, 1864-07-31
About Army SIGNALS.

iOrs, nEAltp[Cclattd, AHc signal officer Who
wuu;d bring late and tull news to tho cnm-
r1andiug g. neral must undergo not q L,ua
fatfgue and hardship.
lie must climb high trees to watch the
eormE; he ulust penetrate through tangled
tbfcktta and foreste In search tf eligible sta
items; ne n:ust climb The side Of steep aud
rugged ubtRins, aud Lis bright aud SNOWY
fsg never fails to attract the Rrhsl sharp
shooters Ire when he Is In reach, which lie
must often be to secure good post, or OBJ
serve the enemy.
When once station is established, hfs
flsE must never drop BY day nor Ills torch
grow dim By night, til be has orders from
lis chies 10 Aba1l'ton his post tor Il nss one.
And yet 70 great Is the msstrr 7fth which
he must enshfouA his art, 80 profoundly &C.
cret must he keep the Nelghty messages and
orders conf}dcd to him, aud 70 silent urs ita
operations. thxt tue world aud even the army
know l1ttle abont hun. He alone Is proof
against the Hllcs Of those " universal, walk
u Interrogation points, the hecorrcsponds1tA
though he uoo7e al Others Is tho man whom
they ~oul. delight to be permitted to ''ase,"
But be las his reward for ull this.
IL Inc clsar, upper air were he ~ells, hc
Ct &c, as with n hawks eye, the who,c rr.at
crausa played out brnvath ntu he sers he
lorg Iiucs ef men dsptoxcd through valleys.
ana knoNs where they 81 aul Wis: hls n5s
least upon the field Of battle, ~hcre tue col
uu'ne Of attack rush impetuously down 4
NODDED slope. across al open field, aud up
into another piece Vi woods, aud ali Ii OF II
to him and intcllisitle, w,,fc TO others WHO
must t1oSel on tlc groand, there Ii nothing
but an e1asFcratibg 1nuddIe.
Signal stations are Of two kinds-re1cetisr
stations and stations Of observations: the
former FOR transmitting dfspatches, the lat.
ter for watching the enemy and coi,,,uun,c,t-
ihc the results 10 the commander, Both ara
constructed OF the came principles, and eu-
plcy the same Instruments. The latter are
lew and eimply- The Tag Is ulaIe Ut differ
rent colo1s, to contrast With tho line Of tho
. ctEfotnd, white, hlack, or red. Tha ono
u nnlly cmt 10, cd Is hat font FEET square; for
tht laryekt defiance It Is madc six feet sauara
and mounted on third joint Of staff to give
1t wtter range.
Tllr lnaott glass Is used for sranpfns tbe
Lor'1on rapidly, and mak[og general obsery-
atlcns; the telescope for resitng sign ,!s at
| grcat distance, and oosetvin!, fixed points
ninuteiy. Brstdes these, there IL a Certain
MYSTERIOUS pnsteboa1d dirc, stamped gith
circle Of hsnres. and elinipt, interior one of
irtters corresponding to each. tbs IL the
uninitiated il Of course impsnetrable.
Hhsn . message Is af'out to be sent, the
hueEisn takes hit station upon Eoule elevated
oh}tct, and "Satls'' the etati4.u with which he
dt sies to conu uu'cate by waving the nag
or torch slowly to aud tro. The operator
! seated It tht glass watches c1o+eiy the dis
tant nag, ant soun ~ it responds bT dippinqr.
he Is READY to send bis dispa1ch HuidiaT
The written nee .agc befc IT hlsa, h. calls oa{
| t" The ftngn1an certain numbers, each figure
| or CON mb'nation OF figures standing for Las
| ter lie hn-ula, tndTates each evp47.te
fsEre hE On Ingenious combustion Of +. r
| very eImplt motions.
For INSTANCE, one strike of the dag from
Perptndtcalar 10 y right HORIZONTAL iadtc4,es
oEe nsus q stroke to the hHtzoutI inui-
Gates another; strokc execatin. q half
c1rcle another, &c aittr each motion ind1-
eating figure, the tiag returns always to q
psrpendicu'ar. There are few gyllsnIus
which are Indicated By single stroka OF
Tue nag oshtr .isc the word must be spelled
oui 'sl.er " lcttts. Exp+fielaced slgnut otti-
GERS, however, employ many aobseviutiono
oy om4ttlnts vo"els, tSc., bO that scarcely
Single ~uTa, unless very .clused one Is
spelled out il: tull.
When n'ets';e ls being received the
operator eits ut the x.ass, witu the alymxn
near to record It, This the operator then IN
ts1pfets, Tor hot even the Genrr Il himself is
10 the secret, and by supplying the omittad
soWtls &c.: nukes out an intelllgole piece Of
thu Kings Et glish.
The RI; idy with which m this is c1ccu.ed
By exrericnc-d operators is astonishing.
:. The flag Ia kept IN such rapid zuntion that
the eye o. the lt.expest can scarcely follow,
aud bis wocI Ger Is increased ty btiug solI
| tl'pt The rtauer, Of whom he cannot see the
s|ightt It Indication with his nake, eve ia
Of N tes lines Is Dispatched In TIN minutes.
a whole 1sge OF ioolscap occupies about
thirt. nion1ts in It's tsaBs,nissivu. UEicers
u" Lave long wcrked together. and urc in
til. ate)y acquainted with each others aoore-
| gntlnrs nhtl peculiar expressions. car In
| PROVE uton even this speed
Ihe distance also through which signals
| cal b.: TRANSMITTED ~ffhout at int,:rnedlate
station, Is surprising; Lust Spring Capt. Leo
nsrd, Chief Signal Ot1sceE If tae ithN Corps,
I MIR T. rrfn nk.e Crr,1n y. Tx. r
Sun merv!lle, OIL Lookout Moun1al1, dis
tance Of eighteen miles. Lieut.. VIM Ear-
polds, formerly ofthe 10th Corps, s1gnaled
'n,m ,.,,. pe. the ayek f. "boat twenty miles
M n Ds1Iels wy :, ssnt BY The Secretary Of
OF the eneu'y's movements, aud he snccsed-
ed in seDdiDg messages rapidly over the ex-
ttaordtuary cistatcE OF tWtnty-four uiles-
fff m The Heights to Sugar Loaf 3fouutain-
f"ur milrs from Fl. derrick But THESE Ia
stances require remarkably favorable condi-
tioLe OF the atmosphere, locality, &c. Or
fIbarily, messages are not sent geater dis
tunce than six Or eight miles
Last night dispatch was received from
Gen. schod.ld's headquarters to Lost Noun
tain, d'starcc Of slx miles. and returned t7
ben Hook=r ! quarters, directly over which
It bad PASSED going out, aud a message re-
tuned TO Gen. Schu6t1t in twenty minutes
from the ttMctte inquiry LEFT. Gen II okcr
IS one nile from General schuteld, and
dt'etly between him and tho moantaIn,
but an Intervening to:est prevents direct
! comntn ca.ion.
,You nj ed not hesitate to publish the above
fer fcar Of giving "ald and comf.zt'' to the
Rebels. Not even the fa9men them solves
hAve the slightest knowledge Of the import
the esenge they nre ssnding, not general
In the army is let into the secret, unless he
ccmes bumhly as student, nor cau the sfy-
al officers themselves read the message se1t
to them unlcss they have first had she coun-
teFs'gnor keJ given out daily. Q. P.f.
STATE NEWS,
sAseAMoS COUNTY.
at the election held In Springfield On Tturs-
O.! last, 1or Alderman Of the Third Ward.
Robert Officer, The Union candidate va
elected By majority Of 106 votes,
Racing Association has been formed il
Spring gtleld.
MARION corxrI.
The drought 10 this county Is very sevsrc,
md it is feared the corn crop may prove !
failure.
The Southern Illinois Female College It
Salem, will he re.opened oc sc:t. 15sb- Rev.
". II. Ccriucton has accepted the prrsldsner
Of the Institution
KANE cor1rr.
Jones ". EDDY, and otnezs Of Batavia.
have just finished takin. care Of soms 200
acres of flax, which they have bo.n, cultiy1t-
Ing fnr The Northeastern Flax Company.
A yield Cf from Z to Is bushels of ascd md
ton Of st1Aw TO the acre is expected.
Charles P, Johnston, Clerk OF the Cour.
Of Common Plees, died ut aurora On ths
Esd Inst.
Pro1n C0ESTT.
The coal miners near PeoEs, have struck
and euep+ nded v ork.
Mr. j. n. Davidson, of Peoria. was arrest-
ed few days eincc tr the Sheriff of Fulton
county, for ssiziog horse belonging to tbs
Government, under Government oruers.
ssAbe's and stAndy.ss
Tho Philadelphia lnq1sirsr says the writer
of the following original cplstle received the
indulgence he aeked for:
''Jrplc1AnY SauARz HosF7rAL, WAEnts.
WASHINGTON C1r1. c. Ju'ysi 1854.
Dear elr: The Vnicn is eaved. Hu1Sht
Make room In Atraham's bosom!
Ny wife has tw1ns- Both huysi
Do please Rfnnt me a fariough for trs1ty nE
Thirty day to to Fort Wayne, Ind. to carissca
'em Abe and ANDY; AID besides, would Hike to
krow II they 1ook like ne.
: lam uoi elck now. few days at home viii Do
ne 1iofe good than sir uonths In the hospital
Should sny reiereucs bo required On pair.utixn
nrf nChltc &FYysres. SchuTftf CllSAx nm dnpa4tSe