V. AN ACT to remove certain disabilities of John L. Cowardin. Whereas John L. Cowardin has served faithfully and honorably as a private soldier and non-commissioned officer in the Army of the United States since November eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty; and Whereas he is under disability by the provisions of section twelve hundred and eighteen of the Revised Statutes of the United States, by reason of having served in the Confederate army, in which he enlisted when quite young: Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That his disabilities under said section be, and they are hereby, removed. Approved, July 7, 1884. BY COMMAND OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL SHERIDAN: OFFICIAL: CHAUNCEY MCKEEVER, Acting Adjutant General. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 73. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, July 18, 1884. The following acts and extracts of an act of Congress are published for the information and government of all concerned : I. AN ACT to amend article seventy two of the Rules and articles of War. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That article seventy two of the Articles of War be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows[:] "A.RT. 72. Any general officer commanding an army, a Territorial Division or a Department, or colonel commanding a separate Department may appoint general courts martial whenever necessary. But when any such commander is the accuser or prosecutor of any officer under his command the court shall be appointed by the President; and its proceedings and sentence shall be sent directly to the Secretary of War, by whom they shall be laid before the President, for his approval or orders in the case. Approved, July 5, 1884. II. AN ACT making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, and for the armament thereof, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the following sums are hereby appropriated for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth eighteen hundred and eighty-five, the same to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War, as hereinafter provided, for the following purposes, namely: For the protection preservation, and repair of fortifications and other works of defense one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. For the purchase of such submarine movable torpedoes, propelled and controlled by power operated from shore stations, as may be recommended by the Secretary of War, fifty thousand dollars; for the improvements and test of motors for movable torpedoes, twenty-five thousand dollars; for purchase of submarine mines for harbor defense, five thousand dollars: for continuation of torpedo experiments and for practical instruction of engineer troops in the details of the service, twenty thousand dollars, in all one hundred thousand dollars. For the purchase of machine guns of the latest improvement, twenty thousand dollars. For the armament of sea-coast fortifications, including the manufacture and conversion of heavy guns and carriages, projectiles, fuses, powder, and implements, their trial and proof, and all necessary expenses incident thereto, including compensation of draughtsmen on gun construction while employed in the Ordnance Bureau, four hundred thousand dollars, and not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars thereof, may be used for the expenses of experiments in the use of dynamite or other high explosive projectiles[.] For the preservation of Fort Marion, at Saint Augustine, Florida, and for the enclosure and improvement of the grounds attached to the same, said grounds to be in charge of the commanding officer of said fort, five thousand dollars. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to cause the various calibers, lengths of bore, greatest and least admissible weights of guns for each caliber, together with the greatest and least weights of projectiles for each caliber, of all the various calibers required for the service, together with the number of each caliber of gun required, to be determined, and to make the same known to manufacturers of ordnance on their application and to report the same to Congress at its next session for its approval. SEC. 2. That hereafter all rifled cannon of any particular material, caliber, or kind, made at the cost of the United States shall be publicly subjected to the proper test including such rapid firing as a like gun would be likely to be subjected to in actual battle for the determination of the endurance of the same to the satisfaction of the President of the United States or such persons as he may select; and he is hereby authorized to select not to exceed five persons, who shall be skilled in such matters; and if such gun shall not prove satisfactory, they shall not be put to use in the Government service. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy are hereby authorized to sell to projectors of methods of conversion, for experimental purposes only, any smooth-bore cannon on hand required by them, at prices which shall not be less than have been received from auc tion sales for such articles, and deliver the same, at the cost of the Government, at the nearest convenient place for shipment or public transportation; the cost of delivery to be deducted from the proceeds of sales, and the balance to be covered into the Treasury of the United States. SEC. 4. That so much of the act making appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year eighteen hundred and eighty-three, approved August fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as provides that the words ordnance and "gunpowder" in section thirty-seven hundred and twenty-one of the Revised Statutes shall be construed to mean offensive and defensive arms, ammunition, and explosives, the apparatus for their military use, and the materials for producing the whole, and also transportation, necessary information concerning them, and whatever is requisite in military experiments with them, be, and the same is hereby, repealed. Approved, July 5, 1884. III. AN ACT making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, and for prior years, and for those certified as due by the accounting officers of the Treasury in accordance with section four of the act of June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, heretofore paid from permanent appropriations, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year eighteen hundred and eighty-four and for other objects hereinafter stated namely[:] For lighting the Executive Mansion and public grounds: For gas; pay of lamp-lighters, gas-fitters, and plumbers; gas-fitting and plumbing ; purchase and erection of lamps and lamp-posts; purchase of matches, and for repairs of all kinds; fuel and lights for office and stables, for watchmen's lodges, and for the greenhouses at the nursery, one thousand dollars, For care and repair of and for refurnishing the Executive Mansion, and for care and repair of its greenhouses, and for fuel, three thousand |