The Washington herald., 1916-07-23
The Herald Army and Navy Department

A recent statement OF the chief en-
gineers of the army places that Official
on record as favoring the extension OF
permission to officers of the reserve
corps Of engineers to also hold commits
sions in the National Guard or to be en-
listed In that organization. for the bene-
nj OF the training thus derived The chief
of engineers, Of course, favors this plan
only II It comes within the scope of the
\ law.
| The War Department incidentally.
holds that there is nothing in the law
J to prevent this dual status Of office in
the reserve corps of engineers and II is
| generally regarded that the relations ship
between the two is not such as to make
performance of one duty a bar TO the
other' and while there may arise times
when an ofhcer would be called upon to
perform both duties in the same period,
this could be arranged, It is believed, to
avoid confusion.
IN the way OF argument for the inter-
| change OF duties, II may be said that
the potential efficiency Of an officer of
the reserve engineer corps would be in
| creased by service in the National Guard
and since National Guard officers may be
| appointed from the enlisted personnel
there is a chance that a reserve oficer
enlisted in the Guard, might easily rise
! 10 a commission with the proper appli-
/ cation. In the event of war IL would
be comparatively simple matter for
the government TO decide whether he
should be used as a reserve officer or as
a National Guard officer The govern
lnent is obliged to make the same choice
In the case OF regular army officer on
the active list who holds a National
Guard commission.
Under the auspices Of the War and
Navy Departments. considerable work is
being carried out with the view of i'm
proving engines and structural details Of
aeroplanes. the Standardization OF all
parts as far as practicable, and the
widening OF the manufacturing field.
One of the first things the Sisnal
| Corps authorities encountered in their
| EFFORTS to interest manufacturers Of in
ternal combustion engines in the develop
ment and manufacture OF aeroplane
engines. was the query from such manu-
! tacturers as to the kind Of engine desired
! by the government
! henry Souther, a gas engine expert
OF national repute, now employed by the
army Signal Corps: navy aviation ex-
perts; Bureau of Standards officials and
members OF the recently organized
aeronautic engineering division OF the
Society Of Automobile Engineers, are CO.
operating in the production of standard
designs and specifications that will
answer this question.
! Recently. a conference was held at the
Bureau Of Standards, which was attended
by a large number OF experts. including
Mr.. Souther. DR.. Herbert c. Dickinson,
assistant physicist, Bureau of Standards
Lieut.. Warren G. Child, U. S. N: Naval
Constructor Holden c. Richardson. As
sistant Naval Constructor Jerome c.
| Hunsaker, and Capt. Virginius E Clark.
OF the aviation section OF the Signal
Corps
AS a further force in this work, the
ma tional committee for aeronautics. has
a subcommittee on engines consisting If
| DR.. S. W. Stratton. chief OF the Bureau
OF Standards; Lieut.. Col G. o. Squer. OF
the Signal Corps, and Capt. Mark L
| Bristol. head of the navy air service
DR.. Dickinson, Mr.. Souther and Lieut.
| Childs represented this committee at the
recent conference.
At this consultation It was decided
that during the next six months there
would be a demand for four sizes of
aeroplanes-these developing from 50 to
100 horsepower; from 100 to I60 horse
power; from $50 to 90 horsepower and
over 200 horsepower.
| The demand for these types. they be-