on account of honorable military or naval service, and no clerk having a record of such service was discharged unless his retention in the office would have worked manifest injury to the public service. It is gratifying to be able to state that since the date of the last annual report provision has been made by Congress for the relief of the heirs and legal representatives of the employees of this office who lost their lives in the disaster at the Ford's Theater Building in 1893. Very respectfully, The SECRETARY OF WAR. F. C. AINSWORTH, Colonel, United States Army, Chief Record and Pension Office. REPORT OF THE BOARD OF PUBLICATION OF WAR RECORDS. WAR DEPARTMENT, WAR RECORDS OFFICE, Washington, June 30, 1895. SIR: The Board of Publication of the Official Records of the Rebellion begs leave to submit the following report of its operations during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1895: Eleven thousand copies of Volume XLVI, Part I, have been printed and distributed during the year, and Parts II and III of Volume XLVI, Parts I, II, and III of Volume XLVII, and Part I of Volume XLVIII, all of Series I, have been put in type and indexed. These volumes cover the final campaigns of the war in Virginia and the Carolinas and in the trans-Mississippi region. The remaining volumes of this series will be in type before the close of the current calendar year. Volume I of Series II, relating to prisoners of war, is ready for printing, and will be distributed in July next. Enough matter to fill several volumes of this series has been selected and copied, and the material for a second volume is in the hands of the printer. The remaining volumes of this series are well advanced toward completion. Two volumes of Series IV are in type, and matter for the rest of this series is nearly ready for the printer. The work of examining the records of the War Department and the bureaus with a view to the selection of documents for publication in the third series has been carried on throughout the year. The matter for the year 1861 has been selected, and the examination for the year 1862 is now being made. It is hoped that the matter for this series will be selected and, in great part, copied during the coming fiscal year. Seven parts of the Atlas, including Plates CXXXI to CLXXI (parts 28 to 34) have been engraved, printed, and distributed during the year. The remaining part will be distributed in July, 1895. This will be followed by an index and table of contents, and will complete this important publication. The examination of files and archives and the work of selecting, copying, and comparing material for the remaining volumes of the several series has been continued without interruption during the entire fiscal year. The following notes of work accomplished in the several departments of publication will convey an idea of the variety and amount of labor required in connection with the preparation and publication of the several volumes: 12,163 books have been received, and 31,513 have been distributed; 88,000 copies of parts 27 to 34 of the Atlas to accompany the Official Records of the Rebellion have been received, and 98,511 have been sold and distributed; 8,217 letters, cards, etc., have been received, and 7,385 letters, cards, circulars, etc., have been mailed in response to inquiries; 120,024 labels have been prepared, and 130,024 labels have been compared and verified during the year. During the same period seven books have been indexed, wholly or in part (100,000 cards having been used for this purpose); 54,000 folios of manuscript have been copied and compared; 7,783 pages of proofs, in galleys and page forms, have been examined, and 46,698 sheets of manuscript have been verified, corrected, and prepared for publication. In closing, it again gives the Board great pleasure to recognize the efficient assistance it has received from the officers engaged on the work and from the employés connected with the different departments of the office. Their labors have been zealous and untiring, and the services rendered by them have been entirely satisfactory. GEO. B. DAVIS, Major and Judge-Advocate, U. S. A., President, LESLIE J. PERRY, Civilian Expert, The SECRETARY OF WAR. JOSEPH W. KIRKLEY, Civilian Expert, Board of Publication. |