New-York tribune., 1902-08-31
WAITING FOR ATTACK.
.pafY ALERT AND WACHTFUL
roR ADMIRAL HIG GLNSON.
e,cNAI, CORPS PREPAREDNESS-A
OFFICERS THINK BLOCK ISLAND
WILL BE CAPTURED.
1pv TELEGRAPH TO TIE TRIBUNE ]

IBY TELEGRAPH TO TIE TRIBuNEl
Nevv-London. Conn, Aug. 3o.-More than one
,,nsred years have passed since this town was
r. scene of war. The last time a British expe-
s,,,on sailed into the Thames and captured Fort
-,sy,old and destroyed the town Tomorrow
-,rb- another hostile feet is expected but if II
.,-oes the fight will be won and lost fifteen miles
80, the walls Of the old fort. Then the bayonet
- necessary 10 decide the fight; to-day the
r-ea- Pinch guns at Fort H. G. Wright will be
.hs determining factor. There is eager and
..+ense interest in the first great war game the
amy and navy have Jointly engaged in The
-4vslrv between the two branches of national
ssfenoe. which has hitherto been settled on the
.oo+bsll fields of West Point and Annapolis VIII
new be fought out in a game involving all the
confessional skill cf both branches. Tomorrow
~ midnight the period Of preparation ends The
work Of the army has been tireless and unre-
.-,-,;ng F3v day the big guns have been at
target practice. and by night the searchlights
bsye been at work Generals and privates alike
have worked enthusiastically
To-day has been one OF comparative calnn'
The signal corps was disturbed this morning oy
The news that the cable between Forts Greole
and Wetherill at Narragansett Bay had sud
denly got out OF order The injury. which would
have wholly disconnected the forts commanding
Narragansett Bay, was hastily repaired The
tain tat there will be little information secured
through this source.
Concerning the probable movements of the
feet after the end OF the period OF preparation,
the following forecast was made by well in
formed army officer to The Tribune CORE
spondent last night;
Block Island viii he seized early Monday
morning The signal service men will be capt
ured, the instruments put out Of business ana
the island used as a base Of operations by the
feet They may gobbie up the whole outfit be-
fore the news can be sent But IN any event.
this VIII be the first move in the game
THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPH
Now that the feet has sailed, General Greely
has consented to talk freely about the position
Of the wireless telegraph instruments. The
Marconi system is installed in the Narragansett
district one station being at Fort Wetherell
opposite Newport while the other is the
summit CO Beacon HILL on Block Island. The
distance between these points is about twenty
five miles and there is doubt that this sec
ton will be worked satisfactorily by the signal
corps operators who have been carefully trained
in the use of the instruments and methods by
TWO civilian experts Of the Marconi system
Each station is provided with a small house
surmounted by poles eighty feet high. with a
number OF wires arranged something like q
gridiron attached TO the gaf the top Of the
mast The power for the station at Fort Weth-
ereH is derived from a storage battery installed
Ia tie ernpIacement where il forms part OF the
regular army equipment. On Block Island,
however an Edison primary battery is used.
The Fessenden system is TO be used on the
Long Island approaches. the main station be-
ing at Montauk. A second station is on the
signal corps boat, which, scouting between Mon
tauk and Fishers Island. viii keep up connu-
nication with the Long Island station. At Mon
Sc SiX Y
whence the signals are sent out into the air and
taken I'D on their return. The scout boat is
similarly e-uipped with a mast of nearly the
same height
The De Forest system has been assigned
central place in the districts. the main station
being at Fort Mansfield, while the outlying one
is on the Signal Corps boat scouting in the
reighborhood Of Block Island The Fort Mans
field station is provided with pole eighty feet
in height.
It has excited some comment that the scouting
boats of the Signal Corps Of the army should
have Installed a working system Of wireless
telegraphy for use in these maneuvres, while.
as far as is known, suspected, no ship OF
the attacking squadron is equipped with any Of
these instruments. This is more noticea BILE since
the conditions on board man-of-war are ideal
for the maintenance and operation Of wireless
telegraphy. Installations such as the army has
necessarily esta blished hastily in these districts
are dependent for their operation and electrical
power OF makeshifts, and are consequently sub
ject to disarrangements. General Greely said
last night:
The work of the signal corps as 1t stands to-
7av in these nanoeuvres is at least a qualified
success as regards the three wireless systems
already installed. Aerograms, or wireless mes
sages. have been repeatedly and successfully
exchanged between signal corps operators at
land stations and those on the scout boats The
distances operated over range from ten to
twenty-five miles. the greatest range that ii has
been convenient to practise. In some instances
wireless messages have been transmitted across
alternate sections of land and water, but the
longest ranges worked over are entirely water
surfaces-
MILITIA STATIONS.
The two companies of Connecticut coast artil-
lery were sent TO Plum Island to-day There
they will work the siege guns and couple of
f,-rornd rapid fire guns The wori. VI mounting
the guns Will be done by the militia. The posi-
ton assigned to them is of the greatest i'm
portanoe as il is the sole defence Of Plum Gut,
the only alternative passage to The Race. open
To Admiral Higginson- The New-York signal
corps men, under Captain Erlandsen, arrived
this morning and were scattered along the
coast
A number of the members of the 18th Regi-
rlent y c. n Y arrived mere lnis morning.
snd went 70 Fishers Island. where they were in
ernY, last year 10 watch the manouvres. They
Gili be assigned TO vantage points In Fort H. G.
Wright They were taken over in the Signal
Service tender Unique. AS precautionary
measure General Macarthur has issued orders
directing that all ball Carriages De turned IN
F71- the Soldiers in the forts. So high does the
war feeling run among the enlisted men. both
"a the army and the navy, that In the event OF
landing party making an attack the spllhns OF
real blood is 10 be feared.
Target practice continued at the forts
.tis -oor13ng and the boom OF the cannons
could he heard all day During the firing al
Fort H G. Wright there was communication