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pertains will be stated; for example: "Payable by the Navy Department, Bureau of Ordnance." Accounts in duplicate, supported by these bills of lading, will be prepared by any quartermaster to whom they may be presented, and will be forwarded to the Quartermaster-General. In making up the accounts the same plan as to deduction on account of land-grant or bond-aided railroads will be pursued as in accounts for transportation of other Government property.—A. R., 1129.

185. Under A. R. 1129, accounts payable by the Navy Department should be forwarded to the Quartermaster-General without the signature to the receipt of the party to whom the accounts are payable. Bills of lading on which shipments for the Navy Department are made should have noted on their face the naval bureau concerned, the appropriation from which the freight charges are payable, the number of the requisition or order authorizing the shipment, and the shipment number given by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts.-Par. 37, Q. M. Manual, 1896. Transportation will be furnished, under A. R. 1129, for freight received from officers or agents of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Hartford, Conn.Par. 37, Q. M. Manual, 1896.

186. The Quartermaster's Department is authorized to ship (under the regulations governing the transportation of military property, and on the same forms of bills of lading) articles donated to the Medical Museum at Washington, the library and museum of the Military Service Institution at Governors Island, New York, or the United States Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. Packages will be marked with the name of the institution, and sent in care of depot quartermaster at Washington or New York, or quartermaster at West Point.—A. R., 1130.

187. Arms, ordnance stores, and quartermaster's supplies issued to the several States and Territories under the laws for arming and equipping the militia will be turned over to the Quartermaster's Department for transportation and delivery at the railroad depot or steamboat dock nearest to the point within the State or Territory designated by the governor thereof. Separate bills of lading will be used in shipping this property.-A. R., 1131.

188. At the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, no demand for shipment of material on account of the Agricultural Department will be honored unless made over the signature of the Secretary of Agriculture or that of the Chief of the Division of Accounts.-Q. M. Manual, par. 35, 1896.

189. A quartermaster is authorized to transport books and musical instruments purchased for or donated to post chapels or to post or company libraries.—A. R., 1132.

TRANSPORTATION FOR GYMNASTIC AND ATHLETIC APPLIANCES.

190. The Quartermaster's Department is authorized to transport gymnastic and athletic appliances, purchased with regimental or company funds, for the use of the troops, from the nearest market to the post or station of the troops. -Decision Sec. War, Feb. 3, 1896–31617 A. G. O., 1896; Cir. 2, A. G. O., 1896.

BILLS OF LADING.

191. Public property will be transported on bills of lading, which will be numbered consecutively in the order of shipment, beginning with the first shipment of each fiscal year. They will consist of two parts, the original and duplicate, each to be certified by the shipping officer and receipted by the carrier.—A. R., 1133.

192. Bills of lading will be prepared in the name of the carrier, and will show the points between which transportation is required, also places of original departure and ultimate destination of the freight.-A. R., 1134.

193. Bills of lading will show the number, marks, contents, and weight or measurement of each package or class of packages to be transported, as follows.—A. R.,

1135.

Via (the route to be stated, giving the initials of each road, if practicable).

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The contents should be shown in sufficient detail to enable the Quartermaster's Department to recover in case of loss, as well as to know in all cases what was actually transported.

194. In the transportation of baggage with officers or troops, the bill of lading should show plainly whether the whole weight specified in the bill is to be paid for by the United States, or whether a deduction is to be made for the number of pounds allowed each passenger by the carrier. In the latter case, if the actual number of pounds to be deducted is not known, the number of persons receiving transportation will be stated.-A. R., 113.

195. Personal baggage of officers will not be shipped on Government bill of lading, except such quantity as is transported at Government expense in change of station, unless transportation by wagon or other conveyance owned by the United States is furnished.-A. R., 1137.

196. In transporting by rail, the number of animals, number and weight of packages, number of feet of lumber or pieces of timber and dimensions will be expressed in the bill of lading in figures as well as number of carloads; and when transportation is to be paid for by weight, the number of pounds will be stated. In shipments by water at cubic measurement, the same rules as to number, weight, and measurement will be observed. The officer receiving the property, in certifying to its correctness, will write out the weight in words and figures.-A. R.,

1138.

197. Erasures, interlineations, or alterations in bills of lading must be explained thereon by the issuing or other competent officer over his signature.—A. R., 1139. 198. In no case will a second original or duplicate bill of lading, or a copy of a bill of lading, be issued to the carrier for any shipment, nor will a bill of lading be issued after the transportation service has been performed.--A. R., 1140.

199. The rate of transportation charges and the initial letters of each road by which the supplies are to be transmitted will be inserted in the bill of lading.—A. R.,

1141.

200. The original bill of lading will be given to the carrier at the time the shipment is made, and upon the delivery of the property in good order and condition will be receipted by the consignee and returned to the carrier with such further indorsement as may be necessary to insure settlement. The duplicate will be promptly transmitted by the shipping officer to the consignee, and upon delivery of the property will be receipted in like manner as the original and forwarded to the paying officer. If the shipping officer is not the paying officer, he will be notified by letter of the receipt of the supplies and their condition when received.—A. R., 1142.

201. Bills of lading will be made payable by the chief quartermaster of the department in which the supplies are to be delivered, unless some other officer has been designated to pay them.-A. R., 1143.

202. Bills of lading issued for supplies to be forwarded by conveyance owned or leased by the Government will show that no payment is to be made for the service.-A. R., 1144.

203. Transportation should be provided to ultimate destination and on through bills of lading when practicable. When not practicable, or when through or special rates can not be secured, transportation will be furnished to the most convenient point for forwarding to ultimate destination or to the farthest point to which through or special rates can be obtained.-A. R., 1145.

204. In transportation of public stores over a line of roads, one of which is land grant and subject to deduction of rates, or is not entitled to payment for transporting such stores, separate bills of lading, stating that it is land grant, may be issued to it if requested.-A. R., 1146.

205. Bills of lading will not be issued so as to include service beyond the termination of any road owned, leased, controlled, or operated by a bond-aided railroad company. When such service is required, separate bills of lading will be issued, but none to include service over more than one bond-aided road with its leased lines and branches; the issue of separate bills for through transportation is for the convenience of railroads only, in settling their accounts, and will not commit the United States to the payment of local rates for any portion of the through transportation. Such bills will indicate the point of original departure and ultimate destination of the freight transported.—A. R., 1147.

206. In the absence of the consignee or on his failure to receipt, the officer receipting will certify that he is duly authorized to do so, and why the consignee does not receipt. Clerks and agents are not authorized to receipt bills of lading unless the stores are consigned to them or to their care.-A. R., 1148.

207. In case of loss or damage to property while in possession of the carrier, the bills of lading will not be receipted until such loss or damage is decided upon and the responsibility therefor fixed, except that when the loss or damage has been ascertained and the responsibility fixed without the action of a board the bill may be receipted and an indorsement made thereon stating the kind of property lost or damaged, its weight or measurement, its full value including cost of transportation, and the name of the company or party responsible therefor. When a receipted bill of lading is demanded by the carrier, it may be receipted by the receiving officer after noting thereon the loss or damage which is apparent, and adding that final settlement will await the action of a board of survey. All the indorsements of the receiving officer on the original bill of lading will be put upon the duplicate.—A. R.,

1149.

208. Payment will be made on the original bill of lading properly receipted and accomplished, but not until the duplicate has been received by the paying officer, except as provided in the following paragraph.-A. R., 1150.

209. In case of loss or destruction of one part of the bill of lading, the paying officer, after satisfying himself of the fact, will report it to the Quartermaster-General with recommendation as to payment.-A. R., 1151.

210. In case both parts of the bill of lading have been lost or destroyed, the shipping officer, upon the application of either the carrier, the consignee, or the

paying officer, will issue a certificate in duplicate, in the prescribed form. This certificate may be given by the officer in charge of the records of the post or depot, although he may not have made the shipment. Entry should be made in the shipping book of the loss of both parts of the bill of lading, and of the fact that the certificate has been issued. The certificate will be forwarded to the consignee, who will indorse thereon his certificate as to the receipt of the property and its condition. If a board of survey has acted on the shipment, he will attach a copy of the proceedings to the certificate.-A. R., 1152.

211. A shipping officer will give his certificate only when necessary to enable the carrier to receive payment, and not until he has satisfied himself, by correspondence with the officer to whom the stores were shipped and the officer designated to make payment, that neither part is in their possession. He will also require the affidavit of the carrier, stating that neither part of the bill of lading is in his possession nor can be traced by him, and if subsequently found that he will make no demand thereon, but will at once surrender it to the United States. Upon this evidence, and with the authority of the Quartermaster-General, payment may be made for the service. In case either or both parts of the bill of lading should subsequently be recovered by the shipping officer, he will note the fact in the shipping book and forward the same to the Quartermaster-General.-A. R., 1153.

212. Officers will satisfy themselves of the loss of the original bill of lading before they surrender the duplicate to the carrier. If lost while in the possession of an officer, his certificate will be sufficient.-A. R., 1154.

213. In case of the loss of bill of lading while stores are in transit, railroad companies are requested to forward them to destination, taking such receipts as they may deem necessary to show delivery to connecting lines. They will present these receipts, instead of the bill of lading, to the disbursing quartermaster, who, after having satisfied himself of their correctness, will make payment as directed in paragraph 216.-A. R., 1155,

214. Payment in case of loss of either or both parts of a bill of lading will be promptly reported to the Quartermaster-General by the disbursing officer, who will give description of bill of lading, or certificate, and voucher on which payment is made.-A. R., 1156.

215. To insure prompt delivery of stores in the absence of both parts of the bill of lading, the consignee may give to the carrier a receipt for the stores actually delivered, which will state that it is given because the bill of lading has not come to hand. The receipt will be recovered and destroyed by the officer who issued it on the recovery of the bills of lading, or when the certificate provided for in paragraph 213 shall have been given.-A. R., 1157.

216. Payment for transportation will be made to the last carrier, unless otherwise provided in the bill of lading, and only for the quantity of stores delivered at destination, except that in case of loss of weight from natural shrinkage en route, the weight shipped, as shown in bill of lading, will be paid for, provided the packages are delivered intact. The payee will be held responsible for all loss or damage to stores while in transit (unless relieved by a board of survey), and such loss or damage will be deducted in making settlement for the service.-A. R., 1158.

217. Officers in settling accounts for transportation, or forwarding them to the Quartermaster-General for settlement, will obtain from the companies or lines employed authentic and official lists of tariffs in force at date of service, and will attach to the first account so settled or forwarded two copies thereof (one for the use of that office and one for the Treasury), and thereafter, as each account is settled or forwarded, will refer to said lists as long as they are in force. When current rates are charged, a certificate of the proper agent of the line or company performing the service should be appended to the account, setting forth that such rates were the current and lowest rates charged the public at the time the service was rendered. When charges such as drayage, wharfage, tolls, etc., are made as part of an account, they will be fully and separately set forth in the voucher.—A. R., 1159.

218. When public tariffs do not include the specific articles shipped, the rates and classification of articles analogous thereto will govern. If articles analogous can not be found in the tariff lists, the companies will be requested to classify the articles transported.-A. R., 1160.

219. Dates of shipment as expressed in bills of lading, and not dates of accomplishment, determine the fiscal year from which payment should be made.-Q. M. Manual, 1896, par. 38.

LAND-GRANT AND BOND-AIDED RAILROADS.

220. General orders will be issued containing full information as to land-grant and bond-aided railroads, and directing the mode of stating and rendering accounts of such roads for military transportation.-A. R., 1161.

221. Quartermasters will be designated to receive and prepare the accounts of these railroad companies.-A. R., 1162.

222. Where transportation is required over a land-grant or bond-aided road that has leased the use of its track to another road, it will be ordered from the land-grant or bond-aided company.-Q. M. Manual, par. 40, 1896.

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