Evening star., 1924-01-20

| cur udTy. DOuDt mas Deen. expressed
whether the two light cruisers and
the U. S. S. West Virginia will have
| extensive shake down cruises, as il
is desired to assign them in the fleet
at the earliest practical date.
Although the u. s. S. Cincinnati has
| been placed in commission, q consid-
] erable amount of work still remains to
be done on this vessel before she will
be ready to go on her shake down cruise
1t is expected that the Patrician. a
Canadian destroyer. will. in the near
future, visit few of the American
ports on the Pacific coast The ship
Will probably spend conSidera Bile time
! at san Diego and San Pedro
Although an announcement was made
mat the Newport News would be de-
commissioned upon her return to San
francisco, it is stated that for the time
| belng she will continue on her present
duties. She will sail from San Fran
cisco about March Is on what will be
/ her last trip to Manila Returning to
san francisco about July /, she will
| proceed to Puget sound to be de-com-
| missioned. unless she is given another
| assignment.
The L. s. S. Patoka and the L. S. S.
Ramapo are now being fitted out for
! the polar expedition, and authorize ton
! has been given for the installation of
mooring masts and other necessary al
! terations of the vessels. The Ramapo
is now at Mare Island, Calf, while the
| Patoka Is due to arrive at the Norfolk
! navy yard in February for overhauling.
In order that the loading of bombs
! could be Facilitated designs were drawn
up In the War Department in which the
nose and tail castings of the 2,0O0-polInd
| bomb were provided with screw threads
! for connection with the body in Dlace
: OF the pres. lit standard construction of
! riNetS and weids. BY removing the
/ tan casting complete. which left an
| opening the full diameter of the body
F.; through which to load the exnlosiva
charge, the time required to load a
pomb could be cut to half or even re-
duced to one-third the time required to
load through the small opening provided
FOR the adapter- er-booster assembly.
In view OF the fact that the strength
| OF the case - of some Importance, a
| test Was conducted In which three
! bombs of different types Of construction,
sand loaded. Were dropped from height
of 1000 feet on bed rock One bomb
was of standard construction with nose
casting riveted and welded and tail
casting welded only to the body. The
second bomb had screwed connections
| between the body and both nose and
tail castings. The third bomb had
standard nose construction with riyeted
and welded joint. while the tail casting
had screwed connection.
Recently at Aberdeen proving ground
rapid fire tests with the 14-inch gun
railway mount, model Of 1920 on all
around fire platforms have been CON
Quoted by the ordnance department In
| these tests the electrical power eouip-
ment provided on the mount was used
| flFe shots were fired during the course
/ or the tests, which required five min
| uteS and twelve seconds. The time re-
quired between the firing of the fourth
and NTH rounds was flfty-five seconds
and as the frings We're made with a
tyys~ly gyYsa<-
dicates a very satisfactory rate of
| fire.
For several months Brig Gen.
kenzie w. Walker. chief of finance
has been making extensive efforts
! to convince the bureau of internal
revenue that quarters in kind, or the
rental allowance in lieu thereof are
not part of the pay, compensation or
Iemoluments of an officer and should
! not be included as gross income for
taxation purposes.
| A reply to Gen. Walkers letter
was received from the bureau. in
which it was stated that the view
mot accepted by the bureau of inter-
nal revenue, but an appeal to the
federal courts will in all probability
be made.
The position taken by the chief of
finance is that quarters in kind and
allowances in lieu thereof form part
of the overhead expense of the gov
eminent in the maintenance of the
Army: that they are expenses of op-
Grafton, which have always been as
sumed by the government, just as
the furnishing of tents and tranSpor
tation in the field have always been
so assumed. An able resume of the
regulative and Legislative history of
ance. prepared by Capt. w. p. Mont
! gomery of the Judge advocate gen
erals office, fully demonstrated, in
the opinion of the chief OF finance,
! the overhead" nature of these al
! ilowances from the date of the first
Army regulations GS13) to the pres
ent day.
1t is proposed now to make test of
, concrete case, which will be first
! presented to the revenue bureau, ana
! upon disallowance, to the Court OF
| Claims, and it is confidently believed
| that recourse to the courts Will be the
means of relieving officers of the va
I rious services from this burden or
! taxation, which. in the opinion OF the
chief of finance, is not warranted py
| law.
For the information of those off,
| GERS in the service, the finance de-
! partment takes the view that while
i quarters furnished in kind and the
rental allowance in lieu thereof must
continue to be included in an officers
1 X
| until the matter is finally disposed
of by the courts, it Is recommended to
all officers that in rendering their
| income tax returns the amount of tax
paid on account Of these Items carry
with it a statement that the amount
! is paid under protest"
A new cavalry pack demolition
outfit, designed by a board of ofh-
| GERS of the 1st Cavalry Division, has
rot cpiV thOrOnRh
, test, as a result of which the chief
! of cavalry has recommended that 1t
| be adopted for service issued equip
! ment Reduction in size over the
present type now in use enables the
! new pack to be easily carried on pack
| horses with cavalry units, and Its
weight of 1902 pounds. including the
harness, makes it come within the
! maximum weight, Of 200 pounds,
| which is prescribed for cavalry packs
| The chief of cavalry has recommended
| that 1t be issued to cavalry regiments
at the rate of one Fer squadron in
place of the one now issued.
| commissioned appointments bn the
Medical Corps will begin tomorrow
and continue until Friday at desig-
| mated points in the various corps
| areas.
| Brig. Gen. Dennis E. Nolan is acting
| chief of staff during the absence Of
! Gen. Pershing, who is In Europe, and
of Maj. Gen. John L. Hines, deputy
J chief Of staff, who is in Panama.
| Comparison tables prepared in the
| militia bureau OF the War Depart
ment are gratifying to both the au-
thorities in the bureau and in the
! War Department.
| AS Of January 3 last the table shows
| that out of 2S4 units which were
granted federaL recognition during
| the fiscal year Of 1928, this recogni-
| tion was withdrawn from ninety-four
units, which left a net gain of 100
units for this period.
A study of the total aggregate