The San Francisco call., 1896-03-09
Black Point Reservation to Be.
come a Beautiful
Park.
THE PRESIDE FOREST AREA.
The Examination of Enlisted Men
for Commissioned
Rank.

The report OF the board OF army officers
| appointed to inspect the forests of the
| Presidio reservation is anxiously awaited.
| The report may recommend an extension
of the forests. or. may take the ground that
the forest area should be diminished in
order to afford more space for maneuvering
troops. The recommendations, whatever
| they are, have been forwarded to Wash
| ington.
In the approval of communication
| transmitted to the Board Of Supervisors
and the Van Ness-avenue Improvement
Association concerning the improvements
of certain streets leading to Black Point
and the Presidio, General Forsyth, com.
mand ding the Department of California,
announces that it is the intention OF the
| military authorities to improve and beau
tify the Black Point reservation of sixty
acres. The land reserved for Government
| tiful park for the en- joyment Of the people
of San Francisco.
The extension of the Sutter-street rail-
road system will take the cars to the mar
gin Of the park. There is plan in view
to change the present cable line of the
Union street DAD into an electric line.
The cars of the company run within four
blocks of the southern limit of the Black
Point reservation. The acquisition of
fine park Immediately accessible to the
large resident population of the North
Beach district will be regarded as great
benefit to that section of the City in par
ticular and to the entire community in
general.
A board of army officers will meet at the
Preside March Is to conduct the prelimi-
nary. examination Of enlisted men who are
applicants for commission. The board
will consist of Lieutenant-Colonel Guen-
ther, Fifth Artillery, Alcatraz; Lieutenant
Colonel Middleton, surgeon; Captain
| First Infantry, and Lieute nant Frank,
Signal Corps. The applicants are: Cor
poral Preston Brown, Battery A, Fifth Ar
tillery; Sergeant-Major Robert McCleare,
First Infantry; Corporal Robert NJ. Mar
shall and Warren S. Sample, Com pany D.
First Infantry. The applicants attaining
success in the preliminary examination
will be ordered to appear before general
board to convene at Fort Leayen worth in
September. That board will grade the
candidates, and in accordance with the
grading the applicants Will be commits
stoned as vacancies occur.
The board of army officers appointed to
examine candidates for West Point held
several sessions at.the Presidio last week.
Formerly the candidates recon mended by
Congressman from the Unions Congress
sional districts had to report at the acade-
my for examination. To obyiate the long
journey and effect a saving in travelling
expenses examining boards throughout
the country were created. The board at
the Presidio consisted of DR.. Greenleaf,
Captain Rodgers, DR.. Frick, Captain Hills
and Lieutenant Coffin.
There were three candidates before the
board-the three young men who were ap-
pointed by Congressional influence in this
State. The papers of the examining board
are to be sent to the academy, and in due
time the applicants will be informed
whether the requirements for. admission
have been fulfilled.
Lyon, the soldier at the Presidio who
refused to mend the bicycle OF sprinter
Hamilton of Oakland and to apologize to
that individual for high language used on
the hospital highway, was brought before
the summary court at the Presidio last
Monday and acquitted. Colonel S. B. NJ.
Young, Fourth Cavalry, was the presiding
Judge. He heard all the evidence, which
established the fact that Lyon was run
over and knocked down by Wheelman
Hamilton, a rider, who was going at high
speed down hill, having lost control of his
mony also that the soldier did seize the
wheel and dash it with great force over an
embankment. 1t also came out in the
testimony that the bruised soldier used
high language and plenty of it, but it is
presumed that Colonel Young, in his
capacity of Judge, deemed that the explo-
sion of wrath under the circumstances was
justitlable. Testimony also disclosed the
fact that there was neither q bell nor a
brake on the machine.
These mitigating incidents, coupled with
the neglect of Hamilton to appear and
testify in the case, caused the soldiers
acquittal.
First Lieutenant Mcclure has gone to
Fort Bliss to. join the Fifth Cavalry. He
has been on duty with the Fourth Cavalry
at the Presidio.
Material from Pennsylvania for the new
gunboats continues to arrive, and work
preliminary to actual construction is pro-
crossing at the Union Iron Works.