The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-10

The latest invention and one that Is so en-
tirely practical and simple that 1t Is a wonder
that 1t had not been discovered long ago IL
known as visual telegraph" and was made by
Melvin d. Compton OF this city. 1t is effective
either day or night and messages can be trans
mittcd between vessels at sea or between differ
ent places on land any distance that the eye can
uses q keyboard containing all the letters Of
the alphabet and numerals. and is SO con;
at any desired Letter or figure on the board the
characters in the Morse alphabet correspond
ing, to the letterat once appear on a standard
70 be read, These characters can BIO Of any
dimensions.
On, ships these may be made to appear at a
convenient for observation from another vessel
or point OF land from ten % twenty miles away.
Vessels eGuipped With THIS sopht IL G I'm
ordinary, telegraph alphabet, and war vessels
having their own private code are enabled 70
transmit from vessel to vessel with
absolute secrecy and accuracy. II Is only nee
essary TO have a telegraph operator. =,
The apparatus IL simple and inexpensive. and
the cost Of maintenapce Is trthing where q
dynamo circuit Is pbtaihable. In Isolated
places, YheregSel %tJ ~ light hsS circuit Fn can ns be e had
upon Which the signals, are displaysd., a Key.
the. proper ,clcctricN, connection. Upon the
surface Of the signal board are arranged a
which arc lights and rcflectors. The i~ncIosinR
glass front Is formed of lenses Of such material
and shape as best to project to a distance the
rays emitted from the source OF light. Each
lamp Is in"losed IN q sep.[ate compartment.
source do, not reflect or interfere with those
from another.
The, signal board H. arranged in two rows in
and, five circles on the upper line and three
G lrShr inn and t WIN r ,Tis ai1%rnsti ny In ~ the
actcr in the Morse alphabet can be displayed In
the smallest practicable space. .
The operator simply sits at the keyboard and
closes each circuit REQUIRED by inserting q
made complete, and immediately the charactprs
are flashed out from the signal board. For az.
ample, II II IS desired 10 send the commend
hole marked A, and lights appear on the board
behind a rcctan2le and AN adjacent circle which
IdraYs he rlpF and Inserts it in the hole marked
ID" and the characters on the board 10, will
RppG9r RI FIR pr y, he p@Nt letter, from the signal
the end d the word The rapidly Of signalling
is only limited by the, speed OF the operator;
and naturally exceeds that Of any system based
on scmgphnres flag wAgginR. or heliOscope
work. Askillcd telegraph operator Is not nee
essary. the only requisite being to read the
The Navy Department. test requires that the
signals for Is use must be visibl. at u distance
Of three miles. and for the past few weeks Mr.,
Compton has been making a number of expert
mcnts with his apparatus 10 Order 70 gauge tho
exact power Of the lights and 10 discover the
smallest sized signal board whose characters
could he read three miles away. He has flashed
Lee 70 one of the tall oflce buiidings near the
CITY Hall, a distance Of six miles, that could he
clearly read with the aid OF an ordinary pair OF
In speaking Of his invention, Mr.. Compton
still, be able 10, transmit electric signals with
out his system. but he believes that his system
u better than any other nov In use.