Iron County register., 1899-11-09
WORK OF THE SIGNAL CORPS.
Tciegraphs Instituted and Operated
i'm Cuba, Porto Rico and Luxon
-RecommendatiODs.

/ Washington, Nov. 6.-The extent to
which the government is instituting
and operating cable and telegraph
lines as a result of recent territorial
| acquisitions and control, is brought
out in the report of Gen. Greely, chief
signal officer. This shows that the tel
| egraph system of Cuba, formerly
owned and operated by Spain, has been
taken over and developed by the signal
corps, and that at the close of the fiscal
year $500 miles of line were in opera
| ton, of which 600 miles were absolute
| ly new lines and the remainder large
ly reconstructed.
Difficulties Encountered.
Gen. Greely discusses the question of
Cuban cable and telephone concessions,
| showing the legal and diplomatic diff
culties surrounding them as well as
the practical difficulties under which
the military cable lines are kept in
operation. He recommends the laying
| of deep-sea cable between Porto Rico
and Cuba, which would cost about
100000. BY this means all communi-
cations between Porto Rico and the
United States would pass over strictly
American lines.
Antagonized by Private Companies.
In the Philippines Gen. Greeiy shows
that the efforts of the United States
to lay cables for military operations
was antagonized by the private COM
panies owning lines there. Gen. Gree
ly says there are certain concessions
which plainly can not be acceded to by
the United States, especially the exclu-
sive cable rights for an indefinite pc
riod, not only in the Philippines, but
in all Spanish possessions in the Pa
cific. He says it is only matter OF
time when Luzon will be connected
with Formosa by an international ca
BILE, thus giving an outline to Japan
and China.
Magnitude of the Work.
A vague idea of the magnitude of the
signal corps work under Maj. Thomp-
sons supervision in the Philippines
may be conveyed by the statement that
over the telegraph system alone more
than 100000 messages, many long, and
all on public business, were transmit.
ted in the ten months ending June 81
and over $4,000 in May alone.
A Pacific Cable Necessary.
AS to a Pacific cable, the report says
in part:
SIN order to join closer the United
States and it's Pacific colonies it is es.
sential to span the Pacific by a sub
marine cable as recommended by the
president to congress in his special
,oaccaora Of 1900 trbs
great value of such a cable is not alone
for military purposes, but more es-
pecially for the fostering of industrial
interests in the new colonies and in or
der to facilitate commercial opera
tions."
Gen. Greely suggests that an inter-
national cable conference should con-
slider the whole subject of the proper
ty in time of war.
Wireless TeIegraphy.
Wireless telegraphy receives consid-
erable attention. Gen. Greely says that
as a means of connecting the islands
of the West Indies, Hawaii and the
Philippines, which are within the range |
of it's action, wireless telegraphy
should prove of value. The signal |
corps eSPeillIehlS nave sho"h 'hae ils
officers and men are able to furnish |!
a practical system of wireless telegra- !
ply. The signal corps has already op- |
Grated its own system successfully be- |
tween Fire Island and Fire Island |
ligbtship, a distance of about 12 miles. |
Gen. Greely says there is no reasonable |
doubt that in the immediate future |
wireless telegraphy will replace with |
equil advantage to commerce and the |
army the cables necessary to connect |
harbor Notifications.