Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-30
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS
Troops to Be Stationed Here.

Troops to Be Stationed Here.
By direction of Gen. Barry, commanding
the Army Of Cuban Pacifcation. Companies
z and H, I'd Battalion of Engineers, have
been relieved from further duty in Cuba,
| and ordered to proceed by way Of Newport
News Va, to Washington barracks, in this
city. where they will take station, First
Lieuts Robert r. Ralston. Ulysses S.
| Grant. Sd, William H. Rose and Lewis NJ.
Adams, Corps Engineers, accompanying the
troops.
Prizes to Army Bakers.
A report has been received at the War
Department from Capt. H. c. Ferguson of
| the subsistence department.. in charge of a
school for bakers and cooks at San Fran
cisco. showing that the following prizes
were awarded: First and second prizes in
the bakers class to ]. O. Reinecke, Troop G,
18th Cavalry. and H; o. Potter. esth Com,
second prizes In the cooks school were
won by Privates Frank Gilbert. Company
X, Goth Infantry, and George Mention, 61st
Company Of Coast Artillery.
Applications for Ships.
The Navy Department Is receiving many
applications for the assignment of vessels
to attend functions Of various kinds at
coast cities. but Is compelled to decline to
accede to these requests. because it would
interfere with the programs Of drills and
target practice during the summer months
Hospital Ship for Norfolk.
An effort will be made when the appro-
priations for the navy for the fiscal year
1908 become available In July to have the
hospital ship Relief put into commission
for practicable work. The vessel is now at
the Mare Island navy yard, where she has
been for some time. Owing to the lack of
specific appropriations the Navy Depart
ment has not been able to put her into COM
mission. 1t Is proposed to send the vessel
around Cape Horn and up the Atlantic
coast to the Norfolk navy yard, where she
will be utilized for hospital purposes to re-
lieve the crowded conditions now existing
at the Naval Hospital there Extensive re-
pairs are being made to the hospital at
Norfolk, and until they are completed the
surgeon generals office is anxious that the
Relief should be maintained there, where
there is always demand of more or
less extensive character for hospital ac-
commodations. Some time will elapse be-
fore the repairs to the hospital building are
completed. AT the same time EFFORTS will
be continued by the Navy Department to
secure an appropriation for the construc-
ton of a hospital ship along the original
lines, and with every detail incidental to
the uses to which it is put, up to date in
every particular.
Heavy Punishment for a Dealer.
Army officers express their satisfaction
at the outcome of the recent trial in a
Pacific coast state of a person charged
with buying the clothing and uniforms of
soldiers, offense which they say is de-
moraliZing to the enlisted force. In the
case at issue the federal judge sentenced
the offender to pay a fine of $1,000 and
costs of the trial, amounting in all to
$500. The defendant paid the fine and
costs. The acting judge advocate gen.
eral Of the department in which the offense
occurred has written report on the SUBJ
1ect to the War Department. He expressed
the belief that the outcome of the trial
will undoubtedly have the effect of abso-
lutely breaking up the market in that vi
cinity.
Two New Training Ships.
An important change will be made in
the naval training service by the with
drawal from the Newport station and from
the San Francisco station. respectively, OF
the old Constellation and the Pensacola,
which are considered as having passed
their stage of usefulness, and which will
probably be surveyed for sale at public
auction. They will be succeeded by the
Cumberland and the Intrepid, which have
lately been built at the Boston and Mare
Island California; navy yards, respective
ly, on special plans with view to their
employment with the training service,
Examination of Naval Engineers.
The examination of candidates for ap-
pointment as assistant civil engineers in
the navy will occur at the navy yard, New
York, next Friday. and at the same time
an examination will begin in Chicago for
the convenience Of candidates who live
in that part of the country. There are six
vacancies, and it is hoped to fill all of
them. After the examination and the ap-
pointments of these civilian candidates
have been made. If there remain any va
cancies, the Navy Department will take up
the question of transferring to the Corps
Of Engineers the Junior line officers and
senior midshipmen who have applied for
appointment as assistant civil engineers.
There has always been much difficulty in
filling vacancies in the corps.
To Expedite Enlistments.
In order to avoid the delay that now oc-
ours in forwarding accepted applicants for
enlistment from general recruiting stations
to recruit depots and depot posts, Gen.
Duvall, acting chief Of staff. has directed
that every applicant for enlistment ac-
copied at a general recruiting station with
a view to enlistment at a recruit depot
or depot post shall be forwarded by the
recruiting officer to the proper recruit
depot or depot post with the least practi-
cable delay after the acceptance of the
applicant, and Immediately upon the de-
parture of the applicant from the recruit
ing station the recruiting officer shall noti-
fly the commanding officer Of the proper
depot or depot post by letter of the name
of the applicant, the recruiting station at
which he was accepted the date of &C
ceptance and the date on which he was
forwarded to depot.
Cruise on the Puritan.
special naval board which is looking
into the question of torpedo defense has
held several sessions, and will continue its
investigations in a practical way by TAX
ing the U. s. s. Puritan, now used by the
naval militia Of the District of Columbia,
down the Potomac and conducting tests
with searchlights. The searchlight Is COM
ing into prominence in connection with the
defense against torpedo attack, which will
be made chiefly at night, and 1t is a ques-
ton, of course, just where on ships Of war
these searchlights shall be located to most
effectually expose the approach Of torpedo
boats The board will report on that i'm
portant question and on the sort Of bat
terry considered most effective in repelling