Evening star., 1934-10-21

Just behind it through a window you
catch a glimpse of the lovely rejecting
pool at the foot of the famed Lincoln
Memorial.
The captain turns out to be genial
fellow, probably Just on the shady side
of 40; neither tall nor short, fat nor lean,
with that indescribable combination of
assurance and friendliness so charac-
teristic of Army executives. Right now
he hasn't time to talk to you. So he
waves you to seat. AS you park there,
a trifle embarrassed, trying to marshal
forth list of questions to ask him, you
soon decide the worthy officer must be
about the busiest man in the Govern
ment. Within period Of 10 minutes
he has answered seven telephone calls,
put through three of his own, conferred
with four subordinates, given five deftly
Worded orders to his secretary, a tiny
lady, concerning radio messages just re-
ceived, besides reading over his morning
mail!
And now Capt. Townsend gives you a
few choice moments of his valuable .
time:
$50 you want to write up our COM
works, but make it as snappy as pos
sible."
Like any cub reporter, you inquire if
it's true that the WAR network is more
powerful than any other communica-
tions system in the world. To this he's
non-committal. He would much prefer,
he makes clear, to expound his favorite
judgment concerning the Federal radio
Set-up, which is just this: That by
means of it in war time the chief of staff
can communicate directly with any of
his subordinates in the field. In other
words, this remarkable message system
gives our Army chieftain complete and
immediate control of all his armed
forces and equipment without the neces-
sity of delegating any of his authority
to sources other than those in the Army.
whats your official title, captain?"
Officer in charge of the War Depart
ment Message Center, otherwise known =
as NJ c. S., or Net Control System. But
please don't give me play in your
story. Mention prominently some of the
outstanding specialists who work with
me here-Capt. Rex M. Minckler, my
right-hand man; Lieut.. Haydn P. Rob-
ertS, another assistant, who's officially
designated the engineering officer in
charge of equipment; Master Sergt.
Elmer c. Holmes, first sergeant of the
18th Signal Corps Company; Sergt. Ed
ward E. Dennison, in charge of mainte-
nance; Atlie Ashcraft, in charge of the
receiving and dispatching section; Sergt.
John L. Price, supply sergeant, and
Samuel Turner, in charge of telegraph
section"
"Just how big staff is maintained
at the Message Center?"
about 80 operators. They work in
shifts, so that Army messages can be
sent and received all the time without
single break. Yes, every hour or every
day in the year."
CAPT. TOWNSEND goes on to explain
that besides its regular duties for
the Army, the Message Center also takes
official charge of communications for
the other Government departments.
Such messages are phoned in, tele-
graphed or carried to the center by
special messenger. Thus in real sense
most of the outstanding Federal mes
Sages are handled by the vast Army net
work. There need not be moments
delay in the conduct of Uncle Sans
official business from Washington to
Alaska, from Maine to Florida, from
Hawaii to the Philippines.
"Just how, captain, do all three of the
Army's major communication units work
together?"