The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1918-06-14

Chamber out Of dugouts into the sush and the
freezing wind Of winter night to feel their way
along a broken wire, sometimes the shell-pit-
ted open ground behind the trenches until they
dnd the break, then sitting In Ice water under fire
they repair It carefully and skilfuly as II they
were at work In the shop at home II often taxes
three or four men to repair one Of these breaks;
the FIRST men sent out may never come back
Repaired at all costs the wire must be, and dan
ger does not excuse q slipshod bit Of work For
the signal system Of the army is what the nerv-
Gus system Is to the human body.
Without 1t the modern army covering 100 miles
Of front ca mot see, feel The army com
mandsr wishing to move portion OF bis line oO
miles away or to change the rapidty of his artil-
lery FIRE or to receive Information Of enemy move
ments is helpless without the slender threads Of
copper he would be If he wished to move his
right arm and found the nerves paralyzed.
There still people of intelligence who think
that the transmission OF military thought is summed
up In the use Of the notebook. the orderly and his
horse" writes Brig. Gen. George p Scriven. But
these passing, and the trained soldier and the
educated volunteer understand the vital impor-
tance Of information.
Hence the necessity for a signal corps or Its
equivalent, for without It's aid modern armies can
no more be controlled than can great railway sys-
TENS; the commander In the field remains blnd
and deaf to the events occurring around him, In
capable Of maintaining touch with conditions and
out Of reach Of his supeiors those under his au
thority upon whom he depends for the execution Of
his plans. The brain lacks the power to control
because the nerves are lacking
Time is the main factor in war to arrive first
with the greatest number Of men and with the
clearest understanding OF the situation 10 to sue
cesd The last, and often the first, OF these condi
tons depends upon the lines Of Information OF the
army"
And these lines in turn depend upon the obscure
but daring work of the repairman, the grimy.
mucky, hard-fsted mechanic who crawls on his
belly through shell fire calculated to appall the
stoutest heart and connects the break between the
commander and the point he wishes to reach
Somehow the lines kept open all the time or
are broken for only short Intervals. and the con-
slant tending OF them has made possible In France
a system Of wire communication that Is a marvel
Of efficiency. Indeed SO perfect IL II that London
and Paris are In direct connection with general
headquarters the British 'front.' which In turn 10
in touch with every division and brigade stan on
the line. wire could be put straight through 20
that Lloyd George II he wished could hear the
bursting Of high explosives and shrapnel on the
Amiens front.
This tremendous use Of the telephone and tele-
graph In warfare is partly the result Of the i'm
petus arising from the American application Of
electrical communication on q large scale In the
Spanish war. The signal corps AZ 1t now exists 70
q comparatively recent evolution.
In the American army the idea first arose In
ths mind Of q young army surgeon Albert James
Nyer The ONCE Of signal officer Of the army was
created in June, 1850, the first of its kind, and
Myer was appointed. He was at once sent with
an expedition against Navajo Indians in New Mex
leo, and his crude apparatus at once demon
stTated its worth.
When the Civil war began he was ordered East
and opened school for signalers, and In that was
the definite beginning Of the present signal corpA
Wires were carried on horse muleback then. the
instruments were imperfect and telegraphic COM
municntion was rare and precious thing. The
service took on tremendous importance In the
Spanish war and followed the troops through Cuba
and the Philippines. and in China was the oaly