PaCE EICRT

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

~3VND~t, ~L~Y 9,194



Signal Corps Unt Stud Course (Aoves N iiue roiis

T opics

Men Study All
T aetieal Field
Oerations
Students Learn Codes,
Wire Communications
And Radio-Telegraphy
The ROTC Signal Corps Unit,
which has a quota of forty advance
corps students, is housed in the West
lEnineering Annex.
"This course in signal corps is
pretty expansive," Major Bernard
Volirath, Professor of Military Sci-
ence and Tactics, said yesterday.
It embodies study of cryptography;
that is, all types of codes and secret
messages. In addition to this, the
men study all wire communica-
tiwns, telephone, telegraph, tele-
type, radio-telephony and radio-
telegraphy.
"In radio-telephony, the voice is
used," he explained, "and in radio-
telegraphy, a code and key are used.
"Two subjects that have been
greatly expanded in the past year are
photography and radio repair. We
now have two darkrooms and a com-
plete repair room. In addition to
these studies, the men are instructed
in all phases of tactical field opera-
tion, and are required to take special
courses in electrical engineering,"
Major Vollrath said.
The Signal Corps has been Ofl
campus since 1926, hut has only
recently expanded its activities.
Most of the men will go to OCS
upon completion of the course.
After attending (2CS, the men will
receive commissions as second lieu-
tenants.
"The maneuvers which we are
holding with the Michigan State Sig-
nal Corps this week-end will be the
last one of that type this spring,"
Major Vollrath said.
"The maneuvers, which are to be
held in and near the Arboretum and
will combine the equipment of the
two groups, should prove to be excel-
lent training for the men," he said.

Pigeon IReleased For Journey Ho me

'Walkie-Talkie'
Used in Field
Maneuvers
Signal Corps Unit
Studies Field 'Phones,
Special Codiug Sets
The latest Army communications
eauipment including the small, pig-
a-back "walkie-talkies," radio tele-
graph transmitters, and field tele-
ph ones complete with switchboards
were used by the Signal Corps men
of the ROTC of the University and
Michigan State College when they
held their combined maneuvers in
the Arboretum yesterday.
The ingenious "wvalkie-talkies,",
which are carried in a small, com-..
pact haversack on a man's back,
are complete radio transmitters
and receivers with a self-contained
battery. In order to put the
"walkie-talkie" into operation the
soldier merely adjusts the dial to

OLE iMAN WVINTE I \ I Id [I G1l Y:

Ski Troopers Struggle Ahead Yards
At a Tune as 1ierce Blizzard Rages

Editor's Note: Trhis is I he thirdl in at U!), and only 35 yards away was the
seris of seve articles de"pi'c " in im b) line.
"Frra ther on lay barren snow
By CAPT. H. W. SULLIVAN cover ed slopes. Directly above us
Jndge Adoaeeeral School loomed the famous Hlomestake
"The blizzard was howling down [lhe
mountain as we broke campi a fte
breakfast, on Fniday. the fluid
morning of our eleven dvay tek en
maneuvers," dec lared Lt. W Lout?
of the 87th Mountain Divison of Sk
Troops, attending, t he Judge Ado
cate General's Staff School
"Ahead and behind u~s, other
units struggled with their heavil
loaded tobegans. At times, the w id
whipped the snow w ith such blind -
ing fury. I could iot see the man

-- Daily Photo by Cadet Ed Worsharn
Corporal Tony Silvery, of the Signal Corps Unit, releases a homing
pigeon in the Arboretum so that it may return to its loft in the attic
of the West Engineering Annex.
HOMING PIGEONS:
~Mother and Father' to Birds


the proper wavelength, turns on in front of me. Thlenl a Steel) In-
the power, and begins to talk.
dline loomed up ahead oR us. The
Trim-looking telegraphy transmit-i going was slow. Every man had to
ters with rectangular antennae pro- be helped with the sleds. Only a
jecting above them, are used as port-
able equipment. Wire telegraph sets Ifew yards at a time, and we had to
are also used. rest. Many of the men were devel-
Field telephones are used exten- Oping foot trouble due to the cold,
sively to provide wire communica- and I was very apprehensive about
tion. Many miles of wire, all con- frozen feet.
nected through sevetal switch-
boards, join the phones. Most of From the advance party, several
the wire is laid by hand, although sleds of the medical corps gflided
on smooth terrain a reel cart, nickc- by, with men on them wrapped up
named the 'baby buggy' by the in sleeping bags e al ne ta
Signal Corps men, makes work eas- tamen.FonletDgteu
ier. Along roads and level, clear passed us going both ways, and 1
ground, the wire is laid and re- rmnde-d usal 0'teotdas
wound by a special mobile appara- th or aka tatcCta
tus which is transported in a truck. we envied the drivers. We made the
In order to speed the sending and knoll close by where several fires
receiving of the code radio messages, were blazing away, and I hatt the
the Signal Corps uses a special, secret clster aoround themo et
dehie mesaes ecdgaddedg'tion Sergeant took off his boots, and
the mesages.I noted white spots on his toes, a
s.I ign of freezingy I ordered him re-

climbed down eight feet. They had
a good fire going in that hole, and I
climbed down the ice caked steps to
greet them. On my way in a minutes
I helped the men pitch their tents
and get their supper cooked, and re-
turned to visit with Lt. McFarland
He gave me a cup of hot coffee and
it never tasted better.
"Lt. McFarland had dug five feet'
and put up some fir boughs. Then
he had cut small fir trees and stood
them around the tent as a wind
break. The snow had blown around
the tent and had covered it to a-
bout half the sides. It looked coziy,
and anyway it was to be my 'hwne
for over a week.
The men had spotted their tents
nearby and had supper as I cooked
mine on the stove and decided to
turn in early. I dozed off at 6 p. m,
and did not awaken until eight~ the
next morning-fourteen hours of
fourteen carat golden sleep, the long
unbroken kind when all nature Is
lost in silence. We had cut fir boughs
to put on the floor of the tent, under
our sleeping bags. They were a great
help to keep off the cold.
"Getting up is another story.
In dressing, one had to be still
while the other dressed. Our
breaths frosted the Inside of the
little tent, and whenever a shoulder
rubbed against It, frost sifted onto
everything. The tent was only three
feet high. One could not sit up
straight in it. To get on garments,
one had to be a contortionist.
"But another day of sheer adven-
ture lay ahead of us. We all felt the
fine exuberant glow of health and
the sparkle of the great outdoors, Irn
those untrodden -Western peaks.
Besides, breakfast waited, and
that is always something in a man'
world.

I T. LOUGEE

Perak. Across the front ran a long
headu all with a fifty foot cornice
at the crest, followed by another
Ikut ridge. We were in a bowl, with
Uhe epen va'lley to the rear of us.
"While I contemplated the vast
pnoramna. of solitude and grandeur,
Iheard voices beneath me, and for a
time thought Charlie McCarthy was
lossing his voice around. Sure e-
nough. they were real voices eight
feet deep below the snow. I recog-
nized the voice of my brother officer
L.McFarland. Looking twice to find
him, I spotted ai hole in the snow, and

Smiling, genial Corp. Tony Silvery,
of the Signal Corps Unit, has a
unique job in helping Uncle Sam.
In addition to his work a radio
technician, he is in charge of train-
ing homing pigeons, which are
housed in the attic of the West En--
gineering Annex.
"At the present time,"' he said yes-
terday, "we have fourteen pigeons
altogether. Only four of these were
hatched here, and therefore are the
only ones which may be trained with



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0
Try orne

this as their home. The others are
used as breeding stock.
"Training these pigeons is a very
delicate task," Corp. Silvery said.
"The birds are very sensitive, and
must be treated as such. I find my
self acting as mother, father, nurse-
maid, and almost even counselor,"
ITrainig Starts Early
"Training the pigeons starts as
soon as their wings are fully devel-
oped. They are usually two months
old before they are strong enough to
be trained," he explained. *
When training first begins, the
birds are taken out every day when
hungry, and are called back through
a trap door by a can rattle, which
they have learned to recognize as
the dinner bell. At first, they are
taken out only a short distance, and
gradually, farther and fartner out.
After they have been sufficiently
trained, it is necessary to take them
out only about once a week to keep
them in training, although it is ad-
visable to take them out as often as
the weather permits.
Pigeons Have Idlosyncracies
"A funny thing about the pigeons
isy this"Corp. Silvery said. "Strange-
fly by day cannot fly by night, and
those that are taught to fly by night
cannot fly by day. A day pigeon will
necessary, bu whe nght comes ,hen
will alight somewhere and stay there
until morning.
"It is possible to teach a pigeon to
fly both by night and day, but these
pigeons are specialized for either day

__ of our delicious
Tuesday and Thursday Specials
BAK ED V IRGI NIA H AM

Potatoes

Vegetable

Salad or Dessert

Beverage

Rolls and Butter
72 CENTS

__i/c

TAVE RN


Cafiri
338 Maynard

Reasonably Priced


* T HE MICH IGAN DAI LY SE RV ICE EDITION *
VOL. I, No. 29 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN MAY 9, 1943

Fair Weather
By JACK LICUTENSTEIN
Training Detachment, Army APr Forces
Technical Training Command
The men of Army Air Forces Tech-
nical Training Command of this
University will soon have their own
28-piece marching band. The men
in the band are now drilling under
the direction of Bandmaster Corp.
Edward Wachholz, and instruments
are expected momentarily. "The men
are doing very well in their march-
ing," said Corp. Wachholz. "We are
especially grateful to Mr. Revelli of
the University Band who is giving us
invaluable assistance."
The commanding officer has an-
nounced appointments of Squad-
ron and Flight Commanders and
Flight First Sergeants. Com-
manding Squadron A is Student
Captain William G. Alexander and
commanding SquadronD B is Su
Also appointed were fourteen flight
commanders who are given the
rank of Student Lieutenants, and
fourteen Flight First Sergeants.
tguished by round buttons wor
on the shoulders of their outer
Thi~sdtachment will be represent-
ad on Michigan's track team by
Charles L. Marshall, formerly of
Butler University, who runs the 120
loardles. Mularshall placed fourt
in the National Collegiate AAU meet
at the University of Southern Cali-
fornia in 1939. Particularly inter-
ested in his prowess will be the met-
eorologists of the second floor, Tyler
House at East Quad. Marshall is
their floor supervisor.
The Prophet, weekly publication of
Training Detachment, Army Air For-
oes Technical Training Command at
the University, made its first appear-
ance last week and was enthusias-
tically received. It consists of four
pages of news and features about
the future weathermen. Editors are
Pvt. Richard Bennet and Pvt. Joel
Kane.
Dinner music has been furnished
to the men through the courtesy of
a record-player in the dining hall,
and the generous loan of records
from the private collections of
Pvt. George Ankrum and Pvt. Jerry
Harness.
A piano has also been placed in
the mess hall and often dinner
music is played by the Air Corps'
own Eddie Duchin-Pvt. Al John-
son.
The airmen have made good im-
pressions socially at the various open
houses and dances held in their hon-
or by the residence halls and other
organizations; it is little wonder. By
the very nature of their calling, these

turned to our Base Camp.
"The trail now levelled out flat
for a mile, and we had easy going.
It was a good breather, for thern
the last steep climb yet rem'imed. -
How the men struggled to get those
sleds up that grade. R minded one
of the famous scene in the movies
of gold rush days in Alaska on ethee~ te
Dawson Nome taril, where men
toted months of supplies on one
sled up an almost perpendicular
slope. Whirlpools of snow eddied
over and smothered our party from
sight. Every one had to lput his
head down into his parka even to
breathe.
At the top of the hill. we made
contact with a guide. He told us that
E. company was bivouacing on the
left slope. I had the men pair off to
their tents. The snow suddenly gave
With Von Papen
ANKARA, Turkey, May 8- 1i i C IL
President Ismet Inonu of Tur key r e-
ceived German Ambassador Franz C
pm. yesterdy dfit a n ounced to- e...
(Th nture lof the tdiscu sons i~
recalled that neutral Turkey has fig-
ured largely in speculation regarding
an Allied invasion into southern
Euroe. nly April 20 Germany and ~

this past week . . . Students
were amazed to see a tall
figure attired in a jaunty
beret, a gray sports jacket,
tan knee socks, and a red
plaid skirt brightening up
the diagonal . .. The brave
man explained his strange
attire by saying "Hoot
mon, I'm putting into ac-
tion my protest against
the wrong kind of women
who wear slacks. If she's
a wee lassie I've no mind
to stop her, but just as I'm
not the right kind of a
man to wear skirts, some
women are the wrong kind
to wear slacks." . . . He
didn't express his idea of
the right kind of a man to
wear skirts.. .. He is Frank
C. Vibrans, '44E, who is a
stout-hearted Sc otsm an
with courage and he at-
tended classes and work
dressed in his electrifying
costume of passive revolt
against the feminine fad
...Reports have it that he
finished the day satisfied
with his crusade and also
with the returns of several
little bets that he had.- -
It is also said that the
women on campus are
planning retaliation.

large-scale maneuvers with
the signal corps here which
took place in the Arbore-
tum . . . The simulated
struggle consisted of ma-
neuvers between the two
groups in the Arboretum1
with their combined equip-
ment, which included tele-
phones, telegraph, radio
and pigeons . . . So it was
fatigue suits and camou-
flage as the Arboretum
joined the Army.
* * *
SOME 2,500 CIVILIAN
students are expected to
brave the vicissitudes of
summer school . . . This
constitutes about 33 per
cent of the current enroll-
ment . . . These figures
were revealed by the re-
cent Summer Plans In-
quiry . . . Of this number
1,316 will be men while 716
women are expected to at-
tend school . . . 500 fresh-
men are expected . .. Un-
der contracts negotiated
with both the Army and
Navy, 3,000 service trainees
will use the University f a-
cilities for specialized in-
struction . . . All in all, it
is estimated that the Uni-
versitv will Drovide for

last week . . . Tom Gattle,
'46, will direct the scrap
and salvage drives this
spring; he will also be in
charge of the Building and
Grounds work . . . Serge
Field, '44, will have the
task of coordinating the
various Manpower projects
with those of other Big
Ten schools and he will.
also work with the CDVO
in Ann Arbor . . . Bill
Buckey, '45, will continue
to work as director of the
University Hospital volun-
teers project .. . Bob New-
man, '46, heads the project
that will provide workers
for farm labor .. . The new
publicity director is Tom
Bliska, '45A.
* * *
THE WOLVERINE nine
did all right up until Tues-
day . . . Monday they
trounced the S elfr i dg e
field nine to ring up a
string of eight victories ...
They bunched six runs into
a wide open fourth inning,
scored eight other scat-
tered runs throughout the
game to win by a score of
14-4 . . . Bill Cain pitched
for the first four innings,
striking ont three of the

struck a man out . .. Cred-
ited with the win Cain was
replaced by Dick Savage in
the fifth inning . . . Two
freshman hurlers also had
a little practice in this
game, Don McIntosh and
Dick Schmidtke taking
over for one inning each.
...Bruce Blanchard, fast
third baseman, slammed
out two triples in the
course of the game, while
Bob Wiese was able to
make two singles and a
double, and walked once.
...The whole squad was
hitting better than in any
previous game.
* * *
W E ST ERN M i ch ig an
broke the Wolverine win-
ning streak Tuesday, scor-
ing a 4-2 triumph over tne
varsity . . . Coach Ray
Fisher used four hurlers in
an attempt to stop the
Broncos, who scored one
run at a time in the first,
fourth, seventh and eighth
innings on five hits ...
Michigan tallied in the
fifth and seventh frames.
...Michigan tied up the
ball game in the last of the
seventh, when Howie Wik-
el knocked out a line triple



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SALLY t~*nr~&O


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