Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1898-09-28
THE MEcApHoNE IN WAR
1t Has Played n New and Important
Part I'm the Navy on the
Cubnn Coast.

already u megaphone is regarded as
almost a necessity on every ship. The
megaphones used in the navy are made
Of n deep red coiored composition rivet-
ed together and have alighthandle and
an aluminium mouthpiece. The stand
ard size is about two and half feet
long and about Is inches across the
end. Smaller craft and auxiliaries
carry only one, which Is kept on the
bridge, but the larger ships carry
more. On the flagship New York three
are In almost constant use, one on the
bridge, one on the signal bridge. and
one on the quarter deck.
The officer of the deck uses the one
on the bridge. 1t takes the place of
the small, heavy speaking trumpet
which used to be the sign of that Of
fcer's rank at sea, as a long glass was
in port. Speaking trumpets were gem
orally the personal property of the Of
ilcers who carried them, and were Of
ten handsome. Sometimes they woro
made of silver. They possessed two
advantages over megaphones Of the
present day, the chief one being that
they were not so easily blown away In
n heavy wind. On sailing vessel in q
storm the unaided voice will not carry
from the quarter deck to the foremost
head, nor can It be heard TO windward
of large sail. A speaking trumpet.
leasily slung across the shoulder, is nj
ways at hand, and concentrates the
voice sufficiently for 1t TO be heard all
over small ship, while a megaphone
would not be so handy and might be
blown away easily.
The second advantage Of the old
speaking trumpet also grows out Of its
size and convenience. The speaking
trumpet has always been used as a sor.
orally pretty we'll battered and dented.
So also were the various parts of the
ship adjacent to the standing place OF
the officer of the deck. An expert
enced man with sharp eyes might
Judge of how pleasant'a ships voyage
had been by inspecting the speaking
trumpets on board Of it as It came into
port. Obviously megaphone viii not
stand such treatment, though some OF
them become mysterlously jammed
and twisted, as though an absent
minded officer had tried the same trick
with them.
The utility of the speaking trumpe'
In communication between vessels was
always limited, and 1t is because the
megaphone SO far surpasses 1t in this
respect that II has achieved its sud
den popularity. About the first neces
sity recognized ON each of the news
paper dispatch boats was a mega
phone, and the exigencies of the Key
West market suggested tin mega
phone as the best substitute for thu
regular article. Some were made will
the old-fashioned oval mouthpiece
! and some with none at all. These til
, megaphones have. most of them. re
ceived excellent care, and most o
them bid fair to last the war out.
To use a megaphmone artisticall.
and effectively is not nearly so easy a
= it looks. One who has heard n train
load of college rooters at boat rae
roar their college yells through mega
phones at the struggling crew of al
\ eight-oared shell knows pretty wei
!, how the power of the voice Is magni
, fed by the use OF megaphone, bu
4 probably the best illustration of st.
= use in the navy has occurred to the re
= porters and crews of the newspape
7 boats in the vicinity of Havana whel
t the blockade was first established
t there. A boat would be lying to, pre-
+ sumably about five miles from tn
I feet. The night would be calm an
e dark and still, when suddenly on
r would feel as though enveloped by
e voice. 1t would be a voice not TO b
recognized-a harsh, vibrating voice
= something like the below of an angr
t animal, yet speaking the English lar
: guage with remarkable and startlin
T distinctness.
d "What ship is that?" would be tn
e hail, given in manner TO comman
c instant attention and profound re
= spect.
e 1t would seem to take an unreasons
n bly, long time to tear the tin megc
Il phone from its lashings, to point
o vaguely in the direction from whic
the greatest volume of the sound tina
= still pulsated in the ears seemed
IS come, and to scream into it the boat
r name and occupation. Then how wea
: and attenuated sounded the repl.
though the speaker may have straine
II his vocal chords to put all the powC
= possible into it. Surely, the speake
n thinks. such a peevish sound cannot /
a heard ten feet away, and with II
o thought that he may not know how
Il use the megaphone, he essays q rep
is tition of his answer.
"All right, all right" comes the fire
ls full response right from under his fee
II it seems. II sharp sighted he ma
,e make out the shape of torpedo bot
N not far away, and he realizes that /
re has made a fool of himself yelling {
n at ON object so near.-N. Y. Sun.
.
g hack 10 Old Friends.
e speaking of the Klondike," begI
"a the man with the old magazine befol
d, him, but the man with the currel
Z number promptly interrupted him.
"Klondike? Klondike?" repeat'
the latter, inquiringly. That name
ic mighty familiar for sure. Who was