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* STAFF. 484 STAFF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS. The third section deals with England, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Por- tugal, America, and Asia exclusive of Russian Asia. The fourth section covers the subject of fortifications and fortresses and technical en- gineering aiVairs. The fifth class is a military historical section, and the sixth has charge of all raihvay questions. Each section is in charge of the chief of section, whose staff varies according to the work in hand. All general officers must have served on the general staff, an important essential being that they must have held regi- mental command. In order that officers of other corps or arms of service may be eligible for the rank of general otiicer, every major in the general staff, independent of the arm of the service to which he belongs, is assigned for a period to the command of a battalion of infantry. In France the general staff is not a permanent organization, but is composed of officers tem- porarily assigned from the line. It is directly under the Minister of War as chief, and com- prises the military household of the President, the special staff of the military governments of Paris and Lyons, the staff' of the army corps, divisions, and brigades, the staffs of the fortifi- cation commands, the staffs of the marshals of France, the military attaches abroad, and the staffs of the artillery and engineer commands. The general staff' of the army is under the chief, who has three brigadier-generals as assistants, and comprises four military bureaus (one for organization and mobilization, one for studying foreign armies, one for military operations and education, and one for railroads), and five sec- tions (one for personal matters relating to the general staff, one for materiel, one for Algiers and Tunis, one for history, and one for land siirvey). The general staff' together with the Ministry of War administers the affairs of the army. The War Ministry is subdivided into bureaus corresponding to the sections of the Ger- man greater general staff. The army staff itself is under a general of division, called the chief of staff, who is himself assisted by three other superior officers with their subordinates. The staff has its own sections, bureaus, and special services, and is occupied with the organization and mobilization details of the army, the pro- curation of information regarding that of for- eign armies, instruction, railways. In the Italian army system the general staflf constitutes the second division of the war uni- versity and has in charge the preparations for war. It is subdivided into divisions and sec- tions which are known as the 'office in charge of the Eastern or the Austro-Italian frontiers,' the 'office in charge of the Western or Swiss and French frontiers,' etc. The staff has charge of the archives, geography department, information, intendance, transport, and the Turin War Acad- emy. The chief of staff in time of war is also chief of the intelligence department. In Russia the higher general staff is not prac- tically an independent organization, as is the German Grosser Generalstab. but instead acts entirely under the Ministry of War. which lat- ter consists of various branches. The general staff has to do principally with army organiza- tion, manoeuvres, camps, fortifications, promo- tions, rewards, equipment, remounts, geography, and topography, home and foreign, transport, literature, etc. When it happens that the Czar is not an active military leader the War Min- istry is dominated by the Minister or some con- spicuous and concededly able general officer, who is also a member of the council of war. Regimental Staff. The conunissioncd staff of a regimental commanding officer would con- sist of such oHicers as are not duty officers in the battalion squadron or regiment, as the regi- mental adjutant, quartermaster, commissary, etc. The aides-de-camp of a general officer consti- tute his stall', together with such departmental and technical officers as may be temporarily de- tailed to assist the general in some specific under- taking. The NoN-CoMMi.ssiOKEi) Staff consists of non- commissioned olficers not forming part of the company establishment proper and who have relationship onlj' to the battalion, squadron, or regiment, as sergeant major (battalion or regi- mental ), quartermaster-.sergeant ( regimental ) , commissary sergeant (regimental), chief musi- cian, chief trumpeters, and principal musician. In the United States armj' non-commissioned officers doing duty as part of tlie permanent es- tablishment of an army post or fort are termed the post non-comiii issioni'd staff, which ordinarily consists of an ordnance sergeant, post quarter- master-sergeant, electrician-sergeant, hospital steward, etc. Throughout the armies of Europe battalion, regimental, and post (depot or fort- ress) staff's, commissioned or non-commissioned, include practically the same descriptions of offi- cers. See Staff College.? and Sciiool.s ; Abmy Organization. In the navy the staff does not play as im- portant a part as in the army, nevertheless what is essentially a general staff' is required to con- trol the personnel and direct the movement of fleets, etc. In the United States Navy the term staff officer is applied to those officers who do not belong to the executive or line branch, as surgeons, paymasters, chaplains, etc. STAFF (in music). See Musical Notation ; Neumes. STAFFA, staf'fa. A celebrated but uninhab- ited Scottish islet, one of the Inner Hebrides (q.v. ), seven miles west of Mull (Map: Scot- land, B .3). It rises to a height of 144 feet, is W2 miles in circumference, and oval in shape. Except on the northeast its cliffs hollowed by caverns rise from the water 84 to 112 feet high. There are seven caves, of which the most remark- able is Fingal's or Great Cave. The entrance, formed by regular basaltic columnar ranges on each side, supporting a lofty arch, is 33 feet wide and 65 feet high. The length of the cave is 230 feet. As one of the most perfect and beautiful specimens of natural architectural phe- nomena it is much frequented liy tourists. STAFF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS. IMili- tary training schools for officers candidates for staff' appointments. To prepare officers for duty on the staff of an army special colleges or schools have been instituted by all the leading military nations of the world. (See Military Education.) In the United States there is the General Service and Staff College at Fort Leaven- worth, Kan., to which officers are ordered for their technical and professional instruction, and students showing marked proficiency in their studies are considered to be eligible for staff or other duties for which they are best fitted. lu