TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 809 



TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17. 



The following Papers were read : — 



1 . Tlie Field Telegra'ph in the Chitrcd Campaign. 

 By P. V. Luke, Deptity Director-General of Indian Telegraphs. 



The field telegraph required for the army in India, for the many small expedi- 

 tions in which it is so often engaged, is furnished by the Civil Telegraph Depart- 

 ment. The department must be ready therefore at all times to meet any demands 

 made upon it. A suitable equipment has been designed, and a stock is kept at 

 convenient depots at various points on the frontier; this enables an immediate 

 start to be made with the construction of the field telegraph in any operations, 

 while for prolonged operations the whole resource of the Civil Telegraph Depart- 

 ment can be made available. 



All the equipment is arranged for ' pack ' carriage ; the maximum weight of 

 any one package is fixed at 80 lbs. (one half the load a mule will carry). After 

 every campaign a full report is sent in of the workiog, and any defects brought to 

 light are dealt with at once. 



The receiving instrument used is a sounder similar to the one used throughout 

 India, only reduced iu size. It is fitted on a base-boii.rd with a small Siemens relay 

 and a key, with connections so arranged that it can either be worked ' direct' or as 

 a ' local.' A perfect portable battery has still to be designed ; at present the so- 

 called ' dry ' pattern is used. 



The unit of olfice equipment, or total needed for one field office, which includes 

 tents, &c., comprises seven mule loads, but it can be compressed to four loads if 

 necessary for an emergency and for temporary work. Telephone apparatus is 

 always included. The line wire employed is iron wire weighing 300 and 150 lbs. 

 per mile, and stranded hard copper wire weighing 80 lbs. per mile ; light field 

 cable is used for certain purposes. For poles, where possible, the resources of the 

 country passed through are utilised ; but for bare country, iron poles are carried. 

 They are tubular sheet iron in three pieces, fitting telescopically ; the total height 

 is 18 feet, and weight 40 lbs., the packages being 5 feet long. At twenty to the 

 mile they will carry three wires, one in a cap, the other two on insulators. 



The rate of construction depends on the transport, labour, and character of 

 country. In the Waziristan campaign a single wire line was put up at rate of 

 nine miles a day for five consecutive days. 



Special arrangements for rapid repair are always made ; for this purpose it is 

 necessary to have a telegraph office at every ten miles, with a trained line staff'. 

 For the signalling staff, trained British soldiers are mainly used ; these men are 

 employed at other times at diftereut telegraph offices throughout the country, 

 usually where their regiments are quartered. 



The Field Telegraph forms a distinct department in the field, under a civilian 

 telegraph officer appointed by the Director-General of Telegraphs, and taking hia 

 orders from the chief of the start'. 



Information of the siege of Chitral came from Gilgit over the line which was 

 only completed in 1894. This line is carried over two passes, one 11,600 feet, the 

 other 13,.500 feet above sea level, where the snow lies from 10 to 18 feet, yet it 

 worked well all through the winter. The staff at the observation stations close 

 to these passes are entirely cut off from the rest of the world except by wire for 

 seven months in the year. The place selected as the base of operations was Holi 

 Mardan ; best material for a two-wire 200-mile line with twenty offices was at 

 once collected, together with the necessary staff" for constructing and working. 

 From this point the wire was pushed on as fast as possible, and a field office was 

 opened on the Malakand Pass a few hours after the battle. At first it was a 

 single-wire line, but it was afterwards made a three-wire line as far as the Swafe 

 Valley, then a two-wire to Dir, and finally one-wire to Chitral Fort. 



Great difficulties vyith transport occurred at Lowari Pass, owing to the pass 



