Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-01
ARMY eoss1r IN wAsHrNeroN,
Current Events GIeSne from tn
Army and Navy Register.

Current Events cleaned from the
Army and Navy Register.
To entitle an officer or an enlisted man
to a badge indicating service in the civil
war. he must have formed a part Of the
regular or volunteer forces employed by
the United states during the period OF that
war. 4 case has recently arisen where
an officer did not enlist nor was he mus
tered in to the forces Of the United States,
but accepted an appointment as a cadet at
the military academy. II is held that the
officer is not entitled to wear the civil
war campaign badge.
The Baldwin dirigible balloon, which re-
Gently was put through successful tests at
Fort Myer, was accepted by the govern
ment. and is now being used to train signal
corps officers and men in aerial naviga-
ton, will be sent to the military carnival
at st. Joseph, Mo, which commences on
September p. This will be an important
military event, when about 5000 troops will
be assembled. The improvised hydrogen
Grating plant used to initiate the Baldwin
balloon at Fort Myer will be shipped with
the balloon to st. Joseph, as the gas-gen-
Grating plant at Fort Omaha, Neb., will
not be ready for use by the time the bal.
loon arrives.
The death benefits conferred by the act
Of May II, 1903. are expressly restricted to
officers and enlisted men on the active list
of the army, and the judge advocate gen
eral has recently rendered a decision to
the effect that officers on the retired list
do not come within the provisions Of the
act. The active list is a roster OF names
of the general officers who are authorized
by law and of the commissioned officers
Of the army arranged according to the
organizations OF the line, or departments
OF the staff, in which they hold military
office. A retired officer is held not TO be
an officer of the active list" as above
described and a similar distinction exists
in case of enlisted men OF the active and
retired lists.
An army officer recently purchased a
pair Of shoes and wore them about three
end a half months and, the shoes having
proven unsatisfactory they were returned
to the dealer, and the officer refused to
pay for them. 1t seems that the shoes
proved unsatisfactory after two weeks of
wearing, but he continued to use them and
did not return them to the dealer until ons
year from the date OF purchase. 1t does
not appear that there was any warranty
of the shoes and in the absence Of such
warranty or of circumstance emitting the
purchaser to avoid the sale on the ground
of fraud, the sale stands good whatever de-
fects may develop and the officer is legally
bound to pay for the shoes. Where an ex-
press option is given to return the goods II
not satisfactory. the buyer would have to
return them within a reasonable time.
This was not done in the case of the shoes,
which were used some three months after
purchase. Under such circumstances, the
officer has been advised that he has acted
Illegally i'm refusing to pay for the shoes
and should, therefore, reimburse the mer-
chant he dealt with.
All persons who were in the army on or
after January II. 1905, provided they full
filled the other necessary conditions. are
eligible to receive the appropriate cam
paign badges whether now In the service
or not, and upon application by duly au-
thenticated heirs of persons who, il alive,
would come under this rule, the appro-
pirate badges may be issued to such heirs.
The Judge advocate general of the army
has recently rendered a decision regarding
the issues of such bss rs and is of the
opinion that the vested rigbt IF an officer.
to purchase such a badge from the govern
ment passes to his heirs, and in the case
of an enlisted man his heirs receive such
a badge as a gratuitous issue. The de-
cisions regarding the issue of such badges
are based on what may be termed the
vested right of the officer or soldier to
have received the badges on or after
January II, 1905. The judge advocate gen.
eral believes that the element of senti-
ment which has entered into the line Of
decisions which has eliminated In the
view taken by the department upon the
subject is a healthy one and should not be
questioned. The right vested in the secre-
tary of war to give the heirs of deceased
officers and soldiers these campaign badges
is a right which vested in the deceased
prior to his death and no greater right
can be established and should pass to his
heirs without question.