The herald., 1894-04-16
THEY HARNESS THE SUNBEAMS,
How the Signal Corps Trans
mits Messages.
A Crack Corps of the NatiOna
Guard.
Some Intsresting Facts About the Work
Of an Important Military organiza-
tiOn-Its Rapid Progress and
Thorough Equipment.

| OAo Va wv ctdCh OEBhulIhtlOus OI tu6
National guard in Southern California is
the signal corps of the First riSade,
which made such a magnificent ap-
pearance in the military parade last
Friday.
The corps is made up OF 20 we'll
known gentlemen of this city, and is
under the immediate control OF First
Lieut.. George Lawrence, while the COM
manding officer is Maj. Madison T..
Owens, signal officer of the staff OF Gen.
e. P. Johnson. The signal corps,
through the indefatigable efforts of the
commanding officer. is today one of the
best equipped organizations in the
guard, being equipped With both dress
and service uniforms, sabers and re-
voivers OF modern pattern, new army
saddles and blankets, and a full mess
equipment and all the necessary pSra-
phernalia for signaling, including two
excellent photographs and complete kits
OF signal flags and torches. The head
quarters OF the corps are located in the
Seventh regiment armory, and here
there ia located a Morse telegraph outfit,
where the boys are expected to familiar
ize themselves with the dots and dashes
OF the Morse alphabet, which characters
are used In signaling by the signal corps
Of the United States army and the Ma
tional guard. The signals between near
ooints are conducted in daylight by
flags, which are waved to the right, left
and front by members OF the corps, sta
toned at elevated points. At night
torches are substituted for the flags.
The work with the heliograph is by all
odds the prettiest and most useful feat
urs OF the work of the signal corps. In
case oil sudden invasion and the destruc-
ton OF the telegraph lines by the enemy.
II would not take many hours to estab-
llsh communication by this sun tele-
graph all along the Pacific coast and east
through Arizona and New Mexico. The
signal corps here has q pair of hello
graphs with which very good work has
been done, particularly in communicate
ing between the main land and Catalina
island. The heliograph is rather a curl
Gus looking contrivance, to the novice.
1t Is composed of a pair of mirrors
mounted upon tripods. One of these is
known as the sun mirror and the other
as the station mirror. The station mir
ror is the one directed toward the station
to which message is being sent and
the sun mirror is the one directing the
rays of the sun upon the station mirror.
The signals are then made by cutting off
the reflections of the mirror by hinged
shutter placed upon a tripod standing a
few feet away in the line OF light. When
the sun is in the right direction signal
ing can be done with the sun mirror
alone, which is kept adjusted by a slow
I1I0SiSsA 80 - E-ll-
ment of the sun. One who has not
worked with heliogrsph does not APP
preciate how rapidly the 'sun do move"
to quote Brer Jasper. 1t requires the
constant attention Of one man 10 watch
and keep the mirror adjusted; second
man works the shutter. and third one
records the messages. When the shut
ter is closed the reflection is cut off; by
opening it you get a fash. A short
fash is dot and longer hash is a
dash, and by these combinations and
spaces the letters Of the alphabet are
formed, and an expert can eend mes
ssgea quite rapidly. With the ordinary
field instrument, such as the signal
corps here uses. with mirrors four and a
half inches square, messages can be
transmitted distances up to so and rs
miles. In favorable weather, with
eigbt-inch station photographs, mes
sagss can be sent 125 miles, while with
12inch glasses messages have been sent
169 mies.
The most successful heliograph work
ever accomplished in this country was
by the signal corps under General Miles
during the Geronimo campaign in Ari-
zona. There are 53 signal stations in
that state and New Mexico. covering a
distance of over 1000 miles, the stations
being from five to 121 miles apart. Some
OF the stations are able to communicate
with a number OF others. Mount Gra-
ham, for instance, can communicate
with IL other stations distant from six
to 12l miles.
Major Owena has had four different
signal station maps made for the use OF
the guard. Tho first one was made
during the Chilean trouble, and covers
the coast line and islands from San Diego
to Point Conception. Another map,
which ia very fine piece of work, COW
era the coast line and islands from San
Diego to San Francisco, while still an
other has recently been prepared which
covers the city OF Loe Angeles. with the
new court house tower as the central
station.
One of the especial merits of the sig
nal corps is the fine Workmanship Of
its members with the new Colts revolv-
or. The score of the last shoot is q good
Indication OF the average work in this
respect, the shots made being out of
possible total OF so. The score is given
below:
Major owens. 81