Excerpt from Handbook of Submarine Cables: U. S. Signal Corps Prior to 1898 the duties of installing and operating submarine cables devolved but rarely on the Signal Corps of the Army, and in such cases only along the coasts of the United States where technical labor and special material were readily available. The war of 1898 necessitated on the part of the Signal Corps extensive cable operations in the Carribean Sea and in the Philippine Archipelago, while later They have been extended to Alaskan waters. Under such conditions it was impracticable to either lay such cables by contract or to operate them by civilian force. In consequence, it devolved upon the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, Gen. A. W. Greely, to organize a system under which the installation, operation, and maintenance of long submarine cables should be efficiently performed by the officers and men of the Signal Corps of the Army. The situation was further complicated by the fact that up to that date no long submarine cable of American manufacture had ever been successfully installed and operated. In 1902 it became necessary to issue a handbook, setting forth the means and methods utilized in cable operations by the Signal Corps of the Army. In preparing this manual Major Russel has utilized such extracts from the books of reference named and such Signal Corps reports and drawings as have seemed of general interest. As the handbook was intended for a practical guide to officers of the Signal Corps, particular value was attached to the extended experiences of signal corps officers in installing and operating submarine cables. Such cable operations involving miles of cables have been conducted by the Signal Corps under varying physical conditions, from the icy waters of Bering Strait to the tropical sea of Sulu. Jolo Archipelago. As a rule complicated formulae or theoretical considerations have been avoided in this manual. Simplicity has been sought in describing the various tests, so that the methods followed may be readily comprehended and successfully applied. All the tests referred to have been in actual use at signal corps stations or on the cableship Burnside. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."