[Trade Journal]
Publication: Telephone Engineer
Chicago, IL, United States
vol. 21, no. 2, p. 51-52, col. 1-2
Construction in France
From first to last we have heard a great deal about the differences between American and French cable work and telephone lines, says the Telephone Review. Some of the comments have favored the one, some the other. In recent letters from Capt. Robert L. Radcliff. of the Signal Corps. which were accompanied by many interesting diagrams. we can get a good idea of the situation in France. Captain Radcliff formerly was in the engineering department. New jersey division of the New York Telephone Company.
He also tells of how very much impressed he was by certain parts of France.
France, 1918
This is my first good opportunity to let you know that the New Jersey "Bunch" has, finally passed from the training and traveling stage to active participation in the signal work being done here.
Strange to say, I don't consider the French telephone open wire leads to be poor construction. They, mostly use H-fixture for heavy leads. for their poles are exceptionally light. Hollow steel arms about two inches square are bolted to the poles by through bolts and a special clamp. The pins are of steel and are clamped to the arm secured. It is an easy matter, therefore, to shift a pin to clear an obstruction.
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The French are particularly fond of using push braces and a special brace at corner poles instead of guy wire. I have never seen any guys on their lines, but, owing to the H-fixture construction, they are very sturdy. Their problem of building open wire leads differs from ours. because of different conditions. and I think they have solved their open wire work pretty well. Sleet is rarely experienced, so they are not bothered in this way. A good sleet storm would do tremendous damage and it would doubtless take many months to repair their leads, for the open wire cannot be run as readily as on our lines.
We have been working on a good-sized job and expect to finish very shortly now. As yet I don't know where we will go, but I am hoping for an army corps assignment at the Front.
The men have done good work as you knew they would. since they hail from the New York Telephone Company.
May I extend to you and all the other loyal telephone men and women who worked so hard to accumulate the fund for us. the thanks of all the men of the Company. We have our job here to do and while it may have more discomforts attending it than yours, we feel that you are working just as hard for the good cause as we are. And it is mighty pleasant to feel that every telephone man and girl in our division is wishing us the luck of the road and a safe return.
Setptember 5, 1918.
We are stationed not far from Paris at present but expect to move in the very near future, as our work is finished. Our job consisted of building a ten-wire lead between two points which, of course, I cannot mention. All lines here are phantomed and standard A. T. & T. material is used, so the work was simply "pie" for us.
Sergeant Ryan handled the pole work. Sergeant Mead the stringing of the wire. and Sergeant Hankinson placed the guys and did miscellaneous work. I say miscellaneous, for I use Sergeant Hankinson for any carpenter work which arises. He is a mighty good man on any work requiring a little ingenuity. For example, today he is building bodies for some trailers which have been assigned us. Tomorrow he is to repair a roof which we smashed pretty badly, due to a limb of a tree getting away from some of the men. It was not their fault, either, for tools were not obtainable. Sergeant Ryan is a bear of a man for work, as you know, and he certainly pushed the work in good shape. He is exactly the opposite in temperament to Sergeant Mead, so he handles the men who are inclined to lag a little, although I have some "cracking" good men. such as Ellis. Thompson, and Sergeant Slagle with him.
Naturally we had insufficient tools with which to work. For example, I had only eight pairs of climbers available. These were all short, so that it hurt the men a good deal to climb daily. There were but five pay-out reels available for use, so I could run but five wires at a time. But by dint of scraping and scouring the country around for a hundred miles for material. and by cheerful co-operation among most of the men we did manage to have the line ready for business five days before the time limit set, and moreover made a fine job of it, too. The wires "talked up" fine.
I have had a miniature pole line (about 4 ft. in height) set in our camp this morning and am showing the different types of phantom circuits and endeavoring also to indicate the fine points relative to the open wire work, such as avoiding loose insulators, loose ties, etc. A good many of the men have had comparatively link experience in open wire work, so it is imperative that they acquire this knowledge now.
We have had rather exceptional opportunities to see much of this beautiful country. We landed, as you know in the northwestern pan of France: then, after a brief stay at a "Rest Camp." proceeded to entrain and wandered over half of France. It is indeed a fair country. I thought we had a beautiful land, but in comparison with this country we arc nil so far as beautiful landscape goes. In everything else this land suffers by comparison.
Being located comparatively near Paris, it has been our privilege to see a lot of this wonderful city. From the standpoint of beauty, no other city can compare with it. It is just full of historic buildings as well as beautiful parks, boulevards, and churches. I sat in Notre Dame church for fully an hour marveling at the wondrous beauty of the place. All the wonderful stained glass windows have been removed for the Germans have done their best to bomb this ancient cathedral. Just think, it dates back to the twelfth century! Awl by the looks of things it will still be standing long after your children's children have passed the Great Divide.
I had the good fortune to meet the manager of an estate just a short distance from here and he took me through the (Chateau De Wagram, which was given by Napoleon the First to one of his three famous Marshals. It contains many relics of the mediaeval ages and there are also many paintings of Napoleon there. It is the most beautiful private residence I have ever seen, even though it is quite ancient.
Three things have especially impressed me here. First. the lack of water both for bathing and drinking purposes. One can rarely get a hot bath. In fact, Paris is the only place I know of where this can be done. There are restrictions in Paris relative to hot baths being given only on Saturdays and Sundays. No wonder they are among the finest perfumed soap makers in the world. It's a national necessity.
In the second place, there is a great shortage of coal and wood fur fuel purposes. This is natural, fur you know that France imported a great deal of coal prior to the war.
Enclosed you will find sketches showing the different types of construction employed by the French here. They are naturally many years behind us in telephone and telegraph work and admit it. However, their lines are up to stay, as you will see by some of the sketches enclosed. It is an easy matter to shift a pin on the cross-arm which they use and they employ an "H" fixture which is exceedingly sturdy.
I shall endeavor to get a pair of their "hooks" for you and also some of their sleeves. They can't walk with their "hooks" on. They must be taken off after descending each pole.
ROBERT L. RADCLIFF, Captain, Signal Corps.
