The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-12-26
MINNESOTA
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY.
NUMBER %

are great many things to be consfd-
cred relative to the adoption Of these
Inventions. You see, when man goes
Into a burning building he does not
know the location Of the stairs and
hatchWays, and is a question Wheth-
er a man wearing one of these masks,
will be able to force his way further
into a snoke-flled building than one
who does not wear mask. / realize
the fact that lives have been lost by
the score, and brave firemen have.
been precipitated into eternity through
being blinded and suffocated while on
duty. Terrific conf1agratinns have re-
suited from a seemingly harmless little
blaze, because the lren were unable to,
fight their way through the smoke and
fire at close rang J. If these inventions
will overcome these obstacles we will
drop the line with the other depart
ments of the country and adopt some
thing of this kind . Cincinnati Com
mercial Gazette.
The Telegraph In Military Opera
tions. {
Much valuable information on the
working of field telegraphs in war op-
erations is afforded in the report of the
construction, maintenance and method
Of working of the telegraph during the
recent British-Ashantee expedition
The construction party, which left
Cape Coast castle to run the line to-
Coomassie, consisted Of two officers,
sixteen non-commissioned officers and
men and 125 natives. The mode of
working: was as follows: -Four natives
carrying a barrow with drum of a ca
bic, marched in front, superintendent
by non-commissioned officer, and
sapper reeing out cable. In the rear
came a number of natives carrying a
further supply Of cable ha1f-mile of
cable per MANI, small stores, kits, ac-
couterments, etc Close to the paying
out drum was native carrying a port
able vibrator, and set so that commu-.
nication could be established at any
time. In the rear came two Or three
natives, with a. supervising sapper,
who placed the. cable out of harms
way. 1t was found that the cable
could be laid as fast as the men could:
march. The work Of constructing the
regular line was most arduous. The
road was but eightsfeet wide, very tor
tuous and bounded on either side. by
dense bush; the bush in many places;
met overhead. The large trees were
covered with enormous creepers, which
were infested with insects. The off
Ger or non-commissioned officer in
charge usually went ahead, choosing
the direction; eight to ten natives, with.
hammer and jumper, ladder, etc. un--
der a non-cammissioned officer, fol-.
lowed, fixing poles or insulators, as di-.
rected; the wire barrow, carried by ma
.tlFes, came next. The rear party con-
sisted Of two or three sappers,s who
had to fix the wire and generally build
the line. These men we're the hardest
worked on the deta chment being con-
stantly up ladders, exposed to the SUM-
having to do manual work, for which;
the natives were useless. One OF the
great sources Of annoyance and hind
rance was insects. The men were Oft
en- driven down the ladder by swarm
Of ants, which resented the hammer
ing of spikes, etc., into tree In
many places the creepers were so nu-
merous that it was with great diff
Guilty the line could be kept free from
them. The natives became fairly
skillful with the hammer and jumper,
but could not be trusted as linemen, as
they loitered at every chance, and in
spected the line very superfcia1ly
The faults along the line were, in ev-:
cry instance due either to falling trees
caused by storms, ETC., or to natives.
cutting pieces out of the wire, for or
naments, bracelets, etc. In one In
stance, as much as eighty yards were
taken, and trinkets galore, of original
design, were subsequently found In
the adjacent village. A non-commis-
stoned officer or sapper was left with
four natives at every twelve miles. He
had all the necessary tools, and acted
as lineman and patrol. Thunder storms:
played havoc with the line, but CON-
munication was in every case soon re-
stored. There was good deal of
fever among the men who had to
maintain the line. The total number
of messages of all kinds sent over the
line during the expedition was 13. 1922
AcetyIene for Light and FueT
A gross ton Of carbide, then. viii