The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-16
Agricultural Department Reserves
10000 Acres of Land in Kansas for
Experiments in Forestry.
NAVAL RECRUITING SUSPENDED
UNSATIsFACTORY HEALTH CONDI-
TIONs CAUSE THE ACTION.
Consular Service Appointments-Re-
cent Army Orders-Other Features
of Department Activities.

WASHINGTON, May 15-The legality Of
employing outside persons to map the rural
free delivery routes is under consideration
in connection with the investigation OF
postal affairs. 1t has been suggested that
the topographer of the department should
handle the mapping of the rural routes in
stead of letting out the work to outsiders.
The Treasury Department has bought q
lot at Twelfth and Chapline streets in
Wheeling, w. Va, as the site for the new
federal public building there. The price is
$4,000.
The Civil-service Commission will an
nounce at an early date competitive exam
nations for the purpose of filling these
positions: Consulting photographic en-
gineer in the geological survey at $500 a
year; chemist in the National Bureau Of
Standards at $500 year, and pharmacolo-
gist In the public health and marine hos
pital service at So. 200 year.
Secretary Root gave a dinner at the
Country Club tonight in honor of the
members of the newly organized general
staff of the army. Those invited included
Assistant Secretary Sanger, Lieut. Gen.
John NJ. Schofield, retired, Maj Gen. s. B.
a large humber of army officers. Lieuten-
ant General Miles was not present.
The battleship Wisconsin sailed from
Bremerton, Wash, yesterday for the
Asiatic station, where IL will succeed the
battleship Kentucky as flagship. The Wis
consin will go to Honolulu and then pro-
At the request Of the secretary Of agri-
culture the commissioner of the General
Land Office has withdrawn from settle
ment a tract of about $4,000 acres of land
In the vicinity OF Gardner, Kan, for the
purpose Of making experiments in tree
culture. Secretary Wilson expresses con-
hdence In the success Of the experiment.
Recruiting in the navy has been suspend
ed for the present. owing to the prevalence
of contagious diseases at various training
stations and aboard receiving ships on the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The depart
ment hopes the situation may be sufficiently
relieved within the next ten days to re-
sumo recruiting. Reports show that at
suited from overcrowding the men. For
several days the department has endeav-
ored to remedy this by quartering the men
In tents, but the situation to-day was so
unsatisfactory that an order was tele-
graphed TO all officers on recruiting duty
to suspend their work for the present The
enlisted force of the navy is within 2 100 of
the maximum allowed by law-31OOO.
XXX
CHRISTOPHER H. Payne has been appointed
United States consul at st. Thomas He is
| a colored nan who has taken active
part in West Virginia politics and has
been in the internal revenue service.
The formal transfer of Consul Henry A.
| Johnson, of the District of Columbia, from
| Venice to Valencia has been announced.
The War Department to-day assigned
| names to a large number of seacoast bat
| teries. The names are in honor of officers
| who have performed distinguished service
| in the continental army of the revolution,
| the war of 1912, the Seminole Indian war
| and the civil war.