The Florence daily tribune., 1898-06-21
IaIoNS
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VALUE OF sEARcHLlGHTs.
Useful For Signaling wcil .. For Es-
p9eing au Enemy.


p9etrx Enemy.
Tho United States government has
ordered for use in its coast defonse a
largo number Of tho most powerful
searchlsghts, to DO built in the earliest
possible timo and delivered for mount.
ing in the principal harbors along tho
coast The lights nre OF vital impoS.
tanoe in harbor defonscs and will bo a
valuable addition to our harbor equip
monts Already considerable number
arc in operation, but not sufficient to
do the work which might be done in
this wny.
Operated on n scientific system, tho
Importance of the light can scarcely b,
ovorestimated. By its use the whole
area of tho harbor protected by our forti-
flcations and by fixed or stationary tor
pedoes is in the dead of the night mado
rs bright as day. In detecting tho ap-
proaoh or any movement of an attack
ing fleet. and especially where nn ut
tempt is mado to pass fortification aft
er partial or total destruction of its
torpedoes, these arc most important
Under such circumstances the search.
light would expose the eneny's ships TO
the deadly fire from the heavy artillery
guns of our coast defense and insure
total destruction.
Another and most important of tho
many factors Of tho searchliyht system
rs adopted by the army is its adaptable
ity TO signaling from one fortification
to another by means Of long and short
flashes, messages being sent several
miles by cipher code.
An idea of the wonderful power and
efficiency of these searohlights for sig
! mailing may be had from the following:
A short time ago great scarchlight
was purchased by the government and
turned over to tho army for experiment
ing purposes in coast signaling This
light was purchased from firm in Ger
many, and upon its receipt it was i'm
mediately forwarded to the Sandy Hook
proving ground, where it underwent a
thorough test. One object was to deter
mine tho facility with which message
could be transmitted by long and short
flashes The light was mounted on a
tower mt Sandy Hook and arrangements
made with Mr. Dunn of tho weather
bureau in New York to be ready to re-
ceive the message at stated hour. Lato
in the night us agreed upon. one of tho
army officers, especially expert in sig
mailing, mounted the top OF the tower.
When the exact moment arrived, there
were thrown against the dark sky long
and short flashes Of bright light fro,.i
the tower at Sandy Hook. AT the same
moment, in New York city, another
man was Mt the top of one of the high
office buildings steadily looking toward
Sandy Hook. He read the message and
| repeated it by wire to Sandy Hook.
where it was found correct This mes
sage was flashed distance of 20 miles,
and could undoubtedly have been passed
u much greater distance. With these
lights mounted at the Notifications
around New York hnrbor messages
could be Immediately sent from the dc.
fenses Mt Sandy Hook to either Fort
Wadsworth or Fort Hamilton when tho
movements of hostile fleet could be
seen and 1t was desired to transmit in
structions to tho inner defenses
The searchlight in coast defense in
terferes with the sight of the man ut
tho helm Of an approaching vessel. In
experiments tried in France powerful
electric searchlight was turned upon a
moving vessel, the captain of which
stated that his eyes were so dazzled by
this light that it prevented him from
properly steering his boat, which re-
suited in collision with another.
Philadelphia Times