Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-30
STRONG PLEA MADE FOR MORE
MEN IN SIGNAL CORPS
JAPANESE INsTANcED AS PROOF
OF GREAT DEVELOPMENT
Company Commanders Also Warned
That Health of Men Can Be
Pre- served Only by Care
full Work

YESTERDAY 5 session OF the Nd
tionsI uard association of the
Il limited 81 ates was considered the
most important of the convention by
many members of the organization. 1t
marked the clio sing Of the meetings
and most of tn delegates leIt las'
night for the MOI tn, to stop at Mon
terey, San Franci SEQ anu 9ea''o Oe
fore returning home. ...4,7
Three of the pap ers which attracted
the closest attentIo OF the delegates
because of their special 1mportance
were those by Firs; Lieut.. Paul w,
Beck OF the signal corps OF the regular
army on Military 'Gommunlcatlo,1ls'
NV Captain Frederick w. Stopford on
.s;rbe krn1v Ration, It's Proper Prepar-
alton and Use" and by Captain James
/. Bevans on Military Hygiene ana
Army Sanitation"
These three subjects are regarded
as of the utmost importa nee IN the de-
yelopment of the nationa guard TO the
best efficiency, and were tolloWeo lil0r-
oughly by the delegates.
lieutenant Beck, who IS Wldely
known as a close student of all phases
of the work of the signal corps ssllu:
'GThe signal corps is part OF the stan
of the army Its duties, in, peace ana
war. are: To install coast defense hre
control systems; tc lay and MAINTAIN
and operate deep sea cabLes, notably
those between Seattle and Alaska ana
1Tar,iIa and Jolo. to install and main
tain telephone systems at the various
military Dosts; to construct, maintain
and operate military telegraph lines.
to install and maintain telephche anu
buzzer systems on target ranges IN tne
United states and island POSSESSIONS
to INSTALL maintain and operate wire
less stations at home and abroad: to
ta h4llnDng 0lrlE
ibles and aeroplanes and provide lines
of information for armies in the field,
whether at halt or on the march.
Service inadequate
'gTo perform these various duties
there are but 1900 enlisted men and
forty-six commissioned members of the
corps. The question of a proper sig
nal corps organization to keep the
army in touch throughout its entire
depth and front and to keep open lines
of information to its base at the rear
has agitated the best signal thought
for a number of years and is not yet
wholly settled. One reason for the
apparent indecision is the total mad
eduacy of the number of men and Of
ficers available for use in the signal
corps.
"From a military tactical standpoint
the field companies of the signal corps
occupy the center of interest in regard
to the lines of information, and it is
highly essential that the national
guard of the various states should or
ganize. equip and train such COM
panies modelled on and, in so far as Is
practicable, identical with the field
companies of the regular service.
"A field company is an expensive
necessity when compared with COM
pany of infantry, but it is not more
rtil 10
equally necessary.
New Field Open
"If there is any particular field left
wherein military genius has latitude
sufficiently wide to admit Of becoming
the deciding element in battles, it is in
the study and perfecting of lines of
information Europe and at least one
country in Asia understand the use OF
cavalry infantry and artillery, the
general principles of the use of the
terrane, lines of supplies, camp hy-
giene, the duties and functions of the
various supply and executive staff
corps. In fact, the only new field
which today presents itself as of suf
ficient importance to warrant the
thought that in its solution lies the key
to successful wars yet unfought, is the
field covered by the signal corps; the
getting, sitting and transmitting of in
formation.
IF there be any one primal military
requisite to success after the fighting
men are properly trained, equipped,
clothed and fed it is that of informa-
tion about the enemy. Without such
information the commanding general is
powerless to properly gauge his ad
versary or to control to the best ad
vantage his own command. 1t is the
duty of the signal corps and particu-
orlXr he al on no mi faEs 70 tso7
such information.
GAS methods of transportation speed
of maneuvering, both strategically and
technically and the range of gun fire
have increased, so have modern el &C.
trical methods of communication sup
planted the time-honored wigwag and
mounted messenger as primary bearers
of news on the battlefield.
Still Use for Wig-Wag
However, even though this is true,
there is still use for both the flag and
mounted messenger, and it is largely
the purpose of this paper to show that
one of the most important factors to
a successful use of the signal troops
is a thorough understanding by the
commanding general Of the powers and
limitations of the various signaling de-
vices at his disposal
ITO operate the apparatus assigned
10 d Aelu company IQG ClleL signal
officer has set aside a certain number
of men, animals and wheel and pack
transportation. AS in the cavalary and
infantry, peace organization is greatly
smaller than that used in time of war.
This is a greater drawback in the
signal corps than even in the line, since
a much greater scope of information
and instruction is required there
THE peace and war technical equip
ment is:
Il. Two field wireless sets, pack Cnaving
both storage battery units and hand genera
tors with a recharging set for the storage
by pack mules, three mules to a set ex-
elusive Of the rechargng set.
''2. Ten cavalry buzzers.
'3. Thirty miles of buzzer wire.
"A. Twenty field buzzers
IS Twenty-four miles OF field wire
&c. Six kits four foot flag.
81. Six kits two-foot flag.
''s. six heliographs.
80. Six lanterns. field acetylene.
10 Certain rockets, bombs. pistols and
cartridges etc
Present Situation Outlined
"The main dependence is placed on
the buzzers and field wire. All other
apparatus may be considered as aux
iliary; that is, only of use to insure
certainty of transmitting messages.
''The buzzers may be used as either tele-
phone or telegraph instruments.
without going into details the following
may be demanded Of a field company Of sew
enty-hve men at maneuvers;