The times., 1899-10-28
GENERAL HEYwooD's REPORT.
The Operations of the Marine Corps
for the Past Year.

The Operations of the Marine Corps
for the Past Year.
Brig. Gen. Charles Haywood, command
ing the United States Marine Corps, has
submitted to the Secretary of the Navy
voluminous report covering the operations
of the corps during the past year. General
Haywood says that owing to the increase
in the number Of unruly characters in
Alaska since the Klondike gold discoveries
the strength of the marine post at Sitka
must be augmented. He refers to the en-
listed men who have been sent out to Ca
vite and Guam, and relates the measures
taken to make life more beaTable to those
on the last named island.
Games of all kinds were sent with the
stores for the battalion" he says, Ito pro-
vide means of amusement for the men
when off duty on this isolated place. The
Guam battalion" the general remarks, lis
composed of an excellent lot of men, and
they seemed quite enthusiastic at the pros
pect of going to this almost unknown
land"
OF the Cavite battalions, he says: The
two battalions sent 10 Cavite were com
posed of young, vigorous healthy men. who
were nearly all volunteers for the duty.
Although some OF them had been but a
short time in the service, they were all
well instructed in the use Of the rife, and
l feel safe in predicting that If they have
an opportunity they viii give a good ac-
count of themselves in action and reflect
great credit upon the Marine Corps. The
two battalions at Cavite have an aggregate
strength of % marine officers, medical
officers OF the Navy, and GA enlisted men.
On the ships OF the Asiatic station there
are five marine officers and 272 enlisted
men of the corps, making a grand total Of
members of the Marine Corps of 30 officers
and 9l6 enlisted men on the station"
II is intended to establish known dis
tance target ranges within convenient dis
tance of each station Of the Marine Corps,
where 1t is possible 10 do so, as the ex-
perience of the past has shown that the
good effects of careful training in the gal
lery followed by practice on the range
cannot be overestimated.
Facilities for long range firing and regu-
lar practice have been obtained at a few
stations only The difficulty Of securing
such ranges has been increased by the
adoption Of the Lee rife as the fact of
it's having a far longer range than the
Springfield causes it to be considered In
safe TO the public when used on most OF
the ordinary ranges. During the year a
! camp was established on LOyelIs Island
Mass, where a suitable range was OBJ
| tanned.
The new enllstments Of the corps for
FIVE years during the past year were 1853;
there were Ill re-enlistments ane $50 men
| obtained from the Army, making a total
of ]. .S74 enlistments. Casualties in the en-
listed force including deaths. discharges
desertions, and retirements number LOS
| This large number was due to the discharge
of men who enlisted for service in the wal
with Spain only The authorized maximum
| height for enlisted men has been increased
one inch There are 414 aliens in the
| corps. and of these 325 have declared theil
! intention 10 become citizens. There are
| .442 men on duty at the various shore sta
! tions. 1853 on board ships, and S04 OIL
| foreign shore service.