The Washington herald., 1917-03-04
Army and Navy News
Beat aerviee Column Iu Cit1.

Speculation is rime in naval circles
as TO who the next eugineer-in-c chief of
the Navy will be in the event that Rear
Admiral r. s. Griffin is not reappointed
as head OF the bureau Of steam engin-
eefing on the expiration of his term OF
service. May Is. ofbcers generally would
be delighted with the reappointment o:
Rear Admiral Griffin, as he is an emf
Dent member Of mis- profession and has
added materially to his reputation since
he has been bureau chief: but Secretary
Of the Navy Daniels Is expected to ad-
here to his rule of refusing to reappoint
bureau chief. no matter how distIn-
suished and useful his services may be-
At present II appears that Capt Emil
Thesis, Capt. Charles w. Dyson, Capt.
William Strother Smith, or Capt Benja-
min c. Bryan probably will be appointed
as his successor. All of these officers are
of the former engineer corps and are
regarded with favor by the Secretary
Of the Navy. 1t is pointed out that It
iss due to the officers who were of the
the former engineering corps and who
remain on the active list that the Sc
lection for engineer-in-chief be confined
to one OF their number instead Of at
this time detailing younger officer who
has not had the practical engineering
training and experience. such as these
officers who were of the engineering
corps, and who. it is recalled in their
Dehalf' contributed materially to the sue
cess OF the administration OF Rear Ad-
miral II. I. Cone when he was detailed
cngjneer-in-chief
! Capt. Thesis has had thorough training
i and expericen. especially in the last four
years. on the board Of inspection and
survey. being in close touch with en-
gineering conditions and needs afioat.
/ Capt. smith has rendered valuable SER
vice at navy yards Capt. Dyson Is in
charge of the designing division of the
Bureau of Steam Engineering. Capt.
/ Eryan has distinguished himself as an
engineer and as director of navy yards.
! The list OF eigiDles Of various classes
! for appointment as second lieutenant in
! the army has been Increased by including
/ In the class made up OF commissioned Of
! hcers of the National Guard those who
are commissioned as officers of the Ma
tional Guard Reserve. They are con-
sidered as brought within the terms of
the section OF the national defense act
| prescribing the order of appointment to
/ the grade of second lieutenant
| Since there appears to be nothing in
the section which will aid in the solu-
! ton OF the question of eligibility. resort
was had by the military authorities to
! various other sections of the law to de-
/ termine the intention OF Congress in the
! premises. In many sections the term
| National Guard" is used where IL is
| clear that their provisions apply only to
the active National Guard. just as many
/ laws relating to enlisted men OF the
| regular army are applicable only to men
| serving with the colors
.tafKN 81
show very positively. 1t is held, that the
National Guard includes two classes
| those in the active service and those in
| the Teserve-and that the term National
| Guard' should be regarded as inclusive
! OF the National Guard Reserve except
! IN such cases as the context may show
! a different intent. There is nothing that
| would indicate that National Guard Re-
| serv" officers were intended to be eX-
! Guided from class No. in the list of
! those eligible to be examined for ap-
| pointment as second 1ieutcnants, and the
War Department has ruled that the term
! National Guard in this particular is
! construed in its ordinary sense including
! the National Guard Reserve
The navy Is making a drive TO enlist
this branch OF the military service up to
full strength. The naval appropria ton
act OF last August increased the authoriz-
ed strength OF the navy from 81. 800 to o.
90 including apprentice seamcn. hospi-
! tai corps men, and men OF the flying
corps. or by As men. The present ac-
tual enlisted strength of the navy is S.
%'. showing a net increase of 6.S67 on
the additional men allowed. The net
gain In actual strength since March ).
1915. has been 1856.
! In addition to the a, 1856 men allowed the
navy proper. there are 1909 men detailed
to the naval militia and 2,313 court-mar-
(tial prisoners under sentence of dishon-
orable discharge. making the total maxi
mum strength S1.57S. The authorized en-
listed strength OF the navy proper-that
is. exclusive of 5000 apprentice seamen 2.
&6 hospital corps men, and $50 flying
corps men-is 6S.70o The authorized en-
listed strength of the hospital corps is
, IL PEI cent of a total strength of S.
200, made up of 6S.1C0 men in the navy
proper and 5000 men in the marine corps.
| The marine corps was increased by s.
024, and OF this additional number oslJ,
or 50 per cent. have been obtained. 1t is
expected that II the present rate of en-
listment is maintained, the actual enlist
cd strength of the marine corps will be
ibrouyh up to the authorized standard
within about six months.