879. Organization.-The Signal Corps shall consist of one Chief Signal Officer with the rank of brigadier-general, one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, four majors, fourteen captains, fourteen first lieutenants,1 eighty first-class sergeants, one hundred and twenty sergeants, one hundred and fifty corporals, two hundred and fifty firstclass privates, one hundred and fifty second-class privates, and ten cooks. Sec. 24, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 754).

880. Same-Increase.-There shall be added to the Signal Corps of the Army, as now authorized by law, one lieutenant-colonel, two majors, four captains, and four first lieutenants. Act of Mar. 2, 1903 (32 Stat. 932).

881. Chief of telegraph and cypher bureau.-That the President be, and is hereby, authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an officer of the Signal Corps as chief of the telegraph and cipher bureau of the Executive Office, who shall have, while so serving, the rank, pay, and allowances of a major. Id.

1Section 24 of the act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 754), contains a proviso to the effect that "vacancies created or caused by this section shall be filled by promotion of officers of the Signal Corps according to seniority, as now provided by law. Vacancies remaining after such promotions may be filled by appointment of persons who have served in the Volunteer Signal Corps since April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight."

But one officer was ever appointed to this office, and on his retirement the office was allowed to lapse.

882. Appropriations for support.—On and after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, the appropriations for the support of the Signal Corps of the Army shall be made with those of other staff corps of the Army. Sec 9, Act of Oct. 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653).

883. Moneys from sales to replace supplies and equipment.-Hereafter all moneys arising from the disposition of serviceable Signal Corps supplies and equipment, authorized by law and regulations, shall constitute one fund on the books of the Treasury Department and be available during the fiscal year in which their disposition was effected and the year following, for the replacement of Signal Corps supplies and equipment. Act of Apr. 27, 1914 (38 Stat. 361).

APPOINTMENTS; PROMOTIONS; DETAILS.

884. Examinations.-All appointments and promotions in the Sig nal Corps shall be made after examination and approval under sections twelve hundred and six and twelve hundred and seven of the Revised Statutes, which are hereby amended so as to be applicable to and to provide for the promotion of the lieutenants of the Signal Corps in the same manner as they now apply to the Corps of Engineers and the Ordnance Corps.1 Sec. 7, Act of Oct. 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653).

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885. Promotions-Seniority.-So long as there remain any officers holding permanent appointments in the Signal Corps, including those appointed to original vacancies in the grades of captain and first lieutenant as provided in sections sixteen, seventeen, twenty-one, and twenty-four of this act, they shall be promoted according to seniority in the several grades, as now provided by law, and nothing herein contained shall be deemed to apply to vacancies which can be filled by such promotions or to the periods for which the officers so promoted shall hold their appointments. Sec. 26, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 755).

886. Same.-The vacancies thus created or caused shall be filled first by the promotion of officers of the Signal Corps, according to seniority, and thereafter by details from the line of the Army.2 Act of Mar. 2, 1903 (32 Stat. 932).

887. Details. When any vacancy, except that of the chief of the department or corps, shall occur which can not be filled by promotion as provided in this section, it shall be filled by detail from the line of the Army. Sec. 26, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 755).

'This clause regulates the promotion, after examination, of officers holding permanent appointments in the Signal Corps.

2

The clause relating to the transfer of officers of the line to the Signal Corps was repealed by the act of February 2, 1901. Appointments to original vacancies created or caused by that enactment are governed by the requirements of section 24 of said act of February 2, 1901.

'See paragraph 884.

888. Same. Such details shall be made from the grade in which the vacancies exist, under such system of examination as the President may from time to time prescribe. Id.

889. Aviation details.-From and after the passage and approval of this Act the pay and allowances that are now or may be hereafter fixed by law for officers of the Regular Army shall be increased thirty-five per centum for such officers as are now or may be hereafter detailed by the Secretary of War on aviation duty: Provided, That this increase of pay and allowances shall be given to such officers only as are actual flyers of heavier than air craft, and while so detailed: Provided further, That no more than thirty officers shall be detailed to the aviation service: Provided further, That paragraph two of section twenty-six of an Act of Congress approved February second, nineteen hundred and one, entitled "An Act to increase the efficiency of the permanent military establishment of the United States," shall not limit the tour of detail to aviation duty of officers below the grade of lieutenant colonel: Provided further, That nothing in this provision shall be construed to increase the total number of officers now in the Regular Army. Act of Mar. 2, 1913 (37 Stat. 705).

ENLISTED FORCE.

890. Composition.-The Signal Corps shall consist of

eighty first-class sergeants,1 one hundred and twenty sergeants, one hundred and fifty corporals, two hundred and fifty first-class privates, one hundred and fifty second-class privates, and ten cooks. Sec. 24, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 754).

891. Same-Increase.-Hereafter second-class privates of the Signal Corps shall be designated as privates, with the same pay and alowances as now allowed by law to second-class privates. Fifty first-class sergeants may be temporarily added to the Signal Corps for service in the Philippine Islands and Alaska; such additional force, or part thereof, to be continued only as long as in the opinion of the Secretary of War (or the President) it may be necessary for the efficiency of the Army. Act of June 30, 1902 (32 Stat. 509).

892. Same-Increased in war time.-In time of war there shall be added to the Signal Corps of the Army ten corporals and one hun

1 The Army appropriation act of April 23, 1904 (33 Stat. 261), made provision for an increase of the enlisted men of the Signal Corps; and the current appropriation act (act of Mar. 2, 1913, 37 Stat. 707), provides for a further increase the number authorized being as follows:

"Forty-two master signal electricians, at $900 each; 135 first-class sergeants, at $540 each; 144 sergeants, at $36 per month each; 24 cooks, at $30 per month each; 156 corporals, at $24 per month each; 552 first-class privates, at $18 per month each; 168 privates, at $15 per month each." Provision is also made for additional pay to 12 sergeants serving as mess sergeants, at $6 per month each, and for additional pay for length of service.

dred first-class privates, who shall have the pay and allowances of engineer troops of the same grade. Sec. 3, Act of Apr. 26 1898 (30 Stat. 365).

SIGNAL OFFICE.

893. Chief Signal Officer-Duties.-The Chief Signal Officer shall have charge, under the direction of the Secretary of War, of all military signal duties, and of books, papers, and devices connected therewith, including telegraph and telephone apparatus and the necessary meteorological instruments for use on target ranges, and other military uses; the construction, repair, and operation of military telegraph lines, and the duty of collecting and transmitting information for the Army by telegraph or otherwise, and all other duties usually pertaining to military signaling; and the operations of said corps shall be confined to strictly military matters.1 Sec. 2, Act of Oct. 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653).

894. Same-Regulations.-The Chief Signal Officer, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, is hereby authorized and directed to draw up and enforce in his Bureau a system of rules and regulations for the government of the Signal Bureau, and of all persons in said Bureau, and for the safe-keeping and preservation of all Signal Service property of every kind, and to direct and prescribe the kind, number, and form of all returns and reports, and to enforce compliance therewith. Act of Oct. 12, 1888 (25 Stat. 552).

895. Skilled draftsmen, etc.-The services of skilled draftsmen and such other services as the Secretary of War may deem necessary may be employed only in the Signal Office to carry into effect the various appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, to be paid from such appropriations, in addition to the foregoing employees appropriated for in the Signal Office: Provided, That the Secretary of War shall each year in the annual estimates report to Congress the number of persons so employed, their duties, and the amount paid to each.2 Act of Mar. 4, 1913 (37 Stat. 764).

'The act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653), contained the requirement that "the civilian duties now performed by the Signal Corps of the Army shall hereafter devolve upon a bureau to be known as the Weather Bureau, which, on and after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, shall be established in and attached to the Department of Agriculture, and the Signal Corps of the Army shall remain a part of the Military Establishment under the direction of the Secretary of War, and all estimates for its support shall be included with other estimates for the support of the Military Establishment." Section 4 of this enactment, which authorized the detail of officers of the Signal Corps in the Weather Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, was repealed by joint resolution No. 57, of July 8, 1898 (30 Stat. 752). This enactment finally severed the statutory connection of this corps with the Weather Bureau.

This provision has appeared annually in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act.