The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-16
Fireworks That
 Are Not For Fun Torpedoes and "Fuses" as Signals in Railroad
 TrHfic
 HOW THEY ARE WORKED One Torpedo Means Stop Two Torpedoes Explod- ing Close Together Re duce Speed and Look Out Modem Ships Have Electric Signals.
HOW THEY ARE WORKED

Pop, pop,'' or perhaps a single pop sharp and distinct, like that of a giant firecracker, heard not only
 on the Fouth of July but on every
 day in the year, Sundays included | what did it mean? And on almost any night, as I look out of my win dow, I see the edge of the wood or
 the fields lighted up by red or yellow l fireworks. Why this strange illumi- nation?
 As, all these queer happenings took place on the railroad, few rods from my house, I made inquiries of the rail- way officials, and here are some inter esting facts about the use of these curious fireworks"
 General Superintendent B. R. Pol lcck, of the New York, New Haven lows:
 Our rules provide for the use of detonators (commonly known as tor pedoes) as audible signals, and of 'fusees' as visible signals.
 ''These torpedoes are attached to the top of the raii on the engineers side of The track by two small flexible metal straps, which are easily bent around the ball of the rail, and hold the torpedoes securely in place until exploded by the first train passing over this track.
 '"The explosion of one torpedo is a signal to stop; the explosion of two, not more than two hundred feet apart, is signal to reduce speed and look out for a stop signal.
 : '"The fuses are of similar construc- tion to the well-known Roman can de used for f1rework celebration, ex cept that they burn steady flame without explosions. A sharp iron spike at the bottom end will usually tie when thrown from the rear of a train, and holds the fusee in an up- right position, where it Is more plain ly visible.
 "A fusee must be lighted and left by the f1agman whenever a train is running on the time of another train,' or behind it's own time, and under cir cun1stances which calI for such pro- lection.
 "A fusee on or near the track, burn ing red, must not be passed When burning yellow theS train may pro- eeed with caution when the way Is seen and known to be clear. Stan utes and yellow for seven minutes, and can be seen for quite a dis tance.
 You will gather from the above explanations that the red glare of a flaming fusee on or near the track warns the approaching engineer that preceding train has passed over his track less than three minutes ahead of him, and under no circumstances must he pass this signal while burning red. When the flame turns to yellow he may proceed with caution, only as the way is seen and known to be clear keeping in mind that when the fusee changed from red to yellow, he was exactly three minutes behind a preceding train which may have stop ped within short distance, or may be proceeding at an unusually slow rate of speed.''
 Superintendent Woodward, of the Shore Line Division, another branch of the same railroad, gives this addi- tional detail regarding torpedoes:
 ''When train stops upon the main line and requires protection against a following train. the fagman goes back a specified distance and places one torpedo. He then continues a farther distance back, placing two torpedoes. As soon as the train he is protecting is ready to start, the engineer blows a specified whistle signal, which is a notice to the flag man to return to his train. On the way back he picks up the one tor pedo leaving two on the rail to warn the engineer of an approaching train that another train is a short distance ahead, and to give the flagman time to run back and get aboard of his own train"
 Of the use of fireworks as signals in the navy, F. M Watt, chief of the bureau of construction and repair of the Navy Department, Washington, D. C., makes the following state ment:
 'All modern ships are fitted with electric signals, and the use of such signals is general in the naval ser vice. In the case of small vessels having no electric installation, and also for use in case of the failure of the electric signals, the navy has a system of colored stars in connec- ton with rockets for the purpose of signaling.
 These are in no sense the ordi nary commercial fireworks, but are manufactured by the service for naval use exclusively.
 There are no photographs of this system of signals for distribution. The apparatus consists of specially designed pistol from which are fired ..-:-