Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-06
CHRONIC APPLICANTS.
Army and Navy Officers Trying to Sc
cure Change Of Duties.

/
prssATIsrrfD OFFICERS N BOTH BRANCHES OF
TEE SERVICE - SMELLING our PROSPECTIVE
| VACANCIES AND PUSHING crAIxs THE IN
fLorMrxT AoHScfks N TIE DEPARTMENTS.
Somehow or other . vague idea has grown up
in the popular mind that to an army or naval
officer all things are 80 ordered by the mschin-
cry Of the service that he Is exempted and ex-
cluded from the worry and trouble Of applying
for other things, for changes, for new duties or
| higher rank in other words, that these in
dividuals are governed by an memorable fate
that preordains and arranges beyond their
own personal efforts. There was never . more
| mistaken notion, as service man explained
the other day to STAR reporter. In
fact 1t would verify seem az though
there were no class Of men Oh earth so
constantly engaged in efforts to get into new
n nell. as the officers Of our army and navy.
lhey are always asking for something, apply
| ing for something; getting nothing But few
ofhcers get what they want and the result is
that those who don't are forever after writing
70 tneir Secretaries TO be changed. For one
one cannot spend enough money here; another
nnds 1t too expensive to live there; and so it
goes, up and down the ranks, both afloat and
ashore, q constant circulation Of wants and
don't wants.
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES.
In the navy the bureau Of navigation is .
reservoir for the letters of officers who want
new duties. Hundreds of them are received
and filed, and when the time comes for
change there is great busting of old papers in
the department. In the army the adiutant-
general is the man who gets the brunt of the
expressed dissatisfaction Of officers, though in
that service the system of regimental divisions
causes much less shifting of officers than in the
navy. where men are rarely kept at one duty or
on one vessel more than three or four years.
IN THE ARMY.
In fact. there is more of established content
ment, or forced appearance Of it, at least.
Inc bureaus are headed by men who remain
until they are retired. Succession il n matter
OF rank. to the exclusion of every other factor,
and 1t Is but seldom that opportunity comes for
an ofhcer to voice his wants. These chances,
however, are eagerly seized, and whenever q
vacancy occurs or is in prospect in one of the
stan departments there is such q filing of
papers as is seldom seen except immediately
AFTER presidential Inauguration. Old cap
talns who have worn their bars for
nfteen and twenty years bestir them
selves among their friends and
inundate the Secretary of War with papers
The list of applicants grows from day to day,
until sometimes. as was the recent case when q
maJorship In the adjutant-generals corps be-
came vacant, there are sixty, seventy or sew
enty-fve candidates, each with an honorable
record and a host Of friends with influence.
ihere are almost always twenty men bitterly
disappointed. twenty more who only half
hoped and any number of fellows who '.just
went into the thing because there was bare
chance, you know
PERPETUAL APPLICANT.
There is one officer in the army, stationed at
Washington, who has spent good part of his
time for the past ten years applying for vacan-
| cies in the staff departments of the army, first
In one and then in another. He is still in the
line, with q captains strap on his shoulder
The vacating of the head OF bureau is seldom
the cause of much of a. disturbance in the
army, although there were two instances
within a year Of fierce fights for chiefship,
namely, for the position Of chief Of engineers
and that OF Acknowledgement. But these cases
are rare, inasmuch as the rank-rule generally
holds good in the army, and bureau chiefs are
almost invariably made from the next ranking
men.
HOW IT Is IN TIE NAVY.
This is not so in the navy where any cap
tain, commander, or lieutenant commander
may aspire to be the head Of bureau. 1t is
often the case that a chief is selected from far
down III the list and put over men who will re-
tire on account OF age long before him. This
TACT causes perfect swarm of candidates to
appear whenever vacancy is imminent in a
bureau. At the present time there are two
such, one in the place of Commodore Sicard.
bureau of ordnance, and the other to succeed
Commodore Schley, bureau of equipment and
recruiting. This rather unusual wealth of
chances has stirred the navy to the depths of
Its available wanters, and candidates for the
places are as thick as flies, although one is not
to be vacated until August and the other until
December /.
AN AMUSING SPECTACLE
was presented fec days ago by one Of these
applicants, who had been frequently mentioned
as possible future chief of the bureau of Ord
nance. Then it was not known that Commo-
dore Schley would retire from the other bu-
reau, but as soon as that fact was made public
this offcer rushed to the front as an applicant
for that place as WELL and now he stands like
the Colossus of Rhodes, with one foot on each
foundation and threatening all who presume to
land on either. The case of the dog grasping
at the shadow of the bone he has already has
been aptly quoted III his case, especially as he
Is at present the holder of one of most desira-
bic land posts in the navy and is in some dam
ger of losing that If he does not succeed in
getting either OF the other plums. But the
spirit of application is strong within him.
CHRONIC APPLICANT.
Apropos Of this situation a naval officer tells
good story on certain retired admiral. He
was chronic applicant and as he was not
thought to possess sufficient w.t. talent, or
ability to mt HIM for any responsible place. his
wants were seldom honored with the giving
He applied for everything in sight, sometimes
for two or three things at once, and as he was
often on waiting orders around Washington he
had good opportunities for pushing his claims.
He smelt vacancies far ahead and would often
apply for places months ahead Of time Once
the post Of surgeon-genera was vacant, but
not being doctor" the admiral was barred
out. H,S was sitting in one of the Navy de-
partmeN rooms one day reading, hidden by
desk, when a passing officer stopped to chat
with the clerk who abode there.
who's to be made surgeon-general?" he
| asked, loosely.
''Old Admiral -, of course" was the
half-laughing reply of the clerk, ignorant of
the presence behind him.
by God!' cried that person himself spring.
ing to his feet. You don't mean it. When
was it done?"
1t took some time to convince him that he
had not been made surgeon-general despite
his failure to make application.
On another occasion he was chatting with a
brother officer at the navy-yard, digestiug the
news of the day, which the other read out piece
meal from a newspaper. Suddenly the reader
started and lowered his paper.
Heavens and EARTH" he exclaimed to his
startled visitor, Here's a vacancy for you at
lastr'
What is it?' was the excited resnonse
"Quick, tell me what it ISL
The empress of Russia is dead" the officer
managed to calculate between his shrieks of
laughter.