Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-17
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS
Proposed Rearrangement of
Military Commands.

eral STAN corps II mas been decided TO 90
away with the division as a geographical
unit of military administration except in
the case of the Philippines division. which
peculiar features. A general order to that
effect will be issued shortly after the ad-
journment of Congress and will go into
operation July 1, the beginning of the next
fiscal year.
as they are at present except that the
state of Missouri will be restored to the
department OF Missouri. The headquarters
of the various departments will remain as
at preserA. There will, however, be gen
eral shift in the commands of major gen
erals and brigadier generals under existing
details, but the plans of the department In
that respect have not yet been finally de-
termined.
Under the plans of the department. gen.
eral officers will be eventually placed In
command at Fort Riley. Kansas; Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Monroe and
West Point, New York.
Limitation OF Sureties.-
By order of the Secretary of War para
graph has been added to the army regula-
tions which provides that hereafter no
surety company shall be accepted under
the provisions of the act of Congress ap-
proved August 10, 1894, as sole surety on
undertaking under the War Department Tor
an amount greater than 10 per cent OF its
paid-up capital and surplus.
Capt. Coles Charges.
Advices from the Philippines are to the
effect that Capt. Frederick w. Cole, quar-
termaster, who was recently tried by court
martial for alleged Irregularities in his
administration of the quartermaster depot
in Manila has furnished the court with
counter charges, which alleSe that he mas
not had fair show; that the military au
thorities in Manila, during the 1nVestlgatloh
into his affairs, provided government places
for persons as an inducement to them 10
testify against him; that the cnest cohtaih-
ing valuable papers necessary 10 ms ue
tense was seized and withheld from nm ny
the inspector general of the Pnlllppihe
division Several officers are named as I'M
plicated in this alleged effort to make
case against Capt Cole.
Capt. Bromwen Up for Promotion.
Capt. Charles 8. Bromwell and First
Lieut.. Gilbert A. Youngberg, Corps of En-
gineers- have been ordered to New YORK
CITY for examination to determine their Mt
ness for promotion to the next hlsher
grade. Capt Bromwell is superintendent
Of nublic buildings and grounds and the
Presidents principal military AID, ana py
virtue of such duties has the rank ana pay
of a colonel. On promotlon ne Will pe
ma or of engineers
Instruction in Swimming.
Because the evidence at hand shows that
the majority of the deaths from drowning
Is among the expert swimmers, Gen. Yves
ton. commanding the department OF Luzon
in the Philippines, has ordered that at all
drills in swimming a boat manned by re-
liable men shall be at hand to rescue those
ty,S MI
he SAYS, shall be progressive, beginning
with the men unencumbered ana over Iie
shortest prescribed distance.
Future of the cairo.
The old Zafiro. which was stricken from
the navy list in January, 1906, as no longer
seryiceable for naval purposes, will prob
ablv he transferred to the War Depart
mont for the purpose of cable store ship
The Zafiro is now at Puget sound navy
ward and several unsuccessful efforts have
been made to sell her for commercial pur-
noses. Special legislation will be needed to
make the proposed transfer of the vessel
from the navy to the army.
Improved Camp Cup.
The ordnance department of the army will
noarrfacture for issue to the service a
Gun slotted in the handle for the insertion
Of the fork. With the cup SO modified. and
with the auxiliary handle thus provided, 1t
will he entirely possible to boil coffee or
other LIQUIDS over a campfire without IN
convenience due to the heating of the han
die of the cup.
Filling Artillery Vacancies.
The Secretary of War has approved the
opinion of the judge advocate general that
vacancies in the coast and field artillery
caused by the act of January % can be
filed by the appointment of second lieu
tenants Of the line of the army upon COM
petitive examination. Division and depart
ment commanders have been called upon to
submit names of officers who desire TO take
the examination with view to Mining the
forty-three vacancies existing in the grade
of first lieutenant. OF these vacancies
twenty-eight will be in the coast artillery
and fifteen in the field artillery. Those who
desire to be examined for the coast artillery
will be ordered to Fort Monroe, Va, and
those who desire assignment TO the neid
artillery will report at Fort Riley, the ex-
aninations to begin at each place April H.
Delay in Naval Construction.
Considerable delay has been encountered
in the work on the battleship Nebraska, un-
der construction by Moran Bros. at Seat
tie, Wash. The ship was to have been fin
ished in March, 1904, since which time there
have been three extentions to the period Of
completion, the latest one expiring last
month. The builders have now presented
an application for further extension of
time promising to have the vessel complet-
ed by April l. The Navy Department will
undoubtedly act favorably in the matter,
owing to the difficulties which have beset
the contractors in the progress of the work
on the ship. They have had much trouble in
obtaining efficient labor, haYe been delayed
by the failure to obtain material to be fur
nished by the government and have had to
do much extra work not contemplated in
the original specifications.
Cruising Rates for Coal.
table has been prepared at the Navy
Department showing TIE contract prices for
coal for the use of the United States navy
at about eighty places in different parts of
the world included in the usual cruising
routes of warships. These prices average
much higher than those of last year, in
many cases as much as 20 per cent, and in
a few cases the increase is nearly 40 per
cent This unusually large Increase has
given rise to a suspicion In some quarters
that there has been combination Of some
kind among the dealers to secure better
prices from the government.
New ports on the list of coaling stations
are Delagoa bay. Madeira, Melbourne. Nag
asaki, Sfax, st. Nagaire and Zea, This year
III H.