The Washington herald., 1916-07-18
The Herald's Army and Navy Department
Latest and Most Complete News Service and Personnel Published
in Washington.

| In the mad rush toward placing the
| military forces OF the country in a state
! Of preparedness, the Army Medical De-
! partment has been faced with some try
| ing problems, but perhaps one OF the
| most trying is the matter of obtaining
medical supplies under greatly increased
\ prices due to the European war. There
| is already a deficiency in the bureau OF
| medicine and surgery Of $4,000, due TO
| the high war prices of the present time.
An adequate idea of these prices can be
| sained by the statement that quintne,
which formerly brought about IS cents an
ounce, now is selling around 81 an ounce,
| although with fluctuations and in guam
| titles for the army. it has been possible
to purchase it around 81 an ounce.
Not long ago the navy was in dire need
| Of quinine, which was obtainable in com
parative small, lots only at the s4-an-ounce
| figure. 4 firm in Amsterdam Quoted
| prices on a ton OF the drug, but due TO
| high freight rates, this was not deemed
n good bargain. particularly in view Of
| the fact that the domestic price was ex-
| pected to drop- In the meantime, Ad-
miraI Caperton. in command Of the sail
| ors and marines in Dominican waters,
was appealing every few days by radio
| for quinine.
| 'dpeIl demand WAS llNd4lN SOp-
piled Nnearly all drugs on the market
have made astonishing rises in price.
! Bromdes are almost unobtainable. and
| permanganatc of potash. widely used IS
a disinfectant. IS also very scarce.
| An altogether unusual feature OF the
scarcity Of various materials through the
! war. is the fact that since the allied
| blockade Of Germany was mace effec-
| tive. It has been almost Impossible to get
dyes of the proper hue TO color wor-
steds for the color-perception test, one of
| the most important of naval eNamina-
| tiOnS. Where 200 sets of Colors were
| needed. only - have been obtainable
since last fall
The almost unpa "a llelcd demand for
| parchment certificates Of commission TO
! he given army officers. has led to
| parchment scarcity in the War Depart
ment. and this scarcity is chiefly due to
| the effect OF the army reorganization act.
which called for the promotion Of hun
| dreds OF officers and the appointment TO
! second leutenanCies Of no less than l.6QO
! men,
During the present fiscal year, the De-
partment has made arrangements with
! the Bureau Of Engraving and Printing to
| supply the parchment material and the
| labor. which will cost about 5000 1t
\ was estimated that no less than $500
commissions will he necessary for this
year. but later estimates have greatly
| increased this number.
! incidentally. the demand for commits
sion certificates is so great that the Bu-
| reau Of Engraving has served notice that
| it will be unable to supply parchment for
| all these certificates and that ii will be
| necessary to engrave parchment paper.
| instead. This fact reduces the Conten-
plated cost of the Bureaus material and
work to $500. instead Of the $1,000 orig
! inally estimated.
| The great scope and variety OF legisla-
| ton covered in the naval appropriation
| bill, probably will lead TO the selection of
five conferees from each branch of Con-
gress, instead of the three conferees Gus
| tomarily selected In that event, it y
| believed. the House will be represented
| by Representatives Padgett, Talbot, and
Estopinal. Democrats. and Butler and
Roberts, Republicans.
| The Senate it is believed. will be rep
resented by Senators Tillman and Swan
| son. Democrats. and Lodge. Republican,
together with two Senators to be chosen.
| One of these will be a Republican, it is
said, and the other a Democrat. Mr..
Bryan, Of Florida. it is thought, will be
the Democrat added to the Senate con-
ference body, while the added Republican
member very probably will be Mr.. Pen
rose of Pennsylvania the senior minority
member
The Senate. however, has never been
| inclined to adhere closely to lines Of
seniority, as has been the custom in the
House. The question of adjustment be-
tween the House and Senate bills prob
ably will be an intricate matter and one
which will involve a great deal of dis
cussion.
| officers of the army are deeply interest
ed in the recent purchase by the War
Department of 325 guns of the Lewis
type-the machine gun invented by Col
II. n. Lewis, U. S. A, retired-which has
gained distinction as a powerful and ef-
| fective weapon of the allies in the Euro
pean war.
! The department has received volumin-
Gus reports from the scene of operations
in Europe. and these tests, which are
very conclusive, seem to thoroughly jus
tify the acquisition by the department Of
the Lewis gun, particularly in view of the
difficulty of obtaining the Nickers gun,
| for which the military authorities have
formerly expressed a preference.
| Unless there was a very urgent need,
it is said to be impossible to obtain guam
titles of Vickers guns under a years
time, though in case of an emergency
domestic gun factories might be equal to
the task of turning out quantities of the
weapon. The Vickers weapon, however
costs about three times as much as the
Lewis gun and It has been urged that
a least a part of available appropriations
be used for the purchase of the Lewis
, gun. The American manufact turers of the
latter type-the Savage Arms Company of
Utica. n. Y.-say they stand ready to sup
!piy the weapon in quantities at almost