New Orleans Republican., 1873-02-09
The signal Corps-The Necessity for il
REORGANIZATION.

The signal COrps-The Necessity fOr Hs
Reorganization.
The General interest felt in the signal
corps prompts us to reproduce the foiio"hg
article from the Washington Repuoscan;
In the RepuJEcon of the twenty second
instant there apDeared an article briefly re-
forriuc to the benefits derived from the OBJ
servsfions of the weather bureau uur-
inc the recent freshets, and advocating
it's reoryaniZations on a more liberal Dasls
Since its publication We have received sew
eral Communications from persons Claiming
to possess accurate information regarding
the instruction, duties. pay, etc, of its EN-
pIoyes, and while some of the writers diner
IN their views and suggestions respecting
minor matters they all agree that the pre-
sent allowance made the observer serSean's
and assistants is totally incomn .nsurate
with their Iabors and the responsibilities II
imposes upon them.
ihe curus is part and parcel of the army.
and any one desiring to enter 1t must do so
as q nriyate soldier, first passing the usual
nhysjcal examination. and then mental
exami1 alton of a standard fuily equal 10
that required of candidate Tor q heu-
tenancy. In addition 10 these requirements
be ,nust f+Snish satisfactory evidence as to
nharactar From this it is obvious that the
annIirant for enlistment must be man OF
same Intelligence and worth, capable OF
thoroughly understanding and OF putting
into practice whatever OF the science OF
meteorology and art Of telegraphy ne Is
tauoht at the school OF instruction, Fort
Whipple, Virginia, where he remains sew,
aral months, receiving only the pay and
allowances of a private soldier, and per.
forming. in addition to his studies, all the
duties incident to garrison llte- When
nualfied hy this severe training, ne - senG
to some station as an assistant, Where MS
duty requires him to be on hand al unrea'
sonable hours, and quite frequently SUD-
jecting him to exposure
Take, for example, the case OF the quar-
tette perched on the peak OF Mount Wash
ington, over six thousand feet above the
sea level On this eminence the WIND ire
oueutIy blows at the rate OF one hilnuTeu
and twenty miles an hour, and 1t Is with tie
greatest difficulty. and at considerable pod
ily risk that the observations are taken.
The temperature and isolation of this, in
one sense, heavenly position, nj arly ah' t.
off communication with tho lower world q
that unless a man is of rather mlsaI
thropic turn the miserable pay would
hardly tempt him to wrap himself IN clouds
away from his fellows. The small pay ard
the hard work are not all there Is TO %
complained Of Under the present arrange
ment there is but the barest chance OF aC'
yarcement and therefore no incentive 10
he best performance of the duties imposed.
, The REGULARITY of the service IN meas
ure units man for other empioyheht
should he serve out the term OF enlistment
five years) at the expiration OF which IL IS
very probable he will be no better on
financially than when he entered, and Will
have acquired knowledge of not the least
practical value outside of it. 1t he De
married man, or if he have any one de-
pendent upon him. he can barely exist
unless he be stationed in some small town.
which generally is not the case, the larger
cities necessarily being stations.
There can be no objection to the opera
tons of the corps, for, indeed, considering
the very limited means ut the disposition OF
the chief signal officer. it is quite snrprlslI
that the benefits arising therefrom are 80
great. and that it's predictions are so reild-
ble The degree of accuracy attained Il.
we think, altogether attributable 10 The 1act
that the bureau is military esta bllshment
CAPABLE of enforcing the strictest discipline
and exactness among its subordinates. AS
a civil department of the government, with
the niggardly appropriations 1T has re-
ceived, the weather bureau would be next
to worthless, and its. probabilities would
come as near fulfliinent es the propht clts OF
a rheumatic old maid.
The clasees-commercial and agricultural
specially benefited by the proper main
tenance OF this valuable bureau are the
largest, wealthiest and most generous IN
the country, ana certainly they are de
sirous, if from none other than purely sell
fish reasons, that it should not only be
literally sustained, but that its operations
should be greatly extended. These are the
classes above all others, whose Interests
are chiefly consulted i'll the making OF con
! gressi0nal appropriations. The ntroduc-
| ton in Congress of a measure to increase
the pay OF all connected with the signal
service, particularly its subOrdinates, and
| for the establishment of it on a basis some
what similar to that of the engineer corps.
creating many higher grades, to be reached
only by promotion, would greatly enure to
its further success aud would upquestion-
ably meet the hearty approval Of the above
mentioned classes. AS we sand before, here
| is q chance for some member OF either
house to make hit during tue present sCs-
| sion. Such a measure wOuld receive the
| support of the people in all parts OF the
| States who believe in at least fair play for
! their servants and are willing that their
money should be expended " hen from its
expenditure they derive the benefit