Show SIGNlING ON LAND AND SEA Improvised Telegraph and Telephone Lines Used In War From the headquarters of every department de-partment commander of United States troops there went to the sout last week that which a certain general aptly termed the eyes of the army the men and apparatus by which the various detachments of Uncle Sams forces of invasion and occupation will I keep in communication Certainly the I signaling department of the army upon which will devolve the task of freeing Cuba from Spanish rule Is not only one of the most important but also the most interesting ranches of the service ser-vice Its operations are picturesque and its paraphernalia is of a kind to appeal to that element in human nature na-ture which delights in tmystery Among the operations says the Chicago Chi-cago Post for which the signal branch of the army is prepared is that of lay I ing telegraph and telephone wires from the back of a galloping horse taking I observations and photographs of the enemys forces from the basket of an anchored balloon and heliographing our warships while they are still a great distance out at sea Not a few of the most important devices with which the work of signaling will be conducted in Cuba and along the Atlantic At-lantic and gulf coasts are of compara tuoiv recent use and never have been put to the test in a campaign of serious ser-ious magnitude They have been subjected sub-jected to elaborate and searching trials however and it is believed by those who have devoted years of study to this branch of military service that the United States is not behind the foremost nation of Europe in the matter mat-ter of its facilities for intercommunication intercommunica-tion by signal code The persevering and thorough drill in signaling which has charatterized the work of the National Guard and the naval militia in general a matter I for sincere in the congratulation present pres-ent grave national crisis The signal corps of the regular army consists of ten officers including Chief Greely and 50 sergeants I is probable prob-able that nearly all the latter are now at Tampa Key West Mobile New Orleans Or-leans Chickamauga and other southern south-ern points awaiting transportation to Cuban soil But they are among tIe busiest soldiers in all the camps of the south for they must act in the capacity of drill masters for large numbers of comparatively inexperienced men According Ac-cording to the military regulations of the United States army each company must have not fewer than four men who are proficient in signaling and who may be detailed at any time to this kind of service l who have any familiarity with signal work which includes in-cludes the constructon and ner4ton of telegraph and telephone lines maybe may-be sure that their experience will be made the most of by their officers and that every available moment of wait Ing will be utilized in drills and practice kind prac-tice of the most exacting and vigorous While heliograph flag torch and rocket signaling are among the more showy features of signal work the task of running a temporary telephone tele-phone or telegraph line is by no means a slow or uninteresting process And in this connection the work running i has a literal application for the latest patterns of reels will permit the signal sig-nal man to pay out his line while mounted and clearing the ground at a brisk canter The device used for this purpose resembles an ordinary wood attachment pulley with a handgrip similar to the handle of a garden spade As the wire is fine a single hand reel contains a strand a half mile in length Bicycles also are equipped with reels carrying wire for a line onethird of a mile long These devices are so con structed that the recovery ui windIng of a line is as simple and speedy a matter I mat-ter as the paying out process The men running these lines will carry upon their backs small telephone kits made of aluminum or other light material This will afford instant and secret communication with the point from which the advance is made Next in its possibilities for rapid work is the twowheel reel cart This carries three miles of double cable and is of bicycle construction I is fitted with shafts for a horse or may be pulled by two men Every detail of this device is as carefully wrought with and as a view to lightness strength are the parts of a highgrade wheel or a bicycle sulky The spooling or winding wind-ing apparatus for the recovery of the cahle xLi is > < Although this cart may be used as easily for the construction I construc-tion of telephone a telegraph lines the latter service is more frequently required I re-quired of it The equipment of a complete field telegraph train is quite elaborate its I largest piece being the lance truck This is used in the building of a line designed to be more permanent than the flying lines put out by the hand and bicycle reels The lances or light poles are of locust wood about 1 feet in length Into the head of each is screwed a hard rubber insulator with a slot for the reception of the wire which is tied only at each fifth pole In the side boxes of the lance truck are kept the digging bars insulators and other tools A Wire was JJI and a natter wagon I always keep the lance truck close company com-pany The former is a very strongly constructed vehicle and carries in its reels at least six miles of cable The battery wagon is lifecenter of the train being stocked with the chemicals for generating electricity with telegraph tele-graph and telephone instruments and I with all the other accessories necessary I neces-sary to the equipment of a field line and office I is in fact the moving headquarters of the operators In addition ad-dition to the officers in charge the field train gang usually consists of two markers who indicate the route a surveyor and three markers who make the more accurate measurements and indicate the location of the poles 13 barmen for digging the holes two wiremen who stretch the line along the pins and 13 lancemen Of the last named two distribute the lances while the others slip the wire into the insulator In-sulator slots erect the poles and tamp them securely into position All this work is performed with the speed and exactness of a quick drill on the parade ground A clear idea of the operation of the lineconstructing branch of the signal service may b obtained by supposing the United States troops to have effected a successful suc-cessful landing in Cuba and to be advancing ad-vancing upon Havana From the headquarters head-quarters of the commanding general to those of his inferior officers in charge of the regiment furthest in advance ad-vance would be stretched the semi permanent line already described Connection between regimental head I quarter and the camps of oomnanies II J in the extreme front would be made by means of the light reelcart drawn by one horse or by two menThe men-The next extension of the line would be made by the bicycle or the hand reel A hundred different circumstances might make i necessary for a captain to send out a scouting or reconnois mace party with the certainty that the latter would b in constant communication com-munication with company headquarters headquar-ters The necessity of observing from an elevation or point of vantage the movements of the enemys forces would most frequently call for one of these flying lines by means of which communication without loss of a moment mo-ment could be obtained from the scouts lookout back to the tent of the commanding general He in turn would be able to forward his orders in another direction by means of similar system and perhaps avert a defeat or achieve an important victory By far the most picturesque kind of signaling Is i that done with the heliograph I helio-graph The simplicity of this instrument instru-ment and its effectiveness at great dis c o 1 > t JI I tances render it an invariable artlcl of equipment for scouting parties and jJ all details of men no matter how small may be the latter The heliograph la simply a small mirror by which the suns rays are flashed or reflected 1 from one point to another The flashes 1 are regulated by means of screens America holds the worlds record on longdistance signaling by heliograph This was won by Captain W A Gla 1 ford on Mount Ellen Utah and Ser geant James R Steele on Mount Un i I compahgre Colorado Ja 17 ISM The i distances the messages were sent and 1 received was 1S3 miles Up to that I time the championship in this line tat ret Le with the French army having been I I I obtained by an exchange of messages between the Islands of Mauritius and I Reunion The distance covered by this I feat was IIS miles or 65 miles less than that traversed by the flashes from the r heliographs in the hands of Captain Glassford and Sergeant Steele and their associates The work of the latter was later done with mirrors having a reflecting surface of only 61 square inches while the French record ror was achieved with a mirror of 1200 square inches Mes sages may be transmitted with transite con siderable dispatch by experienced hel lP iogrnh onertor Night signaling Is done principally with lanterns and torches although I athough rockets rkets are used in case of need These however are considered too conspicu ous for ordinary work A distance of SO miles ha been covered by torch and lantern messages Flag and sema phone signals framed on the wigwag I code which Is used in lantern work are effectively employed between sta tions on prominent elevations New elevatonsNeW I York Tribune F |