The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-02-22
THE MEGApHoEE in WAR.
II Has Played n New and Important
Part I'm the Navy ON the
Cuban Coast.

AuS hckuphohc HaS pluycu Il Hlost
important part in the war. Its use in
the navy began only within year, and
already a megaphone is regarded as
almost necessity on every ship. The
megaphones used in the navy are made
of deep red colored composition rivet-
ed together ani have alight handle and
an aluminium mouthpiece. The stand
ard size is about two and a 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
ficer's rank at sea, as long glass was
in port. Speaking trumpets were gen
orally the personal property of the Of
ficers who carried them, and were Of
ten handsome. Sometimes they were
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
heavy wind. On a sailing vessel in
storm the unaided voice will not carry
from the quarter deck to the foremast-
head. nor can II be heard to windward
of large sail. A speaking trumpet.
easily slung across the shoulder, is al
ways at hand, and concentrates the
voice sufficiently for II to be heard all
over a 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 it's
size and convenience. The speaking
trumpet has always been used as sor.
Of gavel. and in consequence was gen.
orally pretty well 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 q ships voyage
had been by inspecting the speaking
trumpets on board of it as it came into
port. Obviously megaphone will not
stand such treatment, though some OF
them become mysteriously jammed
and twisted, az though an absent
minded officer had tried the same trick
with them.
The utility of the speaking trumpet
IN communication between vessels was
always limited, and it is because the
megaphone so far surpasses it in this
respect that it 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 the
regular article. Some were made with
and some with none at all. These tin
megaphones have, most of them, re-
ceived excellent care. and most of
them bid fair TO last the war out.
To use a megaphmone artistically
and effectively is not nearly so easy as
it looks. One who has heard train
load of college rooters at boat race
roar their college yells through mega
phones at the struggling crew of an
eight-oared shell knows pretty well
how the power of the voice is magni-
fed by the use of megaphone, but
probably the best illustration Of its
use in the navy has occurred to the re-
porters and crews of the newspaper
boats in the vicinity of Havana when
the blockade was first established
there. A boat would be lying to, pre-
sumably about five miles from the
feet. The night would be calm and
dark and still, when suddenly one
would feel as though enveloped by a
voice. 1t would be voice not to be
recognized harsh, vibrating voice,
something like the below of an angry.
animal, yet speaking the English Ian
guage with remarka bic and startling
distinctness.
What ship is that?" would be the
hail, given in manner to command
instant attention and profound re-
spect.
1t would seem to take an unreasona-
bly, long time to tear the tin mega |
phone from its lashings, to point it
vaguely in the directions from which |
the greatest volume of the sound that
sti,l pulsated in the ears seemed to
come, and to scream into it the boats
name and occupation. Then how weak |
and attenuated sounded the reply, |
though the speaker may have strained 1