The sun., 1896-10-11
ARMY CHANCES AVID cHAxsEs.
Existing and Prospective vevaennctss-Henith
Conditions OF the service.


wAsHryGroN. Oct. 10. Before Secretary La
mont's term expires there Will be. including
those now pending. three or four vacancies In
the subsistence Department.. one OF them being
that of the Com missary .Ciensral, ave in the
Quartermaster's and two in the Pay Depart
ment, ana half a do1an OF these have for some
time existed. The staff Is hardly mere inter-
ested In these vacancies than the subalterns OF
the line, because appointments to them from
the latter. will. insure promotions, and these,
in turn, will open more vacancies for che. .addi-
tionu Second Lieutenants who still await
specific places.
or these additionals there are still sixteen
In the cavalry. ten in the Infantry, eight in the
artillery. and three in the engineers, making
tnirty-seven in all. rhiI shows Il fair reduc-
ton since the list Of surplus West Pgtnt gradu-
atcs maize up in June. Resides, &. is said
that there are still nineteen vacancies on the
limited retired list, and should these be all
available tho number If adGitiOuais would be
brought down a full half. Perhaps not all
will be filed, and not all can be expected for
the line. but the Secretary is preparing to
order n number OF officers urfore a retiring
Board. including some th..t have been reported
in the ears Inspections, or by ncd!ca, officers.
and any that have themselves eX pressed viii
lngnsss To reLira ON account of Illness. In ui-
ditlun, one officer has applied FOR retirement &
under the law relating to thirty years service
anu II Is understood That the secretary no
longer opposes but favors rctIremeHts under
that .aw 81 destrous ID he OF siv'HE the usual
chance to men in the ranks VINO have passed
their examinations Tor thr shoulder straps.
These eXlllHatnns were Recently completed
at Fort LeAvenNOrth, aah the results have been
sent on To the War department rs Will be
from the foregoing 1gGrrs, n vii be hard
"a Had vacancies tor many cAnt.uItes, but !-rc-
r-tuly Lamont is likely to tLNe care thai las
term Of administration small not have the IN
snvthDle distinction % including the urst yehr
in which no commissions Whatever we're rtlr-
nIshed to enlisted men. In any case some
lianct can be placed upon Jhr ttCL That lt -
customary 10 carry over TO the aew year add
gllCer Corps Out in tn" line. HE opera .lUn II
tn. law which transfers officers tvum The nm
tied 10 the age retiring lIat also comes IA as i
source OF rpllD nee.
y brsut reference has already been made to
the report OF The surgeon Gen"ru. on tue
health Ut the army. An examination Ot ttS !c.
tails seems 20 SLOW thai the past ear breaks
recur!s as u the sanitary cnnG L.on ur LAG
tFOups The wear previous hnd been -enari-
aOle, but the one now under review On does !
The lowest previous admission rae - sick
report was. n Iced, tribe under ruaL rpr the
past year. but N the latter the average uumDrr
or dAl each man was under II" t'Iue az and also
lie 'aHaI!ssion rate tor disease we're re-
nArkabiy small. ~ we're rho rate 1er thou
sanG or tn"se cons antly SICK and the aver.
age number Of unrs per muG lost IN account nf
sickness. Th.S tnst was -. = A'.e thh ayrr-
axe OF the preceG:nE ten years "as lJ.i. This
1t IS clear lhat i Days' u improve sanitary
conditions for the army, as lAcy lave la;r!y
been improved
Another point IS That the discharges For Is
ahilltY per Thousand wrrs unls. .. 5. conf
uarru with 40 N IS!.t winch lpurr-. 10
hay, been u record year. lld with 25.T = n tha
average Tor the precrd'rS ten g"nrs. When 1t
IL reca.lsd that for each disrEa"Ge = --cr'Iir
must be bro .Sht IN. amt thai the rrn0"ss OF
en!lstinS. c!utnlaG. and transportation costs
good tgui. tn" astonishing rci ',iul d the rnts
JUST noted Is A2ut!!cr clear gain n money. The
discharge rate from li-rI va, Il. : /. aaE from
injury -.3t. The lowest urr".uis -""Drd RI
mortality from al cnU-es la. of .l" velr
$50. m whirh It was t.Jb. hut fnr rhe wear
under review he rate ner thousand lei! ru ). IL
It further app"aFs that on jag the med rIl
De uartuelL had n -ervire i1G Lu-p5ra' staw-
ards. % acting hospital -tewarri-. and H0I prt-
Yates, making Il tOtaI Of I95, 1T .it short Of Tho
ie.uI limit. As the new law rrt !cr- the num-
ber OF hospital stewards - Loo 10 - uut -
pected that any exam nation FOR yacn1c,rs "A
one improvement mas been b. Discard he Ill
dress uniform tCr men which has Errrl.t .ttnd
the substitution Of 4 larZ"r a OWiH," nj com
rortabe whit curtOn duck rl0ta.lg -pr Warft
s-rv'-e The work Ut the husDifn. rDr0S IS well
sUpClere1tnd Oy the new ~ - rrg glT' special
instruction in litter Gearing. and q rendering
first ald ~ the SICK AMI wouuGpa. 10 he given
tO all enlisted men. The new Inter is also now
issued 20 army posts.
Among the srep5 EaSea 70 utilize vHr'nrs Az
ptia1crs FOR mti'tarY pnr. rses noted Tho
recent experiments w'th the mega hone ~
collect sounds. and with kites 70 take ~
w-iuhrs. III. latter. tc II though. iEh5
hf ve some advantages over balloons Ht -ig1hi
stations. bur heir novelty fr hu pUron~e Wi
crent- an interest when IN ttvlHc, - attem0t-
Ell from carrying ao i 4Ummy 20 carrying
a