184: 



CONGRESS. (THE ARMY BILL.) 



shall be honorably discharged the service when- 

 ever in the opinion of the Secretary of War their 

 services are no longer necessary: Provided fur- 

 ther, That assistant surgeons in the volunteer 

 army of the United States, commissioned by the 

 President as captains, in accordance with the pro- 

 visions of an act for increasing the efficiency of the 

 army of the United States, and for other purposes, 

 approved March 2, 1899, shall be entitled to the 

 pay of a captain, mounted, from the date of their 

 acceptance of such commission, as prescribed by 

 law: Provided, That the surgeon-general of the 

 army, with the approval of the Secretary of War, 

 be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ dental 

 surgeons to serve the officers and enlisted men of 

 the regular and volunteer army, in the proportion 

 of not to exceed 1 for every 1,000 of said army, 

 and not exceeding 30. in all. Said dental sur- 

 geons shall be employed as contract dental sur- 

 geons under the terms and conditions applicable 

 to army contract surgeons, and shall be gradu- 

 ates of standard medical or dental colleges, 

 trained in the several branches of dentistry, of 

 good moral and professional character, and shall 

 pass a satisfactory professional examination. 

 Provided, That 3 of the number of dental sur- 

 geons to be employed shall be first appointed by 

 the surgeon-general, with the approval of the Sec- 

 retary of War, with reference to their fitness for 

 assignment, under the direction of the surgeon- 

 general, to the special service of conducting the 

 examinations and supervising the operations of 

 the others; and for such special service an extra 

 compensation of $60 a month will be allowed: 

 Provided further, That dental college graduates 

 now employed in the hospital corps who have 

 been detailed for a period of not less than twelve 

 months to render dental service to the army and 

 who are shown by the reports of their superior 

 officers to have rendered such service satisfacto- 

 rily may be appointed contract dental surgeons 

 without examination: Provided, That the Secre- 

 tary of War be authorized to appoint in the hos- 

 pital corps, in addition to the 200 hospital stew- 

 ards now allowed by law, 100 hospital stewards: 

 Provided, That meu who have served as hospital 

 stewards of volunteer regiments or acted in that 

 capacity during and since the Spanish-American 

 War for more than six months may be appointed 

 hospital stewards in the regular army: And pro- 

 vided further, That all men so appointed shall be 

 of good moral character and shall have passed a 

 satisfactory mental and physical examination. 



" SEC. 19. That the nurse corps (female) shall 

 consist of one superintendent, to be appointed by 

 the Secretary of War, who shall be a graduate 

 of a hospital training-school having a course of 

 instruction of not less than two years, whose term 

 of office may be terminated at his discretion, 

 whose compensation shall be $1,800 per annum, 

 and of as many chief nurses, nurses, and reserve 

 nurses as may be needed. Reserve nurses may 

 be assigned to active duty when the emergency 

 of the service demands, but shall receive no com- 

 pensation except when on such duty: Provided, 

 That all nurses in the nurse corps shall be ap- 

 pointed or removed by the surgeon-general, with 

 the approval of the Secretary of War; that they 

 shall be graduates of hospital training-schools, 

 and shall have passed a satisfactory professional, 

 moral, mental, and physical examination: And 

 provided, That the superintendent and nurses shall 

 receive transportation and necessary expenses 

 when traveling under orders; that the pay and 

 allowances of nurses, and of reserve nurses, when 

 on active service, shall be $40 per month when 

 on duty in the United States and $50 per month 



when without the limits of the United States. 

 They shall be entitled to quarters, subsistence, 

 and medical attendance during illness, and they 

 may be granted leaves of absence for thirty days, 

 with pay, for each calendar year; and, when serv- 

 ing as chief nurses, their pay may be increased by 

 authority of the Secretary of War, such increase 

 not to exceed $25 per month. Payments to the 

 nurse corps shall be made by the pay department. 



" SEC. 20. That the grade of veterinarian of the 

 second class in cavalry regiments, United States 

 army, is hereby abolished, and hereafter the two 

 veterinarians authorized for each cavalry regiment 

 and the one veterinarian authorized for each artil- 

 lery regiment shall receive the pay and allowances 

 of second lieutenants, mounted. Such number of 

 veterinarians as the Secretary of War may author- 

 ize shall be employed to attend animals pertaining 

 to the quartermaster's or other departments not 

 directly connected with the cavalry and artillery 

 regiment's, at a compensation not exceeding $100 

 per month. 



" SEC. 21. That the pay department shall con- 

 sist of 1 paymaster-general with the rank of 

 brigadier-general, 3 assistant paymasters-general 

 with the rank of colonel, 4 deputy paymasters- 

 general with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 20 

 paymasters with the rank of major, and 25 pay- 

 masters with the rank of captain, mounted: Pro- 

 vided, That all vacancies in the grade of colonel 

 and lieutenant-colonel created or caused by this 

 section shall be filled by promotion according to 

 seniority, as now prescribed by law, and no more 

 appointments to-the grade of major and pay- 

 master shall be made until the number of majors 

 and paymasters is reduced below 20: And pro- 

 rided, That persons who have served in the vol- 

 unteer army since April 21, 1898, as additional 

 paymasters may be appointed to positions in the 

 grade of captain, created by this section. So long 

 as there remain surplus majors an equal number 

 of vacancies shall be held in the grade of captain, 

 so that the total number of paymasters author- 

 ized by this section shall not be exceeded at any 

 time. 



" SEC. 22. That the corps of engineers shall 

 consist of 1 chief of engineers with the rank of 

 brigadier-general, 7 colonels, 14 lieutenant-colo- 

 nels, 28 majors, 40 captains, 40 first lieutenants, 

 and 30 second lieutenants. The enlisted force pro- 

 vided in section 11 of this act and the officers 

 serving therewith shall constitute a part of the 

 line of the army: Provided, That the chief of en- 

 gineers shall be selected as now provided by law, 

 and hereafter vacancies in the corps of engineers 

 in all other grades above that of second lieutenant 

 shall be filled, as far as possible, by promotion 

 according to seniority from the corps of engi- 

 neers: And provided also, That vacancies remain- 

 ing in the grades of first and second lieutenant 

 may be filled by transfer of officers of the regular 

 army, subject to such professional examination as. 

 may be approved by the Secretary of War. Va- 

 cancies in the grade of second lieutenant not filled 

 by transfer shall be left for future promotions 

 from the corps of cadets at the United States 

 Military Academy. 



" SEC. 23. That the ordnance department shall 

 consist of 1 chief of ordnance with the rank of 

 brigadier-general, 4 colonels, 6 lieutenant-colonels, 

 12 majors, 24 captains, and 24 first lieutenants, 

 the ordnance storekeeper, and the enlisted men, 

 including ordnance sergeants, as now authorized 

 by law. All vacancies created or caused by this 

 section shall, as far as possible, be filled by pro- 

 motion according to seniority as now prescribed 

 by law. 



