per cent, of the total strength of the army.

_#The Navy Department.#_--The Navy Department was established April 30,
1798. There is one assistant secretary. The routine work of the
department is distributed among eight bureaus: (1) of Yards and Docks,
(2) of Equipment and Recruiting, (3) of Navigation, (4) of Ordinance,
(5) of Construction and Repair, (6) of Steam Engineering, (7) of
Provisions and Clothing, (8) of Medicine and Surgery. The chiefs of the
bureaus are officers of the United States Navy. There is a hydrographic
office attached to the bureau of navigation, which prepares maps, charts
and nautical books relating to navigation, and makes investigations
concerning marine meteorology. This Department has charge of the Naval
Observatory for which a new set of buildings is now being built at
Washington. The Department publishes yearly, for the guidance of seamen,
the nautical almanac, the preparation of which is intrusted to a
separate bureau. The department also compiles and publishes naval
records of the recent war, and has charge of the Naval Academy at
Annapolis, Maryland. The Officers of the Navy upon the active list
include one admiral, one vice-admiral, six rear-admirals, and ten
commodores. The naval force includes 10,000 officers and men, together
with 2,000 marines. The number of vessels of the United States Navy when
all the ships now authorized are completed, excluding those which by the
process of decay and the operation of law will by that date have been
condemned, will comprise 11 armored and 31 unarmored vessels. The five
stations maintained are the Asiatic, European, North Atlantic, South
Atlantic, and Pacific. The chief matter of present public interest
concerning this department is the creation of a new navy by the
construction of modern steel vessels. This new policy was begun in 1882.

_#The Interior Department.#_--The Interior Department was created in