NAVY

Oliver, who were then employed at the Naval Academy, the former in charge of the department of modern languages, and the latter in charge of the department of drawing, were nominated to, and confirmed by, the Senate, to be professors of mathematics in the Navy, to fill vacancies, subject, however, to the required examination, before being commissioned. A naval examining board, composed of professors of mathematics, was convened at the Naval Academy by order of the Secretary of the Navy, May 25, 1881, for the examination of Professors Prud' homme and Oliver. I inclose a copy of the order convening the board, and a copy of the opinion of the Attorney-General in regard to the requirements of the law "relating to the appointment of professors of mathematics in the Navy." (Act approved January 20, 1881.)

I inclose, also, a copy of the finding of the board, in the cases of Professors Prud'homme and Oliver. These gentlemen, having received favorable reports from the boards before which they were examined, were, on the 27th of May 1881, accordingly appointed and commissioned as professors of mathematics in the Navy, to take rank from May 20, 1881, the date of their confirmation by the Senate.

Very respectfully,

Hon. J. W. KEIFER,

W. E. CHANDLER,

Secretary of the Nary.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

FORM OF PERMIT.

on

SIR: You have permission to report at the Navy Department, Washington, D. C.. the day of -, to Medical Director

U. S. N., president of the board of medical examiners, for the required physical examination, and, if found qualified, to report at the Naval Observatory on the day of to Professor U. S. N., president of the naval examining board, for examination as to your professional qualifications for appointment as a professor of mathematics in the Navy, required by the act of Congress, approved January 20, 1881. Favorable reports by the boards give a candidate no assurance of appointment. You are requested to notify the department whether or not you desire to appear before the boards for examination.

Very respectfully,

Secretary of the Nary.

AN ACT relating to the appointment of professors of mathematics in the Navy.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Amerios in Congress assembled, That hereafter no person shall be appointed a professor of mathematics in the Navy until he shall have passed a physical examination before a board of naval surgeons, and a professional examination before a board of professors of mathematics in the Navy, to be convened for that purpose by the Secretary of the Navy, and received a favorable report from said boards. Approved January 20, 1881.

List of candidates examined by medical board, in regard to their physical qualifications for appointment as professor of mathematics in the U. S. Navy.

UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY,

Washington, March 11, 1881.

SIR: The board of naval examining professors of mathematics convened under a precept of the department, of which a copy is appended, have the honor to submit the following general report upon their proceedings and conclusions.

The following seven gentlemen presented themselves with the notification of the department, and the certificate of puysical qualification of the medical examiner:

Mr. David P. Todd, of New York, assistant in the office of the American Ephemeris ; Mr. A. O. Bostrom, of Pennsylvania; Mr. Winslow Upton, of Massachusetts, carpenter at Naval Observatory; Mr. O. B. Wheeler, of Michigan, assistant in the office of the United States Lake Survey, Detroit; Mr. Frank Waldo, of Ohio, assistant Harvard College Observatory; Mr. George W. Hill, of New York, assistant in the office of the American Ephemeris; Mr. William W. Johnson, of Maryland, professor in St. John's College, Annapolis.

The board was organized separately for the examination of each candidate, as di rected in the precept, and proceedings relating to each are presented separately. Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Waldo withdrew from the examination before its close. The subjects of examination, and the merits assigned to perfection in each, were a follows:

The examination in languages extended only to such reading of them as a professor 'would find necessary in the discharge of his higher scientific duties.

The report in the case of each candidate shows the value assigned to his proficiency in each subject of examination on the above scale. The sums show the general standing of the candidates, as follows:

That Mr. George W. Hill and Mr. William W. Johnson are morally, mentally, and professionally qualified to perform the duties of professors of mathematics in the Navy.

That Mr. Winslow Upton, Mr. David P. Todd, and Mr. A. O. Bostrom are morally and mentally, but not professionally, qualified.

Very respectfully, your obedient servants,

Hon. WILLIAM H. HUNT,

SIMON NEWCOMB,

Professor U. S. Navy, President of Board.

ASAPH HALL,

Professor of Mathematics, U. S. Navy.
WM. HARKNESS,

Professor of Mathematics, U. S. Navy.
EDGAR FRISBY,

Professor Mathematics, U. S. Navy Recorder.

Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,
Washington, May 23, 1881.

SIR: Professors L. F. Prud'homme, now head of the department of languages in which the department of Spanish is merged, and Marshall Oliver, head of the department of drawing, having been commissioned professors of mathematics in the Navy under the provisions of section 1528, Revised Statutes, you are hereby appointed senior member, and Professors J. R. Soley and Henry D. Todd members of a board to examine these

officers professionally as to the competency of Professor Prud'homme to be the head of the department of languages in which the Spanish is merged, and Prof. Marshall Oliver to be the head of the department of drawing.

The opinion of the Attorney-General in relation to these appointments is appended. Respectfully, &c.,

SIR: In reply to yours of yesterday I would say that, although the title conferred by law is a misnomer, I think the heads of the departments of ethics and English studies, of Spanish and other modern languages, and of drawing should be commissioned as professors of mathematics, under Rev. Stat., sec. 1528, after passing the examinations required by the act of January 21, 1881. Rev. Stats., sec. 1528, provides that "three professors of mathematics shall be assigned to duty at the Naval Academy, one as professor of ethics and English studies, one as professor of the Spanish language, and one as professor of drawing." The purpose that persons known to the law and the Naval Register as "professors of mathematics" should be engaged in teaching these other branches of learning is too obvious for construction. That the name did not indicate the sole duty of the office is further apparent from the express declaration of the act of August 3, 1846, § 12, now Rev. Stat., sec. 1399-1401. That the number of profes sors of mathematics in the Navy shall not exceed twelve; that they shall be appointed and commissioned by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall perform such duties as may be assigned them by order of the Secretary of the Navy, at the Naval School, the Observatory, and on board ships of war, in instructing the midshipmen of the Navy or otherwise, Rev. Stat., sec. 1528, shows that, certainly as to three of these professors, the duties to be assigned were not to be mathematical in their nature.

The medical board having reported Prof. Marshall Oliver and Prof. L. F. Prud'homme physically qualified, the board proceeded to the examination of Prof. Marshall Oliver, and after careful examination find him to be competent to be the head of the department of drawing.

The board then proceeded to the examination of Prof. L. F. Prud'homme, and fird him competent to be the head of the department of modern languages.

ROOF OF INTERIOR DEPARTMENT BUILDING.

MESSAGE

FROM THE

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

TRANSMITTING

A communication from the Secretary of the Interior, recommending an appropriation for the construction of a fire-proof roof over the south and east wings of the Interior Department building.

MAY 2, 1882.-Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be printed.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, in which he requests that an appropriation of $108,000 be made for constructing a fire-proof roof over the south and east wings of the building occupied by the Department of the Interior.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,
May 2, 1882.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, April 28, 1882.

SIR: I have the honor to request that the attention of Congress be called to the unsafe condition of the attic and roof over the south and east wings of the building occupied by this department, and the desirability of making the same fire-proof on a plan similar to that adopted in reconstructing the north and west wings after the fire of September 24, 1877. The roof over the south and east wings is of wood, and the space immediately beneath it is traversed by numerous smoke-flues, many of which are carried for considerable distances with but slight deviation from a horizontal line. If from any cause an opening should be made in a flue the building would be endangered.

A commission was appointed by the President on the 27th of September, 1877, to examine into the security of the public buildings in this city, and a commission appointed by the Secretary of the Interior in October, 1877, to examine and report in regard to the Interior De

partment building, gave the opinion that the safety of the building requires the removal of the roof over the south and east wings and the substitution of one entirely fire-proof. The recommendations made by the commission appointed by the President were concurred in by him and commended to the attention of Congress. The matter was referred to in a special report of the Secretary of the Interior dated October 12, 1877, to the President, and in the subsequent annual reports. I have the honor to renew the recommendations heretofore made upon the subject by the Secretary of the Interior, and to request that the balance of $48,000 of the appropriation for the north and west wings be made available for roofing the south and east wings, and that in addition an appropriation of $60,000 be made to complete the work.

I inclose herewith a letter from Adolf Cluss, esq., engineer and architect, to this department, upon the subject.

Very respectfully,

The PRESIDENT.

H. M. TELLER,

Secretary.

WASHINGTON, November 1, 1881.

SIR: At the approach of the regular session of Congress I beg to lay before you a few statements in the interest of the Patent Office building, the official home of the Department of the Interior.

In the lapse of time and pressure of business it is apt to be overlooked that the fatal damages of the conflagration of September 24, 1877, to the building were by no means confined to the now reconstructed north and west wings. The model-room and roof of the old south wing, the nucleus of the whole building, were in a precarious condition even before the fire. They were saved from total destruction by the most persistent efforts of the fire department, but the wooden frame-work and sheathing of the roof were charred to au alarming extent; the arched ceilings underneath the roof were weakened, cracked, and settled by the combined effects of fire and water. Many smoke-flues are carried through this dangerous space between ceilings and roof for considerable distances, and create additional sources of danger. The thick copper covering was irreparably damaged, and is now scantily patched up and made tight by large sections of sheet-tin, and also by large-sized lumps of solder, the excessive expansion and contraction of which, by the changes of the temperature of the air, make the defects even worse.

A board of experts appointed by the Secretary of the Interior shortly after the fire, and a similar board appointed by the President of the United States, for the purpose of examining and reporting upon the condition of the building, have both forcibly stated this condition, and condemned the concerned constructions as unsafe. Their conclusions were concurred in by the Secretary of the Interior, and the President of the United States, who transmitted them to Congress, with recommendations for their favorable consideration. (See Forty-fifth Congress, first session, H. Ex. Doc. No. 2. and Forty-fifth Congress, second session, H. Ex. Doc. No. 10; also communication of Secretary of the Interior to the Speaker, dated January 24, 1879, aud annual report of the Secretary of the Interior, dated November 1, 1880.) It would have been injudicious and impracticable to undertake repairs and reconstructions simultaneously in the whole building; hence, while the extent of the work was consistently kept before Congress, so as to relieve the department from censure in case of accidents in the interim, actual building operations were confined to and successively obtained for the reconstruction and fitting up of the two wings, the upper stories of which were totally burnt out.

It is proper to mention that all the department buildings in the city owned by the government have now incombustible and mostly absolutely fire-proof roofs, with the sole exception of the old wings of the Patent Office building, the construction of which dates from a period when the advanced systems now employed were little known, and still less appreciated, here and elsewhere.

The stately looking main portico on F street, a copy from the Parthenon of ancient Athens, is a huge tinder-box overhead, no less than the roof, the wing with which it freely communicates. In its loft is a spacious hall for the safe-keeping of models. Dry-rot has lately attacked the wood-work, leaks are constantly springing all over the roof, the plastering is loose and falling, and the floor isunsafe.