The Arizona sentinel., 1889-01-12
RANKS IN THE ARMY.
The Successive Grades from Private Sol
 dier to Major-General

dier to MaJor-General.
 In times of peace it is not very prob able that a private soldier could be successively promoted to the rank of General, but it is possible. By recent legislation, the private soldier who has acquired non-commissioned offi- cer's stripes and has served two years, may, upon application, be examined for promotion to the rank of Second Lieutenant, and if he gets the appoint ment, he is then in the straight line of promotion to the highest rank.
 The chances are that after thirty or forty years of service he will not have risen higher than Major, and by that time he will be retired on account of old age or disability. Yet there are very few grades between the lowest non-commissioned officer and the high est commissioned officer, which is at present that of Major-General.
 Here are the successive grades, be- ginning at the lowest: Corporal, ser 1 geant, Second Lieutenant, First Lieu tenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier-General, Major-General.
 Here are eleven steps which the prl- vate soldier must mount before he can reach the prize The first three are comparatively easy, and may be climbed inside of three years, but there is likely to be a long wait before the First Lieutenancy is gained.
 Each rank has it's distinguishing marks. All non-commissioned officers wear ''chevrons," which are bars on each sleeve, sewed on above the elbow from the outer and inner seams of the sleeve, running obliquely down and toward the centre, forming a V. The color of the chevrons indicates the branch of the service-white for in- fantry, yellow for cavalry, red for artillery and orange for the signal corps.
 Corporals have two bars on each sleeve. Sergeants wear three bars. The first, or orderly sergeant, has 8 lozenge, or diamond, in addition to the bars. The quartermaster sergeant wears three stripes and three bars across the top The signal-corps ser geant wears crossed signal flags or each sleeve. The. ordnance sergeant has three stripes and a star in red The sergeant majors chevrons have three stripes above, forming an arc over the stripes. A hospital steward has a green half chevron, with cadu' ceus embroidered in yellow.
 Commissioned officers wear shoulder straps. The groundwork indicates the branch of the service, the same as in the chevrons. The ornaments inside the strap indicate the rank.
 The Second Lieu tenant has blair strap. Tire First Lieutenant has one bar near each end of the strap. The Captain has two bars near each end O the strap. These three grades ar' regimental officers, promotion being confined to the regiment to which they are attached.
 The Major is the first staff officer eligible to a Colonelcy il any regiment. He wears gold-em broidered leaf near each end of th' strap The Lieutenant-Colonel has ; silver-embroidered leaf in the same place.
 The Colonel has silver-embroideret eagle in the center of the strap. Th' Rri RriUadier-General has a star in thC center, and the Major-General wears two stars.
 In addition to these insignia, officer of the medical department have tn letters M S. on their shoulder straps officers of the pay department, the let ters P. D.; officers of the quartermas ter's department, Q. D., and officers o the commissary department, c. D. Golden DdVS.