The Washington herald., 1916-10-05
ARMY AND NAVY NEWS
Best Service Column I'm City.

Surgeon General Braisted has received
an interesting report from Passed AS
sistant Surgeon W. g. Stedman, u. S. N.
attached to the U. s. s. Saturn, tender
for radio stations, especially those in
Alaska, regarding conditions at wireless
stations at Kodiak. st. Paul, st. George,
Cordova, and Sitka-
Owing to more or less isolated life
which the men have 70 lead at the Alas
kan stations and the limited sources of
amusement" he said, at is thought that
married men should be selected for this
duty, these men to be of good character
and In perfect health. The chances of
maintaining individual health in the case
or married men are greater than in the
case Of single men, and the mental atti-
tude also is OF Importance. Men inclined
TO periods OF depression or to moroseness
should not be detailed for such duty:
Where II is pssible, the site selected
for stations should be considered from q
sanitary standpoint as well as from an
engineering standpoint. The ground
should be capable Of proper drainage
and free, insofar as II Is practicable,
from stagnant water. Alaskan mosquitoes
have sting all their own"
The War Department is giving consid-
Grafton to the applications of nearly 200
officers OF various grades who have ex-
one arm Of the service to another, under
provisions Of the national defense act Of
June g.
Most Of the applications relate to the
field artillery, in which arm fifty-six
vacancies have been reserved to be
| filled as follows: Six in the grade of
major. twenty in the grade of captain,
and thirty in the grade of first lieutenant.
No instructions have been given regard
70 ~
other arms for officers who wish to be
transferred to infantry, coast artillery,
or cavalry. In many cases 1t is found
that the transfers cannot be made with
out violating one or the other Of the
| rules adopted by the War Department in
this connection. One rule is to the effect
that no officer will be promoted or
transferred to any arm when it would
place him above any officer in that arm
who was senior to him when first COM
commissioned. The other rule is to the
effect that officers transferred in ac-
cordance with the provisions of the law
Will take their places in the lineaI list
OF the arm to which transferred accord
ing to their relative rank at the date
of transfer
Total appropriations for national de-
fense made during the recent session Of
SOil5lebS lOJdlel SbS0, IUJr S.Nr, as COM
pared with s2T1. .399 1901 for the preceding
session, according to the figures of ex-
perts. This represents an increase Of
S4l4, 40 S26.OS.
This is a statistical demonstration Of
the claim of President Wilson that we
have provided for national defense upon
scale never before seriously proposed
upon the responsibility of an entire po-
liucal party" says the Army and Navy
Register, commenting on the figures
There is no occasion, however in a
service paper to make any point Of the
credit which should attach to one party
or another-and for which both are
claiming-for there were no party lines In
the votes upon the various proposals
either in committee or on the floor"
On account OF the increase In the naval
personnel. there are approximately 800
vacancies in the Junior grade Of the
Naval Medical Corps. The Naval Medi-
cal School. which has Just commenced
its session, has only nineteen students
Efforts are being made now to inform
medical school graduates Of the opportu-
mites OF service in the corps The Bu-
reau Of Medicine and Surgery is circu-
larizing every hospital OF SEVENTH Ave
beds or over, every medical school Of
reputable standing. and all the medical
reserve officers OF the active and inactive
lists