The Portland daily press., 1885-10-30
THE SIGNAL SERVICE.
Annual Report of the Chief Signal
officer to the Secretary of War.

WASHINGTON, Oct 29.-The annual report
of the Chief Signal Officer is made public by
the Secretary of War today. The following
are the most important features:
The course of instructions pursued at Fort
Myer, has been enlarged and otherwise i'm
proved, and it now provides for the Oretori-
cal and practical instruction of officers and
men of the signal service in the duties re-
quired Vt the signal corps in a time of war.
1t is the theory that connected with the corps
there shall be. constantly available for all
brands of military service for which the sig
nal corps is maintained a signal corps and
telegraph train. This is now recognized by
all foreign powers, as most essential in mod
ern warfare. In active service the duties re-
quire men to be mounted, and trains must be
moved by horses, but iduring the past two
years not one animal has been at my COM
mand available for this mounted instruction.
This field train should be fully equipped, in
order that the men may be taught to ride and
manoeuvre telegraph train IN the field.
The course of instruction for officers charg-
ed with the preparation of weather predic-
tionS, the announcement OF an approaching
frost and the ordering of storm signals has
been enlarged, and now embraces course OF
lectures by the most distinguished professors
of meteorology in the country. A course of
instruction in military surveying, field
sketching and typographical drawing has al
so been added, with view to increasing the
efficiency of signal officers in time OF war,
dIlu III Is lily luICIlolOIs III W nav eiA
the officers of the signal corps instructed in
meteorology; but at present 1t is necessary
to rely, in part, upon the services of officers
detailed from the line of the army, who
have by long experience bee ONE proficient In
the most important duties OF this service.
A special bulletin has been issued daily,
except Sundays, at 10 a. M. Ihls bulletin
contains a more general account OF the mete-
geological condition than is possible to ex-
press in the limited space allotted the indi-
cations. 1t informs the public of approach
ing cold waves, storms, fr0Sts, extreme tenn
peratures, etc., and contains forecasts OF the
weather, applicable to the succeeding forty
two hours, or the following day. An increase
of stations in the West and Northwest and
in British America would lead to still fuI-
ther improvements in this important branch
of the civil service work. Of GAG cold wave
signals displayed during the year., S15, or St
per cent were justified. The work III this
important division of the office requires spe-
cial study and experience to insure the pest
results, and assistants who are required to
make these deductions should devote their
whole time to meteorological study. The
force available for such work is, however, so
limited as not to admit of such assignment.
Assistants who have had the most expert
ence in the preparation of these weather
forecasts are officers detailed from the line
of the army, and if the service is to be main
tanned it should not be deprived OF the SER
vices of these officers, who have shown by
experience that they are competent to per-
form this important work.
The total number of stations in the United
States in operation June 30th, was 4S9.