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United States Army Wireless Telegraphy School at Fort Omaha
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CAPTAIN MACK K. Ct'NNINdHAM, 1N6TRITTOH, 8IP.XAI, COKTS. A NT) SKll
GKAN'T Yl liOKNPON. MASTER RIGNAI R L K H" R1CI A N, READY TO KE
OKUK WIRELESS MESSAGE WITH FIELD KIT.
N TH K north weBlorn corrcr of
the Fort Onjaha m!i;rry re
crvallon anil occupying a
BlKhtly position (ft the cret of
the ridge will be found a web
like tteel tower of 176 fort In
height, with a mnll brick building adja
cent and Just north of It. This Is the new
wireless station of Fort Omaha, which has
been but recently Installed and equipped
for the practical application of wireless
telegraphy between Fort Omaha. Nebraska;
Forts Leavenworth and Riley, Kansas and
Fort Bill, Oklahoma.
The wireless telegraph house under the
shadow of the big tower Is fully equipped
with small engine, generators, dynamos
and batteries for the generation of a suf
ficient electrical current for wireless pur
poses and embodies every modern appliance
for effective, long-distance wireless teleg
raphy. The wireless tower and its ap
pcrlunances are not yet complete, but will
be In a lew weeks, when a regular system
cf communication will be Instituted be
tween the military posts named, which by
the relay system of rowers may bo ex
tended to the uttermost southern borders cf
the United Statoa and from thence west
ward to New Mexico, Arizona and Cali
fornia, as well as to eastern military posts,
along the Atlantic and gulf seaboard.
The efficiency of wireless telegraphy has
been fully demonstrated by the signal serv
ice of the United States army and is now
successfully practiced in all parts of the
country and its territorial and Insular pos
sesslons. , Taft Like the- Work.
On the occasion of the visit of Secretary
of War W. II. Taft to Fort Omaha Tues
day Isst a couple of the field wireless
towers had been erected at two points on
the post grounds and a detail of the signal
corps was practicing. The attention of
Secretary Taft was at once drawn to the
operation, the war secretary being an ar
dent advocate of the wireless system for
army and navy purposes.
"That's fine. Wireless telegraphy is &
great thing and Is peculiar to our army,"
said Secretary Taft to Colonel Olassford
and the other officers and distinguished
civilians accompanying the party.
"Yes, we use it a great deal about here,"
responded Colonel . Olassford, "and have
been very successful with it. The men have
become very proficient In erecting the field
towers and can cover miles of territory in
very short time."
"It should be pushed. It is a fine thing,"
continued Secretary Taft, who manifested
deep Interest in the experiments.
An interesting fact connected with the
wireless telegraph Installations at Omaha
. is its recent development. In which the
course of Instruction at the Fort Omaha
Ignal station has figured largely. One of
the moet efficient officers of the army.
Captain Leonard D. Wlldman, formerly
tatloned at Port Omaha and chief signal
IIS
Quaint Features of Life
Carried Wildcat Nlao Mllea.
HILE trapping on the Black Log
rl mountains of Pennsylvania
yW I Moses Harshbarger of Matta-
caught by the hind log. To
get the bounty on the aoalp.
in
however, his catship bad to be transported
alive to Mlffln county.
Taking an ordinary phosphate sack
Harshbarger fitted a hoop constructed
from a aapling in the mouth and faatened
It in the forks of a small tree. Than
with a pole ha picked up cat, Urap and
all and tossed It Into the sack. Throw
ing the sack over hla shoulder, ha carried
the cat nine miles, stopping twice en
route to obtain new sacks, as the animal
had bitten and scratched ita way through
the others.
The cat died during th night, and
Harshbarger will apply for the bounty on
the pelt.
teveath Bom Osh
Frederick Laplanta of Fall River, Mass.,
who claims to be the seventh son of a
seventh son, and possessed of the healing
power, failed to overcome Judge McDon
ough's skepticism when arraigned on a
charge of obtaining SZ.04 In fees from two
patients. He assured bis dupes that he
would pray for them and have them cured
In seven days.
In passing sentence for a year's Imprison
ment the Judge expressed his strong belief
In the efficacy of prayer, and promised to
secure the release of the prisoner at the ex
piration of seven days if the persons treated
had recovered from their maladies.
Comta of tho Uloriooa Foorth.
Included in tha cargo of a British steamer
that arrived at Boston from Hong Kong,
saya tha Provtdeneo Journal, were 4uO,00O.0uO
Chinee fir crackers Intended for the
Fourth f July trade. By this coming of
email partial supply for tho approaching
demand by patriotic Americana we may bo
reminded that tho Fourth of July la, tn
, lis small way, all that General Sherman
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officer of the Department of the Missouri
but now at Fort Ixnvenworth, Is entitled
to much credit for the successful Irsue o
wireless telegraphy In the army. H's w.-rk
In Alaska In the Installation of the wire
less system In that remote region is 'a
matter of scientific history and has been
the subject of many theses on this subject
in scientific and electrical Journals.
Growth of the School.
The growth of the wireless telegraphy
system has been coincident with the devel
opment of Fort Omaha, where it is prac
ticed to a more general extent In its Initial
stages of Instruction than any other part
of the country; the Fort Omaha school
being- the primary school In wireless for tho
recruits of the signal service of tho United
States erniy, and their subsequent equip
ment for active service.
The former barrack room of Fort Omaha,
which was in the old days of the fort th
administration building, has been meta
morrhosed Into one of the most thoroughly
equipped telegraph schools of the country.
Even the old mess house, a recently built
ediflco, has been transposed Into an ad
Junct for the telegraph school. Here th
recruits nre tauKht the rudiments of tele
graphy and their Instruction Is progressive,
e-nbraclng, as it does, everything that per
tains to telegraphy, from the assembling
and dissembling of Instruments, batteries,
Irmlatlon and their effective achievement,
and everything connected with or pertain
Ing to a thorough knowledge of telegraphy
and wire and wireless communication.
A regular course of lectures Is Instituted
for the Instruction of the recruits, these
being delivered by the officers of the sig
nal corps, who are experts In their re
spective fields of instruction. These lec
tures are given weekly and are upon all
phases of electrology, the lecture room
being a spacious hall in the school build
ing. These lectures are Illustrated by
diagram on blackboards, and by practical
demonstration. In the work rooms tele
graph Instruments are taken apart and
every Item of tholr construction and for
what they are needed In the perfected In
strument, the part they are to take to)
perfect the telegraphlo communications are
explained. The same practice Is applied
with telephone instruments and batteries,
that the signal corps man may know
what to do In an Instant should the tale,
graphic or telephonlo apparatus become
damaged or wrecked In the field or else
where when Important matters are de
pendant upon a perfect communication be
tween the bead of the army and his subor
dinates in tha field. The recruit is also
taught how to avail himself of the sim
plest resources for telegraphy, and how
to utilise every object possible for the
continuation of electrical communication In
any emergency.
Practlco Gees Ob Alware.
While the big 17-foot wireless lower la
declared war to be, and that the holiday
thla year Is likely to be as uproarious as
the most ardent patriotism might desire.
Of course, thia is only a slight proportion
of tha total that will be required for the
neoassary amount of noise on the festive
occasion, but by June 1 the other 900.000,000
flra crackers and tho tt.000,000 tin horns
will be In stock, and everything will be In
readiness for the glorious celebration.
Three cheer for independence!
Ceraeek LlktHsiass Haaa.
A corncob having the shape and lines of
the human hand was brought to Marys
vllle. O., by a N. White, a contractor, of
Dover township. White, while out feed
ing his chickens, came across the curios
ity. In shelling an ear of corn he found
the cob an effigy of a human hand. Be.
ginning with th atock end as the elbow,
the cob gradually enlarged as th human
muscles do and then tapered Into a grace
ful wrist. The wrist Joints are plainly
discernible, and the hand., with its well
ahaped thumb and four fingers. Its hol
lowed, flattened palm, all physically per
fect. White had shelled almost all of the
corn from th cob when he made his dis
covery, but he had left the kernels in the
palm of the hand, making the freak all
the more natural In Ita representation of a
handful of a golden grain.
Bestoa lasjApreUtloa.
Dr. David Starr Jordan told a story on
hla last Brooklyn visit of John Mulr lesd
lug a cultured Bostonlan up the mountains
that overlook th Yosemlte Valley. Muir
said that he led the Bostonlan along de
vious ways, so that the great, splendid
valley would burst all on a sudden upon
his astonished eye.
Anally, at a turn of the road, th vast,
multicolored panorama was spread out be
fore thorn. Th Bostonlan' ejaculation
wa as Middan a Muir could desire; but
it waa this:
"Well, now, how ran w got scrasa that
damn gap r '-New York Times.
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In process of construction at Fort Omaha,
It doea not follow that there is any lapse
In the practice of wireless telegraphy about
the fort. On the contrary, the work la
going on constantly by means of the field
and portable systems of wireless. Suc
cessful experiments have been made by the
field force between Fort Omaha and Flor
ence and across the Missouri river in
Iowa, repeatedly, for graduated distances
anywhere from five to twenty miles, in
both sending and receiving wireless mes
sages. Detachments are constantly going
out at Increasing distances tn teat the ef
ficiency of the field wireless apparatus.
These are also tested at the fort by tem
porary field towers, so constructed that
they can be placed in position for active
Gleanings
"Tall Goes with th Hide."
NEW YORK commercial trav-
a I eler says that Derore old
X!V I Georgia "went dry" he was one
I riav In a saloon in that stato
when a man entered, nodded to
the owner of the place, who
waa also th bartender, seated himself and
meditated.
Presently be addressed the owner of th
saloon.
"Reckon yo' wanter sell out. Bill?"
For some ten minutes Bill continued his
occupation of filling pint flasks from a Ju,
Then he looked up.
"Mout," he admitted.
"How much cash?" the other Inquired.
Bill filled another dosen flasks. .
"How much you give for the whole she
bang bulldln'. stock, good will, an' all?"
he Inquired, cautiously.
"What about th fixtures?" Bill waa
asked.
"Oh, they go along with th rest of th
outfit," Bill assured him; "fo'teen colonels,
ten Judges, nine major, an' a right smart
sprlnklln' of hoss doctors." Harper's
Weekly.
How tho Tlrbrake Works.
"The lata Angelo HeUprln," said a Phila
delphia scientist, "had a moet learned and
a most lucid mind. H oould not merely
master a question ha could lay it so
clearly befor you that you. In a short
while, became master of it. too.
Prof. Hellprin claimed that they
who could not explain a subject perfectly
did not know that subject perfectly. And
be used to tell a story en thla bead.
"He said two commercial travelers, on
th way from Reading to Philadelphia,
got Into an argument over th action of
th vacuum brake.
" 'It' th inflatloa of tho tub that stop
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TIIE 0MAI1A SUNDAY BEE: APRIL
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wiasusa cexehators ax fort omaua.
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HOW THE) WIRFJLES3 APPARATUS IS PREPARED FOR TUB
work In the minimum of time.
The method of operation of field and
general wireless telegraphy Is somewhat
different from the regular telegraph sys
tem, but resembles It In the main. A
knowledge of general telegraphy Is essen
tial In the successful manipulation of wire
less telegraphy. The knowledge of the
Morse dot and dash telegram alphabet Is
requisite for the operator. The receiving
by wireless Is somewhat akin to telephony.
The apparatus la equipped with receiving
'phones, as well as with transmission keys
and sounding keys; the key for the sender
of the message and the wireless 'phone
for the receiver.
The two Intercommunicating stations, by
the wireless system must be attuued, so to
from the Story Teller's Pack
th train,' said the first commercial trav
eler. " 'Wrong, wrong!' shouted the second.
'It's the output of the exhaustion.'
"So they wrangled for an hour, and then,
on the train's arrival in Philadelphia, they
agreed to submit the matter for vettlemtnt
to the engineer.
"The engineer, leaning condescendingly
from the window of his cab, listened with
an attentive frown to the two travelers'
statements of their argument. Then he
smiled, shook his head, and suld:
" 'Well, gents, you ro both wrong about
th workln' of the vacuum brake. Yet it's
very simple and easy to understand. It
works like this. When we want to stop
the train we Just turn this here tap and
then we fill the pipe with vacuum."
Philadelphia Press.
Homo of Ills Meat.
T. B. Curran, formerly a member of Par
liament, said that a South sea Islander
whom a traveler had brought home with
him as a servant. In a local tavern waa
praising up the British constitution when
one of hla hearers said to him: "What do
you know about it? You're not an English
man. You haven't a drop of English blood
in your veins." "Don't you be so sure
about that," replied the black; "my grand
father helped to eat Captain Cook." Rey
nolds' Newspaper. '
Maa'a Place m th World. '
"Tour place, air, will never be filled," a
reporter said to Helnrlcb Conreld, tha re
tiring director of th Metropolitan opera
houa of New York.
Mr. Conreld shook his head and smiled.
"Ther waa a ghost." he said, "a ghost in
Blellta, my native Biellta. I will tell yon
of hint
"Th ghost haunted th Ion. Nobody
12, 1903.
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FIELD SERVICE.
speak, Indentically, though messages can
be received from other stations not in di
rect tune with a particular station. The
expert operator can readily detect the mes
scage received from other stations nol in
tune with his own, and by a knowledge of
the telegraphic code of the foreign sender is
thus enabled to get hold of some Informa
tion not Intended for his particular station.
Character of tho Waves.
The wireless message is transmitted
through the top arms of the tower, and
these signals are thus disseminated from
the top of the Individual tower not In an
Individual or Isolated line tangent, but In
every direction from the tower, so that
but 6ne of the many hundreds and thou
minded him, for in Silesia he was well
known; but an Englishman stopped at th
Inn one night In the season, and to him the
ghost hud not been explained.
"So the next morning the Englishman
came down to his breukfast pale, bloodshot
and Irritable.
" 'Landlord.' he said, 'tell me, is not my
room, haunted?" '
"'Why, es.' iaid the landlord. 'Didn't
you know?'
" Of course. 1 did not know! What do
you mean, sir. by putting me In a haunted
room?' the Ensllshman stormed.
" 'But the old fellow Is quite hsrmless,'
said the landlord reassuringly.
" The old fellow?'
"Yes.' said the landlord. The ghost.
The old fel'ow who built up the business.
He built It up, you know, and died, and
now he can t rest easy because it goes on
as well as ever It did without him!" "New
York Eun.
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Yaaiialshlaa; a Bally.
A better method of meeting a dueling
challenge was no doubt tine which was em
ployed on a certain occasion by a French
statesman against Mr. Victor Nolr, an
illiterate bully of the press In the time of
the second empire. Th statesman received
from Nolr, for no rear reason whatever, a
challenge to fight a duel.
Nolr was densely Ignorant man. and
nearly every word In the challenge wa
misspelled. Th statesman responded with
th following:
"Dear Sir: You have called me out with
out any good reason; I have, therefore, th
cholo of weapons. I choose th spelling
book, and you are a dead man."
Th duel waa never fought- Log doa T1U
Btu.
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LONG DISTANCE WIRELESS TELEGRAPH STATION AT FORT OMAHA.
sands of electric wlorless waves or rays
that are left loose reach the receiving sta
tion. These electric waves or rays are dis
seminated In every direction. Frequently
atmospherelc and electric conditions are so
combined that the message may be suc
cessfully dispatched hundreds of miles,
or it may not reuch the station Intended at
all. All efforts to conserve these message
waves and start them In one. general dl
' rectlon have failed, thus far, and the prob
lem of the conservation of the electric
waves is as remote as ever. The action of
the wireless electric ray or wave, as it Is
discharged from the tower, Is precisely the
same as if a load of the finest of bird
shot was fired from a gun at a small, dis
tant target. One or two of the shot might
reach the target, but all of them would not.
It Is on this principle that a wireless mes
sage may be received by a dosen stations,
each of them In a different direction from
the sending station. Thus the conservation
of the wireless telegraph energy Is the
problem of the future. In the ordinary
telegraph wire, the wire affords the means
of transportation for the message. With
the wireless message, the air Is the only
medium of carriage.
Fort Oaaaha ta Headquarter.
' With all these handicaps, so effective
has the wireless system become that every
military expedition Is now equipped with a
Wireless outfit. Hundreds of these outfits
are regularly sent out from Fort Omaha,
and Improved outfits are being received at
Port Omaha constantly for assembling and
testing, to be stored and made ready for
Immediate practical use when needed.
These outfits consist of extension steel
poles, guy ropes, colls of copper and In
sulated wire, receiving desks, telegraph
keys, phones and receivers, batteries, wet
and dry, and chemicals, for filling broken
or exhausted batteries.
The outfits are built for both, mounted
and foot service, and are so constructed
that they can be put In operation quickly,
and as quickly taken down. A recent In
vention, by an army officer, represents the
perfection of the mounted wireless outfit,
similar to the mounted telegraph outfit.
Messages can be received and transmitted
by these outfits tor five and ten-mile dis
tances very effectively, while the column
is In motion, the effect being precisely the
same as with the wireless signals received
and transmitted by moving vessels at sea.
It Is believed by many of the more ardent
advocates of wireless telegraph, that the
system is merely in its Infancy, and that
Its development within the next few years
Gossip About
Uok, Editor Extraordinary.
T ALWAYS makes me smile,"
hiT'r 1 said Edward W. Bok, editor-ln-ITI
I I extraordinary ta tha American
people, to Ada Patterson, as
she reports It In the New
Broadway for April, "when
some woman as reader of our magazine,
writes me and asks: 'What do you know
about the needs, the life or the struggles
of poor people you, who were born with
a silver spoon In your mouth?" Bless her
heart, she little knows that I have been
through It aft. I know what It la to live
on practically nothing; to stealthily leave
the house at night, go to the lots and pick
up odd pieces of wood because we had not
the 4 tents to buy a bundle of kindling;
to pick up odd bits of coal; to sift the ashes
until my fingers bled; to get up before
dawn and make the- fire; to go around
afraid to stoop because of the patches In
my clothes. Know It? Oh, yes, I know
what It is to be poor.
"And It was fine, I tell you," said this
man unexpectedly.
"Fine? you mean poverty?" I asked.
"I do," he said emphatically. The finest
thing that ever happened to me, the finest
thing that ever happened to any young
fellow la to be poor. There Is no greater
stimulant than poverty not as a condition
In which to stsy, but as a condition to work
out of."
Edward Bok is 44 years of age, and looks
younger despite the sliver tufts of hair
above his ears. The dominant note In his
facial harmony Is power. His nose, well
Shaped and large, la the sort whose owners
always cleave their way through difficul
ties. His lips are firm but kindly. His
chin is strong enough for balance and not
large enough for unwarrantable pugnacity.
Hla broad forehead, high and full, hangs
domelike over a pair of clear, far-seeing
eyta.
Fighting Boh'o Mat.
Read Admiral William H. Emory, In
command of the second division of the
battle fleet on It cruise to th Paclflo, is
equally as picturesque aa "Bob" Evans. On
on oocaslon when h waa a lieutenant h
will result In the complete displacement of
telegraphy.
O ntcrra In'' Command.
Lieutenant CoKmel William A. Olassford,
signal corps, U. 8. A., Is at present In
command at Fort Omaha and occupies the
equally Important position of chief signal
officer of the Department of the Missouri.
He Is an ardent believer In the future of
wireless telegraphy and takes a deep, per
sonal Interest in the work at Fort Omaha,
which Is, of course, under his Immediate
direction. He ia one of the best Informed
men In the country on all phases of army
signalling and has watched Its evolution
from the old wig-wagging days of flags
and torches to Its present high develop
ment, In which he has been one of the
most Important factors. Colonel Glassford
is awaiting with much Interest the comple
tion of the big Fort Omaha tower, and It is
his Intention to give the wireless system
its severest test between Fort Omaha and
Fort Leavenworth,
Colonel Glassford has associated with
him at Fort Omaha a corps of very effi
cient officers of the signal service. These
are Captains Mack C. Cunningham, Wil
liam H. Oury, Charles B. Hepburn and
Otto A. Nesmlth, First Lieutenants Otto
D. Grimm, William N. Haskell and Bheldy
C. Leasure, all of whom have been chosen
for their special qualifications as instruct
ors In the various departments of the Fort
Omaha Signal school.
Some of the best telegraphers tn the
United States army are connected with the
Fort Omaha station. The time Is not far
distant, In Colonel Glassford's opinion,
when the Fort Omaha station will be the
chief wireless station in the United States.
The central location of Omaha makes it es
pecially valuable for wireless experiments
to all parts of the country and It Is be
lieved that In a short time Fort Omaha
will be In direct wireless communication
with every military post within a radius
of 800 to 500 miles from the city of Omaha.
The Fort Omaha school is constantly
sending out efficient operators to all parts
of the country for service in the military
establishment. These enlisted men are as
signed to duty not merely with the army,
but with the navy, with the cable ships and
everywhere that expert telegraphers are
needed by the government. Some of the
graduates of the Fort Omaha school who
have completed their terms of enlistment
are now receiving salaries from the great
corporations that exceed the salaries of
the army officers under whom they re
ceived their telegraphlo training. '
Noted People
had to reprimand an enlisted man of great
physical strength and reputation, as .a
bully. Afterward thl man went among
his mates declaring that tha lieutenant
would not have dared to be so sover If
he had not had on hla uniform for protec
tion. Chancing to hear this remark, Emory
applied for shore leave, donned civilian
clothes, followed th bully off th ship into
a side street and licked him good and,
plenty. The admiral la known through tlw
service as "Prince Bill," a nlcknam ha
got In the days when he waa much of a
society man and took delight in fine rai
ment. Even now he dresses In extrema
fashion when on shore. On deck be la tit
spick-and-span man of the fleet
General Lee's Ilamor.
8everal years ago, relates the Washing
ton Herald, when the elevator wa first put
In the capltol at Richmond, an incident
occurred showing tho sens of humor of
the then General Fits Lee. The goneral
was of stout build and ho wanted to so
how the machine would work. He was a
close friend of Judge B. Witt of th Hun
tings court.
Judge Witt wa holding court th day th
elevator was completed and h was called
to the telephone by Governor Lee.
"8am," said the governor. "I want to
see you for a moment and want you to
come to the office at once."
"Certainly, governor," said the judge, al
ways one of the most accommodating and
obliging of public men.
"Hy the way, Sam, th elevator is fin
ished and you can come up to my offlc
without having to walk up th steps."
Judge Witt got back on the bench and
ordered a short recess of the court. Then
he hurried over to see the governor. 11
ma le known his presence .and he wa
Ukhered Into the governor's office.
"Hello, Sam," said the governor. "ClladJ
to see you. Come up on the elevator?"
"I did," replied the Judge.
"That'a all right, then," remarked tha
governor. "I am Just going to dinner and
I did not car to try that elevator till I waa
certain It would hold you. That 1 ail.
Bam; thank you.'1
