New-York tribune., 1902-07-27
SIGNALS FOR GUNNERS.
~ THE 18TH HEAVY ARTI.-

When the 18th Regiment, y q. y Y. was re-
e. crEa"ized and became heavy artillery regi-
Tn"nt a corps Of electricians and sisnalmen be
cam" "a necessity The duty of these men is
to establish communication between the coast
and The furtihcaJons where the guns are To-
Gated. Tn" aiming and olevdting If the big
guns # the disappearing type is done wholly
by ejaculation and the object to be fired at is
sighted from two separate points distant from
the guu pit. In order To- insure accuracy il il
essential that some instantaneous means Of
communication he provided between the sight
ing stations and IN. gun by this arrange
mtHt a waTship moNi ing at a distance can be
sighted every few minutes. and the readings
of the instruments IN the lookout stations can
ht transmitted t" the gun station. BY these the
elevation of the gun and its aim can be made
To correspond with the ships movements and
at u time when the signal To fire is given the
gun is in the correct position make an eff
fectiVe shot
Iht most effective manner OF sending these
signals is by telephone. Company NJ Of th@
18th. which is the signal organization is
now experimenting with special Instruments
Ihe insulation IL poor and the construction in
ferior. and the apparatus would be worthless
for commercial purposes.
The electricians of the 18th Regiment devoted
much time recently to the practical study OF
submarine mines The mines laid sup
posediy in ship channel and over this course
model of a warship moved and as it
passed over a mine the operator at the distant
controlling station pressed a key and exploded
Il mire under the ship
When the lst Battery went to camp this sea-
son ii detail of six from Company
was attached to the battery under command
of Sergeant sullivan. The detail took charge
OF the signalling between the gun station and
the target, $" that shots could be reported from
the target 10 the gunner. These reports had
Always been made by the wigwas system. and
We're slow and unsatisfactory. Company Nj
set up telephone in a few hours which was
maintained and kept in service for two days
ana after the target practice was over the
line was taken up in one hour The detail also
constructed two submarine mines out of ordi-
nary beer kegs by placing in them electric
fuse wire with connections for AN external
circuit. The kegs were filled with powder and
were landed the shore of the Camp ground
late afternoon. 1t was raining heavily
and the strong wind made il difficult for the
men in small skin TO place their Internal ma
chimes Both mines. one in open water and the
other under old wrecked schooner were sue
cessfuy exploded with current tapped from
the electric light plant
a member of the organization speaking on
the subject said:
This branch of soldering in the time of ac-
tual warfare calls for men of intelligence and
mechanical ability, combined with courage and
ambition, for the work in their line must all be
done quickly and under any conditions that
may exist. that the lazy man who cannot
climb. tug. pull and work while on the march
will find no place for himself in the new COM
pany. as the men will be carefully chosen who