228 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



was supposed that French Canadian provinces might furnish 

 such persons most readily; but most of them were actually 

 obtained from families of French descent living in the States. 

 They responded patriotically to the call and underwent a swift 

 and strenuous course of switchboard training in New York. 

 They were then assigned to the Signal Corps and taken to their 

 posts overseas in units. All were dressed in blue uniform with 

 a telephone transmitter on the arm as insignia. They were 

 located by groups in a number of French cities and towns. 

 Their arrival was always followed by a marked improvement 

 in the external telephone service. Their service, often under 

 army conditions of discomfort and even danger, was rendered 

 with the same courage and cheerfulness as the soldiers dis- 

 played. 



The army telephone exchanges rapidly spread and multiplied 

 as the American divisions arrived in France, until there were 

 273 installed at the Armistice date. This represented a very 

 efficient army telephone system. It will be remembered that 

 while the telegraph services of Europe have always been excel- 

 lent and in some respects superior to our own, the telephone and 

 telephonic service have from the very outset been specially 

 well developed an America. The United States has always 

 led the way in the extent and effectiveness of telephone service 

 and equipment. The result of the Signal Corps telephonic 

 system installation was an excellent system of communication 

 behind all the American lines. It is credibly asserted that 

 Marshal Foch, in the course of his many journeys along the 

 Allied front, would always order his chauffeur to find the 

 nearest American telephone exchange, when he desired to stop 

 and talk with any of his lieutenants; because he felt he could 

 rely on the Signal Corps not only to provide prompt service 

 to any post, but also to keep its system patrolled against eaves- 

 dropping by enemy spies. 



A portable telephone exchange at brigade headquarters is 

 illustrated in Fig. 2. At the back of the room is a telephone 

 desk set captured from the German army. Fig. 4 shows a 



