The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-01-02
WIRE SYSTEMS
OF AMERICANS
THREAD FRANCE
Problem of Communication
Met by Expert u. S. Army
Telegraphers.
(By Associated Press)

AMERICAN HEADQUARTERS IN
FRANCE. Jan. Pin an army the size
Of this, scattered throughout the
length and breadth Of France from the
seacoast to the Swiss border. the prob
lem Of communication is second only
II not OF equal importance to that OF
supplies.
When the American forces came to
France 1t was one of the first efforts
TO which American ingenuity and in
vention was directed and the Signal
Corps. under which communications
falls, met 1t as have the other organi.
cations OF the American Expeditionary
Force. Existing French telegraph and
telephone systems were overburden-
ed. There was little left for US and
Brigadier General E. Russell, chief
signal officer. and his staff Of experts
tackled the Job.
What they have done in construction
Is shown in some statistics fornished
to The Associated Press. The Signal
Corps has built approximately 1850
miles of poles on which 1t has strung
Alb miles Of wire. In addition about
1000 miles of American wire has been
strung on existing systems for our
use and 1t has leased and opera ties
more than 5000 miles OF French wire.
Exchange lines to the extent Of 1880
miles have been built and to operate
these lines 1t has 244 telephone offices,
1895 telephone stations and 102 tele%
graph offices.
New Landscape Feature.
All through France, from the base
ports to the front lines occupied by
the American forces, throughout our
training areas. in fact nearly every
where, the shining copper wires on
American cross bar poles, so different
from the European system, are new
feature of the landscape and frequent
ly one heard newly arrived American
soldiers exclaim That's American"
On main lines systems with many
wires the French customarily use two
poles side by side and the wires are
etrung on cross bars between. and
others on single insulators fastened
direct to the pole.
The long distance telegraph and
telephone system constructed by the
Signal Corps is entirely maintained
by it's own personnel and in addition
some 1000 miles Of leased wires are
maintained by it.
All this construction has been made
by Signal Corps battallons with imple-
ments and material from the United
States with the single exception OF
poles, most Of which were obtained in
France. In construction, maintenance
and operation the standard practices
OF the United States have been fol-
lowed and the American Expeditions ry
force has been given service equal to
the best obtainable in the commercial
world and admittedly unrivalled in any
army. It's men have followed troops
wherever troops went, dow front line
trenches, over shell swept and ma
chine gun raked areas to lay and keep
their wires so that communications
might be maintained. The Signal
Corps has long list of brave dead
and brave wounded, more honored,
perhaps. because they could not fight
back
100000 Local Calls.
The telephone service of the Corps
was opened on June "a. 1917. and since
then there have been handled nearly
nineteen million local calls and more
than one million long distance calls.
Since the Signal Corps telegraph
system began to function on August
10, OF last year. more than five and
one half million messages have been
handled, aggregating more than one
third of a billion words.
Manning these wires are many for
mer members of the Traffic Depart
ment of The Associated Press, grad
yates Of the key and the fastest wires
i,, , he Ovid