52. Commanding officers' quarters, single set; 2 story, with addition, 13 rooms, closets, bath, and cellar, 43 by 37 feet main building, 36 by 17 feet addition; wooden and shingle roof.

53. Guardhouse (new); 1 story, 72 by 31 feet; wooden building, shingle roof. 54. Bath house; 1 story, size, 38 by 37 feet; wooden building, shingle roof. 55. Stove shed; 1 story, 20 by 60 feet; wooden building, shingle roof.

56. Vegetable cellar and substorehouse; 1 story, 20 by 60 feet; wooden building, shingle roof.

57. Post exchange; 1 story, 7 rooms, size 69 by 77 feet; wooden building, shingle roof.

Fences; sidewalks.

There is no National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in the vast region of country lying west of Leavenworth, Kans., and north of Los Angeles, Cal. A great many soldiers are moving from the Eastern to the Western States. As legislation is now pending to admit to these Homes, as well as the State Homes, all disabled soldiers and sailors who have no adequate means for support, who served in the regular or volunteer forces of the United States in any war in which the country has been engaged, the demand for admittance to these Homes will continue to increase for many years. A large proportion of the volunteers serving in the Philippines enlisted from the Northwestern section of the United States, as will be observed from a perusal of the following table:

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, May 5, 1900.

SIR: Replying to your letter of the 1st instant to the Secretary of War, in which you ask to be advised of the approximate number of men who enlisted in the Volunteer Army during the past two years from the States of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, which information you desire for consideration in connection with the establishment of a Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, I have the honor to inform you that the number of volunteer troops enlisted for the United States serv ice under the act of March 2, 1899, and the number of officers and men mustered in under the President's calls of 1898, is as follows:

To these are to be added the Second United States Volunteer Cavalry, which was raised from Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, 1,009 officers and men, and a battalion of the Third United States Volunteer Cavalry from Montana, 335 officers and

men.

Very respectfully,

Hon. GEORGE L. SHOUP,

United States Senate.

H. C. CORBIN, Adjutant-General.

The accompanying letter from the junior vice-commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Washington and Alaska, indicates the crowded condition of the State Home of Washington and the Branch of the National Home in California. The legislature of Idaho and Washington have both passed joint memorials favoring the establishment of the proposed home, copies of which are hereto attached.

SEATTLE, WASH., April 20, 1900.

DEAR SIR AND COMRADE: I note by the Spokesman-Review, of Spokane, Wash., your effort in the interest of the soldiers of the war of the rebellion in trying to secure Fort Sherman for a National Soldiers' Home. In behalf of the comrades of the Department of Washington and Alaska, Grand Army of the Republic, I thank you. It is something very much needed, as the National Home in California and the Soldiers' Home of the State of Washington are full to overflow, and hundreds of old worthy comrades on this coast, with nowhere to lay their heads, are dying for the want of proper care.

We implore you to help us secure this abandoned fort, with its buildings now standing and ready to alleviate the suffering comrades of the great Northwest and the Pacific coast. If you, as a comrade, will appeal to President McKinley, as a comrade, it will relieve a great many suffering comrades at the present time. I have written to Senator Foster, and will at once write the remainder of the Washington delegation to help us in this matter. Two comrades died in the past week in the city of Spokane alone, with pneumonia, simply because we had no place to care for them properly in their last hour.

Again thanking you for your kindness in this matter, I remain,
Respectfully, yours, in F., C., and L.,

R. B. SCOTT,

Junior Vice-Commander Department Washington and Alaska, 1610 Fifth Avenue, Spokane, Wash.

Hon. GEORGE A. SHOUP,

Washington, D. C.

House joint memorial No. 13.

To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled: Your memorialists, the legislature of the State of Idaho, respectfully represent: That a military post having been establised at the city of Spokane, State of Washington, Fort Sherman, at the city of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, will in all probability be abandoned.

Your memorialists further represent:

That the said Fort Sherman is admirably situated for a National Soldiers' Home, its site being most healthful, as shown by the records of the Medical Department of the United States Army; that there are now upon the grounds all necessary buildings for such purpose; that upon the military reservation there is an abundance of agricultural land for the use of such an establishment, and that an institution of this proposed character can be established with but little cost for building or land.

Your memorialists further represent:

That the proposal to establish a Home at Fort Sherman, after its abandonment by the Government, has been indorsed by most of the posts of the Grand Army of the Republic of this State.

Your memorialists would therefore respectfully ask that a National Soldiers' Home be established at Fort Sherman, city of Coeur d'Alene, State of Idaho; and your memorialists will ever pray.

Passed the house March 1, 1897.

Passed the senate March 6, 1897.

A. H. ALFORD, Speaker of the House.

GEO. F. Moore, President of the Senate.

Approved March 8, 1897.

FRANK STEUNENBERG,

Governor.

[Executive department, secretary's office, State of Idaho.]

I, George J. Lewis, secretary of the State of Idaho, do hereby certify that the annexed is a full, true, and complete transcript of house joint memorial No. 13, which was filed in this office the 9th day of March, A. D. 1897, and admitted to record.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the great seal of the State.

Done at Boise City, the capital of Idaho, this 13th day of March, A. D. 1897. [SEAL.] GEO. J. LEWIS, Secretary of State.

SR-3-53

House joint memorial No. 16.

A MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS IN REGARD TO A NATIONAL SOLDIERS' HOME AT FORT SHERMAN, IDAHO, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled:

Whereas by act of Congress and the orders of the War Department, the troops will at an early date be removed from Fort Sherman to the newly established military post at Spokane, Wash.; and

Whereas the present site of Fort Sherman, with all of its buildings and improvements, will be worthless to the United States and can not be sold for any very great amount of money; and

Whereas it is located at the north end of Coeur d'Alene Lake, a beautiful body of water upon which are many steamers, with Coeur d'Alene City near by with good railroad facilities; and

Whereas there is not a National Soldiers' Home in the extreme northwestern States: Therefore we earnestly ask that you give this matter due consideration and establish a National Home upon the site of Fort Sherman, in order that those men who defended the country's flag in time of peril may have a pleasant, healthy place to spend their last days upon earth; and that a copy of this memorial be sent to each of our Senators and members of the House of Representatives in Congress.

I, S. P. Camsi, chief clerk house of representatives, do hereby certify that said above House joint memorial No. 16 was regularly introduced by Hon. C. E. Mohundro, of Spokane, on the 20th day of February, 1897, and, after passing house and senate, was signed by the governor March 3, 1897. Witness my hand this 9th day of March, 1897.

S. P. CAMSI, Chief Clerk.

In view of the fact that this Branch Home can be established without the Government purchasing land or of erecting but few, if any, additional buildings, and the further fact that there is no National Home in that section of the country, your committee believe the proposed measure is very meritorious, and urgently recommend favorable action.