The sun., 1893-08-20
UORkING the HTLIOGR.fPH.
Army Omcers Regard the Sy-tem Hs OF Great
Importance In Mintnry Sci-prc.


The Wcst is the true home uf the hcio.rnph.
The Department Of ArHoNn. during the recent
troubles over tn" lat" lamrnicd Geronimo.
g,aphc survey OF the sent oi the Indian trou-
bles. ami located nn tn" mans IN" available
points ol observation. with IN" direction and
compass benring Of th' uthc: visiblc stations
IN this way the country was coyrr" with u
sa"n "a E1"t "SS II. SsiHar.
ters the latest movements OF the ,hos,iIes.
cS ThS sann sn "paeT III. ,n" o ys.
in League with the TROOPERS. and thoir sun"r-
stitoms fears. added to III" constant Earryina
brought them to terms. a never could have
been done hut for the use OF The flash signals.
graph stations were remarkabIr FIFTY or sixty
miles were ronsIderrd nothing unnNunl, and
out an intervening station.
The Invention OF the photograph belongs to
England: and It has hcen used extensively in
hrr service in India and EGynt: t"o countries
much as in, our own arid West. The in >tru-
mont was first broughtto A, erica in 1874. amt
like u great many otEor ,ventions uf John
Bull, was greatly improved y his Yankee
our Signal Corps il considered 10y experts the
most nearly perfect in III" world.
Ihe ne sne"d pc 10 OF tn" h,ci"Granh Is MT so treat
although the Morse alphabet l. used Ten or
twelve words II minute is ""nsi'l"rei good
method OF signalling ny flag. With wnich from
three to four words II minute was the most
s An ally "f the hrliogranh now in use 10y tho
Signal Cops is the lla:E Ian Crn. whore y
messages are sent at night ever strr,rhc. ~
from ten To- fifteen miles. though under iav rn-
bic conditions. with night !:la -srn. t.. mes.
snges have been sent for forty miles at a
single r-nch. The old method in night sig.
mailing WAS to use two torches. after the man
tho foot to"rh was pinccd on the :round in
front Of the observer to- giv" his l,ratiOn 70
tho receiver at the other end Of the ino. and
the " fly torch.' on the end Of the long pole.
was used 10 waving out th"wnrds
This method was aftcrward supcrs eded by
tho use Of lanterns with lark shutters worked
by kcy rs in the Telegraph snunarr. but
these arrangements were likely to g"t out of
order IN the field and now the energies of the
corps ara bent to rcr' ociinG II brilliant lantern
OF light weight. which can h" nhscurcd ny u
regular heioEraph scrceE. The lanterns nov
in use in the corps are fcd with mixture of
Kerosene and sperm oil. hut experiments are
burns Il magnesium tnl". led hefor" the re-
Hector by clock work. 1t gives a very brilliant
light at an expense Of n out ~ cents an hour.
The heiograph is regarded hy army officers
as one OF tn" most practical and useful invrn-
tions of modern military science. and in the
case of h"leagu red city w"ull furnish q
means Of communication with tho .utside
world that would discount hnloon.. carrier
pigeons. and tn" magnetic tcle::ra ph, as tho
line could not he cut ny the enemy and the
nj. ssengcr could not he captured or slot in
transit. In the case Of Washington. should
this city ever chance 20 bc hlockadei. the
Photograph would furnish n very certain meal ns
around. and signal observer stationed on
top a. the monument could flash messages
almost IL not quite to baltimore il tho condi-
tions were at all favorable.