The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-05-17

4
interesting and borders on the mysterious, al
most magical, use Of signal flags and telescopes
about this time might be given here. 1t is one
Of the war questions that has not been over
done, and much valuable secret history is lost
every time a signal officer or military telegra-
pher dies
As a sample illustration of the interest in
signaling ] refer to one evenings experience
with the balloon. Everybody knows there
were two Of these professional balloonists IN
our Winter camp down there. Every now and
then one Of these big balloons was seen to 60
up in the air, bObbing around far above the
tree-tops. One of the professors had his big
gas-bag anchored in the rayine behind head
quarters. When the thing was down it was
out ot sight IN this ravine, except the top bulb,
which bobbed around and scared headquarters
horses and visitors who saw only that portion
OF it above the raViue. All the apparatus for
initiating and handling was also in this ravine
1t was Of course as much of a curiosity amongst
our boys OF the army as the balloon at coun-
Try fair. There were always so many visitors
about that a rope was stretched around the
space occupied by the aeronaut inside Of which
no one was allowed TO GO
/ became pretty well acquainted with the
professor y who messed with the other artist p"
(the photographer in little shanty of house
near by our mess. This balloon, it viii be un-
dcrstood, was intended rs an observatory
enemy could be overlooked. In theory this
seems to be reasonable enough, and ii ought TO
be valuable aid. In actual practice the use
OF the balloon was a failure in the air, or at
least only valuable to a very limited extent.
The reason Is that to prevent its Boating over
into the enemys country, il had to be anchored
to our side. The elevations were always made
with q rope securely tied to a tree, by which it
could be hauled down. 1t was frequently nee
essary 10 do this suddenly, too, because the ap-
pcarance Of the big thing in the sky seemed to
annoy the rebels q great deal; they at last
trained some fine English guns on 10 1t with
such accurate aim aud range that the shots
nearly let the wind out once or twice. Gen.
Hooker, near whose headquarters it was lOcat-
ed, was compelled to move its base, because it
drew the fire Of the rebels into his house.
But the principal cause of its failure lay IN
the fact that, in anchoring it firmly to the
earth, the balloon when at its ropes end tugged
and jerked 50 restlesSly on the ropes that it
shook the professor up so that he could see
nothing but stars-in his own eyes.
] went up il this balloon once-only once,
and that viii do for the balance Of my lifetime.
! have heretofore explained that the Signal
Corps had some insulated cable wire of a pecu-
llariy-heNIble character. 1t occurred to me to
take loop of this wire up in the balloon and
[ telegraph down the wire from the basket IN
the air to our headquarters beneath just what
] could see Of the rebel army. 1t was All ell
tirely practical scheme, and its suggestion to
our new headquarters stan officers served to
attract the attention Of the chief to me per-
sonally, as had my proposition to cable the
+ river and report from inside the eneDys lines
to Gen. Burnside.
To be suspended in the air in balloon almost
directly overhead of the rebel army, would
seem to furnish about all the facilities that
were necessary to spy out the land in safety to
I he inv lafl In fqlrn
with me one OF the signal officers marine
glasses, an arrangement Of telescopes calculated
Tor use on board ships while rolling in the
1 swell Of the ocean. These glasses, like the
telescope, were of the best quality that could be
/ procured from English makers of these instru-
+ ments. With their aid, small flag in the
hands Of d signal man was easily read at a
f distance Of five miles. Objects like moving
/ troops or wagons on the ground not clearly
visible 10 the naked eye, were also made plain.
/ The feld-glasses used by our General officers
/ were not nearly so good They soon found this
out, and annoyed the signal officers by becoming
4 persistent borrowers Of their glasses.
In my proposition to the staff officer had
explained that l was also quite familiar with
/ the topography Of the country around Freder-
/ icksburs. had, indeed, Travelled the roads to
/ Richmond, as will be remembered, under cir
/ cumgtances that were calculated TO impress
/ upon my mind forever the exact character of
/ tie landmarks Therefore, with good glass
/ high in the air, it vas thought that l would
4 just be the fellow % watch the country.
As 81 experiment aud with view of max
1 ing the suspended or anchored balloon q sort
/ OF permanent signal station or peak of obser-
vation, was fully equipped for the proposed
/ service.
I was to take with me into the air a loop of
/. this copper wire. / viii have 10 explain that a
. loop, or two wires was necessary il this case,
loo s.1f n
( circuit. On terra lrma only one wire Is Deees-
sary, as the earth is used as a return medium.
To be plain, all currents Of electricity are sup
posed % return 10 the point from which they
are started OF generated. Just exactly how q
/ mere dot or wave Of electricity started by a
/ single touch travels under the Atlantic Ocean
through the medium Of the insulated cable,
and after making the dot signal in America it
goes 70 the earth and returns to England as
quickly as / can dot an with this pen, is some
/ thing ! cannot explain.
have been, in one way and another, fImili-
/ arly handling lightning, in the way Of tele-
/ graphs and signals, for 30 years, aud ! confess
that ] do not now know as much about il as
/ thought 1 did when / first learned the tele-
graph alphabet
II viii be seen, however, that there could be
/ n0TctUrn currentfrOm the balloon by way Of the
/ ground. There has been a system OF air cur
rents devised IN the books but in practice, the
elements-that is, lightning aurora borealis,
electric storms, etc.-iuterlcre SO much that this
system Is generally useless
The two wires formed a metallic circuit
which is the most simple form Of telcgraphing.
Being well insulated from each other, they were
wrapped closely together, so as TO form one rope
in appearance. The objection TO the additional
weight was overcome by adjusting the volume
Of gas and ballast 10 suit it.
am giving all these details because in some
recent foreign correspondence ! notice that the
French and German army officers have been
working on this very plan, the newspapers
having the impression apparently that IL j.
something entirely new in war
The survivors Of the thousands Of witnesses
/ who saw our balloons almost daily will be in
terested IN hearing why their use was not con
tinued.
An Of the preparations had been conducted
secretly, as it was desirable that neither tn,
enemy nor our own troops should learn OF The
tclegraphing in the air
When everything had been arranged to sui
the Professor" land it took a good deal o
c0axiug 10 pet him interested IN having a part
ner) IL was settled that on the following morn
ing We should make the ascension.
OF course We were not on time; armies anC
balloons never are. After a good deal Of pre-
! liminary talk | craWlcd into that basket. NJ
! little telegraph instrument had been attacbe,
70 the two wires Signals were successfully
exchanged through the wire as it lay in th
: reel. showing that the telegraph and signal de
a.