New-York tribune., 1918-11-03

crawl along looking for the hole that will
mark the place where the line has been
broken.
He gets nearly there when stray she'll
ends his career.
After time back in the dugout, the first
man having failed to report, another one is
sent out Perhaps he is luckier than the
frst repairman and finds the break. Then
ne has to sit down in the shell crater, the
smash OF bursting shells so close that some
times he is half buried in dirt, calmly
making the connection that will enable the
observation officer up front to get in touch
with his battery again. II he gets back to
the dugout he will be sent out again and
yet again if the bombardment is heavy and
wires frequently broken. Often for days
and nights at time these men are under
fire, snatching nap now and then in the
dugout between breaks.
The linemen also have regular patrols,
stretches Of line which have to be constantly
examined, not only for breaks, but also TO
make sure that they have not been tapped
by enemy spies in such q way that every
bit Of information sent over them finds it's
way to the Germans.
One day not long ago lineman passing
along g. road in the Aisne district noticed
g lot Of cable lying at one side. He started
to coil it up and found that piece Of wire
had been tied to the main line. When he traced
it he discovered that it ran to a haystack
He went on, tapped the line and sent word
to headquarters and an armed escort found
g spy hidden in The hay with several days
supply Of food.
What the nervous eystem is to the human
body the telephone and telegraph systems
are to The modern army, which cannot see,
feel or move without them. It must be re-
membered that battlefronts to-day are con-
Quoted on q very different principle from
what they have been in previous wars
Then the forces Of opposing armies as rule
only extended q few miles; to-day 100
mile front is common and the army COM
mander wishing to move portion Of his
line fifty miles away or to change the rapid
ity Of his artillery fire or to receive infor-
nation OF enemy movements would be help
less without this aid science has given him
the electrically controlled slender threads
of copper.
Despite the constant efforts OF the Huns
to prevent it all along the Allied fronts
the lines are kept open somehow all the
time, or are broken only for short inter
walls.
The tremendous use Of the telephone and
telegraph in this war is partly the result Of
the impetus arising from the American ap-
plication of electrical communication on a
large scale in the Spanish War Uncle
Sans Signal Corps as it now exists is a
comparatively recent evolution.
The idea first arose in the mind Of young
army surgeon, Albert James Myer. The
Office of signal officer Of the army was
created in June. 1860, the first Of It's kind,
and Myer wac appointed. He was sent with
an expedition against Navajo Indians in
New Mexico, and his crude apparatus at
once demonstrated its worth.
When the Civil War broke out he was
ordered East and opened a school for sig
nallers. and in that was the definite
beginning OF the present Signal Corps
Wires were carried on horse and muleback
then; the instruments we're imperfect, and
telegraphic communication was a rare and
precious thing. The service took on tre-
mendous Importance in the Spanish War
and followed the troops through Cuba and
the Philippines, and in China was the only
means Of communication for a week between
Pekin and the rest OF the world.
But the task that confronted our signal
men in these wars was play compared to the
work that is being done every day by these
boys on the western front They have an
area to cover as big as some OF our largest
eastern states, and they have gone at 1t
with visoT and efficiency.
The hardy linsmen who have strung
lines and repaired breaks on the Western
plains or battled with great foods and
storms in the Rocky Mountains have taken to
this new work with zest which is inspiring.
On the foundation of the French system
they are building signal system that will
be model Of its kind.
Up to within four miles Of the front con-
structon is not different from what it is
in the United States. The wires are strung