Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-09-27
WIRES LINK CAMPS
WITH WASHINGTON
willard Pays Tribute to the
Telephone Companies.
BIG AID TO SIGNAL CORPS


Many Experienced Men Have Been
Enrolled as Army and Navy censors
Recently.
The new army cantonments, avia.
tion fields, naval bases and other gov
ernment war projects will be linked
by a network of telegraph and tele-
phone lines, making possible instanta-
neous communication, both with the
departmental authorities at Washing
ton and among themselves. Hundreds
Of miles of line have been laid to as
sist in the mobilization OF the nation,
and trained men and material are be-
ing added daily to the many branches
of the government requiring increased
communication facilities. Washington
is the nerve center of a constantly
growing system of wires radiating in
every direction to the scenes of the
national activities
The work of the telegraph and tele-
phone companies in improving govern
ment communication has been direct.
ed chiefly through the committee on
telegraphs and telephones of the
Council of National Defense. of which
Theodore ~ Vail is chairman and
which acts under the general super
vision of Daniel Willard, chairman Of
the committee on transportation and
communication
Tribute to COMPANIES.
Mr. Willard authorized the following
statement on the extraordinary prog
ress of the strategic and emergency
development of the nations communi.
cation lines:
"It Is a striking tribute to the science
of communication that a country so
vast can be knit so closely together as
the United States is at present by its
telegraph and telephone lines. The
work of telephone and telegraph COM
panies is the most remarkable because
it has been accomplished in the face of
a greatly increased demand for COM
mercial service. Despite obstacles,
which seemed at times insuperable, the
governments emergency requirements
have been met and, although with some
Inconvenience to commercial service,
never with real hardships.
"Rapid communication in the devel-
Opment Of war industry as well as in
the actual conduct of battle is essen
tial to modern warfare. With this ne
cessity in view. the telegraph and tele.
phone engineers of America-the birth
place OF. electrical communication
have achieved a notable record in the
last few months.
Aid to Signal Corps.
''The war work of the telephone and
telegraph companies may be divided
into two distinct classes, the one bear
ing directly on the conduct of the war.
the other on work more or less related
to actual war activities. In the former
class may be placed the assistance fur
nished by telephone and telegraph en-
gineers to the signal corps and the 9TH
er branches of the army and navy
which have to do with communication
opment of material and in the promo
tion of military communication science.
This includes the furnishing of more
than fourteen battalions of officers and
men for the signal corps, besides a
great deal of assistance of all kinds
given the army and navy authorities
by experts who have not gone directly
into the service.
I'm the second class of indirect as
sistance may be placed the work of the
telephone companies in increasing plant
equipment and personnel in all parts
of the country for the use of govern
ment departments and industries en-
ployed in making munitions and sup
plies for the government
BattaIions Near Completion.
"The formation of more than four
teen reserve battalions for the signal
corps from the telephone and tele-
graph companies is rapidly nearing
completion. Several battaliOns are al
ready in camp receiving intensive train
ing under officers OF the regular army.
Wherever possible the members of the
battalions who have not been called
Into active service have been drilling
and attending lectures conducted by
army officers.
Men from telegraph companies at
marine observatories, cable terminals
and on the Mexican border have been
enrolled as army and navy censors and
have ably assisted in this work New
men are constantly being trained for
service in the signal reserve corps, and
plans are being worked out to utilize
various educational institutions.
wherever government construction
projects are going forward the tele-
phone and telegraph systems have been
called in to place them in quick con-
tact with the department centers and.
in the case of cantonments and train
ing camps. to establish permanent tele-
phone systems for the convenience Of
the department authorities. For ad-
ditional circuits already completed it
has been necessary to provide about