Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1883-12-06

feet var footing. while the other battalion
may be mere skeleton, with It's complement
OF officers, and be used as a nucleus for TO
cruits. The great advantage Of this change,
one OF being able 10 put a large and efectfve
force In the neld upon short notice by merely
enlisting a sufficient number OF additional
private soldiers, the officers and organization
being always ready TO receive them.
During the past year an additional company
In each OF the regiments of artillery has been
mounted and equipped Us q light battery, 90
that there are now In service ten light batter.
les, stationed In different parts Of the United
States.
The RIVER AND HARBoR APPROPRIATIONS.
The balance In the Treasury July I, lsss,
20 the credit OF appropriations for improving
harbors and rivers was $4.13S ,263.5S. The
appropriations by the acts Of June 10, lssS,
August 2, lsS2, and March 3, lss3 were SIS.
,5l ,SO5, and the sum of $50, ,52.24 was
drawn from indefinite appropriations for con-
structtng tetties In the South Pass, Miesissip-
pi River; operating and care Of various ca
mails, and removing snnken vessels obstruct-
ing navigation. The drafts Including $500
transferred TO the Interior Department. by
requisition during the year were Sl3 81 .54l.-
q, leaving a balance of <I0,O2l, ,649.55 in the
treasury July l, 1883 and on the same date
there was i'm the hands of officers or on de-
post TO their credit the additional sum of
$3.50 .2a 10. Since that date and up to No
vember ! there has been drawn from the
treasury S4,965, ,Sll.27.
RECORDS OF THE WAR OF The REBELLION.
The general examination of the records,
both Union and Confederate, has been COM
pleted. Any further examination that may
be necessary will be for such missing links as
may be developed in the compilation. The
formal reports of military operations made
by the Union commanders have all been
copied, and those made by the Confederate
commanders will be copied by the end of the
next fiscal year.
Nine volumes in all have been published,
seven more are in the hands of the printer
nearly completed, and the manuscript of five
additional volumes is arranged for printing.
Bureau of Education.
The Commissioner of Education reports n
very large increase of work in all divisions of
his office: The communications sent out
numbered D,I45 and those received 81, ,S75.
An entire Encouragement of the document di-
vision has been effected, with great labor,
which adds much to its efficiency. The docu.
ments distributed numbered S,3 592, and were
usually mailed in separate parcels. Many of
these documents were sent in response to in
dividual requests, one document having been
asked for by at least ten thousand persons,
and requiring the writing of as many sepa.
rate addresses.
Respecting the work now in progress, he
mentions an inquiry into the methods and
extent OF instruction in shorthand; compi.
lation of the school laws and decisions in the
several States relative to public schools; arti.
cles on hygiene in colleges and universities,
and on the method and progress of teachers
Institutes; histories of normal training and of
collegiate instruction researches into the
organization of State school systems; the
methods and subjects of instruction in rural
schools; instruction in drawing; and the rela-
tion of education to industry. In addition to
these subjects there is general desire ex.
pressed for the thorough consideration OF
schoOlhouse ventilation under the various
climatic conditions of the whole country, but
this cannot yet be undertaken, because the
appropriations at hand are insufficient.
The museum illustrating the conditions and
appliances of education has been somewhat
enlarged and much more studied by the pub
lie. Already it is affecting favorably the
methods and Illustrations used in many
schools. A small but important collection of
articles lent to the Louisville Exposition has
attracted much attention and very favorable
comment.
The library of the Office, now numbering
1920 volumes and 5000 pamphlets, is in
creasing in usefulness and value much faster
than In size as the card catalogue approaches
completion.
The Commissioner renews his recommends
tion that some measure of federal aid be ex-
tended to public primary education, based on
the number of illiterates reported by the
tenth census, as a measure of immense i'm
portance to the present and the future of the
Nation.