was on the active list and died from wounds or disease not the result of his own misconduct. The Adjutant General of the Army will notify the Chief of the Quartermaster Corps of that fact.

84. Inventories in duplicate of the effects of deceased officers, as required by the one hundred and twenty-fifth article of war, will be transmitted to The Adjutant General of the Army. If legal representatives take possession of the effects, the fact will be stated in the inventory.

85. If there be no legal representatives present to receive the effects, a list of them will be sent to the nearest relative of the deceased. If not claimed within a reasonable time, they will be sold at auction and accounted for as in the case of deceased soldiers. Swords, watches, personal papers, trinkets, and similar articles will be labeled with the name, rank, regiment, and date of death of the owner and sent directly to The Adjutant General of the Army to be forwarded to the Auditor for the War Department for the benefit of those legally entitled to them. The accounts of deceased officers will be settled as provided for in paragraph 166. 86. On the death of an officer in charge of public property or funds, his commanding officer will appoint a board of officers, three when practicable, which will inventory the same and make the customary returns therefor, stating accurately amounts and condition. These the commanding officer will forward to the chiefs of the bureaus to which the property or funds pertain, and he will designate an officer to take charge of such property or funds until orders in the case are received from the proper authority. Cash on hand may be invoiced by the board to the deceased officer's successor, but balances to his credit with the Treasurer, an assistant treasurer, a designated depositary, or a fiscal agent of the United States, over and above his outstanding checks, will be deposited to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States by the chiefs of bureaus when the board has reported to the bureaus the balances over and above such checks. The action herein prescribed will also be taken in the case of an officer in charge of public funds or property who becomes insane.

87. The remains of a deceased officer on the active list may be shipped to the home of the decedent or to a national cemetery for interment. When death occurs in the United States or in Alaska, and early shipment is practicable, the remains will be prepared for shipment and the nearest relative notified by telegraph with request to reply by telegraph stating whether or not it is desired to have the remains shipped home at Government expense, and if shipment home is desired to designate the destination and the name of the person to whom the remains are to be consigned; in which case the remains will be transported to the point designated and the consignee notified by telegraph. Should the nearest relative state that it is not desired to have the remains shipped home, or if it is impossible to ascertain the relative's desire within a reasonable time, interment will be made in the nearest military post or national cemetery or, if the commanding officer deem proper, at the place of death. If the relatives direct that the remains be not shipped home and they are interred at the expense of the Government, subsequent disinterment or shipment of the remains at the request of the relatives will not be made at Government expense.

If the remains are interred in a military post or national cemetery, or at the place of death, the expenses incident to the interment will be limited to $75, to be paid from the appropriation "Disposition of remains of officers, soldiers, civilian employees, and so forth" (designated by the Treasury Department as "Bringing home remains of officers, soldiers, and civil employees "), and will be restricted to the cost of the casket, hire of a hearse, and the reasonable and necessary expenses of preparing the remains for interment.

If the remains are to be shipped, the expenses, exclusive of the cost of transportation, will be limited to $75 and restricted to the cost of the casket, shipping case, and the reasonable and necessary expenses of preparing the remains for shipment. In either case, any transportation involved will be paid from the appropriation hereinbefore mentioned.

When it is impracticable to ship the remains at the time of death, or if it is impossible to communicate with the relatives before interment, the remains may be subsequently disinterred and shipped home at Government expense at the request of the relatives. In such cases the cost of the disinterment and preparation of the remains for shipment will not exceed $75, except by authority of the Secretary of War, and, including transportation, will be paid from the before-mentioned appropriation.

Transportation may be issued for one attendant to accompany the remains shipped, provided the cost to the Government of shipping the remains by express is not thereby exceeded.

The officer under whose direction the disposition of the remains is made will forward a full report thereof to The Adjutant General of the Army.

Where practicable, contract will be made with an undertaker or other competent person for services in the preparation of remains for interment or shipment during a fiscal year, as contemplated for other purposes in paragraph 551, but no such contract will be made with any undertaker or other person whom the post surgeon considers not competent. A written report of the disposition of the remains, with an itemized statement of the cost of embalming, coffin, or casket, hire of hearse, and transportation, will be forwarded by the quartermaster without delay directly to the Chief of the Quartermaster Corps.

When death occurs at the hospital, the surgeon will promptly notify the embalmer employed under contract, if such services are required, and will see that the remains are prepared properly and in accordance with sanitary regulations. If there should be no contract embalmer, the duty of employing an undertaker will devolve upon the quartermaster; but no undertaker will be employed whom the surgeon considers not competent. The responsibility of the surgeon for the proper care and preparation of the remains will not cease until they are removed by the quartermaster for interment or shipment.

ARTICLE XIV.

VETERINARIANS, CAVALRY AND FIELD ARTILLERY.

88. Veterinarians are appointed by the Secretary of War, subject to competitive examinations as to eligibility, capacity, and fitness. The scope and conditions of such examinations will be announced in orders from time to time by the War Department.

89. A veterinarian receives the pay of a second lieutenant, mounted, and is entitled to the same allowances in kind, of quarters, fuel, and light.

90. It shall be the duty of the veterinarian to visit at least daily all sick or injured animals at his station, and to recommend such treatment as he may deem proper. He will have access to the stables at all times. Upon request he will attend such authorized private horses of mounted officers as may need his services.

91. The veterinarian will instruct company horseshoers and company farriers in the proper care of the horse. In this he will give especial importance to the anatomy and pathology of the foot, showing the nature and uses of all its parts, illustrating the subject by dissections and specimens. He will also teach the principles and practice of horseshoeing. For the purpose indicated he will make

such visits of instruction to companies of the regiment not at his station as may be deemed necessary by the regimental commander.

92. Wherever four or more troops of cavalry or three or more batteries of field artillery are stationed, a suitable building may be set apart as a veterinary hospital.

ARTICLE XV.

POST AND GENERAL NONCOMMISSIONED STAFF.

POST NONCOMMISSIONED STAFF.

93. The post noncommissioned staff consists of ordnance sergeants and of quartermaster sergeants, Quartermaster Corps. They are appointed by the Secretary of War, after due examination, as follows: Ordnance sergeants from sergeants of the line who have served at least eight years in the Army, including four years as noncommissioned officers, and who are less than 45 years of age; quartermaster sergeants, Quartermaster Corps, from sergeants of the line who have served five years in the Army, including three years as noncommissioned officers.

94. An application for appointment to the post noncommissioned staff must be in the handwriting of the applicant and will state briefly the length and nature of his military service, and for what time and in what organizations he has served as a private and as a noncommissioned officer. The immediate commanding officer will indorse thereon a statement as to the character, intelligence, and fitness of the applicant. The application so indorsed will be submitted to the regimental or coast defense commander or other proper commanding officer, who will forward the same, with his remarks as to the merits of the applicant, directly to The Adjutant General of the Army.

95. While the law contemplates in these appointments the better preservation of public property at the several posts, there is also a further consideration— that of offering a reward to faithful and well-tried enlisted men eligible for appointment, thus giving encouragement to deserving soldiers to hope for substantial promotion. Commanding officers can not be too particular in investigating and reporting upon the character and qualifications of applicants.

96. Regulations for the examination of applicants for appointment as post noncommissioned staff officers will be published from time to time in orders by the War Department.

97. A post noncommissioned staff officer will assist the officer of his department, and will not be detailed upon any service not pertaining to his proper position, unless the necessities of the service require such detail, in which case the post commander will note the fact, with reasons therefor, on the sergeant's personal report.

98. A post noncommissioned staff officer at any ungarrisoned post or station will be responsible for the property of his own department or corps, and for such other property as may be intrusted to him for safe-keeping. For all public property committed to his charge he will account to the heads of the staff departments or corps concerned, and if the means at his disposal are insufficient for its preservation he will report the facts.

99. The military control of post noncommissioned staff officers serving at posts not occupied by troops is vested in the commander of the territorial department in which they are serving. All matters relating to them as soldiers subject to military command, as distinguished from the administrative duties

imposed upon them by regulations and orders, will, except in cases of reenlistment, be determined at department headquarters, where their descriptive lists will be kept. When they are discharged a copy of the descriptive list, upon which will be noted the fact of discharge, with the date, place, and cause, and the character given on the discharge certificate, will be forwarded to The Adjutant General of the Army.

100. Each post noncommissioned staff officer will make a personal report on December 31 of each year. The officer under whose orders these noncommissioned officers are serving will indorse upon each separate report his opinion of the manner in which the noncommissioned officer has performed his duties, and the commanding officer will forward the report directly to The Adjutant General of the Army. In addition to the annual personal report, each post noncommissioned staff officer changing station under proper orders will report upon arrival at his new station the date on which he left his former station and the date on which he reported for duty at his new station, such report to be forwarded by his commanding officer directly to The Adjutant General of the Army. Similar report will be made upon return from any detached duty, furlough, or other absence.

101. A post noncommissioned staff officer may be reenlisted, provided he shall have conducted himself properly and performed his duties in a satisfactory manner. If, however, his commanding officer should not deem the reenlistment to be for the best interest of the service, he will communicate his reasons to The Adjutant General of the Army in time to receive the decision of the War Department before the soldier's discharge. If serving at an ungarrisoned post, application for reenlistment will be made by the soldier to The Adjutant General of the Army through department headquarters, and the reenlistment papers in such cases will immediately be forwarded through the same channel. A post noncommissioned staff officer will be furnished with a warrant signed by the chief of the proper staff corps or department. The warrant will remain in force as long as the soldier is continuously in the service, i. e., if he reenlists the day following that of discharge. Every such reenlistment will be noted on the back of the warrant by the officer who reenlists the soldier, as follows: Reenlisted (date); warrant continued.

102. Post noncommissioned staff officers, though liable to discharge for inefficiency or misconduct, will not be reduced.

GENERAL NONCOMMISSIONED STAFF.

103. The general noncommissioned staff consists of noncommissioned officers of the Quartermaster Corps, except quartermaster sergeants, and of the Signal Corps, Hospital Corps, and Ordnance Department, except ordnance sergeants. They are appointed, promoted, reduced, and their warrants signed as follows: In the Quartermaster Corps, as prescribed in paragraph 1009. In the Hospital Corps, as prescribed in Article LXXIV.

In the Ordnance Department, by the Chief of Ordnance.

In the Signal Corps, by the Chief Signal Officer as prescribed in paragraph

1557.

Their warrants may be continued in force upon discharge and reenlistment, if reenlistment be made on the day following that of discharge; each reenlistment and continuance will be noted on the warrant by the company or detachment commander.

ARTICLE XVI.

DETACHED SOLDIERS: DESCRIPTIVE LISTS.

104. When an enlisted man is detached from his company, a descriptive list will be prepared and forwarded to his new commanding officer. On the descriptive list will be shown the pay due the soldier, the condition of his clothing allowance, and all information necessary to the settlement of his accounts with the Government. When it can be avoided, the descriptive list will not be intrusted to the soldier, but to an officer or noncommissioned officer under whose charge he may be, or it may be forwarded by mail. The date of the last vaccination of the soldier and its result and the fact and date of completion of administration of the typhoid prophylactic will be noted on the descriptive list. Articles of ordnance equipment in possession of a detached soldier will be transferred as prescribed in paragraph 1535.

105. All matters relating to the pay, clothing allowance, subsistence, discharge, reenlistment, death, and desertion of enlisted men detailed for duty with the Organized Militia under section 20 of the act of Congress approved January 21, 1903, as amended by the act of Congress approved May 27, 1908, will be administered and determined at the headquarters of the department in which such enlisted men may be serving. The descriptive lists of these men will be kept at department headquarters.

Each enlisted man on detached service with the Organized Militia of any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, will render a personal report, to be forwarded by him directly, to The Adjutant General of the Army on the last day of each bimonthly muster period. In addition to this bimonthly personal report made to The Adjutant General of the Army he will report quarterly, on September 30, December 31, March 31, and June 30, to the Chief of the Division of Militia Affairs, War Department, Washington, D. C., through the senior inspector-instructor on duty with the State and of the same arm or corps as that with which the enlisted man rendering the report is detailed, the details of all drills and instruction given by him during the last quarter to the Organized Militia of the State in which he is serving, and as to other work, if any, performed by him during that period by direction or at the request of the State authorities.

All official communications for the War Department from enlisted men on duty with the Organized Militia, other than the bimonthly personal report and the quarterly report of work done, prescribed in this paragraph, will be addressed to The Adjutant General of the Army and will be forwarded through department headquarters.

ARTICLE XVII.

FURLOUGHS TO SOLDIERS.

106. Furloughs in the prescribed form for periods of three months may be granted to enlisted men by post commanders, and for periods of one month by commanding officers of general hospitals, general depots of supply, mine planters, or by regimental commanders if the companies to which the men belong are under their control. Brigade and district commanders may grant furloughs for periods of three months to enlisted men under their immediate control. A furlough will not be granted to a soldier about to be discharged, nor shall the number of enlisted men furloughed from any command in the field, or at posts, exceed 5 per cent of the enlisted strength present therewith.

The granting of furloughs to enlisted men of a mobilized separate brigade, division, or higher command will be subject to such regulations as the commander of the forces may prescribe. When troops are in the field for active operations the granting of furloughs is governed by the eleventh article of war.