3-1 ARMY, UNITED STATES. 



ASIA. 



The work upon the coast defences and forti- 

 fications has been prosecuted with vigor, and 

 already a large number of positions for guns 

 and mortars of the largest calibres, to be 

 mounted behind sand parapets, has been pro- 

 vided, while others are in an advanced state 

 of construction. These works are the basis 

 of the harbor protections, and are essential for 

 the efficacy of the accessory defences, espe- 

 cially of torpedoes and channel obstructions, 

 which form a part of our own system of de- 

 fence. 



The Battalion of Engineers in its reduced 

 organization numbers 315 men. The torpedo 

 experiments, made under the immediate direc- 

 tion of Major II. L. Abbot, commanding en- 

 gineer battalion, have enabled the War De- 

 partment to devise a plan of torpedo^ defence 

 in connection with the fortifications, simple in 

 its working, certain in its application, and 

 effective in its results, while, at the same time, 

 our own shipping will not be endangered. 



The river and harbor works have been car- 

 ried on with energy. The construction of the 

 bridge across the Mississippi River at Rock 

 Island has been completed, and the bridge 

 opened for railroad and wagon use. 



The duties of the Signal-Office in observa- 

 tions and reports for the benefit of commerce 

 and agriculture were continued throughout 

 the year. Stations were maintained at each of 

 the principal lake, seaport, and river cities. The 

 display of bulletin reports, of reports at the 

 river stations, giving the rise and fall of the 

 principal rivers ; of the large weather-maps, 

 showing, by changing symbols, the meteoric 

 changes at the different reports ; and, finally, 

 at designated stations, the exhibition of day 

 or night signals, on occasions of supposed 

 especial danger, were regularly made. Ten 

 additional stations were established within 

 the United States. 



A comparison of the tri-weekly forecasts, 

 or " probabilities," with the meteoric condi- 

 tion afterward reported, gave an average of 

 verifications of 69 per cent, up to November 

 1, 1871, and 76.8 per cent, from that date to 

 October 1, 1872. The practical importance 

 of this branch of the service will be seen from 

 the fact that since its establishment no great 

 and continuous storm has traversed the United 

 States without premonition being given at the 

 great majority of the points endangered. Ar- 

 rangements were made for an interchange 

 of reports with Canada, and a similar ex- 

 change is contemplated with the West India 

 Islands. Under the act of June 10, 1872, the 

 service, before technically limited to the lakes 

 and sea-coasts, was extended throughout the 

 interior, and many of the agricultural societies 

 in the country were requested to cooperate 

 with the chief signal-officer, and thirty-eight 

 boards of trade and chambers of commerce 

 communicate meteorological observations. 

 Since January 1, ]872, statements of the 

 changes in the depth of water in the prin- 



cipal Western rivers, being in direct rela- 

 tion to the meteoric changes, have been daily 

 reported from all stations established upon 

 those rivers. 



The 74 national cemeteries contain the re- 

 mains of 317,962 persons. Of those cemeteries 

 all but 16 have been permanently enclosed. 

 The Gettysburg cemetery has been transferred 

 to the care of the War Department. At the 

 close of the year there were 52 superintend- 

 ents of national cemeteries. 



The total number of cadets at West Point 

 Academy is 240. The number of admissions 

 in 1872 was 95. The number of failures to 

 master the academic course, including original 

 rejections, was 87. There were 53 vacancies. 



ASIA. The history of Asia continues to 

 grow in importance. The wonderful trans- 

 formation of Japan into a civilized country is 

 progressing without interruption, and all the 

 efforts made by the conservative and anti- 

 foreign party for arresting this progress ap- 

 pear to be powerless. The intercourse with 

 foreign countries is established on a firm basis ; 

 and the Government appears anxious to ac- 

 quaint itself not only with the educational, but 

 even with the religious condition of the coun- 

 tries of America and Europe. Already Japan 

 may be considered as being by far the most 

 advanced state of the non-Christian world. 



The progress of China is not so rapid as that 

 of Japan ; the impotence of the anti-foreign 

 party to prevent the establishment of friendly 

 relations between China and the Christian 

 powers certainly becomes from year to year 

 more apparent. The influence of the large 

 seaports, which accumulate immense wealth 

 by their trade with American and European 

 countries, in the interior, proves to be irresisti- 

 ble. A victory of great importance has been 

 won by the Chinese Government over the Mo^ 

 hammedan rebels in the south, who, for several 

 years, have been able to maintain an indepen- 

 dent government. The fall of their capital 

 appears to foreshadow their entire collapse. 



Serious difficulties arising in Central Asia 

 between the Russians and the Khan of Khiva 

 threatened for a time a new Central Asiatic 

 war and new complications between Russia 

 and Great Britain ; but the peaceable settle- 

 ment of the difficulty postponed once more 

 the outbreak of a war between the two great 

 rival claimants for the supremacy in Asiatic 

 politics. 



The assassination of the Viceroy of British 

 India by a fanatical Mohammedan, following 

 close upon the assassination of Chief-Justice 

 Norman, is a new and significant proof for the 

 English that the Mohammedans are any thing 

 but reconciled with British rule, and that ere 

 long they may be expected to cause serious 

 trouble. 



The terrible famine which devastated Persia 

 in 1871 continued through a part of the year 

 1872, and the wretched condition in which 

 this unfortunate country has been for years, 



