Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1915-10-21
LIFE SAVERS ARE
COAST GUARDS TOO
Service Becomes a Part Of
United States Navy.
RIFLE PRACTICE NECESSARY

Would Ds to Guard the Wireless Sta.
tions-Lishthousss Serve a. Signal
Tewsrs, and Men Ar Trained shA~p-
shooters.
The life saving service hitherto has
been q civil institution 1t is now In
process Of organization as military
establishment, for use In case Of war.
Every surfman is to have his Krag
rife and will be regularly enlisted in
stead Of being hired for the season. as
heretofore. Each life saving station
will be provided with one machine
gun. and the keeper will hold rank 0s
captain.
Rifle practice. and plenty Of it. will
be in peace time a part Of the routine
business Of every station, in order that
the men may become expert sharp
shootera They will dig trenches in
the sand Of the beach and with ma
chine gun and Krags Will defend tho
shore line against attack by landing
parties Of an Imaginary enemy.
Immediately upon the outbreak OF
war the service (now renamed the
coast guard will automatically be-
come an adjuact Of the navy. and AZ
such It will have assigned to 1t the
important duty Of protecting the naval
wireless plants strung all along our
coasts ut intervals Of 200 miles. The
first thing likely to be attempted by
an enemy Is to capture and disable
these outfits for distributing intelli-
gence.
Each wireless plant will be in COM
munication by telephone and telegraph
with all the life saving stations Tor a
distance Of hundreds Of miles, and. IN
der the system now being organized, an
emergency summons will call out from
each station a seagoing power boat
carrying a machine gun and a dozen
or more armed men. Thus, within a
surprisingly short time. a formidable
body Of defenders will be assembled,
trained for the kind of fighting that Is
expected of them. Hastily throwing
up intrenchments along the beach. the
best fertilization in the world is bank
Of sand. They will be able to oher dan
gerous opposition to an invader.
Every Lighthouse a Signal Station.
Every lighthouse from this time forth
Is to be equipped as a signal station
and similarly provided with telephone
and telegraph. BY the same means Of
the life saving stations
will be connected together as in con.
tinuous chain all along the coasts. No
hostile fleet can approach within sight
Of shore and escape the attention Of the
surfmen and lighthouse keepers, who.
In their ordinary business. are trained
to see everything that floats in range
Of human vision.
The lighthouses will serve admirably
as signal towers. Their equipment, as
well as that OF the life saving stations,
will include powerful telescopes and
wigwag flags, navy mineral
flags, pistols that shoot fire balls Of
different colors. and acetylene lamps
for signaling at night In time Of war
q special signal book will be furnished
by the navy department, the interna.
ional code being Of no value. Of course.
where secrecy IS desired.
At short intervals along the beach are
telephone boxes. like those used by po-
licemen in cities. The surfman out on
patrol il never more than mile or two
from such box. Suppose that in time
Of war he catches sight Of squadron
Of hostile warships. He runs to the
nearest box and telephones to the sta
ton. The station keeper telephones
or telegraphs to the naval wireless
plant, fifty miles away perhaps. The
wireless outfit sends the news to the
great long distance wireless towers at
Arlington. across the Potomac from
Washington. Arlington calls up the
navy department.. which issues CORE
spending orders by wireless to our bat.
tie feet and to the coast forts.
Wartime Regulations.
In case of sudden and serious emer.
gency the coast wireless plant would
send the news direct to the feet and
to the forts ard batteries. Even when
nothing In particular is doing" in war.
time daily telegram will be dispatch
ed from each life saving station to the
headquarters Of its own district lin.
land), using a cipher word to indicate
that all hands are we'll and the equip
ment in good order.
All such messages in time Of war
will have right Of way over the wires,
which when necessary will be cleared
Of every other kind Of business. The
efficiency Of such a system was tested
In a more or less experimental way
during the Spanish war. when It
proved highly satisfactory. A strik.