Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-10-31
GREELEY TALKS
Not Satisfied With Detail System in Army-Has
 Done His Best.

Washington, Oct 31.-General A. ". Greeley, chief signal officer of the army, ill his annual report does not speak .encouragingly of the detail sys- tenn, which he says he has Loyalty en- deavored to carry out for the past three years. "As volunteers have failed c0nscription was necessary in the case of the sixteen officers already detailed tin the signal corps), of whom fully one-fourth have endeavored to eyade service through personal or po- l1tical influence" says General Gree ley, and adds: Tt is suggested that the entire commissioned force of the army, excluding the permanent techni- cal corps, be arranged in one lineal list below the grade of brigadier gen eral. Through system of annual re- tirement q suitable flow of promotion and elimination by retirement. as is done in the navy, of officers incompe- tent either morally or professionally would then be practicable, and thus materially improve the service. Dis tinguished services could then be re, warded, without marked discrimina- tion against equally competent officers who have not had opportunities through advancement by files, the re- cipient being an extra number con firmed by the senate"
 General Greeley says that upon an hours notice the signal corps can fur nish all equipment necessary for l., 600 miles of communication. Studies of war in South Africa and Manchuria have shown deficiencies in the Ameri- can army only in connection with the fire control of field artillery. Direct telegraphic communication is now es- tablished with five military posts in Alaska. The commercial business has netted S1O0.OO0 during the past year, and it is estimated will be increased to S200000 annually. The submarine cables of southeastern Alaska are 2,- 300 miles long.
 General Greeley says the gradients of ocean depths were found most ab- rupt, instead of gradual. as was indl- cated by existent soundings.
 Speaking of the wireless work in Alaska between Nome and St Michael, General Greeley says:
 "This is the only long wireless tele- graph system in the world, 1t is be- Iieved. that is regularly operated as part of a telegraph system handling commercial business On August 6, 1904, it completed year of uninter- rupted service over its course of 101 miles. It has handled daily and -unin- tarruptedly the entire telegraphic busf- ness of Nome and the Seward penin- sula. which, together with the official business, averages several thousand words daily. More than million words were sent during the year, many thousand being commercial coue words in which no error has ever been traced to this section. In single hour fhere have been transmitted over thls section 2.OOO words without error or repetition. Captain Wildman was re tained at Nome throughout an Arctic winter to insure continuity of opera tion and the successful training or the enlisted force" ,,o
 During the year there were l54'oJo messages besides considerable free of- feiaI husiness. General Greeley says: .It was deemed proper to relieve the isolation of Alaskan life by furnishing daily the approved news bulletin to each military post and station and by granting a strictly limited use of the line i'm ntercommunication on social subjects between the different mill tary stations"