Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-12-22
SIGNALLING BY
HEl|OGRAPH

!
II il given 10 bat few men who have
retired from business or withdfawn
from n public station to havs so many
ailuring memories to- lead them back
over their busy past as fall to the lot
Of our townsmsn. W. II. Andy. Mark.
at square, who is on the retired list
following thirty years continuous ser.
vice in the United States Army.
MIR. Andy while in the service Of
Uncle Sam saw many and varied
scenes. lie served on sea and land. lie
saw service in the Philippines and n
various parts nj the United States. II
is doubtful, however, it at any time
/ his experiences we're more interesting
/ and romantic than during the summer
of 1895 when he Was stationed at Fort
Logan. Colordo. II was during July
and August of this year that as serge.
ant of the signal corps Mr. Andy was
detailed for special duty in long range
signalling by heliograph from certain
designated peaks in the Rocky Noun
tains to Denver, Colorado
We have been permitted to peruse
the daily journal Kept by Sergeant
Andy from July 18TH to August l3,
/ 1885. inclusive, during which the
| party, like vertabe explorers, complet-
/ ed a trip of about 500 miles among thr
Rockies " scaling as far as p1actic-
| able Longs Pixies ana Gray's peaks
and establishing a new record Tor
signalling by heliograph
The heliograph outfit 'uusists Of
mirror "A shutter, " telescope and
a field glass When It is desired TO
/ communicate with "a party at auy
/ specified locality the mirror il set so
/ as to throw reflection on the sgOt
where the answering party is suppDs-
/ ed to be located BY sweeping the
/ horizon the answering flash indicates
, when the mirror is correctly set The
opening and closing of the shutter"
in front gives the effect of dots and
dashes and enables the second party to
( receive the message
Sergeant Andy's journal should be
printed in full; 1t is worth reading
/ Here is bit of description
THE scenery surpassed all previous
records No artists pencil could do
| justice to what niture revealed to us
as we passed from mountain to valley
and vica versa. Here ledge Cg solid
rock, places which the rains of ages
had washed away, leaving sharp angles,
which skllful stone cutter conld not
initiate; there deep Tecesses, like "a
natural cave, as though chise Sed out
. by human hands. just beneath a deep
canon, flowing with cool wafer and
occasionally lake as clear as crystal
while directly over head would ba an
abundance of snow and within a few
feet of the snow a variety az wild
flowers in full bloom "
The Journal shows that tbs party
much of the time was travelling in
regions of snow, of hail and drench-
llS ihAbs q 'il'Ni AlhiFS W l4llF llF
signalling party was in the pure sun.
light the landscape for below Guiling
in summer beauty, was concealed by
deep fog and clouds. BY this il will
be understood that the conditions were
much of the time wholly unfa7orable
for signalling. The party experienced
great discomfort While Denver, was
sweltering under a July sun the men
camped at attitudes where the thermo.
meter dropped to 30 degrees below
zero during tie might.
On July - the sun rose cleaE and
the first flash was sent from Long S
Peak across the chasni seventy miles
to Denver
Messages were also flashed to- Dem
yer sixty-siX miles distant from Pike s
Peak on August Sth. IT was Sergeant
Andy who worked the heliograph and
the record shows that there was not "A
break in the message. II read:
Good morning. This is the first
fair day We have had since leaving
Longs Peak = r .. = Captain Fow-
ler is still in camp. Any message for
him will he gratefully received. Yours
respectfully, ANDY, Sergeant. -
Worse than an alarm of fire at night
is the metallic cough of Group. bring
ing dread to the household Careful
mnthers krrn EnleN,s HnneN and Tar