Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-23
TROOPS IN BATTLE
MOVED ON ORDERS
SENT BY WIRELESS
Germans Have Portable APP
paratus of Long and Short
Ranges, Which Is Easily
Erected and Worked.

All have read of the enormous masses
of troops hurled across the frontiers and
batlefelds of Europe but few. perhaps,
are aware of the means by which such
masses are moved. In the days of our
Civil War orders for the disposition of
troops were conveyed from the officer
in command to his subordinates by cav
airy officers: but in these days such
system would be Intellectual and obso-
lete, SO modern science has been called
upon to come to the rescue. Even field
teegraphs have become inadequate to
control the movement of such vast armies
as now confront each other on the soil
of France.
Nowadays field telegraphs have been
given up and the Marconi discovery of
wireless messages, intended originally for
the saving of human lives, Is being used
for their quicker and more complete de-
struction. This system does away with
the always laborious and often impossible
method of laying wires between distant
points and is more effective in every re-
spect.
A SIMPLE APPARATUS.
Like almost everything else, the Ger
mans have rendered the system the very
perfection OF simplicity. In other coun-
tries portable equipments of this char
acter have been cumbrous and far from
easily handled. The German engineer
has, however, worked hand in glove with
the service man, and the Kaisers forces
are now equipped with a means of COM
munication which is so light and port
able that a motorcyclist with a side car
could readily transport one of the smaller
outfits some 200 miles in a day.
The short-range instrument will send
and receive messages over an average
distance of So miles. Where the country
is level as in Holland, it is possible to
extend the range to 40 or so miles, while
in hilly country it would not exceed 10
or 20 miles. The larger sizes have ex-
tremely long ranges, and over average
country messages can be sent and re-
ceived at a distance of 200 miles. This
question of range was, however, a sec
ondary one with German engineers, their
primary object being the portability of
the apparatus and its easy construction.
WORKS AT EASE.
AS regards the latter point, any of the
equipments can be unloaded, set up and
worked within 10 minutes, and they can
be taken down and packed away in even
less time. AS regards portability, it is
sufficient to say that horse will easily
carry an outfit of average range, whilst
long distance set can be carried by
four horses, who also carry riders. a
pack horse and a man between them
could take one of the larger sets dis
tance of so miles in the 81 hours.
1t has been recognized that it might
be necessary to take an outfit into
position where neither horse nor motor
could pass, so the Germans devised
stretcher of bamboo on which one of
the largest sets may be carried by eight
men over the toughest sort of country.
AS the usual wireless crew consists of
seven men, two to look after the horses
and five to set mp and dismantle the out
fit with two officers to send and receive
messages, it is evident that in field work
there would be no necessity to draw men
from other duties to assist in the wire
| less.