The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-29

! United States
An unusual and extraordinary test Of
the capacity and efficiency uT the system
was made uu Ihg riEht OF November o.
in ta. reporting aa1 distributing ~ tho
national election RETURNS from -ae United
SfHf.s The cable company turned over
tE. news tn Oh. telegraph ssrE ier for dis
t-IHuriuu over The island ou condition that
f#.H station receiving news should pay
. 50. Hr,-Eaf fp go Co the cable company
ANA uue-lIlt 60 On" operators and line
mon ui The telegraph service who uccsS-
.lIl.g remained Ur sII night ON Doe work.
ENt client results followed. $50 that uGIu,r-
u. . kilograms were received hy the chief
signal officer OFF fh, department from Off
gIa-s and girll,uS throughout the island
I. iHaaHluE the. Signal Corps for the OK
c,llrut and prompt manner u which the
work was performed
Credit for Major GInssford.
The report gives to Major William A.
GlaSSford the credit for the recouetruc-
tiou of the Porto Ricau telegraph lines.
after they were destroyed by the cyclone
of August S. 1883 The military telegraph
system i'm the island. says General Greedy.
has been maintained, operated. repaired.
and reconstructed without cntaiIing q
dollar of expense TO the treasury Of Porto
Rico. Moneys received from commercial
messages from May !, 1900, to February
J. 1901. were turned into the I uitsd States
treasury as IS required by law IN the
case OF commercial receipts of the mill
A'tAE -' l.tt lltl'S Al TIE llliA states.
IL rs impossible, adds General Greedy.
10 give an adequate idea of the great
amount or work performed by the Signal
Corps I'm the Military Division of the Phil
lrpInsS during the past fiscal year As IN
previous years the duties have been the
most important and extensive in the his
tory OF the Corps, The lahors of the vol
uuicDT oiGceTS, characterized by udtlIty.
| aptitude. dnG skill. have ably seconded
the efforts Of the officers Of the regular
J corps.
forts Of Colonel Allen have perfected i'm
the Philippines system of military tele-
phones aaud telegraph and cable lines
unegualed IN the history of warfare as to
their Importance, efficiency. and extent
I The military telegraph system now covers
all or the Important islands Of the Phil
iPLIat sroup except FaTasgla. 1t extends
through more than LOCO miles from north
! 10 south, from S,uO de Baugui IuZau. TO
JOlo. and without 10 II is safe TO say that
no single island. let alone any one de-
partment of the archipelago. could De SUI
rcigntly controlled 10y the present military
force The almost absolute lack of inter
communication between the various ISL
/ anus or the archipelago is rarely known
and still more rarely realized. ID IS safe
/ to say that more than half of the mill
I t7ry garrlsous of the entire archipelago
/ are so remote from department head
quarters that under average conditions
/ most urgent and important Commuuica-
] lions cannot Dee received by mail I'm less
: than two months time
In Luzon mail conditions have some
what improved so that an answer can
=. o4sial4ed from near posts within the
month. but there is considerable
number Of stations in the Philippines from
winch nothing Is received hy mail for
l'LE PERIODS. ranging from two 70 four
months IL is thus matter Of fact and
not gL opinion that an adequate telegraph
service Is an Indispensable adjunct OF sue
I 'tS~fuI military operations il the phfrfD-
/ pines. and apart from its absolute uecee-
EN- - a means or conveying orders and
directing operations DO Is extremely i'm
portaut from an economical standpoint
80 lt should fe Understood cEot no one OF
these lines has been built EXCEPT when
Judged military necessity hv either the
commanding general 81 the department or
/ OF the division. Indeed the number OF
niucerS and men or the Signal Corps has
I b.'u s." small compared with the volume
{ Of work 10 be done that only work Df cur
. rent necessity and urgency las been pr
AT the beginning Of the fiscal year
there was only one military cable south
( ~ LGz"n. about fifty miles in length. &C IL
n-eiln@ Cthu and L'yt-. This CONDITION
OF affairs caused Major General NacAr-
lHIF- commanding general of the Philip
pines. TO represent 70 the Secretary Of
: var the military and economical aGEiea-
. bHtE OF putting Manila in direct com
muulcatlDn with the principal % fntS If
I the island, the necessity therefor hav-
lnE been strongly rs-aufDr-..i by the IN
trTTUpJIgU % the eastern extension cable
[ between Manila and lloil0. by which Ma
/ Mia was cut or from an direct tyIe-
Z ? tI H.
! efn islands for tweuty-eight days.
The Secrctar- II War approved the
cTal. Division Of the Philippines ana 8t,e-
! ratiouS speedily began
A Product of the United states.
1T must be remembered that every mile
OF this cable had 10 be manufactured o.
order in the United States. on carefully
drawn specifications by the experts Of
the Signal Corps. and was duly inspected
| ard then transported m0-e than halfway
! round the world either by cable shin or
commercial steausc' 10 Mana and other
points ln the archipelago. from 300 To- Coz
r. . distant from division h.adwart,r.
SLCn energetic and w-lI-dl--ctrd efforts
WyT- made as have produced r.-f.I g
Wiz appear surprising in tluir entirety
! , ne Mllltary cable system Of the Phil
ippines now covers 7l9 miles ii con-
I meets Manila directly over our own lines
with the Islands OF MiudOrO Marf0gugrfa.
| Masbate. Samar. Leyte. Cebu. Ncgros.
Mln4anao, Jolo, and Siasi with division
headquarters The Island Of Panav is
reached over either the Eastern Extension
| Company via Signal Corps lines from Pa
I calou or direct from Manila 10 Uouo. the
/ pplcy being followed OF respecting TO the
3 fullest extent the provisions Of tha con-
l cession Of the Ntsayau grant 10 This com
pany, II not strictly conforming 10 the re-
] rangemcut an equity right against the
Philippine government.
/ among the mlltaTF effects of this ca
hle system may be pointed out the fact
/ that D. raised the department commander
/ Of Jolo from mis- practical condition Of post
commander and departmental adviser TO
} that OF true department commander
2 Prior 20 the establishment Of these cables
I there was scarcely post IN NindauaO
/ that could answer any communication
/ from department headquarters AZ Zambo-
anEa IN less than two months time. there
/ being practically no postal service what
, ever. the garrIsOus depending on tho cas-
ual visits Of transports. UavmastprE'
I boats. etc. An an Illustration Of the DIFF
/ ference Of conditions that existed prior
/ TO laying cables. and since. max D., men
toned two facts: First that the first dis
/ astcr. Of American arms in the Philippine
/ IN Manila until three weeks after it Oc-
CURED. Second. AT this same station the
terms on which the surrender Of an in
surgcnt leader was completed were sent
direct 20 the department commander, Cen
! eral KObhc. from the cable ship before the
enabled 10 modify unsuitable terms which
were about 10 Zoe agreed 10 by the local
commando"
A Transatlantic Cable.
General Greedy devotes considerable
| space TO a consideration Of the proposed
trans Pacific cable. upon which question
he says:
In connection with the proposed Amer
| ican-PaCiiic cable recommended by the
! President for the favorable consideration
% Congress. tn. Chief Signal Officer in
vites attention 10 the fact that the sub
jet Of the rights. privileges. and immu-
mites Of submarine cable property iu time
OF war was brought 20 notice during the
| opauish-AmeTiCan war, and should pr0p-
erly be "a matter Of consideration for an
I international cable conference Such a