Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-23
AnMn eossIr ~ wAsnlNeroN.
Current Events Cleaned from ths
Army and Navy REGISTER.


Captain Orville O. Brown OF the medical
corps was also trief az Fort Robinson on
the same charge as Major shilIock. the
charge being based on the allegations that
he Captain Brown failed to keep the
operating room in = clean and sanitary
condition, that ne failed to properly treat
the fractured bone OF Private McCloskey,
and that he failed to properly treat. frac.
tured bones OF the forearm OF a son OF
Sergeant Edward Burns. Eighth cavalry.
He was found not guilty of the charge and
specifications Brigadier General Carter.
In reviewing the case, says that evidently
the court proceeded on the theory that
whatever culpability attached 70 Captain
Brown for his manner of treatment in the
case of the son of Sergeant Burns was due
to lack of skill, rather than In a neglect of
duty in the premises.
The army medical officers are ~continu-
ing their important work In the effort to
reduce the rate Of tuberculosis in the mill
tary establishment. The work IL con-
Quoted systematically from the surgeon
generals office and Is In the line OF pre-
vention indicated as best calculated to re-
move the causes of this disability. In the
first place, great care is now exercised in
the examination of recruits to the end that
there may be admitted to the army enlisted
force no one who bears the Indications of
the disease In its initial form. This effort
Is supplemented with most gratifying re-
suits by the regulations establishing san
itsry conditions in the barracks Of the en-
listed men with special avoidance Of over
crowding and defective ventilation.
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The military authorities have decided
that It is eminenty desirable to have
greater uniformity I'm the examinations
and In the determination Of relative fit
ness of candidates for appointment to posi-
tons In the post noncommissioned staff.
At present, these examinations occur when
ever it is considered necessary to hold
them, without regard to the number OF
elisibles produced or the length of time
which 1t takes to exhaust the list Of those
who are deemed qualified for appointment.
sometimes the list of elig4bles continues
FOR a number OF years with the result that
those, who might be encouraged by having
more frequent examinations. leave the SER
vice, impatient of the delay. IL is now
proposed to have annual examinations of
candidates for appointment as ordnance
sergeant. post commissary sergeant, post
49, q SNiBCdubf dHo 80 on, WIN
the idea of having regularity in the con-
ditlons which govern the selection Of men
for those places.
The comptroller of the treasury has
rendered two decisions which are likely to
cause considerable conformation in the
War department. One has TO do with the
d~isallowance Of a payment amounting to
$S,loO made out of the allotment for mill
tary balloons and expended in the acquisi-
ton of an up-to-date automobile. 1t was
represented to the comptroller in the Of
fetal communication from the War de-
partment that this vehicle was a ''neces-
sary accessory of the military balloon"
The comptroller decided that the transact
ton was not within the law and that the
purchase Of an m out OF the fund
intended for military a~eronautios Is not
justified. The other disallowance relates
to an expenditure of about $1,000 for four
horses. According to the information In
the possession of the auditor, these ami
mails were carriage horses and were pur-
chased out of an appropriation for ''pur-
chase and hire OF draft and pack animals"
OF course. in both cases. uron the depart
mental appeal, Il may be possible to show
the comptroller hat the automobile is an
accessory of the military balloon and that
the o u horses purchased were in reality
draft or pack animals, which might, of
course. be servicable as carriage horses.
But 1t is maintained by the comptroller in
the latter instance, the carriage horse is
a type quite distant from the draft or pack
animal.
The army commissaries believe they have
at last found a satisfactory field oven
which will meet the needs Of the service in
the preparation of food for troops absent
from garrisons. The problem has been one
to which the experts OF the army sub
ststencc department lave been diligently
applying themselves in designing appli-
ances and in subjecting various devices to
practical trial, for the most part at Fort
Riley, Kan. A series Of baking apparatus
was designed by Major w. H. Hart of
the subsfstence department before he went
to England to attend the British service
corps school OF instruction, and one OF the
devices was a field oven. which has been
tested by a special board at Fort Riley
and later by supplemental trials conducted
by Captain l. r. Holbrook Of the sub
sistence department. The trouble seemed
to be in getting an entirely satisfactory
metal bottom of the new oven and three
types have been tried, with the result,
according to reports now received at the
War department, that there is every prom
ise OF a suitable feature in a vitrified iron
bottom. 1t is found that the oven so
equipped, being OF the continuous baking
type. is capable OF turning out 24O loaves
at a baking. OF which there can easily be
eight and sometimes ten In a day. with
the assurance that the product of the oven
will be not less than 1900 loaves a day. or
enough to furnish the baked bread for a
regiment of soldiers. When II Is considered
that this bread baking can be conducted
in the field with the troops away from the
c~onveniences of the garrison, 1t will be
appreciated that an important advantage
has been gained over unfavorable condi-
lions.
PERSONAL NOTES.
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