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Steam heating was first applied to cadet barracks and thence extended to include adjacent buildings. As a consequence the original plant, grown unwieldy, is objectionably located in the area of the barracks. The pipes and connections are for a large part confused and improperly laid, and the system does not include several of the public buildings, which therefore require separate plants. It would result in a great economy to the Government to have all buildings heated from a central plant, as has been done in the large posts recently built. The present method of lighting is equally objectionable and wasteful. It involves the operation and maintenance of two systems-gas and electricity-neither of which is effectively and economically organized. The gas plant is obtrusively located in a very conspicuous position, offensive both to sight and smell. The connections of both systems are confused and conflicting and the result of the same spasmodic growth as in the case of the steamheating plant.

A central plant which shall include both heating and light, inconspicuously located, is the only proper solution of a condition which is wasteful and ineffective.

THE SEWERAGE.

The sewer system is divided into three general drainage areas. The main sewer of the first starts from the assembly of buildings about the soldiers' hospital, follows the main road to the neighborhood of the engineer barracks, passes down the slope through the buildings associated with it, and on to the made ground of the West Shore Railroad, and thence to the river near the tunnel. The main sewer of the second area takes in the row of professors' quarters facing the river and as far as the second set south of the Superintendent's quarters, passing in rear of the first and in front of the parade group down the road to the north dock and thence to the river at a point some 200 yards to the east thereof. The main sewer of the third begins at the termination of the second in rear of officers' quarters, passes in front of the barracks and down the Highland Falls road as far as the old south gate. Its outlet passes by the riding hall and empties onto the tidal flats below the cavalry stables. This last outlet is in every way highly objectionable and dangerous to health. These mud flats are becoming each year more exposed at low tide, and already the effluvia from exposed sewage are at times very perceptible and offensive.

CONCLUSION.

The foregoing statement makes it apparent that the existing plant of the Military Academy is wholly inadequate to its present needs. Past experience makes it highly expedient that any modifications of, or additions to, the existing plant should be undertaken upon broad and carefully considered lines, and with a view to a homogeneous development under the best conditions. The old method of temporary makeshifts and inadequate construction is not only destructive to the dignity and beauty of the institution as an architectural whole, but wasteful and extravagant in the long run. It is therefore suggested that this matter be laid before the proper authorities with the recommendation that a comprehensive plan of enlargement, to be determined by competent architects in cooperation with the authorities of the Military Academy, be carried out, the plan to be one that will not only provide for present needs, but also admit of future extension.

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A. L. MILLS,

Colonel, U. S. Army, Superintendent.

CHS. W. LARNED,
Professor of Drawing.

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Special attention is also invited to the report of the Superintendent of the Military Academy relative to the hotel at West Point. The present building is old, entirely inadequate and unfit in its appointments for its purpose.

If authority be given to lease the present site on reasonable terms it is not doubted that private enterprise would provide a hotel supplied with all modern conveniences, and affording ample accommodations for all the purposes of its establishment at the Military Academy.

THE MILITARY INFORMATION DIVISION.

All the military technical publications, dispatches, reports, etc., received from abroad have been noted, carded, and properly classified. Many communications addressed to the War Department or its Bureaus, and written in a foreign language, have been translated.

The French-English Military Technical Dictionary, by Lieut. Cornélis De W. Willcox, United States Artillery, has been completed in three parts and issued.

Under instructions from the War Department, Capt. Stephen L'H. Slocum, Eighth Cavalry, military attaché at Lisbon, Portugal, was detailed to accompany the British forces in South Africa, and Capt. Carl Reichmann, Seventeenth Infantry, to accompany the Boer forces during the military operations in the Transvaal. Both of these officers have made a number of reports, which are interesting and valuable. Captain Slocum returned to his station and has since been transferred to St. Petersburg, while Captain Reichmann is under orders to return to the United States.

Since the last annual report the Military Information Division has prepared and issued the following-described publications:

No. 24. "A French-English Military Technical Dictionary," part 2, 1900. Part 3,

1900.

No. 25. "Reports of Explorations in the Territory of Alaska," 1899.

No. 26. "The Autumn Maneuvers of 1898," 1899.

No. 27. "The Autumn Maneuvers of 1899," 1900.

No. 28. "Report on the Island of Guam," by Brig. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, U. S. A., 1900.

No. 29. "The Organized Militia of the United States in 1898," 1900.

No. 30. "Notes on China," 1900.

In the map section the following work has been accomplished:

Map of the seat of war in Africa, one sheet, three editions.

Map of the Visayan Group, Philippine Islands, one sheet.

Second edition of Carta General del Archipelago Filipino, republished from Spanish chart, two sheets.

Copious editions and corrections to second edition of military map of the Isle of Luzon, two sheets.

Map of Northeastern China, one sheet; two editions.

Map of the Pei-Ho, China, one sheet.

During the year the map files of the division have been increased by the addition of 840 maps, including both foreign and domestic.

Many maps and charts have been mounted by the draftsmen for the use of officers of the Army, and numerous minor sketches, illustrations, drawings, etc., required by them and in the publications issued by the division, have been prepared in this section.

Much work has also been done in the preparation of maps, etc., to accompany annual reports.

The entire work of this division has been very useful and highly satisfactory. All connected with this important work are deserving of special credit.

MILITARY ATTACHÉS.

The following is a list of the military attachés at the several embassies and legations abroad:

EMBASSIES.

London: Maj. Edward B. Cassatt, Twenty-seventh Infantry, United States Volunteers (first lieutenant, Fourth Cavalry).

Paris: First Lieut. T. Bentley Mott, Seventh Artillery.

Berlin: Maj. John B. Kerr, Tenth Cavalry.

St. Petersburg: Capt. Stephen L'H. Slocum, Eighth Cavalry.

City of Mexico: First Lieut. Powell Clayton, jr., Fifth Cavalry.

LEGATIONS.

Berne: Capt. George R. Cecil, Thirteenth Infantry.

The Hague: Lieut. Col. James N. Wheelan, Seventh Cavalry.

Copenhagen and Stockholm: Lieut. Col. W. R. Livermore, Corps of Engineers. Brussels: Lieut. Col. James N. Wheelan, Seventh Cavalry, temporary.

Attention is again invited to the disadvantages under which our military attachés labor. In South Africa the military attachés of other nations had liberal allowances, but in the case of our attachés they had none, other than their pay and mileage, while their expenses were heavy.

It is very desirable to have military attachés at all European capitals, but the expenses incident to duty of this peculiar and delicate nature, over and above the cost of domestic establishment, are so very great that unless an officer has a private income outside of his pay he can not afford to take such a position. Under present conditions, therefore, the choice of military attachés must be restricted to the few officers who have incomes in addition to their pay, and are willing to spend their private means in the performance of this public duty.

DETAIL OF OFFICERS.

The details of officers for necessary service calling them away from their regular duties have made a heavy but unavoidable draft on the effective strength of the several corps and line of the Army, and this drain has been made still heavier during the past two years by the detachment of officers to command volunteers.

The number of officers of the Regular Army absent on recruiting service, etc., holding commissions in the United States volunteers and performing necessary civil functions, etc., in the Philippines and Cuba, is as follows:

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APPOINTMENTS IN THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S AND INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENTS.

The sixth section of the act of March 2, 1899, for increasing the efficiency of the Army, is as follows:

SEC. 6. That the Adjutant-General's and Inspector-General's departments shall consist of the number of officers now in those departments, respectively: Provided, That vacancies in the grade of major occurring in either department shall hereafter be filled from captains in the line of the Army: And provided further, That all such captains who have evinced marked aptitude in the command of troops shall be reported by their regimental commanders to the War Department, and shall be entitled to compete for any such vacancy under such system of examination as the President shall prescribe.

The following are the regulations established by the President under the law above cited:

I. Applicants.-Captains of the line "who have evinced marked aptitude in the command of troops" will be reported to the Adjutant-General of the Army by their respective regimental commanders.

In order that the manifest intention of the law may be carried out, captains who may have been detached from their regiments, and who may have evinced marked aptitude in the command of troops when not under the observation of their regimental commanders, will, in like manner, be reported to the Adjutant-General by their respective commanding officers. All captains so reported, and who desire to enter the competitive examination, will make application to the Adjutant-General of the Army, through military channels, for orders to appear for examination, and will forward at the same time such letters or recommendations from their military superiors as they may desire to submit.

II. Reports of commanders.-The first report of regimental commanders or commanding officers will be forwarded at once, and thereafter they will be forwarded on the 31st day of December of each year. The reports should show in detail the facts upon which they are based, what opportunities the officers reported have had, and what commands they have exercised; also the management of their companies, by the captains reported, in respect to discipline, sanitation, and the care of men.

III. Examinations.-The examination will be dual: First, by divisional or departmental boards, and, secondly, by a central board at Washington. The primary board will conduct the physical examination of the applicants and a written examination on questions prepared by the central board. The central board will examine the papers submitted, together with the records of the applicants, and mark them, giving each subject its relative weight, as follows:

Subject.

Relative weights.

Military and personal record, and aptitude for staff service..

Drill regulations, all arms.

Minor tactics.

Topography

Law (constitutional, international, and military, and law of evidence).

Hygiene of posts and camps.

Functions of the Adjutant-General's and Inspector-General's departments, correspondence, staff administration

Money and property accountability.

Hippology

Logistics..

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IV. Boards.-A central board, composed of an officer each of the AdjutantGeneral's Department and the Inspector-General's Department and an officer of the line not below the rank of major, win be convened at Washington. It will prepare sets of questions on the subjects specified and note the time to be allowed for answering each set. The questions so prepared will be sent to the divisional and departmental boards, and upon their return will be carefully examined and marked by the central board. The central board will then mark the candidates on their records, basing its action on the official records of the War Department, reports of regimental and other commanders, letters and papers submitted by the applicants, and all available sources of information as to the military and personal character of the

applicants and their aptitude for the duties of the position sought. On the completion of the marking the names of the applicants will be arranged in a list according to relative merit, and the officers will be recommended for appointment in the order in which their names appear on such list. Any officer whose name shall stand lower than thirty on such list will be ineligible for further competition.

Boards will be convened at such times as the Secretary of War may direct, by the commanding general Division of Cuba, and by the commanders of departments not included therein, or by as many of them as may be necessary, at the headquarters of such division or departments. Each board will consist of three officers, preferably field officers, selected from the line, adjutant-general's department, or inspector-general's department, and two medical officers. The duties of the latter will be confined to the physical examination of the applicants. The other members of the board will supervise the written examination on the questions prepared by the central board, and on the completion of the examination will send the papers, under seal, to the adjutant-general for transmission to the central board. The time occupied in the preparation of each paper will be noted.

The members of all examining boards will be sworn to faithfully and impartially perform their duties.

Under the requirements of the Army Regulations, every officer of the Army makes an individual report of service on the 30th of June of each year, giving, in addition to the enumeration of purely military duties performed, information on the following subjects, viz: Profes sional or scientific study or investigation; foreign languages; special knowledge of a particular line of work; business experience, and books written or published or essays and lectures prepared.

Efficiency reports are also made at the end of each fiscal year by commanders of departments, chiefs of staff bureaus, and commanding officers of posts, etc., for every officer under their immediate control and supervision. Extracts of inspection reports containing specially favorable or unfavorable mention of an officer are made and filed with his individual report, and, in like manner, extracts are made from all reports of actions, engagements, etc., in which an officer has been engaged.

It will be seen, therefore, that efficiency reports of officers afford the Secretary of War the fullest possible information respecting all officers and enables him to form a true estimate of the standing, ability, and special fitness of every officer of the Army for any military duty. The new system made necessary to fully carry out the intention of the law of March 2, 1899, results in too much delay in filling vacancies-two now existing in the Adjutant-General's Office and one in the Inspector-General's Office-without adding to the information that may be desired by the War Department in any one case. repeal of section 6 of the act quoted above is therefore recommended. Under existing conditions it will require on the average six months to fill a vacancy in either department.

WAR COLLEGE.

The

The board of officers appointed by direction of the Secretary of War, for the consideration of proper regulations, with a view to the establishment of a war college for the Army has not yet formulated its conclusions on this important subject. The purpose of the Department in establishing this college is to further the higher instruction of the Army; to develop and organize, in accordance with a coherent and unified system, the existing means of professional education and training, and to serve as a coordinated and authoritative agency of this office through which all means of professional military information shall be, at all times at the disposal of the War Department.

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