-fve lieuten-
ant-commanders, two hundred and eighty
I NAN lANhNNhdllAcs plt AihuNAltu anu AOuL lttll
masters, and eighty-three ensigns.
| But we must add the stan on the retired
and reserved list. according to relative
rank. These amount to twenty-five COM
modores, twenty-five captains, four com
manders, ten lieutennnt-commander
twenty lieutenants. thilty-one masters, and
one ensign. Without pausug to add together
the line and stan on the retired and reserved
/ list, we proceed at once to the grand total
OF both line and STAFF on both the active and
retired lists, and find it to include fifty
six admirnls of various degrees, seventy
four commodores, one hundred and twenty
nine captains. one hundred and sixty-seven
I commanders, two hundred and ortv-eight
lieutenant-commander four hundred and
seyenty-lve lieutenants. two hundred and
thirteen masters, and one hundred and
siXty-one ensigns.
We take no account OF the warrant officers
--boatswains, gunners, carpenters, sail
makers, mates; nor of civilian instructors
at the Naval Academy; nor Of the volunteer
navy a relic OF the war; nor even Of the
marine corps, with its four colonies and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, seven majors twenty
seven captains, thirty first lieutenants,
twenty second lieutenants, and its retired
list OF fifteen, from brgadiergenera down
But considering that the total number Of
vessels in the navy, exclusive OF tugs, is
fewer than one hundred aud twenty, and
that those not laid up, or under repairs
number not much more than half as many
the Ancient Mariner IS tolerably well sup
piled with officers having rank enough to
command vessels, in proportion to the YES
sells themselves. The bright idea has oc-
CURED to him, and he has communicated ii
to Congress TO build enough more vessels
to accommodate all the officers with com
mands.
A Staggering Blow for Grant.
The failure OF TAFT TO obtain the nomina'