The times., 1899-11-06
THE ARMY SIGNAL CORPS S
What Has Been Accomplished by
That Branch of the Service.
Brigudier General GrecIy in His An
nunI Report Urges the Importance
of TeIegraphic communication
With Porto Rico over American
Lines-PhiIipDine Gable Connection


The annual report of Brig, Gen. A. W.
Greely, Chief Signal Officer of the War De
partment. has been submitted to the Secre-
tary of War. Referring to the increased
! work of the department made necessary by
the war the report says:
Extensive as We're the augmentadons
and operations of other corps OF the Army
in the Spanish American war, yet none
were increased to such an extent as the
| Signal Corps, which was enlarged more
/ than twentyfold-from sixty officers and
men to over thirteen hundred This in
/ crease astounding as it may seem, was
( scarcely sufficient. even with the most re-
markable energy and application of its
officers and men, to meet the incessant de-
mands made by military commanders for
communication by telegraphy and te e
phone.
Despite constant warnings and the de-
yeIopment of an electrical age. the. Signal
Corps had been left by Congress as a skel-
eton organization, and was even more re-
stricted in the amount of its annual ap-
preparations than in the number of its Of
! fcers and men. simultaneously with the
/ adjournment of Congress a problem Of
/ great difficulty confronted the Chief Signal
| officer Of the Army 1t involved the dis
| charge OF the entire volunteer force and
/ all of the regular establishment except
about one hundred men, and their replace
ment by Signal Corps men belonging to
| the regular establishment. The law Of
! March , 1899, required this to be done in
| a strictly limited time, while the publ
! interests demanded its completion with
/ out interfering with the speedy tran action
of telegraphic work on military lines in the
United States without closing a tele
/ graph Office in Cuba or Porto Rico and
/ without Withdrawing a Signal Corps sol
der from duty with troops in active cam
I paign in the Philippines. Al times it
seemed as though the Signal Corps would
! fail at one point or another but by per
! sistence, tact and zeal on the part of the
/ officers of the Signal Corps, assisted by
! cooperation of recruiting officers OF the
! Army, this task has been completed
The Service in Cuba.
The report says that in Cuba there is
now 900 miles OF telegraph lines, of which
600 miles is entirely new and the rest
largely reconstructed. In connection with
these lines there are employed 179 native
Cubans, 81 American civilians, and 80 en-
listed men The commercial rates are 20
cents for ten words, including address ana
signature for messages not passing through
more than three provinces, and ] cent
word for each additional province. Press
dispatches are sent throughout the island
for / cent a word. The receipts for five
months ended June 30 1899, were S13,26128,
/ There was expended for reorganization ana
operation for six months ended June 30,
1898. the sum of S64, ,3l4.4S The telephones
of Havana are controlled by company
under concessions held at the time OF the
occupation Of the island by the United
| States.
In Porto Rico the telegraph service was
In excellent condition. but The August hur-
ricane blew down every line in the island,
over 200 miles Of wire being rendered
! useless. A cable line to Porto Rico operated
by the Government is again recommended.
General Greely says.
The only cables reaching this island are
those Of the West India and Panama Com
pauy. which connect Ponce. on the south
coast. and San Juan on the north with
I T. i
/ that the concession of this company expires
about 1909 The Chief Signal officer Of the
| Army renews his recommendations, IS a
matter Of national Importance, toward Sc
| curing direct telegraphic communication
/ between Porto Rico and the United States
/ by a cable operated by the United States
| or by an American corporation At present
! the island is reached only over the cables
/ OF the West India and Panama Gable Com
#If1TT hos
! certain concessiOUaTy rights.
/ "masmuch as the relations of Cuba and
! Porto Rico must become more and more
! intimate and important il is recommended
! that the United States system of land lines
! i'm these two islands. which have been built
and are now operated by the Signal Corps
Of the Army. be connected by deep sea
cable extending from the Island of Porto
| Rico to Santiago de Cuba. BY this means
| all communications between Porto Rico
and the United States would pass over
| strictly American lines
1T is estimated that the cost OF the
cable between the points named viii not
| exceed $500 coo. The rates TO the present
! time have been excessive and are a burden
to commercial and other interests"
The Philippine Cables.
Concerning the Philippine cables, the re-
mort says.
1t appears unquesGoned that consider
able amount Of additional cable Will be
necessary for military purposes in the
! Philippines To ensure successful military
administration and guard against the ef-
feet OF misunderstanding. which must
arise from time to time in the next few
| years. proper cable system is absolutely
necessary. With such a system public
| order can be maintained or restored with
| a military force which would be totally
inadequate without the advantages of in
! stant communication. Gable communica-
tion between Luzon. Masbate, Samar
! Leyte BChol and Cebu has already been
provided for. 1t viii be of equal import
ance that one OF the Visayan Islands should
| be connected with the Sulu Archipelago via
| MiEdanao, and that PaIawan be connected
| with either Luzon or MindOro via the
! Calamian group.
1T is only a matter Of time when Luzon
| shall be connected with Formosa (whence
| cables now run to Japan and ChinaD by an
| international cable which would not be
much over 200 nautical miles in length
This viii ensure an Independent connection
between the Philippine Islands Japan ana
the Asiatic mainland which is now only
available Geographically over a short cable
! Of about COO miles OF the Eastern Com
| pany where the charges are three times
| as great as between the United States and
| Europe, being 70 cents per word.
In order to join closer together the
| United States and its Pacific colonies, it is