The National tribune., 1888-05-03

order that No telegraph operators shall join
the Signal Corps"
As a specimen Of absolute tyranny and the
arbitrary assumption of authority, this little
order of Mr. Stanton's takes the-I was going
to say cake, but it really includes the whole
bakeshop and bakers wagon. There was no
appeal, however; but it created big fuss, Of
which more anon.
The surviving telegraph men and the $500
Veteran Signal Corps Association, who are sub
scribers To THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE, are in
terested in this matter, and / Will at another
time give the inside history
Practically it has resulted in depriving body
Of faithful telegTaphers from enjoying the
glory and benefit that might have accrued TO
them and their families by having their names
on record Ia the archives of the War Depart
ment
IN THE ROLL OF HONOR
with ths enlisted men. That they are not
eligible to membership in the GAR. is at
present source Of greatest regret.
Before his death Gen. Logan interested him.
self IN forwarding bill through the Senate
granting this organization the privilege of be-
ing enrolled amongst the Nations defenders.
We all know that our North American Indi-
ans used signal fires and smokes from the
mouutaiu-tops in the West long before the
white men got there to flash the heliOgraph
into the faces of the Apaches
AAdL sl1AdlAu1-tto ~ present. IN uS6 III OuE
army and navy-has excited no greater general
attention is probably because the matter has
not been made more public. There is to most
persons an air of mystery or secrecy connected
with signals of whatever description. But as
a matter Of fact, nothing is more simple than
the general-seryicc code. Instead of being an
intricate study il is a simpliication or reduc-
tion OF the ordinary English alphabet.
venture the prediction here that If the long
looked-for universal language is ever made
practical it viii be through the medium of the
signal code we used in the army.
am led TO this belief through having dis
covered in the practical use of the signal code
aud the Morse telegraph alphabet, which has
become almost universal, that two foreigners,
wholly unacquainted with the language of each
other, who may be Morse telegraph operators,
or who may understand the Morse system as
applied to signals, can readily and speedily
converse with each other.
A cable may have Frenchman at one end
and an Englshman at the other, yet they both
readily talk through the medium of the one.
two code
Any intelligent person who can read and
write well can learn by short study to con-
verse by signals, not only at close range, but as
far as the eye can reach by telescope With
cane and handkerchief, or with only his hat
IN his hand swinging his arms, he can talk
readily distance of five miles. At night can
dies or lanterns, or even matches, may be used.
Indeed, 1t Is almost impossible to get an accom-
plished signal officer in any position in life
where he will not find some means of signaling.
1t is necessary, of course, that some system or
alphabet be previously understood. The meth
ods By which it may be applied are almost as
innumerable as are the different appliances of
mankind.
have among my retain papers" quite
lot OF interesting signals and ciphers which |
gathered during aud subsequent TO the war. l
viii, however, only quote few of Gen. Meyers
original lectures to his class of young officers.
The principles of signals are immutable.
The applications Of these principles are endless.
To treat of the modes Of making signals is only
to discover the infinite devices in which hui
man ingenuity exhausts itself to best make
these applications.
Novelty of the principles is impossible.
There Is scope for invention and discovery
only as 10 the ingenious applications of
principles well known for centuries, and the
mechanical devices to make these applications
most available.
Signaling is telegraphing, as telegraphiBg in
Its widest signidcation is only conveTsing by
the sign-language. To be able to transmit any
terms Of any language with precision and dis
patch without pTecOncerted codes is the perfee-
tion Of signaling
To illustrate some of the many means which
can be used for signaling: by position, by mo-
tion, by sound, by touch, by taste, by odors, by
colors, by forms. That most generally used is
by motion. If a person stands in one position,
and the handkerchief is held in the hand in
front of the face and thence waved to the right
or TO the left, and always returned to the first
position, the two most simple elements of sig
mailing are formed. These can be designated
one, to the right, and two. to the left. An ad-
ditional stroke to the front is three. which is
used only to designate pause or punctuation
mark.
1t does not require any further demonstra-
tion to show that the combination Of these two
elements, figures / and 2, permit illimitable
applications and out Of these two simple SYM
bols is formed the general-seryice code, as fol-
lows: