LAND.

By the President:
T.F. BAYARD,
_Secretary of State_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 12, 1885_.

Under a provision of an act of Congress entitled "An act making
appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, and for
the armament thereof, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, and for
other purposes," approved March 3, 1885, a board, to consist of the
officers and civilians hereinafter named, is appointed to "examine and
report at what ports fortifications or other defenses are most urgently
required, the character and kind of defenses best adapted for each, with
reference to armament," and "the utilization of torpedoes, mines, or
other defensive appliances:" Hon. William C. Endicott, Secretary of War,
president of the board; Brigadier-General Stephen V. Benet, Chief of
Ordnance; Brigadier-General John Newton, Chief of Engineers;
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers; Captain Charles
S. Smith, Ordnance Department; Commander W.T. Sampson, United States
Navy; Commander Caspar F. Goodrich, United States Navy; Mr. Joseph
Morgan, jr., of Pennsylvania; Mr. Erastus Corning, of New York.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1885_.

Under the provisions of section 4 of the act approved March 3, 1883, it
is hereby ordered that the several Executive Departments, the Department
of Agriculture, and the Government Printing Office be closed on
Saturday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in
the decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the
rebellion.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution,
and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of
the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16,
1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement of the
executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as follows:

RULE XI.

1. Every application, in order to entitle the applicant to appear for
examination or to be examined, must state under oath the facts on the
following subjects: (1) Full name, residence, and post-office address;
(2) citizenship; (3) age; (4) place of birth; (5) health and physical
capacity for the public service; (6) right of preference by reason of
military or naval service; (7) previous employment in the public
service; (8) business or employment and residence for the previous fiv