The San Francisco call., 1898-03-06
THE ARMY IS GETTING READY
  Tents and Clothing on Hand Sufficient for SO,OOO Troops.
Active Work Under the Direc- ton of the Engineer and
 Ordnance Corps.
Artillery off cers of This Departn1 ent Who Are Slated for Early
 Promo OtiOn.

partment of California, will probably return from Bakersfield tomorrow or Tuesday. One of the ten-inch rifles recently received from the East has been mounted on a disappearing car riage at Fort Point, and the other will be placed in position within the next week. The corps of engineers is ad- vancing work as rapidly as possible in finishing emplacements under contract, and the Ordnance Department is has tening the delivery of guns and ammu- milton.
 The big supply of ammunition for the magazines of the Presidio and Fort Baker, which the War Department recently ordered to be transferred from Benicia Arsenal may be brought down to- morrow on a chartered schooner.
 The quartermaster's department is completing as rapidly as possible the construction of quarters, barracks and other buildings contracted for, accord ing to the accommodations of the board which recently met at Fort Monroe and of which Colonel John l. Rogers, Fifth Artillery, was president.
 The clothing department of the United States army will manufacture speedily 35,000 blouses of the new type. The available supply of quartermas- ters stores on hand is large and em- braces p, ,000 tents stored at the various depots throughout the country and ready for distribution when needed. These tents are of different styles and are capable of sheltering S0,000 men. In addition to this there is large sup ply of canvas duck that might be made into tents at short notice.
 There is likely to be a considerable ,iciti in he ana r m a P- partment for the accommodation of the artillery which is being detailed to gar rison the SeacoaSt Notifications, aside from providing for the two new regi- ments of artillery which are in pros pect There is on hand in the quar- termasters department a supply of uniforms sufficient to clothe 50,O00 men.
 The subsistence department Is in ex- cellent condition to furnish 1000 at short notice for as many troops as the quartermaster's department is able to clothe. It is claimed by leading officers of the army that the quartermaster S department is fully prepared to meet any emergency involving the transpor- tation of troops and supplies. The statement is made that arrangements have been perfected with the leading railroad lines of the country for the mo- bilization of the army at Key West. The bill to provide for two more regi- ments of artillery will be brought up in the House on Tuesday next, and it probably will go through with large majority.
 Following is a list of officers of the Third Artillery, ten batteries Of which are serving in the Department of Cali fornia, who will receive the benefits of promotion under the provisions of the bill: Lieutenant Colonel Edward B. Williston, Presidio, to, be colonel; Ma jor w F. Randolph, commanding light artillery battalion at Fort Riley, Kan, to be lieutenant colonel; Captain J.. B. Burbank, absent from the regiment, on duty with the National Guard of New York, to be major; First Lieutenant B. H. Randolph, Angel Island, to be cap tain; First Lieutenant H. R. Lemly, on duty at Fort Monroe, 10 be captain; First Lieutenant J. R. Williams, ab- sent from regiment as military attache U. g. Legation, Berne, Switzerland, to
 be captain; First Lieutenant H. Ii. Ludlow, on duty at Mississippi State Agricultural College, to be captain;
 First Lieutenant Charles B.. Satterlee, Angel Island, to be captain; First Lieu tenant Charles w. Foster, Angel Island, to be captain; Second Lieutenant F. G. Mauldin, on duty at West Point, to be first lieutenant.
 Recent orders from the War Depart ment assign First Lieutenant James Franklin Bell, Seventh Cavalry, who was on duty in San Francisco for sev- eral years. to duty as judge advocate of the Department of the Columbia. He relieves Captain E. F. Glenn, Twenty fifth Infantry, who is ordered to Alaska with one of the military exploring par ties.
 Lieutenant Colonel Alfred E. Bates, deputy pa1 laster-general, U. s. A, the newly appointed military attache to the United States Embassy. London. will sail for his new post on the 9th inst. Colonel Bates is well known in San Francisco, having served a tour of duty here as chief paymaster Of the Department of California, from which duty he was relieved only few months ago.
 Captain Alexander Rodgers, Fourth Cavalry, who was recently appointed military attache to the United States Embassy, Paris, will sail for his new station on the 20th inst. Captain Rodg- CTS received his appointment while on duty at the Presidio, at which station he commanded Troop K, Fourth Cav airy for the past five years.
 The engagement of First Lieutenant F. F. Lacey Jr., First Infantry, sta toned at Benicia Barracks, and Miss Crandall of Detroit has been an- nounced.
 Battery L of the Third Artillery now garrisons the most important station of Fort Baker (Lime Point). Yesterday Major Frank Hess, the former captain of the battery, received an appropriate testimonial from his old command. Ma jor Hess is noted throughout the regf- rnent as an able, progressive and kind officer, and the men of Battery l. re- gret to lose a commander to whom they were so much attached. William E. Birkhimer, recently promoted captain, succeeds to the command of the bat tery. Captain Birkhimer is also an of ficer of merit and distinction