Evening star., 1909-07-18
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS.
Filling Army Vacancies.

Filling Army Vacancies.
There will probably be no civilians ap-
pointed to the Office of second lieutenant
in the army this year. excepting IN the
Coast Artillery Corps. The candidates
for the coast artillery branch must De
graduates of technical schools, and 1e"
enlisted men of the army who aspire 10
be appointed second lieutenants are eng,
BILE through lack of the professional tram
ing. There will be examinations soon az
Fort Leavenworth, Kan, and Fort MOI.
roe. Va, of twelve enlisted men wno
have been recommended for commissions
Those who qualify physically ana men
tally will be appointed to vacancies exist
ing after the assignment Of graduates oi
the Military Academy In the class OF o',
These assignments have been maze. aiIu
there is some doubt whether all OF tne
enlisted men who are candidates for com
missions will be accommodated. aithousI
every effort has been made to prosiue
for them. There was an expectation liIae
there would be room for some canoida.en
from civil life in the infantry, caSairy
and field artillery arms, but the prospeG,i,
is that for some years the vacancies WIN
be absorbed by the West Pointers ana Tue
army candidates, except In the case "
the coast artillery, where for some tline
there will be commissions awaiting auai-
fled candidates not only from among .le
Military Academy graduates ana eiVil.
ians, but such Of the midshipmen as haSe
completed the six-year course AT lne
Naval Academy. The Navy Department
has adopted a rule which precludes the
application of midshipmen for transfer
to the coast artillery until they nave
completed the two years course ioi-
lowing the four-year course at Annapoiis.
In such instances 1t is not necessary "
have a professional examination, every
thing depending on the results OF tle
physical examination. 1t is 1ound tnat
a midshipman who Is physically dis-
navy may be still eligible as an officer or
the coast artillery. The conditions OF
service are different and minor physicai
defects in midshipman might not pre-
vent his appointment in the Coast Ar
tillery Corps.
Checking Military Extravagance.
Officers of the inspector generals de-
partment of the army in recent examina-
tions of military posts have given carefui
consideration to what Is described as the
avoidable waste of property. The records
show extravaganza, it has been asserted
and 1t is desired by those In authority
who are responsible for economical dis
bursement of the army fund to have this
excess kept under better control The
waste comes about by means of condem-
nation of public property which has either
shown misuse or has had to be DESTROYED
because 1t is rendered unserviceable. One
of the inspecting officers has reported to
the War Department that after consider
able experience gained in various
branches of the army stationed IN all
parts of the country and in the Phlllp-
pines and in Cuba, he is convinced that
''the avoidable waste of property In our
services is considerable" 1t has been OBJ
served by the inspecting officer that there
is little waste where there is good dis
cipline and administration. and a corre-
spondingly greater waste where the oppo-
site conditions prevail. Among the reme-
dies suggested as q check is the elevation
Of the standard of discipline. which pre-
scription is considered too indefinite. how
ever, for all practical purposes.
Machine Gun and Infantry Fire.
The use of the machine gun and the
employment of platoons made up from in
fantry and cavalry regiments armed with
that type of weapon are engaging the at
tention Of military experts. Every regi-
ment now has a machine gun command
and these troops are shortly to be armed
with a new weapon which has been thor
oughly tested by the army ordnance Of
ficers, and of which much is expected. In
the meantime experiment have been
Planned by the general staff. Some ques-
ton has been raised regarding the rela-
tive value of the machine gun and the or
dinary rifle. and 1t Is purposed to conduct
experiments which shall show the effec-
tiveness Of these two kinds Of attack. 1t
is purposed so to place machine guns at
Monterey as to represent position GO
feet in the rear OF q line OF fnfantrymen-
The fire Of the machine guns will be over
the heads Of the infantry soldiers. The
military authorities appreciate that IT
would not do to have soldiers used in such
experimental work, and the men will be
represented by a series OF screens OF
n1a IT,, fv~nv1f NJ he m O.
chine gun platoon. The effect of the fire
Of the machine guns will be carefully OBJ
served. with q view to noting whether
there would be any disastrous results to
soldiers placed In such position.
Filling Marine Corps Vacancies.
The physical examination OF candidates
for appointment as second lieutenant
United States Marine Corps. have been
completed and the mental examination is
now in progress. There are sixteen va
cancies and l25 candidates were desig-
mated, of whom 102 reported by letter
that they would be present for the ex-
animation and sixty-two actually pre-
sented themselves before the board.
Great care has been taken to make the
examination thorough, although some
candidates have. as usual. been passed
subject to q further examination, their
deficiencies seeming to be only tempo
rary or such as might later be waived.
Extreme care has been taken to safe
guard the questions for the mental ex-
animation. An officer was present every
moment while the questions were being
printed. and under his supervision every
proofsheet and shred OF copy was de-
stroyed and the forms of type distributed
so that there might be no possible leak.
| 1t is expected that the result OF the ex-
animation will be known about the end
| Of the month.
Stations Of Negro Troops.
The entire 10th Cavalry, one Of the four
colored regiments in the army, will short
| ly take up its station at Fort Ethan Al
| len. near Burlington, VT. to replace the
squadrons of the 18th and 18th Cavalry