Evening star., 1923-07-08
ARMY.

The American Army officer is COM
ing to have a different standing in
nearly every community from that he
rad ten years ago: he has broadened his
general knowledge and his contacts
with things other than military. The
War Department has indicated poll
Icy encouraging varied activities Oh
Its officers, acting as individuals.
Although the change has been grad
ual. some of the old line officers
decade ago would turn over in their
graves il they but knew the many ac,
tivities of a regular officer today ana
his close touch with civic AFFAIRS. at
one time considered to be none of his
business and certainly not within his
4. duties. Instead of being an expert
on military science alone. an accom- :
pliShcd officer of the Army now Is
well informed on transportation. both
rail and water. procurement and the
phases of essential manufacturing
processes, finance, education. laoor
and people of all classes. He has con-
facts in his immediate vicinity which
not onlE make him known to the com
munity hut place him in a position
where in botn peaceful times and the
stress of war ne can count on the
cooperation of citizens in the many
activities In which they come in con-
tact. and in turn he can render great
aid in civic affairs.
Today the Army officer is good
mixer and in nearly all instances ne
L. popular In his community. He be-
longs to the chamber or commerce
and has been known to hold once
in such body-a situation unheard
of and unthougAt of a few years ago.
Wars today are fought by the citi-
zenS and not by a standing Army,
and thorou sh knowledge of the one
is necessary for the other. Through
the fact that the National Guard and
organized reserve are now IN closer
Touch with, the Regular Army than
ever before and the extensive civilian
training camp activities. a great po-
tential national Army exists at all
times.
The most recent declaration of TINS
broader policy was enunciated by
Secretary Weeks recently; in speech
entitled The Relation of the Army
TO the Civilian Population.
The Army now has clearly de-
fined mission which does not longer
permit the isolation which 50 char
acterized it's earlier functions in our
national life,' he asserted.
Since March. i all War Department
kilograms. cablegrams and radio mes
ssges have been handled directly
through the Army message center, 10,
cated in the Munitions building, ano
urder the direction of Maj. Gen. Geo
-. Squire. clnef signal officer Of the
Army. An average of 322 messages a
DAY is now handled. the bulk of the
dispatches being. sent and received
10y radio.
AS financial saving TO the gov
ernment the message center is a
unique factor: through the operation
of its radio. net it has reduced the
telegraph tolls from $500 in July
1922 to $3.50. in March. 1928; a paper
"a wing to be sure, based upon com
orcial rates. The peak of traffic was
valued at s6.599 on May |. but in july
ii is expected that the cost OF nan
ding the traffic at commercial rates
would amount about $4,000.
Through the use of its radio net
with contacts in 112 stations in every
corner of the country. the message
center handled 62.222 official radlo-
grams. totaling o.235.417 words. dur
ing the last calendar year. If this
traffic had been handled over COM
uercial telegraph lines, the cost &c
the government would have oeen
SSs,202 whereas it was handled by
The Army net at a cost of only s1s.-
OS9. exclusive of enlisted operating
personnel. The saving to the country
,amounted to S20.163. ~
The message center presents a busy
scene any hour of the full twentS- =
-four during. which il is operating
daily The. central, office, where Lieut..
Wolverton presides, handles all mes
sages from the many bureaus or the
through his Office. Near at hand is
the telegraph room, moved three
months ago from the War Depart
and received. In another ad1acent
room are four radio receiving sets
OF the latest Signal Corps design. re
ceDtion of the many outlying radlo
stations is secured by four loops on
the roof of the building. the loops be-
ing revolved to the proper angie pS
rods extending to the radio room pc
low. Two operators are on "aIen
! ,constantly. but by means OF scheduIses :
traffic is handled generally at specinc
periods. e.,
Arlington is, the sending station for
all outgoing radiograms, the Army
sharing the station with the naHal
communication service. Three sets
a. Arlington are controlled directly
lv land line during certain periods
Of each day by the operators at the
message center. special lines Tot sls
Mailing the Arlington electricians
raralleling the remote controI INES
One set is used primarily for com
munication with air service Hylns
fields on 1900 meters. Another set,
operating on 1900 meters. Is used for
sending dispatches to Fort hayes IN
Ohio. and Fort Bragg. in Nortn care, !,
lima The third is a high-poWered
set, transmitting on 1850 meters, and
used for communicating with Fort
BENJAMIN Harrison, Ind. Eventually
it will communicate directly with
Fort Leavenworth. Kan. and Fort
Douglas. Utah. when the new 10 XIV.
tube sets there are completed. Fort
Leavenworth is expected to be ready
by August !.
High.speed transmission and re-
reption has been tried out with good
results With the kleinschmidt au-
tomato apparatus. which sends from
q nerforated tape and receives by
recording in Morse dashes and dots
on a tape, speed of at least 100
words per minute is expected to be
had between Fort Benjamin Harri-
son, Ind, and the Washington center.
rrhe type of high-speed apparatus is
capable of 150 words per minute and
il is expected that it will prove eff
.ient in handling traffic during peak
loads. -.
The pictorial records of American
wars are being preserved for future
reference and posterity through the
preservation of the original plates
and films made by the Signal Corps
in fire and damp proof buildings re-
Gently erected in Washington.
Practically complete set of still
and motion picture plates and films
of the world war, as we'll as many
plates of the civil and minor wars
since photography was invented. are
today preserved in. the archives OF
the Photographic section of the Sig
raj Corps. Motion picture film, in
excess of 100000 feet. of the great
war is carefully stored in q series OF
rooms resembling bank vaults in a
new concrete building at Washington
barracks. The vaults are equipped
with steel racks, upon which the
films in metal containers are placed
the rooms being guarded by stee
n o