Evening star., 1925-03-08
Army andNavy News
By M. II. Mcintyre.
ARMY.

win the adjournment of Congress,
the hrst important question to be
considered by the Secretary of War
viii be the selection of fve brigadier
generals to ff1l as many vacancies in
the grade of major general. The re-
firing major generals with. the dates
of their separation from the active
| rolls of the Army. are as follows:
Omar Bundy, commander of the 5th
Corps Area, Fort Hayes, Ohio. June
II: Harry C. Hale, commanding the
Sth Corps Area, Chicago. ILL.,. July 10;
Samuel G. Sturgis, commander of the
Sd Corps Area. Baltimore, Nd, Au-
gust /; George b. Duncan, command
er of the 7th Corps Area, Omaha.
Nebr, October 10, and w. H. John
son, October 10.
Friends of Brig. Gen. William s.
Graves, it is pointed out. will make e
considerable trouble In the event that
he Is passed over in filling these five
vacancies. 1t is current gossip in
Army circles that the reason why he
has not been promoted Is due to OBJ
jections raised by the State Depart.
ment. IT is a well known fact that a
certain amount of friction developed
between the general and the State
Department when he was in command
of the American forces in Siberia, but
those well acquainted with all Of the
facts in the case have frequently ex-
pressed their high opinion of Gen.
Graves In his conduct of the very
delicate situation when he was in
command OF the American forces In
Siberia In the face of almost insur-
mountable difficulties he maintained
a neutral attitude with the Russian
forces on one side, opposed by the
British and Japanese on the other.
In certain Army quarters the opin-
ion has been expressed that in select
ing the FIVE new major generals some
Of the brigadier generals with long
service to their credit. but who are
down on the list. should be awarded
with the new appointments. but 1t is
not known how this will appeal to
the Secretary in making his promo
tions.
In commemoration of the landing Of
the first American troops at st.
Nazaire, France, June 2S, 1871, plans
have been announced by Capt. Arthur
NJ Dubois, treasurer of the st.
Nazaire Memorial Fund, Inc, to raise
100000 for the erection of fitting
memorial TO the frst contingent of
American soldiers to arrive at this
port. A nationwide drive for funds
will be conducted by the executive
committee, which, in addition to the
civilians, is composed of the follow
ing service members: Maj. Gen. w. H.
Hart, quartermaster general; Brig.
Gen. Samuel D. Rockenbsch, COM
mander of the District of Washing
ton: Coils. Alba n. Johnson, jr.; George
E. Kemp, X. G. Martin and Charles
c. Perrin of Paris, John II. Schouten,
John Stephen Sewell. Gen. r. d.
Walsh and Capt. Arthur NJ Dubois.
The honorary committee, which has
been appointed, consists of the fol-
lowing: Mai. Gen. James G. Harbord,
chairman: Newton D. Baker, former
Secretary of War; Col. Franklin Q.
Brown, Paul D. Cravath, John w.
Davis, Brig. Gen. Charles G. Dawes,
Robert Underwood Johnson, Otto H.
Kahn, Frank d. Pavey. Elihu Root,
Herbert L. Satterlee. Right Rev. Her
bert Shipman and George W. Wicker
sham.
Announcement was made this week
by the chief of Infantry that Lieut..
Col Kirwin T. Smith, Infantry. now
on duty with the Division of Or
ganized Reserves at Syracuse. n. Y,
has been designated as captain of
the 1925 Infantry rife team, which
will compete in the national rihe
matches he held at Camp Perry, Ohio
in September.
The recruiting service during the
fiscal year 1924, according to figures
compiled by the War Department, en-
listed or re-enlisted 1885 men, ex-
elusive of 1,242 for the Philippine
Scouts. OF this total number I1.222,
or s1.67 per cent, were native-oorn
Americans, while the remainder, 6,474,
or $50 per cent, were foreign born.
Out of the total number of 1855
men who were enlisted or re-enlfsted
45,7o9 were original enlistments,
1855 were re-enlistments and 1882
of the enlistments were from men
with former service.
Army Air Service officers and civil
ians engaged in aircraft industry are
evincing great interest In the 1870
aerial classics, the hrst of which VIII
be held on May l and which will be
concluded October 8. At present the
competitions which have been an
nounced are the national elimination
balloon race, the jacques Schneider
race and the international Pulitzer
trophy race. :,
The Iitchfield trophy will be awarded
to the winner of the national elimination
balloon race which will be held at st.
Joseph, Mo-, on May 1. AS a result Of
this elimination contest the three entries
who will represent the United states IN
the second Gordon Bennett cup race will
be selected. This contest will be held at
Brussels, Belgium, June z. In winning
this international balloon race last year
Belgium was given the permanent pos
session of the first Gordon Bennett cup.
Baltimore. Nd, will be the scene OF
the 1925 Jacques Schneider race, which
will be held between October "a and 81.
The 1924 regulations will govern the
1925 race, and no entries will be accept
ed after April 1.
1t has been decided to hold this years
Pulitzer race between September II and
October 3. the location of which will be
announced in the near future. Permis-
sion has been given to the foreign con-
testants to test their wing models in an
approved tunnel in their respective cour-
tries, instead Of forwarding these models
to the United States to be tested, as was
required last year. The 1924 rules and
regulations will govern the 1925 COM
petition with this ore exception. Entries
for this race close en- April /.
The Pulitzer race being an interna-
tional speed contest, both Army and
Navy officers are evincing great interest
in this the 1925 aerial speed classic. In
view of the fact that French pilot now
holds the world high-speed record for
airpIanes, having taken this record from
America, French reports reaching this
country indicate that nothing will be
left undone by the French airmen to en-
ter their fastest aircraft in this competi-
ton in order to retain the worlds great
est aerial speed mark. Feverish activity
marks the preparations Of both England
and America in their efforts to win this
most coveted of air records, and the
1925 Pulitzer meeting promises to bring
together the greatest international ar
mada of high-powered airplanes which
has ever met for the high-speed suprem-
acy of the air.