Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And such a house will last several years?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. When you say "several years," about what definite number of years do you mean, if it is made of redwood? It is stated that the redwood shingles will last a long number of years when they sell them to us.

Col. MCCAWLEY. Probably Admiral Stanford can better answer that question than I can.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you say about that, Admiral-the durability of the redwood?

Admiral STANFORD. It will last many, many years. I do not recall the relative price of redwood and fir, but I feel very sure that redwood is almost as cheap in first cost as fir, as redwood is obtained in that vicinity, while the fir would probably come from Washington or Oregon.

How

The CHAIRMAN. That would make these houses cost $38 a man, and if they were to last 10 years, it would mean $3.80 a year. many men will your $200,000 barracks house?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Four hundred and fifty, we estimate.

The CHAIRMAN. Four hundred and fifty men and will cost $200,000? Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir; a little over $400, I think, a man. Admiral STANFORD. $444.44.

Col. MCCAWLEY. But then you would have a building which would probably last forever, a fireproof building.

The CHAIRMAN. What would be the expense of maintenance of that building?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Considerably less than it would be on a frame building. There would be no paint required, and I should think hardly any exterior repairs, and the interior repairs would be minimized, and none should be made for many years, because the interior is all of concrete and steel. Our new barracks construction has concrete floors and brick walls, with no plaster of any kind.

The CHAIRMAN. And what is the cost of the care?

Col. MCCAWLEY. The care is all by the enlisted men. These small houses are heated by oil stoves. At Mare Island each one has a little stove in it.

The CHAIRMAN. One stove to each house?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir. That takes a good deal of oil and a good many stoves.

Mr. ROBERTS. Do you heat the tents in the same way?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir; and if a fire should take place it would probably burn these little houses all at once.

The CHAIRMAN. How for are they apart?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Only a few feet; they are built just like the tents. I should think if you had a whole garrison housed in these little buildings it would resemble Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, or some of those places where the people go for the summer and live in small cottages huddled close together.

Mr. ROBERTS. How about the sanitary arrangements?

Col. MCCAWLEY. They have central latrines for that purpose in a small building. Only 13 of these little houses have been built so far, only an experiment as a temporary expedient to save money on tentage and with no idea of permanent construction.

Mr. ROBERTS. The men can not be as conveniently housed as in the barracks?

Col. MCCAWLEY. No, sir; not nearly so. They have to go out for all their meals, toilet purposes, and amusements. If a man has to leave his bunk at night for any purpose he has to go outdoors, and in the long rainy season on that coast this is most disagreeable.

Mr. ROBERTS. And I suppose it is hard to keep track of the men? Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir. They are not under control nearly as well as when in the rooms of the barracks, where they are under the eye of noncommissioned officers all the time.

Mr. ROBERTS. How do they light the tents and the little houses? Col. MCCAWLEY. I think they have run a string of electric lights through the little houses. The tents there are lighted in the same

manner.

Mr. ROBERTS. In this house system you have no central place where the men can meet?

Col. MCCAWLEY. No, sir; each little house is a home of its own for the eight men.

Admiral STANFORD. At the time of my visit to the barracks last summer, I was forcibly impressed with the inadequacy and unsatisfactory conditions that obtained in the sick bay, in the washrooms, in the gallery room, in the mess hall, and in the toilet rooms forming part of the marine establishment. The barracks are overcrowded and are so inadequate for the service which they are rendering as to make the need for additional facilities necessary and immediate, if men are to be continued in the number which were on duty at the time of my visit.

Mr. ROBERTS. Are there any arrangements for bathing in these latrines?

Admiral STANFORD. They have shower baths.

Mr. ROBERTS. But no tubs?

Col. MCCAWLEY. No, sir.

Mr. ROBERTS. You have tubs in the barracks?

Col. MCCAWLEY. In the permanent barracks we have a few tubs, but we are not installing many tubs in the new barracks. Mr. ROBERTS. Mostly showers?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Almost entirely. We put one tub in each washroom for men who are not accustomed to take showers, like old soldiers who might rather get in a tub, catering to some individual taste, but we induce the new men to take the showers. It is a quicker way to bathe, and much more cleanly, besides being more economical to install and replace.

The $75,000 will construct quarters for 12 officers, which is really not enough, because with a battalion of men there are 15 officers, but this will give us a start and we can ask for more the succeeding year. There will be only 4 buildings, a set of bachelor quarters, which will accommodate 8, another set of quarters for married officers which will accommodate 2, and 2 single houses which will hold 1 officer each.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is "Marine barracks, Puget Sound, Wash. Improvements of disciplinary barracks, $6,000." Please explain that item, Colonel.

Col. MCCAWLEY. That is an item that I know nothing about. I assume that it was submitted by the judge advocate of the Navy.

Our old barrack at Puget Sound, which we have abandoned by moving into the new barrack authorized by the Congress, which has just been completed, has been taken over by the Navy for the use of disciplinary prisoners. It needed a good many repairs which, of course, we could not put on, and it would not have been fair to ask us to do so. I assume that this is for the improvement of these barracks, but probably Capt. Russell, the Judge Advocate General, can tell you more about it than I can.

Admiral STANFORD. The Bureau of Yards and Docks recently allotted $5,000 for repairs to that building, principally for the purchase of material, it being proposed to use prison labor. The necessary modification and improvements, when the building was first assigned for use as disciplinary barracks, were estimated to cost $10,000, but the allotment of $5,000 was sufficient when combined with the use of prison labor. This additional item of $6,000 here requested is probably one upon which the Judge Advocate General can give more information.

The CHAIRMAN. If you allotted $5,000, which in connection with the prison labor was supposed to complete the necessary repairs, you have no idea what this money is to be used for?

Admiral STANFORD. I do not know what this particular amount was intended for. There may be extensions or modifications about which I have not heard and know nothing.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Shooting gallery, $2,500." Please explain that item, Colonel.

Col. MCCAWLEY. That is another item that I have no knowledge of. It was not submitted by the Quartermaster's Department of the Marine Corps. It may have come from that station to the director of navy yards, and he may have approved it, and the Secretary authorized it to go into the estimates, but I know nothing about it. The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "One set bachelor quarters for eight officers, $35,000." Please explain that item, Colonel.

Col. MCCAWLEY. That is an item which I submitted. A new barracks has just been completed at this station, capable of housing 385 men, but quarters have been provided for only three married officers or two married officers and four bachelor officers. For this command, which is a battalion, about 15 officers are needed, and in order to provide for them it is suggested that a house for eight bachelor officers be erected, similar to those which have recently been constructed at Philadelphia and Norfolk.

Mr. ROBERTS. Please tell us the rank of the officers required for this battalion of 385 men, and the number in each rank.

Col. MCCAWLEY. The commanding officer of the post.
Mr. ROBERTS. What would his rank be?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Whatever the Commandant of the Marine Corps directed. At present there is a colonel there, and there should be four captains for the command of the companies, four first lieutenants, four second lieutenants, a post adjutant, and a post quartermaster. The quartermaster is a captain or a lieutenant, and the adjutant either a captain or lieutenant, which with the other officers I have enumerated make 15.

Mr. ROBERTS. Is it your practice to put a colonel in charge of a battalion?

Col. MCCAWLEY. It is not the practice to put a colonel in command of a battalion, but we have colonels in command of our principal stations, the largest stations, irrespective of the strength; then at League Island the commanding officer is a colonel, who will be in command of three battalions, which will be his proper command, according to the Army Drill Regulations.

Mr. ROBERTS. Do you have majors in command of any stations? Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir; the smaller stations are under the command of majors.

Mr. ROBERTS. That is the lowest officer in rank?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Unless it was a one-company station, when it would be a captain. At a little station like Key West, where we only have 37 men, we would not have an officer higher than captain in command.

Mr. Foss. By the housing of these officers, and giving them all the modern, up-to-date conveniences, do you not destroy their warlike character?

Col. MCCAWLEY. I would refer you to their recent service in Nicaragua, Santo Domingo, and Cuba. I believe the marines acquitted themselves very creditably on those expeditions, and they have not suffered in efficiency by the comforts of their home surroundings.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii." Were all of the items mentioned here contemplated and embraced in the original estimates submitted with reference to Pearl Harbor?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You are carrying out the program that was originally submitted and which is now being executed?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir; but some of the items have been slightly changed by the department. For instance, the original estimate for the administration building was $25,000, which was cut to $20,000; the quartermaster's storehouse was reduced from $30,000 to $25,000; the stable and outbuildings are omitted entirely; the building containing drill hall, gymnasium, rifle gallery, amusement room, post exchange and library, was reduced from $30,000 to $20,000. The department made those changes in the estimates as originally submitted by my office.

The CHAIRMAN. The estimates submitted several years ago?

Col. MCCAWLEY. No, sir. I mean the estimates as submitted by my office. They vary somewhat from those appearing in the letter the Secretary wrote to Mr. Foss when he was the chairman of the committee, as reference to that letter of January 12, 1911, will show. But they are all reductions.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Marine Barracks, Isthmus of Panama: Erection of barracks, quarters, and other buildings for accommodation of marines, $400,000." How many marines do you contemplate keeping down there?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Five hundred. The department has decided to retain marines permanently on the Isthmus, and the command now there must be moved from its present station at Camp Elliott, Bas Obispo, to another site as soon as the canal is flooded, as owing to the relocation of the Panama Railroad from the west to the east side of the waterway, the latter will be between the post and the railroad over which all supplies are delivered. It is therefore apparent that

steps must be at once taken to provide the necessary accommodation for the battalion of 500 men, and to that end estimates involving $400,000 are submitted for the erection of barracks, quarters, and other buildings necessary for the housing of officers, troops, supplies, etc., on the new site allotted to the Marine Corps on the west side of Ancon Hill, just outside of the city of Panama. It is earnestly recommended that the sum estimated be allowed in lump, as accurate estimates of the cost of each building required can not be submitted at this time, but only the most modest construction consistent with comfort and efficiency is contemplated.

At the present time the marines are housed in temporary wooden buildings left by the French, and owing to the inroads of white ants these old buildings are almost in a state of collapse, and in any event the present station must soon be abandoned.

The CHAIRMAN. This construction that is contemplated there is of a permanent character?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Entirely so.

The CHAIRMAN. Of what material, and so forth?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Of concrete, sir; I should say concrete, or hollow tile or brick; something like that; permanent construction, however. Mr. ROBERTS. Something that the white ants can not eat?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Yes, sir. The site allotted I inspected some months ago. It is on the side of Ancon Hill overlooking the Pacific entrance to the canal. It is probably the best site on the Isthmus, and Col. Goethals personally gave it to the marines, although I understand that other people wanted it. He is very enthusiastic about the work the marines have done down there and is most anxious to have them retained permanently.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is, "Depot of supplies, Philadelphia, Pa.: Additional building, including purchase of site, $175,000." Where is the site that you propose to purchase?

Col. MCCAWLEY. If you are familiar with the present depot, Mr. Chairman, this site is just in the rear of the present building on Washington Avenue, west of Broad, between Broad and Fifteenth Street.

The CHAIRMAN. Why not put this depot over on the navy-yard grounds? We have hundreds of acres there. What is the economy in purchasing high-priced land in the city when we own at the navy yard hundreds of acres of land?

Col. MCCAWLEY. The land desired is not very valuable, but we have a very valuable possession there now, which you have built up gradually, and has cost nearly $500,000 and which is a very efficient manufacturing establishment. To abandon that and to start doing it all over again does not seem to me would be a very desirable thing to do.

The CHAIRMAN. Why not sell the property and consolidate the work at the navy yard? That property in the city is valuable.

Col. MCCAWLEY. No; it is not very valuable, and I do not think we would get anywhere near what we paid for it.

The CHAIRMAN. You manufacture uniforms?

Col. MCCAWLEY. Uniforms and equipment of all kinds. We have extended our operations to such an extent that we have effected a very material saving, so much so that this year I have suggested that the "Clothing" appropriation of last year be reduced over $40,000, due to the economies we have practiced in that plant.