New-York tribune., 1902-08-29
WAR GAME BEGINS TO-DAY
THE FIRST STAGE OF THE ARMY AND
NAVY MANEUVRES.
GENERAL GREELY TALKS ON THE SIGNAL
sYsTEM-sE PRACTICE.
TBY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRIBuSE.I

fBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE-f
New-London. Conn, Aug. 2S-With the set
ting of the sun tomorrow night the first stage
of the great joint army and navy game. that of
preparation. will begin This first act of the
spectacular military drama will not be attended
by any conflict The fleet will sail away, and
until Sunday night the army will be engaged
in the last finishing touches of preparation and
planning. Batteries of small guns will be moved
to positions decided upon already, but kept
secret until Admiral Hggnson's fleet puts to
sea Hulks also will be sunk in the channels
to the Sound. That is. they will be supposed 10
be sunk In point of fact they will only be
marked In a map The battleships may sail
over them, but theoretically they will nave 10
sink or go back
On the eve then Of war. New London remains
the focal point of the army The signal service
centres its dispatch boats. its entire mechanism
here in the little where General Greeiy
will sit receiving dispatches from every point
along the miles Of coast and island where hun
dreds Of men will be eagerly straining their eyes
to catch some glimpse of warships
While the public is interested mainly in the
single question Will the feet get through
thousand different problems face the War De
partment For years it has been installing ap-
paratus of every sort in the forts along the
Sound. Now it is to be tested. To the average
army Otncer the prODleUl IL, Will tLS sun 60
riag. work? VIII the telephone apparatus
from the gunroom to the plotting room stand
the strain of firing? What will be the practical
results Of the wireless systems? These prob
lens that the army is setting itself TO answer
The mere sinking of the major portion OF the
finest fleet the Navy Department can put in the
water is to them a minor affair The PUBIC.
therefore. Is likely to receive only vague and
unsatisfactory information about the actual
fighting.
Moreover. ii is going to be difficult thing to
see what ships and what batteries are destroyed
In all proba bility there will be no certain in
formation about this for days In the mean
time there will be plenty of guns going off
There will be land attacks on certain signal
stations, and cables may be cut There may
he night commandments and attempts to steal
through unobserved. All this furnishes the
spectacuIar interest. but the testing value lies
in the scientific rather than spectacular part
How great the care given to the preparation
has been can be gathered from talk General
Greely gave to-day on the preparations 1nade pE
his CORPS To General Macarthur he reported
that all his men were on the way TO their sta
tions and would reach them by tomorrow
Concerning the signal corps work he sa1d-
While l am making claim for the success OF
the army evident that no method or appliance
to furnish artillery with the most extensive anu
perIeco - - bsd has been neglected. Captain Daniel
J. Carr has assumed eharge oI she gns AZ are sent
by smoke rockets Acetylene lanterns ana scar sssrch n
me- Sa1ragamsett district Tuesday night. when
all rockets and bonoS were leiu WI" g.
al TWentVone visual signal stations have been Sc
Inu1cate in the speediest and most reliable man
ner such information as ihey Tb a5DI T rompanes
Of the NationaI Guard of ConnecticGt MssSachH 50 iS
setts and Rhode Island have been utilized IN 1rls
importsnt work Their services are highly appre-
cated by me. not only because they supplement my my
are composed of men who are familiar with the
feutenant colonel Samuel Rsber military seGTs RE
m ra5g anvres ~ as captain in the signal corps. and
h@s entire charge of the aeronautical work OF the
eampagn as an d the balloon train or It's proposed
field of operations Ihe mos. i r Along % eIec
trcai lines They haye been installed & og 6 daP5da a3t
charge Of signal operations until my arrival tap
tain Russell yet retains control OF All cao,ei .Tis
perfainng to the military lines constructed py tne
signal corps or lines leased from commereiSl COM
By electrical methods there have been n ins1aIed
three distinct and Independent systems or SonnS NJ
ncation In each artillery post the nre controI Of
ncer; neS and fully armored and protected ca
bes not only with the battery e6mma andeds Der DH5 d
1 aso bsfery wfn sa'8 so that any and heavy
under his absolute b taSpbone or in Writing by
Signal the {o1 teF rs copro pune
se Raeadd s@d iP s1sqn Mac
,ion WIZ II. snbuarine cables at and under
ground land From rom Fort er RSdhp Of
s ar5on the signal cables are so perfected
thaf General Macarthur can Gommunca3s dgecfy b
teegraph and by telephone. and by turning ing
a,StSb an also reach any emplacennent SeaTch-
s"ltch, car canid Are battery In mis- command
atepnatve routes Of communication IN nave been
haine h eitber Interrupted or put out or action 2y
declslon OF. T1 cordial cooperation of commercial
Continued second page.