The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1886-07-08
BY FLASH AND TORCH.
Tn. HelIOzraph as Means of Signaling.

-
The Telegraph a. Means or Signaling.
In june Of this year Gen. Hazen added a new
feature to the course OF instruction at Fort
Myer, Va, by giving the company Of signalists
and the meteorological class at Fort Myer an
opportunity to become acquainted with the
methods employed in actual warfare for rapidly
establishing stations and maintaining commu-
nications in the field. A line of stations was
established between Fort Myer and Sugar Loaf
Mountain, Nd, and all methods Of commune
cation were employed on this line, comprising
telegraphy, flag signaling, tOrching, flash lam
terms, and heliOgraphing, or signaling by means
Of the rays of the sun reflected from a mirror
Our representative had an opportunity
through the courtesy Of Gen. Hazen and his
assistant Lieut.. i. M. Purssell, TO visit the men
st their camps, and on June % started, under
the escort of Serg't Bunnemeyer, Of the Signal
Corps, on tour of inspection.
The weather was mild, and refreshing
breeze greeted us as we started in the ambu-
lance from the Aqueduct bridge On our way 10
the fret camp We followed the telegraph line
erected by the signalmen, aud after pleasant
ride of about three hours came in sight Of the
first camp. A signal flag was waving from a
tall pole 10 show the location Of the camp.
This camp was about is miles from Washington
and was namsd Camp Hazen in honor Of the
Chief Signal Officer. IL was situated about 300
yards from Great Falls, and connected with
Fort Myer by telegraph line. This line WAS
erected upon pine poles, about IL feet in hight
and about so yards apart. party, under d.
rection of & Surveyor" rapidly marches ahead
and plants pins to mark the points where the
holes are to be made to admit the foot o. the
poles.
second party, called the bar-men follows,
each with crowbar, and makes the holes TO
depth OF ABOUT two feet. The baT-men must
work with great rapidity. They make the holes
in turn, and when the first man has finished,
he passes by the entire party to proceed 70 the
first pin beyond. Close upon the bar-meE fol-
lows the pole or lance-trGck, delivering pole,
with insulator attached, at each hole Next in
| line moves the wire-wagOn Keeling out the wire.
Afifth party, the lance-men, follows close behind
the wire-WagOu, placing the wire IN the iusula-
tors and erecting the poles, and thus the work
proceeds, the line being erected about as fast as
q body Of troops will march N common time.
F, A line 20 miles long can be erected as easily
and as fast as person can travel over that dis
| lance on foot. AT Camp Hazen we watered and
rested our weary mules land whoever saw a
| Government mule that was not weary for 3
/ short while, and In the meantime sent dis
patch to Lieut.. Wright, who had charge Of
| Camp Biddle, announcing our coming. Camp
/ Hazsn was temporarily in charge OF Serg' {
| Boylan, and this camp served mainly as a sup
| ply camp, or to relieve the tired signal-men in
/ the camps beyond by fresh detail. After q
| short stay at Camp Hazen we proceeded on our
way to Camp Biddle, named after the COM
handing officer of Fort Iyer. This camp YVES
| about six miles beyond Great Falls and was
also connected with Fort Myer. We arrived at
| this camp ct go p. H., and were cOuTteOusly
greeted by Lieut.. Wright, Of the Signal Corps.
| Camp Biddle was the terminus OF the telegraph
| line and from here 10 Sugar Loaf Mountain
q system Of communication was kept up by
| 80 t.I,o Her hos
and fash-lanterns at night.
The heiiogrsph, by which the signals were
made, is apparently very simple. 1t consists OF
| two mirrors one Of which catches the rays OF
the sun and reflects them into the other mir
Tor, while this latter in turn throws the rays
upon the distant station, which was in this
case Sugar Loaf Mountain, 20 miles through
the air as the crow flies. A screen, manipulated
by means OF key similar to the keys Of the
electric telegraph, intercepts the rays reflected
from the second mirror. By pressure upon
this key the rays reflected from the mirror are
thrown upon the distant station, and by vary
tiBg the length Of pressure, dots and dashes are
produced the different combinations of which
represent the letters of the alphabet and COM
rnunieItions are exchanged with the greatest
facility.
The outline of Sugar Loaf was diInly per-
ceptible. A grayish-blue, misty mountain loom
ed up against the sky, and even through q
telescope nothing but the faint outlines Of the
mountain were discerDible. Out of this gray
mist could occasionally be seen, even with the
naked eye, bail Of fire, apparently about lC
inches in diameter. This was the fash Of the
heliograph on the mountain. These signal:
were readily understood and resd, aud several
messages were sent TO and received from Lieut.
Ellis, the officer in charge OF the dt-v .1en
encsInped on Sugar Loaf. OF eeurss. aeilo
graph can be used only when the sun shin
| ~ Il
municating with Lieut.. Ellis clouds vs. 1 IRE
quently enyelop the mountain and slfctely
obscure il, aud we were then obliged % val
until the clouds rolled By, in order 10 process
with the message.
The alphabet used is the Continental Morse
which differs from the American Morse in tina
il contains no spaced letters. The use o
flashing signals by means Of mirrors Is very con
venient in many respects-no connections is need
ed between the stations, the rays cannot be tier
cepted, and the distance at which these signal
can be seen is almost unlimited and has II
many instances exceeded leo miles, and in ont
case 1872 miles. The use Of light-hash diree
! or flashes from mirrors for the purpose Of sig
mailing has been well known since the days o
the ancients Many years ago messages wer
thus transmitted by flashes Of the Drummon'
, calcium light in the ordnance service Of Eng
land a distance said to have been over 80 miles
and sun flashes from the heliotrope or sun-hasl
} turner, an instrument used in surveys, hav
long been the means OF Communication betweel
3 survey parties and engineers. In the surve.
of Lake Superior messages are said 70 hav
been sent by the heliograph distance fully a
great. The American Indians have long useC
as signals sun-fashes made with hand mirror
4 in their wars among themselves and with tn
whites. Gen. Miles considers this system Q
signaling indispensable 70 a successful campaIg
5 against the Indians in the Southwest, and Ger
D Hazen has supplied him with as many instru
{ ments and men TO manipulate them as could b
spared. The object Gen. Hazen had in view
when he organized a company of expert sig
I nalists at Fort Myer was to have q sufhcien
: nnmbor of expert signal men ready and avail
able at all times for active service in the fell
q when necessary. These men constantly praC
T tice the art of signaling, and their successful
q practice in camp shows their great value i
a cases of emergency. During the few days tina
. the party were in camp over 1000 message
a were exchanged, and the system seems in
d state of perfection. Lieut.. Wright, in charg
c of Camp Biddle, afforded us every facility fC
] obtaining information, and explained the work
r ings of the system so thoroughly that we cor
d cluded that we could not teach him anythin
|. in signaling; and after witnessing some Of ii
y remarkable skill as q marksman we parte
i with the genial Lieutenant and started on OurTt
S turn trip, having spent pleasant and prohtabl