The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-06-13

Chamber out Of dugouts into the slush and the
frssEing wind Of a winter night to feel their way
along broken wire. sometimes over the shell-pit-
ted open ground behind the trenches until they
ind the break then sitting In ice water under nre
they repair 1t carefully and skilfully as II they
wsrs at work in the shop at home. 1t often takes
three or four men to repair one Of these breaks;
the nrst men sent out may never come back
Repaired at all costs the wire must be. and dan
ger does not excuse q slpshod bit Of work. For
the signal system Of the army Il what the nerv-
system is to the human body.
Without It the modern army covering 100 miles
of front q mot see, feel or move The army COM
mandsr wishing to move a portion Of his line 30
miles away to change the rapidity Of his artl-
lery nre or to receive information Of enemy move
ments IL a. helpless without the slender threads Of
COPPER as he would be II he wished to move his
right arm and found the nerves paralyzed.
'-There are still people Of intelligence who think
that the transmission Of military thought IL summed
up IN the Of the notebook. the orderly and his
horse" writes Brig Gen. George p. Scrfven. 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 it,
equivalent. for without Its aid modern armies can
NO more be controlled than can great railway sys-
tens; the commander in the field remains blind
and deaf to the events occurring around him, In
capable Of maintaining touch with conditions and
out of reach of his superiors or 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 IL the main factor In war; to arrive nrst
with the greatest number of men and with the
clearest understanding Of the situation Ii to sue
ceed. The last, and often the first, OF these cond
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-nsted mechanic who crawls on his
belly through shell IRE calculated to appaN the
stoutest heart and connects the break between the
commander and the point he wishes to reach.
Somehow the lines are kept open all the time
are broken for only short Intervals, and the con-
slant tending Of them has made possible in France
Q system of wire communication that is marvel
of efhciency. Indeed SO perfect is 1t that London
and Paris are in direct connection with general
headquarters the British front, which in turn II
in touch with every division and brigade staff ON
the line A wire could be put straight through so
that Lloyd George If he wished could hear the
bursting of high explosives and shrapnel the
Amiens front.
graph in warfare is partly the result OF the I'm
petus arising from the American application Of
electrical communication on large scale in the
Spanish war. The signal corps as 1t now exists il
a comparatively recent evolution
In the American army the idea first arose in
the mind of young army surgeon, Albert James
Ayer. The Office of signal officer Of the army was
Areated in June, 1850 the first Of its kind, and
Myer was appointed He was at once sent with
aH expedition against Navajo Indians in New Mex
leo, and his crude apparatus at once demon
etrated its worth
When the Civil began he was ordered East
and opened school for sgnalers. and in that was
the definite beginning Of the present signal corps
Wires were carried on horse or muleSack then. the
Instruments were imperfect and telegraphc COM
muncation waa rare and precious thing. The
service took tremendous Importance In the
Spanish war and followed the troops through Cuba
and the Philippines, and in China the only