The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-06-26
WARSHIPS' SIGNALS
How the Vessels Of the Navy Talk to Each
Other Whenever Il Il
Necessary.
It Is Done By Means Of Combinations Of
Ten Flags By Day and By Balls Of
Fire and Lamps at hight.

The methods Of signaling from one war
vessel to another while cruising or in &C
ton is one of the most interesting and
ingenious details Of modern naviga ton.
Brains and inventive genius have been
freely expended in devising new systems
and improving old ones. until row OF
flags and pennants, or a swaying torch,
or ball of fire can anihilate miles OF
rough pillows as easily as the telegraph
spans the continent.
The system chiefly used by the navy
department are flags by day and lights
at night
The flag system is very simple. Ten
flags stand for the numerals from one to
ten. BY grouping these flags any COM
bination of numbers can be obtained,
which shall be equivalent to word,
phrase or whole sentence, according to
code issued by the navy department.
For example-2653 may mean Running
short of coal,' 339 Track to windward,"
1862 Boiler disabled" As Wheel into line
for maneuvering," and so on inf1nitum.
The code books, one of which is found on
every vessel are thoroughly indexed,
with each combination Of figures oppo-
site the word, phrase or sentence 1t
stands for in signaling. The combina-
tions are secret and are carefully guard
ed to prevent an enemy, or even curl
Gus Jack Tar from reading the dls-
patches from vessel to vessel. The sets
of numbers are so many. and may be ar
bitrarily altered so easily that there is
little chance Of their secret leaking out
by constant repetitions. and to prevent
the code book falling into the hands of
an enemy in time Of war, its covers are
heavily weighted with lead, so that If
thrown overheard it is hopelessly lost.
The designs of the flags standing for
the numerals are as follows: L. red
flag; 2, white flag; 8, blue flag; A. flag
made Of two triangles of contrasting
shades, the color in the upper right-hand
corner being red; 5, the color In the same
corner white; 6, blue right-hand upper
corner the shade of the other triangle
being immaterial if contrasting. Seven
is flag with red bars at top and bottom;
8. white bars at top and bottom; 9, blue
bars at top and bottom, and zero, flag
bearing blue cross.
In addition to the flags standing for
numerals q number Of pennants are used
to qualify the message or expressed hxed
phrases. One pennant signals the sender
that the message has been received and
is understood Another is called the
"interrogatory," and its use is ingenious.
It happens that all the sentences in the
code book are in the Affirmative. so that
if the rear admiral on board the flagship
Columbia wants to ask the commandant
of the Minneapolis if he has coal enough
~ Ind n
question he wants to ask will be: I'VE
have coal enough" expressed by 1913, V
for example This will be answering the
question before it is asked, SO the in
terrogatory" pennant Is flown above the
numeral flags and the signal is turned
into query.
The commandant Of the Minneapolis
hoists a pennant signalling that the mes
sage is received and prepares to answer
it, Finding he has 100 tons of coal In
the scuppers his answer will be: Have
LOO tons Of coal on board He consults
the index Of his code book and finds this
sentence: Have - tons of coal on
board He sends this message first by
signalling the combination of numbers
opposite the sentence in the code book
and then signals LOO, the number of
tons.
To do this the first methood to suggest
itself would be raising four flags two
red. each signifying 1, and two with blue
crosses, each standing for 0, and thus
spell out LOO. The code calls for another
method, at once simple and ingenious,
and much more saving of bunting. Each
vessel is provided with a set OF remnants
called repeaters-1rst, second and
third respectively. When a repeater is
raised below flags representing numbers
it shows that one of the numerals above
is is repeated in the position 1t occupies.
The first repeater means the repetition
Of the first number Of the combination,
| the second repeater the second number,
| and so on. Eleven hundred would be
| spelled out in this way: First, a red
| flag for l. then the first repeater, show
| ing that the first number was repeated;
! then a flag with blue cross for 0, and
finally the third repeater, showing that
the third number in the combination was
| repeated.
| The English navy utilities the rays
| from a powerful electric light with ex-
cellent results. The lamp is concealed
behind adjustable shutters. which open
| and close rapidly at the will of the oper-
ator These shutters are shifted, par
TALLY opened or closed, and combined In
such q manner as to throw out shafts OF
| light Of different dimensions, shapes, In
| tensity, and duration. In this way a
| system of Geographic signals Is estab-
| lished.
|
been directed towards perfecting sys-
| tenn Of signals by q number of electric
lamps fastened to the mast Of a war YES
sci. and the naval department recently
appointed a board which has now the
| subject under consideration. Many WIS.,
itors to the Worlds Fair will remember
an exhibition of this system during the
| gorgeous Examinations and fireworks dis
plays upon the lake beach front of the
| Manufactures building. A row OF lamps
| was fastened between two cords on the
mast of the battleship Illinois, and when
the display was at it's height these lamps
| would flash out combinations OF red and
| white lights, changing order. forming
| and reforming alternating and trans
| posing positions in the twinkling of an
| eye. This mysterious flashing was ac-
complished with key board connecting
with the wires supplying electricity to
| the lamps. The signal officer manipulate
ed this very much after the fashion OF
| a simplif1ed typewriter. an instant's pres
sure causing the lamp to burn brightly
and fade away into darkness.
| The idea Of this syetem is to form com
| binations of lamps which will serve the
same purpose at night as the parti-
colored remnants do in the day time. The
system is far from complete, however
and is open to several objections. One
of these is that the row of lights may not
be visible in all directions. The vessel tc
be communicated with may be at any
point of the compass, and for this reason
halyards are secured at several places
| on either side of a vessel so that pen
| nants can be flown in any direction. The
| electric lamps are, however, stationary
| by necessity and may be hidden behinC
the mast, rigging or deck Instructions
There is also the danger of indistinct