Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-06

DuorIoN oF THE CORPS RECOMMENDED, ETC.
The annual report of Gen. Greedy. the chief
signal officer, to the Secretary of War was
made public today. He says:
DETERIORATION OF MILITARY SIGNALING.
I'm the performance of the strictly military
duties which by law devolve upon him the
chief signal officer of the army has found him
self seriously embarrassed BY an utter lack Of
facilities for using or caring for the field tele-
graph trains or other signal equipments under
his charge; for the practical training and drill
ing OF the officers and enlisted men of the sig
nal corps, and lastly, but TO minor extent as
compared with the foregoing conditions, by
the need of liberal appropriations. II goes
without saying that under such conditions the
officers and men of this service are gradually
but surely retrograding as regards their mil
itary duties. No matter how able and indus
trious the officer, nor how perfect his theories
as to the principles and applications of COM
municating intelligence from a distance. vet
experience and practice are the only safe
criterion Of efficiency.
The deterioration OF army military signal
ing in lSs7-ss has steadily increased and at the
end of the fiscal year the condition of signal
instruction in the army is at the lowest ebb it
has ever known. The records show that less
than one officer out of nine of the line of the
army has received instruction in signaling
during the year; less than one in TWENTY-FIVE
averaged one hours instruction monthly. even
intending the most elementary branches
Under such conditions
ONE OF TWO COURSES SHOULD BE PURSUED.
either instruction In the art of military signal
ing should be abandoned and the signal CORPS
abolished or ample moral and material sup
port should be given its chief so as TO raise il
to high standard of efficiency, to keep it
abreast OF modern progress and invention and
to diffuse practical knowledge of distant
communication throughout our army
There are number of surplus officers in the
signal corps whose special talents and abilities
are not entirely suited to such scientific work
as is intimately connected with meteorological
research; as commissioned officers of the
signal corps they should be utilized in per-
forming their proper military duties. . d" At
present the greater part of the quite Indifferent
equlpage pertaining to the field telegraph
trains of this corps is stored at Washington
barracks, rusting and deteriorating through
lack OF use. The signal corps Possesses the
shadow, rather than the substance. of a field
equipment 1t is evident that if the army
fails in qualifying itself for work of this tech
meal character, yet. as long as the present in
terest exists in the militia, there will at least
be body of highly intelligent men TO be called
upon. who will have perfected themselves as far
as lspossible with their methods and instruction
IsdHeis uOuln passes without some cOmmu-
nlcatlon from the militia showing their an
probation of the Importance which attaches to
means of distant communication, without
which separated columns cannot successfully
cooperate.
WEATHER FORECASTS AND STORM WARNINGS
The increased demands for weather FORE
casts clearly indicate the value placed on the m
by the general public, which is beginning to
appreciate that the variety of weather condi-
lions in the large areas necessarily predicted
for are such as to forbid for an entire state
anything but forecasts of. a general character.
As a rule 1t is not practical in predictions to
consider other than geographical divisions.
but whenever the physical CONCENTRATIONS of a
state are such as to frequently produce con-
trasting weather conditions in different parts
the state is divided. Applications asking
special predictions for cities and towns have
been so numerous that the already oyerworked
forecast official cannot furnish such regularly.
The office has, however, always furnished
special and local predictions on occasions Of
public Importance. The impossibility of ac-
complishing additional work of this character
is shown by the Fact that the average time at
the disposal of the forecast official for the dis
cussion and formal issue of weather forecasts is
forty-nlne minutes IN the morning and fifteen
minutes more at night. The duties
devolve strictly aud personally upon the fore
cast official, and in no event is he permitted to
~e~SS NNsNhSSs
the separate duties requires the same time the
officer has only eleven seconds in which to de-
eide, formulate and express himself regarding
any meteorological element of district. such
as weather, temperature and wind. Hence il
follows that on an average barely half minute
can be devoted to all the predictions for any
particular state or district
AID OF THE PRESS.
1.-The local press in the great cities of the
country and occasionally in smaller places has
appreciated the public interest in local fore
casts and has in a number of cases employed a
meteorological editor, who, furnished with the
data OF the signal service, has enlarged on the
general synopses of this bureau and supple
mented them by definite and satisfactory local
forecasts. These neurological editors of abil-
ity have put forth their forecasts not only in
An agreeable form but, thoroughly familiar
with local needs, in such shape as local
business interest demanded. The value of such
supplementary work cannot be overestimated
since millions of readers of these great metro
politian dailies never See the regular data
issued by this service. The percentages of sue
cesstul forecasts are Tor weather, 81 4; TEMPER
AZURE, 1853, with general average of $40.
During the year ,066 storm signals of all kinds
have been ordered OF which $50 have been
wholly, and "a partly, justified as to velocity
and $50 justified as to direction.
MILITARY TELEGRAPH LINES
~.
1,6l5 miles of military telegraph lines. with
sixty-four telegraph or telephone offices, q
decrease Of 290 miles during the wear. This
decrease results from the abandonment and
sales of such telegraph lines are unnecessary
for military purposes. The policy has been
invariably followed of recommending the
abandonment and sale of these lines as rapidly
as the construction of commercial lines will
permit. The entire receipts from all telegraph
lines, military and seacoast. during the past
fiscal year aggregate S7,17770. These moneys
together with those arising from the sales of
abandoned lines, have been deposited in the
United States treasury, as required by law.
HARD WORK For THE FORCE.
Enlisted men of the corps have been absent
from duty on account of sickness less than
three days to each man, and absent from duty
with authority nine days for each man In
view of the fact that the work of this service
necessarily demands the presence of its OBJ
servers every day in the year, including Sun
days and holidays, it will be noted that they
work more DAYS than any other class of gov
eminent or private employees in the country
Apart from the one hundred and one
men whose standing was changed from en-
listed to civil employment. under act approved
October 2, 1888, there have been sixty-one dis
charged from and re-enlisted in the signal
corps, one retired. two lost by. death, twenty
six discharged at their own request and six
teen for the benefit of the service. The gen.
eral satisfaction of the enlisted men with the
service is shown by the fact that over "a per
centum of the entire corps are men who are