GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



U. S. SIGNAL CORPS 



THE phenomenal progress of the 

 U. S. Signal Corps in binding to- 

 gether and unifying the distant posses- 

 sions of the United States, the Philip- 

 pine Islands and Alaska, is strikingly 

 emphasized by figures given in the re- 

 port of Gen. A. W. Greely, U. S. A., 

 for the last fiscal year. During the 

 year the telegraph system in the Phil- 

 ippines was increased by 2,600 miles. 

 There are now 6,434 miles of telegraph 

 and cable lines in the islands. Of this 

 aggregate 1,326 miles aire submarine 

 cable lines and 6,434 land lines. Every 

 mile of these lines has been laid by the 

 Signal Corps in four years. Perhaps 

 even more remarkable than the splendid 

 work in the Philippines are the achieve- 

 ments of the corps in Alaska, where in 

 two seasons 1,121 miles of land lines 

 and submarine cables have been laid. 

 This work not only included the sur- 

 veying and the construction of the line, 

 but also meant the transportation of 

 hundreds of tons of material, instru- 

 ments, etc., over distances varying from 

 4,000 to 7,000 miles. "The toil and 

 hardship experienced cannot be fairly 

 appreciated by any one unfamiliar with 

 Alaskan trails. Suffice it to say that 

 every pound of forage, tentage, etc., 

 wire, insulators, or line material has to 

 be moved by pack animals over a trail 

 so rough that an animal can hardly 

 travel fifteen miles a day." A message 

 from Fort St. Michael, opposite Nome, 

 can now be wired to Skagwa/5 by an 

 all-American line, and from Skagway 

 forwarded by the Canadian line be- 

 tween Dawson and Ashcroft to the 

 United States. 



During the year the Signal Corps 

 turned over to the Cuban Government 

 3,500 miles of wire and equipment, 

 which General Greely's men had put 

 in during the American occupation. 

 Of this work General Greely says : 



' ' It is unquestioned that on occupy- 

 ing Cuba the American army found a 

 few dilapidated telegraph lines, oper- 

 ated by antiquated methods, with tariff 

 rates increasing in proportion to the 

 length of the message, without free de- 

 livery, and with grave uncertainties as 

 to espionage, secrecy, and delivery. 

 This system, bad as it was, served only 

 the western half of the island. In leav- 

 ing Cuba there was turned over to the 

 government a system of 3,500 miles, 

 extending from San y Martinez, in the 

 west, to Cape May, in the extreme east, 

 with every seaport or town of importance 

 electrically connected. The present in- 

 struments are of the best modern types, 

 the transmission speedy and reliable, 

 and the tariff rates exceedingly low, 

 while the certainty of delivery and in- 

 violability of messages are beyond ques- 

 tion." 



DAVID CHARLES BELL. 



DR DAVID CHARLES BELL, 

 one of the first members of the 

 National Geographic Society, died at 

 his home in Washington, October 28, 

 1992, in his eighty -sixth year. Dr 

 Bell was a noted educator and Shake- 

 spearean scholar. Among his writings 

 are: A "Reader's Shakespeare," in 

 three volumes ; ' ' The Theory of Elocu- 

 tion" ; ' ' Modern Reader and Speaker, ' ' 

 and "The Standard Elocutionist." 

 His "Speaker" for nearly fifty years 

 has been a standard work in the colleges 

 and universities of England and Amer- 

 ica. Twenty editions of the volume 

 have been published. Mr Bell was 

 born in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1817. 

 After some years of study at the Uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh, he became pro- 

 fessor of English literature at Dublin 

 University. In 1875 he came to Amer- 

 ica, first settling in Canada, and later, 

 in 1883, moving to Washington, D. C. 



