Evening star., 1909-02-28
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS

overworking OF officers or crew. except
in an emergency: to require knowledge
of English by at least one-half the deck
hands and the service Of licensed pilot
Of cargo. The-us Of "a Plinson. or deep
water mark, on all seagoing vessels is
recommended, but not included In the bill.
as this is a subject which requires long
and careful consideration.
Automobile as a Balloon Auxiliary.
The controller of the Treasury has dis
allowed an expenditure Of S, 100 by the
disbursng officers Of the Signal Corps
for an automobile. The defect in the
proceeding was that the. money was
drawn from the fund allotted for mill
tary balloons. Although the military au-
thorities Informed the auditor that the
automobile had been purchased as an
accessory Of the military balloon the
controller refused to accept that view.
Similar adverse action has been taken
on the purchase Of: four carriage horses.
which cost $1,000. This transaction was
authorized by one -of the commanding g
officers Of the military department, and
the money to pay for thee' animals was
taken out Of the appropriation for draft
and pack animals in which carriage
horses are not included. 1t will be possi-
BILE, of course, for the military authori-
ties to testify that the horses were of the
type included in the language Of the
appropriation, but the accounting officers
believe that the Signal Corps people will
have great difficulty In showing that the
automobile is an accessory Of the military
balloon
Just as Good as New.
One of the veteran battleships Of the
United States Navy, the Massachusetts,,
whose activities cover. more than I, a
decade, is about to go into service again
after three years of rest. During that
time she has been so completely over
hauled at the New York navy yard that
she will take her place in the front rank
of fighting ships of the present day, just
as she occupied a foremost place among
the vessels of her former day. Her re-
entrance into service will take place early
In April. The chief Improvement on the
Massachusetts is the steel skeleton mast
This new feature in battleship construc-
ton is regarded by many as detracting
from the handsome appearance Of the
vessel. But experiments have proved it's
value. and the Navy Department plans
to install them on all first-class battle
ships. The repairs to the Massachusetts
have cost about half a million dollars.
The skeleton steel mast cost $4,000.
Improving Army Bullet.
1t has been decided to make slight
change In the form of the army rifle
bullet. The ball is to be cannelured per-
haps a quarter of an inch from the base,
the cannelure being cut slightly less than
one-sixteenth of an inch deep. The pur-
pose of the change is to afford a camel
ure to engage the metal cartridge case,
which, it has been found, shows ten
dency to yield to pressure in storage
thoroughly tried out at the school of
musketry, and the reports on it are all
favorable to the proposed modification.
The new ammunition does not affect the
accuracy of fire, and Is believed to avoid
as much as is practicable the difficulty
of fouling.
Foot Ball Injury a Valid Claim.
The judge advocate general has given
decision on the question whether certain
medical services in the case of sergeant
OF the SD Company. Coast Artillery
Corps. who played on the foot ball team
ftom Fort Revere last fall at bingham,
Mass, and was fatally injured consti-
tuted valid claim against the United
States. AS the soldier was under the
command of the sergeant major at the
time and the game was a part of the
athletics required by the regulations, the
judge advocate general held that the duty
status of the man sustains the necessity
OF the services and payment is required.
Army at Full Strength.
Increased pay and consistent cam
paign of publicity, telling of army life
and conditions, have SO greatly Influenced
recruiting during the last two months
that the army in all it's branches is now
recruited up tosthe full strength Of seven
ty-seven thousand and odd men author
lied by the President. All of the COM
panies of the 18th Infantry, stationed on
soldiers who wish to re-enist in the regi-
ment which will start for the Philippines
in July.
Naval Movements.
The battleships Minnesota and Virginia