Evening star., 1924-10-04
ARMY SIGNAL CORPS.
PROFITS BY RADIO
Service Linked With TeIe-
graph in Net of Communi-
cation in Alaska.

Radio. telegraph and cables are
linked into a communication net in
Alaska by the. Army Signal Corps,
which maintains continuous traffic
throughout the year In our Far North
possessi Although not well known,
the system is quite extensive. 1t in
cludes Is radio stations. Al telegraph
offices and cable stations a Seattle,
ketchikan and Seward Alaska This
net. which handles about 100000
words of traffic year, is maintained
and operated by five officers and $50
men of the Army Signal Corps. 1t
includes 400 miles of submarine
cables and $40 miles of land telegraph
lines.
The cable itself is as long as the
ordinary transatlantic cable. The
rado stations reach every important
point. and one of them lies north of
the Arctic Circle. Leaving Seattle,
the cable jumps S65 miles to ketchf-
kan, the communication center of
Alaska, and then goes on to Seward,
the southern railway terminus Radio
and land lines take up the service to
Juneau, the capital and then on to
Fairbanks, the northern railway ter
minus. But radio penetrates to the
very center of Alaska, so that few
towns are isolated these days.
New Cable System Soon.
An entirely new submarine cable
system is being laid by the cable ship
Dellwood the only American flag ca
BILE ship, and about half of the new
cable has been laid. The Dellwood is
now en- route to Seattle, bringing 900
miles OF cable from London for in
stallation on the northern circuit
from ketchikan. The cable is being
Lott OF Of h1 nj
finder. which ascertains both the
depth of the sea and ships position
The whole job, it is expected, will be
completed by November l.
In talking of the far north service
| Col. Seaone of the Signal Corps said
the signal men and operators enjoy
| a unique life in the far north. Two or
three are assigned to each inland
radio station where they become al
most the center of interest. 1t is
| through them that the villages keep
| in touch with the States and the rest
| Of the world. Where no other com
munications exist. these men become
very popular as they listen in to the
| nightly naval press dispatches. copy
| ing news and posting it on bulletin
! board. Base ball scores and stock
| market reports are read with con-
siderable interest in Alaska. OF
course, the more important centers
have newspapers, which get their
| press copy through the signal stations
| at the very low rate of from one-half
| to one cent a word. Visitors are Of
| ten surprised, Colonel Seaone says. to
! find how well Alaska keeps posted
| through the Signal Corps communica-
! tion system; in no sense is it isolat-
| ed today.
Additions to Force Annually.
| Cusally as many as so new men are
required each year in the Signal
| Corps system. The tour of duty in
| this fascinating country is two years.
( Radio. telegraph and cable operators
| are nearly always in demand. and for
| this reason the Army maintains
! school a its Seattle office, where ap-
| plicants are tested and rated.
Cable operation is somewhat differ
ent from wire and radio transmission.
Two Keystone for dots and the other
for dasheS-are used Practice in
manipulating by the dual-key method
| is required. The transmission, and
consequently the reading. is some
| what slower than either wire or wire
less work, however. Continental
Morse is the code system followed in
the cable work, the reception being
through the operation of a syphon
line on tape. Down strokes are
dashes and up strokes dots. Prac-
tice insures reading with facility. the
colonel states. Nevertheless. cable
operators are scarce.