The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-17
ARMY SIGNALING CORPS
THE "EYEs OF THE ARMY, BEING
RAPIDLY PREPARED FOR SERVICE.
ParaphernaIia of the Corps and It's
Uses-TeIegraphy and HeIiograph-
ing-The Reliance on FIagging.
Washington Post.

stores, clothing, and ammunition, by every
train, General A. Greedy, whose fame as
an Arctic explorer is worldwide is hard at
work equipping for the field the men who
are in future to be the "eyes of the army,
and on whose vigilance depends so much
the usefulness of the movements of the
troops Napoleon realized the necessity of
observing the acts of the enemy, and re-
marked that ''the secret of war is the secret
of communication" Cavalry has largely in
the past been used for the purpose, but In
the present conflict the signal service Will
be brought into requisition almost entirely
to secure information.
To the general who commands body Oh
troops on a campaign the need OF the Sig
nal service men is a necessity, and in the
present instance they will be invaluable.
Ever since the late war, at which time they
were first organized, the corps has been
steadily growing in Importance, ana IN
Vulnerable experiments made, till to-day IL
is an arm of the fighting force. without
which the body would be almost powerless.
When camped or on the move the slgnai
men are keeping the different points IN con-
slant communication, and for miles ABOUT
the country there is a constant OUTLOOK on
all sides, every motion of the enemy being
instantly wired to the headquarters OF the
general.
In sending out to the army in the field
in the present war the service will place
an officer of the corps on the stan OF eacn
general and under this officer will be sew
eral hundred men whose duty it is to go on
in advance, to skirt the sides, and, by sig
nails from stations in trees or on nils, 10
place the different commanders In COM
munication with one another and inform the
leader of all movements of the enemy. The
uniform of the signal men is blue. like the
rest Of the army but while the cavalry has
yellow trimmings, the artillery red, those
of the signal corps are black In nue.. Iney
are accompanied by all OF their paIapneI-
MALTA. which consists of innumeraple lnstru-
ments for telegraphing, flags and torches,
photographs, reel wagons, on when tele-
phone and telegraph wires are streteheu'
and even balloons which will be used e&-
tensively for the first time since the recent
experiments.
THE SYMBOLS USED.
AS talking is conveying ideas by means OF
sound, so signaling is conveying the same
ideas by means of symbols. For ordinary
occasions the most used means are the flag
code and the telegraph wire. In using the
field telegraph, which was first done in the
late war, considerable antagonism was
aroused against it's application by the civil
ian companies empowered to convey mes
sages by wire, but General Butler issued an
order placing the telegraph line in COM
mand of signal officer. Reels and wires
were bought, skilled operators secured, and
the line was used by the Army of the Poto-
mac, proving of great value, though the SOL
diers, at first unused to the sight of the wire
along the lines, would sometimes cut IT,,
= l. ,Iyt,1 daxyfn nf he INK Tl0xy
means employed at present, which are an
immense Improvement on those of the past,
the wire for telegraph lines is rolled on a
huge reel wagon, to which horses are at
tached, and this is paid out as fast as it is
erected along the line of the army. If IN
camp. the lines reach to the. headquarters
of the different commanders and signal sta
tons on adjoining hills; if the troops are
in motion, the line is placed along ahead
keeping. constantly in advance of the SOL
diers. Telephones are now also in use in
the army, and the phone wires are laid
at the same time as the telegraph ones
One of the most recent and valuable in
ventions is an instrument by which the
same wire can be used al one time for both
telegrap hing and telephoning. Temporary
stations, fully equipped with the parapher-
MALTA and batteries. are placed at the diff
ferent headquarters and signal stations, so
that to-day a general in his tent is able to
talk with his snbordinates, miles away, and
to learn from the stations on the tops of
mountains the first signs of an enemys APP
proach.
For signaling long distances an instru-
ment employing the suns rays and known
as the heliograph is used. 1t consists of
mirrors and screens upon a tripod, which
flashes the focused rays at the receiving
snS afG by Of fbe ssh OF the g
can be accurately spelled out and perfect
communication established. The flash is
kept correctly adjusted by means Of dark
spot, arising from unSilVered place in
the mirror. The mirror used by the officers
in the field is four and half inches square,
and its fash can be seen by the naked eye
for distance of thirty miles, while with
the aid of a telescope it can be used for a
space of sixty miles. Messages have been
sent as great a distance as ninety miles,
and the flash distinguished at 125 miles
What was probably the first of the hell
ograph by the Union army was in 1863, at
made a successful use of small hand mir
rors, an experiment which was repeated
later on in New Orleans.
USES OF THE FLAG.
For distances between stations several
miles apart the flag signal is that most
commonly used. Most stations are on ele-
waited points, hilltops or trees, and the
movements of flag in the hand of man
can be detected several miles by a field
glass. There are two flags used one a white
one with a red center, which is used when
the background is dark, and the other a
red one with a. white center, which is en-
ployed when the background is light. For
instance, a dark background would be that
of dull sky on a cloudy day, while a
bright one would be the blue of sunshiny
one. These flags on sufficiently high point
can be seen for distance of ten miles. The
flag is attached to a staff twelve feet long,
and the code is sent by certain motions.
The man with the flag takes position fac
ing the station with which he wishes to
communicate and by various movements of
the flag from one side to the other, he is
able to spell out rapidly any message de-
and though they have the same meaning
now as when used during the civil war,
the numbering has been changed
At night, when flag would not be seen, a
torch is used in its place With one at the
feet of the signal man and another in his
hand, the same symbols are sent during
darkness as would be dispatched during the
day. These torch-sgnals can be seen as far
as ten and fifteen miles. Rockets are also
valuable at night, though sometimes being
obscured by clouds. Colored fires are also
used, the colors red white and green being
employed and burned in holders shaped like
an ordinary pistol. If the signalist is pro-
vided with only the three colorS, red, white
and green. he can indicate nine messages
by burning one or two cartridges of these
colored lights; by lighting three or less than
three at one time he can forward twenty
seven dispatches: by burning four signals
at once as high as eighty-one messages can
be sent A fourth color is secured by tint
known as red white" and by combinations
OF this as high as two hundred and fifty-six
dispatches can be forwarded. The colors
red white and green indicate certain num-
bers by which symbols meaning phrase
are denoted
THE BALLOON IN WAR
The heads of the Signal Corps expect to
use the balloon in locating the enemy and
communicating with the army These ball