The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-05-17

connected q few Of the important cit
! les The first task WIS to connect up
/ the various units of the American
army. which were scattered all over
the island The corps strung 2,boo
miles of wire in few months. With
in three months main trunk une
was running through the center OF
the island and soon thereafter nine
lines were crossing Cuba from north
10 south When the government was
turned over to the Cubans on May
90. 1902, the new republic came IN
to possession OF a permanent and
modern system of $500 miles, ex-
tending to San Juan Martinez, on
The western tip. 80 Cape Maysi, Al the
extreme east. and connecting every
town, city and seaport Of importance.
In the Philippines, even before the
American flag was seen within the
Spanish lines, the signal flasss of the
corps invaded the territory of the en-
eruy. Members of the corps patroled
the beach abreast of Malate and Pa
say. their wigwagging informing Ad-
mirai Dewey of the progress of the
advance. No sooner had Manila fall
en- than the corps repaired the cable
to HongkonE and another ca BILE was
put down TO link Cavite and Manila,
nj opposite sides of the bay. An or
! binary insulated wire carried the first
American cabiegram from Manila
This simple eXpedient lasted for sew
eral weeks, until "a real cable replac-
ed 1t.
Iieiltenan Macarthur once
said that 80 900 men and a complete
Geographic system would do more in
the military administration Of the
Philippines than $50 300 men without
the tclegrap could do As a matter
81 fact. the system Of telegraph and
cable lines established by the signal
curps ena hted the various command
ing generals and military governors
ta control the operations IN the heid
from Manila The accompanying &C.
)erity in the movement OF troops and
supplies to the great astonishment of
the Filipino army, fastened the res
toration IF peace and order through
ont the entire archipelago.
In three Years the signal CORPS built
more miles OF telegraph in the Phil
-tupines than the kingdom Of Spain
i q i'm 300 wears. over 5000 miles Of
land wires were put down and operat-
cd When the islands fell into our
hands, he army fealnd less than 500
mics of antiquatod, worn out tele-
graph wire that We're fl for use. This
was along the west coast Of the Ca
several hundred miles above Manila
Most of the other lines on Luzon, and
those on the Nisayau islands to the
south We're destroyed by the insur
rectos as they retreated. These lines
were repaired, and new ones erected,
in the face Of the enemy's fire.
through jungles and malarial swamps
and under fierce tropical sun
The various islands of the group
). - !,
other, and the signal corps perforce
turned cable construction company.
II had tn learn how 10 lay submarine
ca bles aud how 10 operate cable
ships All this it did to the end
that 1875 miles of iuterisland able
were laid. The system OF 6,434 miles
Of telegraph. telephone and cable lines
installed by the army became the nu-
cleus Of the commercial system ~hen
the civil government was esta biished,
and a great deal Of it is in use to-
day. twelve years after the war came
To an end.
When the Boxer revolution Of 1900
propelled the armies Of the world
into China. General Chaffee, comma
der of the American relief column,
called for a signal corps detachment
te accompany him from Manila to
Tientsin The signal authorities
was already strained to the utmost.
Its work was going or under press
ure in Cuba. Alaska and the Philip
pines A small detachment was sent
on the march TO pekin, however. and
other officers and men from the Unit
ed States Joined later. When the
port Of Tongku was reached, every
thing was confusion. The only trans
portation was crude Chinese ca is.
but with the assistance of the Amer
ican and British telegraph companies,
the signal corps pushed through the
los miles TO Pekin There. under the
frowning walls Of the city, the sig
nalers finally took their station,
hours before any soldiers of the line,
Of any country, reached the scene,
and several days In advance Of any
other telegraph organizations.
r aronumber Of days after the re-
lief Of the foreign legations the wires
OF the United States signal corps were
the only means of communication
between the hostile Chinese capital
and the rest Of the world. Each day
the line followed the march OF the AL