The Columbus courier. [volume] (Columbus, Luna County, N.M.) 1911-1920, 1918-07-12

chamber out OF dugouts into the slush and the
freezing wind OF n winter night 10 feel their way
alohg n broken wire, sometimes over the sheil-pn-
ted open ground behind the trenches until they
ind the break. then sitting In ice water under nre
they repair Il as carefully and s~killfully as II they
were At work In the shop at home. IL often taxes
three or four men TO repair one Of these breaksi
the nrst men sent out may never come back.
Repaired at all costs tho wire muse be, and dam
ger does not excuse a slpshod bit Of work. For
the signal system Of the army Il what the nerN-
Gus system Ia TO the human body.
without Il the modern army covering 100 miles
Of front cannot see, feel or move. The army com
mandor wishing 10 move a portion OF bis line %
miles away or TO change the rapidlty OF HIS artl-
lery Ore or TO receive information Of enemy move
ments IL as helpless without the slender threads OF
copper az he would be n he wished 70 move his
nEht arm and found the nerves paralyEed.
there are 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 =. Scriven. But
these are passing. and the trained soldier and the
educated volunteer understand the vital impor-
lance OF
Hence the necessity for n signal corps or it,
equivalent. for without is aid modern armies can
no more be controlled than can great railway sys
tens; the commander In the neld remains blind
and deaf 20 the events occurring around him, In
capable OF maintaining touch with conditions and
out Of reach OF his s~uporiors or those under his au-
thority upon whom he depends for the execution Of
his plans. The brain lacks the power 70 control
because the nerves are lacking.
''rime Is the main factor In war TO arrive nrst
with the greatest number OF men and with the
cloarest understanding OF the situation IL TO sue
coed. The last, and often the first, Of these condi-
lions depends upon the lines OF information OF the
army
And these lines In turn depend upon the obscure
- - - a ~. -. ~ .-I,...
mucky. hard-hsted mechanic who crawls on his
belly through shell nro calculated to appall 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 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 IL a marvel
Of efficiency. Indeed 20 perfect Ia II that London
and Paris are In direct connection with general
headquarters on the British front, which In turn IL
In touch with every division and brigade stan on
the line. A wire could be put straight through 40
that Lloyd George II he wished could hear the
bursting Of high explosives aud shrnpnel on the
Amiens front.
This tremendous use OF the telephone and tele-
graph In warfare Il partly the result OF the i'm
petus arising from the American application Of
electrical communication on a large scale In the
Spanish war. The signal corps AZ II now exists II
a comparatively recent evolution.
In the American army the IDEA nret arose IN
the mind Of a young army surgeon. Albert James
Myor. The once OF signal Officer Of the army was
created IN June, 1890, the hrst Of its kind. and
Myer was appointed. He was AZ once sent with
an expedition against Navajo Indians In New Mex.
leo. and his crude apparatus at once demon
atrated la worth.
when the Civil war began he was ordered East
and opened a school for signalers, and In that was
the definite beginning Of the present signal corps.
Wires were carried on horse or muleback then. the
Instruments were imperfect and telegraphic com
munication was a 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 wns the only