The Washington times., 1901-10-29
MARINE CORPS CONDITIONS.
The Annual Report of General Hey
wood Made Public


| Haywood commandment of the Marine
| Corps. to the Secretary of War, and con-
| ia Ding several important fe&tares of local
interest. was made public yesterday He
| recommends that the rank of the com
mandaut of the Marine Corps be raised
from brigadier general TO major general
| although he does SO with diffidence, he
says. as such action would result in his
own promotion. Upon the condition of
| the organization he says:
The present authorized strength of the
| Marine Corps being 6.062 men. II viii be
Seen ttlt Its cOfnmandant is clearly en-
titicd to the rank of major general. even
| on the single ground that the number of
| men in the corps constitute an appropri-
ate command for that rank. As stated In
| my last annual report. the Adjutant Cen
| cral of the Army has been given the rank
| OF major general since the passage of the
Navy Personnel act Of March 3. 1883. and
all the bureau chiefs of the Navy Depart
Dlent were given by that act the rank Of
rear admiral. which assimiiiates TO that
Of majcr general As mentioned above
| the Marine Corps is one of the co-ordi-
nate military branches of the Govern
| lient, and in view of the facts above
stated and the record which the corps
| has made for itself, particularly during
the war with Spain and the hostilities $
| in the Philippines and China, it Sc ems no
I more than Just that its comma ndant
| should have the rank of major general.
Under existing law officers OF the navy
| who served honorably during the civil
war are entitled to retire with the next
| higher rank. and it would seem no more
| than just that the few old officers ieft in
| the Marine Corps, who stood shoulder to
| shoulder with those in the navy during
| the civil war, should he entitled to the
| same privilege"
| He makes the following official report
| upon the assassination OF President Nc
! kinley;
President William Mckinley was shot
1 by an assassin at Buffalo, n. Y, Septem-
| Der 6. 1901. and died in the same city on
| September IA, 1901.
1.-THE marines from Camp Haywood,
! Buffalo, N Y. formed part of the funeral
escort of the late President to the city
| hall in Buffalo on September 15 1901. four
| on-commissioned officers being detailed
| as body-bearers. and on September Is the
4 command formed part of the funeral es-
eort from the city hall to the railway sta
| tion.
| AT the request of the Secretary of the
/ Navy, Capt Henry Leonard, L. S VI. G..
commanding Camp Haywood. Buffalo, n.
| Y, proceeded to Washington on the fu-
! neral train with the Secretary, and acted
as his aide en- route.
Immediately upon the arrival of the
remains of the late President in Wash
| ington they were taken to the Executive
Mansion. and the Marine Corps furnished
portion of the guard, as follows: First
Lieut.. Lee b. Purcell; Second Lieut..
Chandler Campbell, and twelve enlisted
men.
Lieut. Col Thomas H. Barry. Assistant
Adjutant General, U. S. A, addressed
letter to the brigadier general comman-
dant. dated September 20, 1901. in which
he stated that the detachment of marine
officers and men on duty at the Executive
Mansion September l6 and IL, 1891. guard
| ing the remains of the late President per
| formed all duty in a highly satisfactory
| manner, and by their fine soldierly bear
| ing and general department reflected great
credit upon the service they represented
| I'm the funeral procession from the
Executive Mansion to the Capitol the Ma
rine Corps was represented by the entire
Marine Band and one battalion of six
companies, under the command of Lieut..
Col. b. II. Russell, U. S. NJ. c.. officers
and men having been ordered to Washing
ton from League Island and Annapolis to
complete the complement of the battalion.
When the remains were moved to the
Capitol to lie in state there, a portion of
the guard at that place was furnished by
I the Marine Corps. and consisted of Capt
John H. Russell, First Lieut.. William G.
Powell, and Second Lieut.. William Brack-
EFT, L. S. NJ. c.. and fifty enlisted men.
The Brigadier General, Commandant
of the Corps. was detailed as member
of the guard of honor to attend the fu-
neral in Washington and also to accom-
pany the funeral train to Canton in this
capacity."
General Haywood adds:
Tn my annual report for years past
attention has been invited repeatedly to
the dilapidated and unsafe condition of
the building which has been occupied for
many years offices for headquarters of
the Marine Corps, in which most of the
valuable records of the corps are stored,
and last year l submitted estimate of
$50 900 for the erection of a new Office
building for headquarters in the corps.
The sum has been appropriated by Con-
gress plans and specifications have been
prepared and the work will soon COM
mence.
Preparatory to the commencement of
such work, by order of the Secretary Of
the Navy the headquarters offices were
transferred, on June TO- 1901. TO the Bond
Building, corner of New York Avenue
and Fourtet nth Street, Washington, it
having been found after a thorough
the city where the requisite number of
suitable rooms We're available.
Last year in my report l referred to
the appropriation by Congress Of &.590
for the erection of a building at the ma
rine barracks. Washington. ID. g. for the
use of the Marine Band and for enlisted
mems quarters and stated that the work
on such building was progressing salts
factorily. This work has now been en-
tirely completed and the building is occu-
pied for the purposes for which it was
intended The lower floor is one large
room which is used as a practice room
for the band. and the upper story gives
very comfortable additional dorritory
space for about fifty men. In addition to
this the room formerly used by the band
for practice is made available for the use
as dormitories. Numerous minor repairs
have been made to the marine barracks.
Washington, d. c., including improve
ments to plumbing. porches, and exterior
paint work and the barracks is now in
good condition. considering its age