Evening star., 1924-01-27


protection against
the efforts of the controller general TO
reopen claims for Commutaton OF
quarters. heat and light under the OLD
laws. the Secretary OF War submitted
This week the following draft OF
hill recommending that it be enacted
into law at an early date:
THAT payment of communication OF
quarters. heat and light under the act
approved April lG, 1918 GO Stat 800.
and Of rental and subsistence allow
anCes under sections 4. and of the
act of June 10. 1922 az Stat. CPD,
made in good faith by disbursing officers
prior to June ~, 1925, on account or
dependents. and without fraud on the
part of the payee as determined by the
Secretary Of War. be and the same are
hereby validated: Provided, that any
amount heretofore collected on account
of payments so validated shall be re-
funded"
Under the acts of April l6, 1918,
and the pay readjustment act of
June 10. 1922. and rulings made by
the controller general on April s,
1922. and June %, 1928, he constantly
changed the requirements for an
officer in establishing dependency.
Payments which We're made upon
certificates as far back as 1918, and
which have been passed by the
general accounting office. are now
being reviewed and charges raised
against individual officers on account
light from April 10, 1918. to June 30,
1922, under the act OF April 16. 1918,
and Of rental and subsistence allow
ances on account of dependents since
July !. 1922. under the provisions of
the act of June 10, 1922. 1t is the
opinion of the War Department that
If a refund of these payments made
TO officers in good faith is enforced
1t will be subversiVc to the best in
terests of the service, while others
point out that these payments. which
were made and executed in good
faith. should not now be questioned,
and that nothing should be done until
the will of Congress is known.
The chief of cavalry has recon-
mended the adoption of a felt saber-
pad to be attached on the inside of
the saber guard so that il will pro-
tect the end of the thumbs and
knuckles of the hand against bruis-
ing when striking hard objects at
conducted on this pad showed that
felt pads fulfilled the purpose for
which they We're designed. and
among those officers whose sabers
were equipped with the pad there
was not one case OF skinned knucklcS
Or bruised hands. The pad consists
of a felt section which is made from
issue quartermaste- felt used for
saddle pads. with a hole in it so that
II can be fitted over the grip OF the
sabcr The adoption Of this pad. II
is believed. will be the means Of saw
ing many injuries to IN J., htuu Uf the
trooper. particularly the recruit,
which will give him more confidence
in the use of his weapon.
In an effort to give the air service
. 81 MN. gun of greater destructive
effect than any yet produced. and
coincident with development along
the same line by others, study draw
ings by Watervliet arsenal for this
Of hepu, 3nnrONp1
The arsenal will now complete detail
drawings for submission to the chief
of ordnance. and decision as to
whether a pilot model of the gun
above outlined will be built will then
be made.
On July /. 1924, it is estimated that
the Army will be short about $500
horses and 1900 mules in ratio to the
reduced strength at which the mill
tary establishment is now operating.
In keeping with the economy policy
of the Administration, the estimates
for 1925 will replace only small
portion of this acute animal shortage.
War Department figures show that
on July l, 1924, SO per cent of The
Army horses will be over twelve
years old. while 20 per cent of this
number will be over fourteen years
of age on this date. In the event
that the Army took the field for an
extended campaign, an extreme
animal shortage would be. felt. AL
though the animals now used by the
military establishment could. not
stand a severe campaign on account
of their age they are being used to
good advantage for training purposes
and garrison duty.
Within the next two years, nearly
all of the twenty-eight master SER
geantS of the Ordnance Department
will be placed on the retired list. Due
TO this unusual situation, when a
requisition was recently received for
two master serEeants, Ordnance De-
partment, for foreign service. only
one non-commissioned officer of the
first grade was available for this
tour as all OF the other master
sergeants of the ordnance Depart
ment were unavailable for this duty
due to the proximity of their retire
ment date. In order to fill this
reuuisition a technical sergeant was
assigned to this fG"eign duty.
Plans have been perfected to hold
monthly meetings OF officers of the
Medical Department stationed in or
near the District of Columbia. during
tho period of the year from October
to June inclusive. the first OF which
was held January 2l at waiter Reed
General hospital, Army medical CEN
fer, Talks will be given by officers
stationed at the various places in
Washington describing. their duties
and what they are trying to accom-
DliSh, tOSeIneT Will oIltl
information connected therewith
which may be of value to the meet
ing. 1t is also planned to present
from time to time professional papers
and when practicable, clinical de-
1nonstrations The first meeting was
largely attended, there being present
about 10 officers out of possible
235.
At this meeting a paper was pre-
scented by Lieut.. Col. G. c. Whitcomb.
NJ. c, entitled, THE Supply Division
Surgeon Generals Office The COM
mittee in charge of these monthly
programs is composed of Lieut.. COL
n. L. Patterson, executive ofhcer.
nff,ce of the surgeon general, and
Mai L. L. Hopwood of the Army
medical center. This is but con
tin,iation of the "Caduceus," which
us formerly a society of medical
nff5cers stationed in or near Washing
ton.
The great activity i'll the foreign
service assignments among "aiI anl
officers is due to the fact that con
Siderable number of these men, who
we're appointed in December, lSzV'
and January, 1921, while they We're at
a foreign station. are now completing
their foreign service tours. AS the
law creating the grade or Warrant
officer was not passed by Congress
until June 4. 1920. by the time that
a board of officers had convened, eN-
aminationS held and the papers re
viewed by the board, IL was during
December, 1920. and January, 1871
before any appointments were Haoe.
The three-year tours are now eX-
piring. to which the present activity
-tfrkat on