Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-19

The duartermaster generals Office is about
to award the contracts which will complete
the supply Of heavy furniture for officers
quarters. The latest order will include
the regular allowance Of articles, according
to the andard designed, for those build
ings which have been recently completed
and have not received this equipment.
The contract will also embrace two articles
for all officers quarters. being additions
to the schedule OF heavy furniture hitherto
installed. One of these articles in a ma
hogany divan, with wooden seat and with
out upholstery OF any kind, being intended
for the sitting room; the other article is a
so-called hail tree" or hat rack. II Is es-
timated that It has cost about $500, 900 to
equip officers quarters with the heavy
furniture, The allotments for this pur-
pose hereafter made annually will be only
for the equipment OF new quarters Of the
restoration of condemned furniture.
During the joint msneuvers IN Massa-
cusetts in August Of last year Major Gen-
eral Wood had placed to his credit funds
to cover expenses in connection with the
care and entertainment Of foreign military
attaches. The sum was transferred to the
chief quartermaster for disbursement and
S9S65 was disbursed for dinners, luncheons
and meals furnished the attaches from
August 10 to 21. The assistant comptroller
OF the treasury has refused to allow pay
ment OF this sum, on the part OF the gov
eminent, on the ground that there is no
provision of law which authorizes the mill
tary authorities to invite foreign military
attaches to be guests Of the United states at
Joint m~aneuvers. and that there Is no other
appropriation under control of the depart
ment vailab for such expense.
There is one vacancy existing IN the
corps Of chaplains Of the army. This is
the position to which 1t was proposed to
appoint Second Lieutenant c. p. Titus,
Fourteenth infantry. now on duty in the
Philippines, who as an enlisted man OF
volunteers distinguished himself on the ex-
petition to Picking. Lieutenant Titus holds
the certificate OF a theological school in
Colorado. but he failed to qualify for the
chaplaincy upon his examination before a
board Of officers convened at Manila.
Tit vacancy now existing in the corps was
filled originally by a clergyman of the
United Brethren denomination, and, IL there
are qualified candidates rrom that sect,
1t is probable that the choice will be in
that direction, following the policy of the
Wal department In maintaining the present
proportionate representation of religious
bodies.
The War department is In receipt Of the
reports from officers at Fort Leavenworth,
Kan; Fort Myer, Va, and the Army War
college, to whom were referred the tenta-
tive general order prescribing the regular
physical exercise by walking and riding
and the annual physical test. The COM
ments, for the most part. are unfavoTable
to the order, as 1t has been framed. It is
pointed out that the requirements. so Tar
as horseback riding is concerned, are eH-
cessive and would be too severe upon aniG
mails, especially where an average of six
miles an hour for six days a week must be
maintained. The scheme is criticised as
making no provision for climatic conditions
likely at certain seasons of the year to
greatly Interfere with any regular rid
ing-or, for that matter, walking. 1t has
been proposed, among other things, that
greater discretion be permitted Individual
officers and that the responsibility of
granting exceptions be intrusted to COM
handing officers, by which process the
War department will be relieved of much
correspondence in the matter. Then, too,
1t is understood that General Wood, the
next chief Of staff, entertains some inn
portant views concerning the physical test
and it Is possible that the whole question
will be laid aside until General Wood comes
to Washington. The order, as it has been
sent out for trial and remark, has obtained
few Endorsements, largely for the reason
that it is not sufficiently elastic in it's re-
quirements and overlooks the possibility of
Interruptions on account Of weather and
other circumstances.
Senator Warren's bill. which provides for
the dropping from the army register OF
officers who are confined by sentence OF
civil court to prisons or p~enltentiaries, will,
If It is enacted into law, be applied imme-
diately to Captain Peter c. Hams. jr., Of
the coast artillery corps, and Captain
Thomas Franklin of the subsistence de-
partment. As the bill was originally
worded, it came very narrowly avoiding
the issue in Captain Franklin's case, as
the phraseology made 1t apply to those
who are Soafined to state places OF incar-
ceration, while Captain Franklin is in a fed
eral institution. The law is also necessary In
Captain Franklln's case beyond that OF the
case of Captain Hams for the reason that
the separation OF the former officer from
the service could not have been caused by
nominating and confirming a successor. This
is a proceeding which the military author
tiles nave refrained from taking, lest II
might some day prove a dangerous pre-
cedent, and, of course, 1t could not oper-
ate excepting in a position to which an
officer might be appointed by the president
with senatorial approval. Captain Frank
lin is ar officer OF the subsistence depart
ment. to which appointments are no longer
made, vacancies in the corps being filled
by details from the line. The detail of a
line officer in place OF Captain Franklin
would not operate to dispose that officer
from the army. The Warren bill will ac-
complish a desired end without resorting
to unsual proceedings and meet similar
conditions hereafter.
PERSONAL NOTES.