St. Landry democrat., 1888-09-01
SIGNALS FOR THE FARM.
Simple Means of Communication Over an
Area of IA Mile or So.

Area of Mile or So.
A code of signals for use on the farm
may be made very useful for communl-
cation between persons out of speaking
distance. The writer has long used a
loud whistle fer making signals to his
hired men and others about the farm,
which have been found quite ineligible
and useful after a little training. The
common mile whistles sold under the
claim that they can be heard a mile Oft
are frauds and fit only for children
playthings; but a loud whistle can be
! made of a brass tube half an inch in d.
ameter, plugged and cut with a file in
/ the required manner. The best whistle,
/ however, is made of the half shell of a
| common flbert or Barcelona nut saWn
/ lengthwise or across the middle. This
is placed between the third and fourth
! fingers inside the hand, at the space be-
! tween the knuckle and the next Joint,
with the opening in the shell between
| the fingers The hand is then closed SO
opening into the nutshell. Then by
placing the hent joints of the fingers
| between the lips and blowing fOrcibly
into the nutshell, a very shrill and loud
whistle may be given that can be heard
| half a mile with ease, and further when
gentle wind is blowing inthe direction
the sound is to be sent
1t seems that this system of whistle
signals or language is by no means
novelty, for a regular vocabulary, so to
speak, of whistling sounds has been in
use in an Island of the Canary group.
| The inhabitants of this island (GOmera,
which consists mostly of precipitous
rocks and deep ravines through which
rivers flow, make use of this code Of
whistle signals to communicate with
each other across the rough country,
which can only be traversed
by long, circuitous routes, on &C
| count of the deep ravines. These peo-
! pie use both fingers and lips when
whistling, and can carry on a CONVEX
sation with neighbors mile distant by
, the use of this peculiar language.
This useful addition to the faculty of
speech may be made available in many
ways by adopting similar code or key
of sounds to that which is used in tele-
graphy. Thus in our system three
! short, sharp whistles blown quickly
mean that the man or men at work in a
distant place are to come to the house
! or to quit work. One long whistle,
gradually tapering off to finish, means
that the foreman must send a man to
1 the barn; one short, sharp whistle, fol-
lowed by the long, tapering one, calls
the team home; two short whistles and
the long one from the foreman calls
the employer to the field to settle some
difficulty; three short whistles and the
= long one call the foreman and announce
meal times. Thus by the use of long
and short sounds differently disposed
all sorts of directions may be given and
information conveyed. Each man en-
ployed is provided with whistle, if he
can not use his fingers in the usual
way, which makes a loud, piercing
sound, and card of signals; but this is
uOt vi iuuCA USE SACcpG dt EdIS 1lteL-
walls.
/ Flags are usefully employed as sig
nails when the house or barn can be seen
from all parts of the farm. A pole with
arms such as make up the old-fashioned
''semaphore'' telegraph may also be
used when it can be seen or the persons
are too far apart to hear sound.
triangle made of steel bar bent with
the ends free, and struck with another
piece of steel, can be heard more than
amile away. But this and the bell are
not sufficiently various in sound for Or
binary use. The whistle, on the other
hand, may be made to vary quite suffi-
GENTLY to afford all necessary means OF
communication over the area of an Or
binary farm, and the signals may be so
codifed as to give Intelligent meanings,
as in the case of the islanders above re-
ferred to.
But it will be most convenient to con-
dense as much as possible the code OF
signals. Thus the signal come to the
house or barn when repeated quickly
will mean there is something wrong
and haste is required. This will answer
for all emergencies. Each man, too,
should have his signal, to which he
only will answer in person when the
men are together or scattered. Some
such method of communication will be
found very useful, and, as it will tend to
save time in the work of the farm, and
as time is money, it will be found a
means of economy, and therefore
worthy of adoption.-M Y Times.