Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-09-28
AMERICAN BOYS
TAKE WIRELESS
WORK IN FRANCE
Handling Greatest Sending
Station in World and in
Touch With United
States.

Tours, Central France, Sept. u.
-(Correspondence of the Associa-
ted Press. 1.-The American army
will soon be sharing with the French
in the operation of the highest and
most powerful wireless sending sta
ton in the world. This is now near
ing completion on the French coast
the point cannot be stated-and
its giant towers can be seen rising
BIO feet, or 800 feet higher than the
Eifel tower. Soon it will be in .di-
rect touch with America with far
more power than ever before, sup
plementing the cable for trans-At-
lantic service, and perhaps with its
new power rivaling the cable for
quick communication.
All along the front small wire
less stations have been set up to in
tercept enemy radio exchanges and
locate enemy stations. Messages
are picked up from all the capitals
OF Europe, and especially from the
larger German cities. This practice
OF intercepting messages seems to
be universally accepted as a war
necessity, and the crop daily gath
cred includes those FRONT friends as
well as foe. The enemy has small
radio stations along the front, which
are in constant communication with
Berlin and Hanover, the two central
enemy stations.
In Control of Gable.
The American army controls a
quadruple cable line across the Eng
lish channel, which connects the
French telegraph and telephone
system directly with the English
lines. Thus American officials are
brought together for direct immedi-
ate exchange between Paris, London
and American headquarters at the
front.
An extension to transatlantic
cable is only question of time. and |
with this realized there is the pos
sibility at least of direct immediate
communication between Washing
ton and American military head
quarters at the front.
Weather forecasting and meteoro-
logical work is another branch |
which as become highly important
in the American military operations.
1t has played its part not only in
the determination of the moment
for big offensive movements, when
steady clear weather is one of the
elements of success, but also in the
extremely important special fore
casts it furnishes the artillery
branch, the air service, and the gas
service. ...
Doing Weather Forecasting.
The failure or success of a gas
attack may turn on the fore-knoWl-
edge of the wind and barometric
conditions. 1T has been a coinci-
dence that most of the German Of
fensives have come during periods
of favorable weather. and this has
led to statements that they had de-
veloped some new and superior de-
vice of weather forecasting. But
those who have most to do with the
service say the allied forecasters
dl G. dS CAp dS any lHC WI III ONSis
Carrier pigeon service is still an
other branch of communication
which the American army is finding
highly advantageous in the field. The
pigeoneers, as they are called, have
become an important adjunct of the
front, with several hundred enlisted
men and score of officers, equipped
with rolling lofts. breeding stations,
etc.; Some of the leading pigeon
fanciers have been commissioned in
this branch, and they are breeding
birds of the finest stock. Captured
enemy pigeons show that the Ger
mans are also Using very fine birds
and are placing much dependence
on the carrier service.
There is the motorcycle dispatch
service as an adjunct to the tele-
graph, for carrying maps and long
DOCUMENTS too bulky for the wires,
and the Photographic branch with a
unit for each division, keeping a
complete pictorial record of the
American military activities.
Although it is huge work with
some 5 to 4 per cent of the entire
army-or about $4,000 officers and
men In a force of 100000 men
maintaining the steady flow of COM
munication throughout this nerve
system of the American army.