The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-03-24

war the single-shot pistol was used IL
almost altogether. But tho revolver $
soon proved It's worth, and becaru q Il
adopted into the Federal armies 1ts
irst Introduction into battle oaused Y
great astonishment among the Con-
federates. { AZ
What kind OF n gun" exclaimed u Is
soldier 'is that you load on Monday
and fire che rest of tho week 2"
To-day there are automatic piatole y
that will fro continuous stream OF n
bullets when tho trigger is hold, until
eleven shots come forth at terrific
!, speed. Recently Hiram Maxim, the
| son OF the inventor of the Maxim gun,
has perfected one of the deadliest con. 4
trivances known; 1t is "Bilencor.,s
1t takes the noise" out of the re- Il
volver. When ONO of these automatic
pistols. equipped with a silencer and
using smokeless powder. gets In oper-
alton. the victim is killed almost by
the unseen, and unheard breath Of
death in fraction Of q minute. 81 tii
Signal Service lis Result or the Civil
War.
Tile modern signal service Is a de-&i
velopment from the American Civil
War. Tho equipment OF modern
signal corps consists of faEs for
wig wugging." torches to be used in 3
the dark. rockets OF various coIors
for long distance signaling, the hello
graph, device for flashing tho rays \
Of the sun from mirror in series of
flashes representing words, and the
signal service telephone and tele-
graph.
Major Meyers. a surgeon of the
United states Army, was stationed IN
the West during the Navajo Indian \
instruction. He frequently witnessed
the Indians signaling to one another
for considerable distances with their
4, - Il -
flag system and perfected it, against
opposition and skepticism, until it's
utility was proven In the American
Civil War At night. when the flags &
could not be seen, torches and rockets d
We're used. is.i
The confederates quickly realized
the value Of such contriyance, and
developed system Of signaling over
the head of the foe at long distance ].
a dramatic signal service incident
occurred in October, 1864. Sherman
occupied Atlanta. Ca, and a reserve
depot of supplies, where 100000 ra.s
lions were stored. was located az
Al!atoona Word came that Confed-
crates We're heading toward tho depot
| and the signal service was called to
the rescue. From Winnings Station, Just 5
north OF the Chattahoochce River. the
flags "wigwngged" to Kenesaw Mt
| Station. and thence to Allatoona: from
| here the message was relRyed to Rome,
| Ga. where General Corse was sta
toned.
| Then ensued a race between corsa
and the Confederates.
Mcssngc Tint Caused md Won a
N battle.
| Corse won and fought his historic
battle, while Sherman waited anxious
! ~ to learn If he had arrived In time
kenesaw Mt. eagerly watched. Soon
the iw!g-waS" of the signal flags
from the embrasures of the fort at
| Allatoona could be seem
&C. r. - E. H H. r." which
to the superior Intelligence OF the
signal Office meant "Corse is here.,s
| The next morning the historic message
came to Sherman: II am short n check
! bone and one ear, but am able to whiu
| all II yet l
| These signals. which enabled corse
| 10 rush thirty-six miles to the rescue
/ were sent n distance of nearly sixty
/ miles.
Signal towers were erected to over.
| come hill that stood in tho way he
tween the sender and The receiver. OF
i to send TO q great distance They fire.
! qucntly reached great heights The
, most unique and the highest station
! was probably that on the Union ship
richmond. which ran the forts with
tisrragut at Port Hudson. To keep
In touch with the army on land and
20 look over the high hank, the signal
officer climbed to the very tip of
the mainmast and established his sta
! ton there, 1853 feet from the deck
Here he remained sending Farragut's6
| orders TO the army on land.
The materials of the signal service
were sometimes used for other pur-
| poses than those for which they We're
originally Intended. At the Siege OF
Knoxville, when Longstreet attacked
before dawn, the signal officer sent up
rockets at the point 10 show where
the danger lay. His arlor caused him
TO direct the flaming balls into the
! faces OF charging Confederates, which,
while they did not do the execution
OF bullets or cannon balls served
their purpose, for they caused con 81
fusion and served to light up the scene.
! making more accurate the fre from
Federal batteries.
These incidents are sufficient to
show that war is not all bloodshed:
there are almost inconEruous features
to it which react for the benefit OF
humanity, and the American people
on this semi-cen tcnnial can trace many 4
OF their most remarkable inventions
to the Civil war. q