Omaha daily bee., 1906-10-17
ARMY GOSSIP N wAsHINGroN.
Current Events Cleaned from the
Army aud Navy Reeistcr.

Current Events Cleaned from the
Army aud Navy Register.
There appears to be a general misun-
derstanding regarding the purpose Of the
summary court, according to General
Davis, the Judge advocate general Of the
army. who is in receipt OF reports from
judges advocate showing that the COM
manding officers do not avail themselves Of
the authority granted to them Of estab-
fishing discipline without recourse TO court
proceedings. 1t is held there is sufficient
grant of jurisdiction to enable post and
company commanders to bring about a sub
stanttal diminution In the number OF sum-
mary court trials, with a corresponding
advantage to the discipline of the military
service. 1t is. therefore, recomme nded
that such instructions be issued to officers
Of the inspector generals department as
will cause the necessary inquiry to be
made to the effect which is given, at
the several posts at which troops are sta
toned, to the requirements of the regula-
tion above cited 1t would appear that
pretty much all dereictions of duty are
referred to the summary court for action
I in some departments. The reduction, in
some cases. has been so small as to be
hardly appreciable. not exceeding per
| cent of the trials, 81 ,329 in number that
were had during the preceding year. and
we are still confronted by the fact that
the number Of cases referred to minor
I courts for trial is far IN excess of the
disciplinary needs of the service. It was
the purpose OF the summary court legisla-
tion not to increase the number or :rc-
quency of trials. but to simplify the ad-
ministration of military justice and to Sc
cure uniformity in the punishments i'm
posed upon enlisted men VINO had been
/ convicted of minor military offenses
The army candidates who will he exam
! ined for appointment second lieutenant
| in the army are much interested In know
! ing whether it is worth their while to
/ take up that part OF the artillery eXamina-
! ton included in the subject of mathema-
/ tics, on the theory that qualification i'm
that subject will give them correspond
/ ingly better standing in the infantry
cavalry examination. The army candi-
dates are not to he examined in artillery
subjects, unless they wish TO take the
entire examination for appointment to the
artillery corps, which examination is in
dependent to that for the infantry cavalry
arms. 1t appears therefore, that It would
not avail the candidates to any extent to
take any part of the artillery examina-
tion. when they are simply attempting to
qualify for the infantry and cavalry. OF
course, ii is not necessary to say that
study along the lines indicated by the
artillery examination would be Of benefit
to the student, on the theory that 1t is
| well for the candidate to know ds much
as possible.
The white ant continues it's ravaging
operations at Guantanamo, to the manifest
I hrNu Al
of the station. A few of the very hard
woods used exempt from destruction
This condition makes it necessary to build
houses, as far possible, of concrete or
other permanent material. Further. this
requirement imposes an extra cost which
must not be overlooked in the plans of
development at Guantanamo since 1t is
estimated by the. experts that it will re-
quire about double the amount otherwise
needed for public works. Nothing appears
to answer the purpose of exterminating
the pest and no amount of treatment of
the wood is sufficient to render il proof
against the attack of the insect. For that
matter, probably the most effective method
of protection would be too costly to adopt |
and. in the end, concrete and other ma +,
terlal which will withstand the umnivcr- !
Gus white ant, would be cheaper, as weI |
as more enduring.
Changes are to be made i'm the new |
rifle for the purpose of adapting the |
weapon to the sharp-pointed style of ,
bullet which is to replace the old service !
bullet. The new bullet requires a different !
chamber a slightly shorter barrel and a |
change in the stock and sight gauge. The /
change in the sight gauge will necessitate |
new leaf and long period of firing to /
get this delicate task completed The !
elevation of the rifle for long distances /
Will be much less with the new bullet, by .
reason of its fiat trajectory, and for this /
reason the gradations on the sight gauge
will be even finer than on the sight gauge
recently completed, which was used with
the old service bullet Colonel Frank H.
Phipps, Ordnance department on duty at
the Springfield armory, said this week
that the rifles now completed would still
continue to be supplied to the service until
all branches had been equipped with the
new gun adapted to the new service bullet
The rifles for the new projectile will be
manufactured and stored in the arsenals
until the government has enough of the
arms to equip the regular service, after
which the guns now being used will be
recalled and the latest models issued.
Strong complaint against the absence
from their commands of company officers
is made by Brigadier General William s.
McCaskey, commanding the Department of
Texas. in his annual report. He says the
situation i'm that respect is getting worse,
and he believes that if more officers OF the
grade of captain were present with their
companies contentment among enlisted
men would exist and fewer desertions
would occur He also recommends a 20
per cent increase in the pay of officers and |
enlisted men. and corresponding increase
of the allowance for quarters Fhe aban-
donment of the present system of division
commands in favor of the old system of
departmental commands would result in
an Improvement in administration, i'm the
opinion of General McCaskey. Because
2S1z per cent of the total number of de-
sertions in the department was i'm men OF
their first year of enlistment, the military
secretary, Major Walter L. Finley recon-
mends that first enlistments be made for
one year only; the second fort two years,