Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-21
THREE ARMY VACANCIES.
Places That the Pressdsat WIN I'm VIM
the Next Month,

Places That the Prsssds.t WIN I'm whit,
the Next Month.
There are three vacancies In the army that
will probably be filed within ths next month
They are among the most desirable biIlsss in
The service and are naturally the source Of
much contention. The first In order Of prom
inence Is that Of brigsdisr general, vacated BY
the compulsory retiremsnt Of Gen. Carr; TIE
next in order il that Of paymasssr With the
rank OF major and the third il that Of quarter
master With the rank Of captain
ALL THE RLiaIBLHe cANprpArrs
The candidates for the brigadier generalship
include practically all the eligibies in the army.
and their name is legion. The senior regi-
mental commander, who 10 also the senior
colonel in the army. is Col. ". r. Shafter, FIRST
infantry. He does not retire until 1883. Next
active list 10 Col E. 8. Otis, twentieth infantry
the officer nominated TO the Office by President
Harrison, but whose nomination failed with tn
adjournment Of Congress. He does not retire
until 1902.
Third in rank comes Col VIM. p. oarlin,
vice than either Of the two already mentioned,
but is junior to them in the list Of coloneiA
He WAS appointeds csiet ct West Point in 1876
and will retire on account Of age next Novem-
Der.
The next five colonies In order Of rank are
Col. n. NJ. Blunt. sixteenth infan try, who re-
tires next year Col. P. J. Swaine, twenty-sec-
ond infantry, Who retires in 1895; Col. b. C.
Merriam, seventh infantry who retires in 1901 |;
Col. 2. r. Bliss, twenty-fourth infantry who re-
tires in 1899, and Col. J. W. Forsyth. seventh
cavalry, who retires in 1898. Col h. W. Clos
son, fourth artillery, is the senior colonel Of
artillery, but is further down on the relative
rank list than those before mentioned.
While there is no certainty in the matter it is
reasonable to believe that one Of the officers
above named will receive the promotion, I'M
less the President shall decide to waive the
matter Of seniority altogether, in which event
Col. John NJ. Wilson of the engineer corps il
regarded as standing the best chance Of getting
the office. The above speculations are made on
information received from semi-official sources
| that the President is not disposed to fill the
vacancy by granting the application Of Gen.
Carr for restoration to the active list. There
| is precedent for this in the case Of Gen. Brice,
| who was retired by President johnson and re-
stored to the active list by President Grant,
| but it has never been followed since that time.
THE OTHER VACANCIES.
The vacancy in the pay corps is, il possible,
| sought for by more persons than that in the
| list Of brigsdiers. This IL due principally to
the fact that it is open to civilians. Lieut.. Ds-
pray was nominated to this Office by Presi.
dent Harrison, but. like Col. Otis, he too failed
| Of confirmation. 1t is regarded as one OF the
| best births in the army. The other vacancy
that of quartermaster-while not quite SO good
from a financial standpoint. is sufficiently de-
| sirabe to attract a host Of applicants, and Sec
rotary Lamont will have good deal Of trouble
| in filling it without dissension.
There is the best authority Tor saying that
| no action will be taken toward filling these va.
| cancies for two or three weeks yet The ap.
pontments will determine many questions OF