Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-07-01
THE LANGUAGE OF SHIPS.

Some landsmen may be inclined to
question US when we say that not only
can ships speak, but they can also carry
on a long conversation when they are
miles apart and winds are roaring and
seas tossing between them.
A barque sailed from Trieste. in Aus
tria, to New York not long ago, and
passed many vessels on the voyage,
with all of which she spoke; merely
saying "good-day" to some; stopping
to ask the bearings, destinations and
names of others; but in one instance,
when her provisions were running short,
she held forth for half an hour. stating
this to steamer bound in an opposite
direction. which replenished her stores.
Perhaps you can guess how the COM
munications are made; it is by flags,
which in various combinations answer
the purposes of complete vocabulary.
Let us suppose now that the barque
we have mentioned is named the Mary
Edison. As the steamer approached
she dipped her national ensign as q
greeting, and then hoisted five flags.
One OF the quartermasters on the
steamer, seeing the signal, obtained a
book from the wheel-house, and on one
of the front pages found, among many
others, colored reproductions of these
flags. Opposite to the picture Of the
highest flag shown by the Edison was
the figure nine; opposite the next below
the figure seven; opposite the third the
figure two; opposite the fourth the
figure eight. and opposite the lowest OF
all the figure one. The flags, then.
gave the number 97.2Sl, and opposite
this on another page of the book was
the name of the sailing ship, her port
of register, tonnage ana owners. The
steamer by other flags gave her name;
and had all been well both vessels
would have proceeded, and on arriving
at their destination given the newspa-
pers brief mention of their meeting;
but, aswe have said, some strong wester-
II gales having delayed the barque she
wanted some provisions, and by simply
hosting one other flag conveyed the
information, which was at once acknowl-
edged by a boat load of potatoes. flour
and salt beef.
Almost any question can be asked or
answered at sea, and one flag in some
instances speaks a whole sentence.
When two flags of q certain color and
shape are hoisted they mean, "What
ship is thatp" Two similar flags enable
one Captain to tell another approach
ing dangerous coast that he is steer
ing with danger. Three flags ask one
Captain to take letter from another,
or tell him that ship has lost her mate.
The flags are used both as numerals
and rs an alphabet, and in various COM
binations no little eloquence is possible
to them.
Captain Marryat, the charming author
of "Peter Simple" Midshipman
Easy" Jacob Faithful and other
stories, invented a signal code which
has been in almost general use. Ten
flags are numbered in the book from
one to zero. The first is square white
flag with blue patch in the center; the
second is composed of blue, white and
blue bars; the third is square white
and red flag; the fourth is a swallow
tailed flag, with blue ground and
white cross in the middle, and the 9TH
ers are marked or cut in a way different
from these. Each of the ten flags has
a substitute in the form of pennant by
which any number may be repeated
without using in one set of signals two
flags or more of the same form and
color.
The various numbers used are divided
into several classes. The first class
comprises, let us say. all numbers from
a unit to seven thousand and opposite
each number in the signal book is the
name of a vessel, her port of registry
and her tonnage, as we saw in the case
of the Edison. The second class of
numbers comprises all from seven thou
sand to twelve thousand, and opposite
to each is the name of port, a shoal, a
beacon or lighthouse. The third class
comprises all from twelve to thirty
thousand, opposite each being a word |;
and the fourth class comprises all from
thirty to fifty thousand, with a sentence
from three to twenty words opposite
each.
All sorts of nautical, geographical
and general information may be ex-
changed by these strips of bunting
but ships always speak briefly and to
the point.
The code is being revised, and on
September LIST, 1880, the new system
will be adopted by France, Germany,
Russia, the United States, Italy, Spain,
Portugal, Great Britain, Belgium, Den
mark. Sweden, the Netherlands, Aus
tria. Hungary, Greece and Chih.--Wn'.
II. Rideiasg, in Vide AUGke.