Out of a situation that seemed impossible at the outset the Signal Corps built up an industry within a comparatively few months which provided all the field glasses that were necessary in the operations of the American Expeditionary Forces. Often to keep the optical factories equipped with sufficient workmen the Signal Corps obtained the furlough of drafted men with experience in this line so that they might go to work making field glasses.
All Army organizations except Artillery were supplied with a six-power glass having an angular field that took in a view 150 yards wide at a distance of 1,000 yards. The glasses were of the prismatic type with individual focus for each eye. Each glass was provided with a leather carrying case and shoulder strap. On the top of the case a compass was mounted.
The Artillery organizations were supplied with eight-power field glasses, all of which were purchased in France.
The total requirements of the American Expeditionary Forces for field glasses of the six-power type during the period of hostilities were approximately 100,000 pairs. The total shipments from America were approximately 106,000 pairs.
MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES.
The Signal Corps took up with three concerns—the Hampden Watch Co., the Illinois Watch Co., and the Elgin Watch Co.—the matter of providing wrist watches for the Army. A 7-jewel movement was adopted as standard for issue to troops and a 15-jewel movement for sale to officers. A waterproof case was adopted, bearing the serial number of the movement on the outside, the case being so constructed as to require a special tool to gain access to the movement.
The production of wire carts for the Signal Corps did not exceed 25 per year prior to 1917. The demand for these carts, which were hard to build, increased at such a rate that during the autumn of 1918 the matter of procuring them was one of the most serious production problems faced by the Signal Corps.
The Holmes Automobile Co., of Canton, Ohio, abandoned the production of automobiles and in September, 1918, turned over its entire plant to the production of wire carts. Other manufacturers were the George B. Marx Co., of Brooklyn; the J. G. Brill Co., of Philadelphia; the American Instrument & Tool Co., of New York; and the Wesel Manufacturing Co., of Brooklyn. In all, 721 wire carts were manufactured and 327 shipped overseas.
A total of 2,402 tool chests for the Signal Corps was produced during the war period. The plan eventually adopted was to split up the orders for tools among the various manufacturers and to give the manufacture of the empty chests to prison labor at Fort Leavenworth, where the tools were to be shipped and packed in the chests. This plan, however, required the construction of a special building at Fort Leavenworth, and in the meantime the assembling of tool chests was conducted at the Signal Corps supply depot at Philadelphia and at the port of embarkation. The armistice stopped the construction of the assembling factory at Fort Leavenworth.
The Signal Corps produced a suitable number of gas alarm signals known as strombos horns. This equipment consisted of an alarm horn operated by air pressure acting against a diaphragm and thereby producing a loud and distinct chatter. Compressed air was supplied in small steel cylinders connected to each horn by hose. The air tanks were charged behind the lines from a portable air compressor which could pump into several cylinders at once. The horns were manufactured by the Klaxon Co., of Newark, N. J., the cylinders by the Harrisburg Pipe & Pipe Bending Co., Harrisburg, Pa., and the air compressors by the Ingersoll-Rand Co., of New York.