Thursday, February 23, 1922. Booze sniffing hounds, Naval San Diego, Communist Theft, Japanese Suffrage.

Dog trained to sniff alcohol, February 23, 1922.

Lenin issued a decree authorizing confiscation of valuables from the Russian Orthodox Church as a relief measure for the famine caused by his failed economic policies.

The degree to which Communism was and is criminal can hardly be exaggerated.  The moronic economic policies forced upon Russia depressed its economy for decades, with it taking decades for certain sectors of it to return to pre Communist output, particularly agriculture.  It also resulted in massive famine. Theft from the Church was not going to relieve that, and more than anything else expressed the degree to which the criminal enterprise could now freely act against it.

The Church appealed the decision, but unsuccessfully.

The U.S. Navy established San Diego as a U.S. Destroyer Base, San Diego, forever altering the character of the city.

Worth noting, if San Diego had been fully retained as the headquarters for the Pacific Fleet between the wars, the attack at Pearl Harbor would have really had much less impact than it did, assuming that it would have occured at all.

The Japanese parliament rejected universal suffrage, which resulted in a riot that evening.

Lex Anteinternet: September 19, 1919. President Wilson visits San Diego (and President Trump a century later).

After I posted this item yesterday:

Lex Anteinternet: September 19, 1919. President Wilson visits San D...: President Wilson arriving at the U. S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, California, Sept. 19, 1919 On this day in 1919, President Wilson was...

It was pointed out to me that President Trump was at the U.S. Grant hotel in San Diego yesterday.

Which I hadn't been aware of.

I'm not sure what it says about me that I was aware that Woodrow Wilson had been there a century ago, on that day, but not the current President.

September 19, 1919. President Wilson visits San Diego.

President Wilson arriving at the U. S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, California, Sept. 19, 1919

On this day in 1919, President Wilson was in San Diego promoting the Versailles Treaty.

Camp Kearney, California. January 23, 1918

First air to air radio communication between aircraft. September 2, 1916

On this day, in 1916, the first air to air radio communication between aircraft took place.  The plane was U.S. Army's "No. 50"" piloted by Lt. A. D. Smith and U.S. Army "No 51" piloted by Lt. Dargue.  The message was part of an ongoing effort lead by the U.S. Army's Cpt. C. C. Culver and involved aircraft that had been involved in radio experimentation.  The message, "North Island makes new world record" was written by California Congressman Kettner.  The aircraft were two miles apart and less than 1,000 feet in the air.

Curtis JN4 on the border with Mexico, 1916.

The event was more significant than it might now seem.  

The U.S. air fleet itself was minuscule at the time and, given the rapid development of aircraft due to the war in Europe, it lagged behind technologically.  It was deployed in the effort in Mexico, where the limitations of the aircraft had demonstrated themselves.  Like aircraft everywhere in military use, the scouting role and potential of the airplane was evident, but like the cavalry that it was seeking to augment in this role, delivery of information obtained in the air was largely by direct word of mouth.  Faster, obviously, than cavalry in these regards, it still wasn't instant.

Cpt. Cluver had been working on this situation as early as 1910, remarkably early, and was responsible for an Army effort that was studying "wireless" and aircraft.  In that year, his efforts yielded the first ground to air radio communication.  In 1915 he was billeted to the Army aviation school in San Diego California to continue to pursue his efforts, which included designing purpose built radios for aircraft.

Culver, then a Colonel, in 1918.

While radio had obvious application to aircraft, in all sorts of ways, and indeed would revolutionize much about flying, including military flying, advancements did not come rapidly enough to really see the new technology used much during the Great War.  Some use was made, and at least the British experimented with some air to ground communication in a scouting and artillery spotting role. But, while the technology was developed, it didn't develop rapidly enough to really come into practical use to a great extent until after the war.

Related Posts:

The Punitive Expedition and technology. A 20th Century Expedition

The Punitive Expedition and technology. A 20th Century Expedition. Part Two. Radios and Telegraph

The Punitive Expedition and technology. A 20th Century Expedition. Looking at Horses and Tack. Part 3(a), the Equines