The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-10-05
operator could sec that there was some.

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dreaded OF signals was made out. The
letters N M were displayed. They
represented the terrible sentence: ~
am on fire." AS in the case OF the
other vessel the steamer was met long
before she reached quarantine, by the
fire-boats and the police-boat. But II
is on the high seas that the display ol
the blue and white checker-board flag
and the blue bunting with white cross
excites dread in the seaman's heart.
Nearly all of the two flag signals are
ominous ones.
When two vessels meet at sea and
each is anxious to know who the other
is, the letters b N w are hoisted. This
signal is equivalent to the question;
"Where are you fromp" The other
ship answers, and then up go the sig
nails b p f, Where are you boundp"
II the answer is satisfactory to the first,
in nine cases out of ten the signal
b S X, II have p letter for you," is run
up. AS soon as the letters are made
out, the vessel signaled to answers
b M, "Send your letters"
Boats are lowered and away they go,
bobbing over the billows toward the
boat.
Signals most dreaded by the health
officers of our port are the letters ID L
M, yellow fever" The flying of this
signal soon sends Health Officer Smith
down the bay on the tug Preston.
When he has reached the vessels side
the yellow ensign soon replaces the ID
L M. Equally dreaded by the health
people is the combination ID T @,
"Small-pox," or ID T R, Cholera"
Other contagious diseases are on
board when the flags ID 7 S are dis
played. These letters, however, do
not cause any special uneasiness to the
Health Officer, as it may only be case
OF mumps.
Shippers are stirred into activity
when they sight sail from whose
masthead fly the letters j T X, "Dy.
ing from want of water" Their ener-
gies are also put forward when the
signals V II, want food"-can be
made out through their glass. No
matter of what nationality, these colors
have the same import to the seaman
who reads them. the blue, white and
blue parallel stripes of the j, the red
X across the white flag representing
the V, and the white and red H stand
for the same combination of letters in
the Italian tongue as in the Russian,
German or English.
Medical aid is often asked for by one
ship of another. The flags F w
represent the sentence II want doctor
or surgeon" F b V calls for "sur-
geons," F b F for q nurse" and F B
r for clergyman" If the call F
b w is answered by one surgeon and
he finds that he wants aid, whether
from his ship or from the shore. the
flags G M indicate to the watchers
that surgeon wants assistance"
Vessels have left this port in appar-
emily good condition, and when out
few hours, or mayhap a day at sea,
they spring leak. If not too far
from the Hook they usually run under
the shadow of the operators tower,
showing the signals b w, "leak."
When they have become satisfied that
the signals have been seen, the flags
are taken down and the letters III V b
run out. These call for assistance"
Before the latter arrives the skipper
may have to resort to another change
of signals. They are b X M, "leak
increased" or one which gladdens the
owners as well as the seamen aboard,
b X N, ''leak stopped"
The sight of a dismantled hulk ris.
ing and falling on the swells is always
one that makes the ocean traveller be-
come philosophic. Rugged from jury
mast, he may see three colored flags
flying, which to him mean nothing, but
to the captain signify great deal, and
causes that functionary to issue orders
which soon sends one or more boats
skimming toward the wreck. The
flags which the captain has sighted are
the letters B X r, II am waterlogged;
take people off," A signal fraught
with as much meaning is the one b L |
ID, ~ am q complete wreck" If there |
has been any trouble about the reading
of the flags, the letters G w + indicate
'Signal not understood" or G w j,
"You have misunderstood signals"
AS signal flags can only be depended |
upon when their colors are distinctly |
visible, an important opportunity for
at sea is often lost be-
cause distance or haze prevents the
signals from being made out. A code
of distant signals has therefore been
into use with view to sup
ply what is obviously defect in exist
ing codes. This code is merely COM
of black ball and flags of the
same color. The sentences are made
up in the same way as those
with eolored flags, the relative
positions of the ball and flags in
dicating the signal intended. Here are
four of these signals: The ball hoisted
above black pennant indicates that
the vessel signaled to is running into
danger" The ball hoisted above a
square flag indicates the sentence,
Fire or leak; want assistance" The
ball below the pennant indicates that
the signaler is "short of provisions;
A square flag above the
ball indicates that ~ am aground; want
An endless combination
Of these represent all that men at sea
lesire to say to one another.