The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-03-18
A CRYING NEED.
Legislation TO Make More Effective Millions
Already spent. Pointed Out by Chief
Signal Ofl.cer Greedy.

Already spent. Pointed Out by Chief
Signal OE.cer Greedy.
WASHINGTON. March lO.-Gen. Gree
ly. CHIEF signal officer, ha, written the
following letter to the secretary of
war. who has forwarded it TO Chairman
Cannon of the house committee on APP
preparations:
10 the Honoru6 l. Secrefcry Of Var
SIR: The estmlts or 5000 for cables to con-
meet electrically the fortiacations in the har-
bors OF NV York. Boston ami Philadelphia.
has been omittel from the sundry civil bill as
reported by the house OF representatives. The
chief signal officer would be dercl!c, in his
duty did he not call the attention OF the secre-
tary of war To the nece ,sity OF urging upon the
senate such appropriation For seven con-
secutive years the chief signal o1lcer has una
vailingly recomm snded the Importance OF this
matter. reciting the fact that some OF urmost
important deienses can only be Reached by
messenger.
The destruction OF military cables between
Acatraz, Angel Island. and the mainland long
since lcf; the Qualifications in san Francisco
harDOr isola ted and entirely unconaected cleo
tricaIly, and Fort Warrca. in Boston harbor. Is
also without reach bg telephone or telegraph.
In New YORK harOOr 10 i, true that several
posts can communicate with each other over
crcuitou> commercial routes. but such com
plicated methods, INADEQUATE In peace even.
would inevitably break down in case OF actual
hostilitie~
These estimates have been recommended
DOth by you and former sccrciarie, u war.
have becn repeatedly urged as military neces-
stiles by the commanding generals OF the de-
partrnents Affected al hlve been heartily APP
proved by the COMMANDING generals OF the
army.
Sever more thaa to-, ~ have time and CO.
operation bacn more potent elements OF
I 81 in intfl - az ~
the ar. Of var. In this business world the
most acute minds OF the century are applying
them selves - ths Development OF speedy aad
increased communication, especially through
electrical devices. and the failure OF any coun-
try 10 utilize In this direction the highcs. In
ventive s.iil must materially lessen its chance
o: success IN war Ia every other country az
the world the entire system of harbor deien~ss
for cash port Is cona sstsl eisctricallv. 50 thst
not only Is lnte com nunicatipn ami the trans
mission Of orders constantly maintained. but
the Ere control ani the di ectlon OK the delense
rest under one master hand
1t must seem hardly credible % either bust
ness men or To experts. that congress. after au-
thorizing a system Of coast deienses to cost
mi ions Of dollars. should for years refuse 10
connect the military forts around the great
cities OF New York. Boston and san Francisco
either electrically or teephonicaly. In criti-
cal emergencies, such as arise IN all defenscs
military operations at these points would, IN
der existing conditions. be necessarily CON
Quoted without concert or unison. thus need
lessly jcopardlzng lives by the thousands and
property to the value OF hundreds OF millions o.
dollars
| The present situation is parallel TO that which
would exist IL our great cities. after spending
tens OF thousands OF dollars I'm thoroughly es-
tabliShing fire department. should refuse u
install herewith an electrical signal system
and insist that alarms OF fire should be sent
either by messenger. or By the nearest commcv-
cial telegraph line. Very respectfully.
a. w GRIZZLY. Chief Signal Oficcr.