Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-18
SIGNALING HAS GROWN INTO A MILITARY SCIENCE.

N0TITHoUT a system of signaling
WW war is Impossible. When thou
sands of men engage in battle
in line which covers miles, they
have to be united by something besides
common purpose The generals orders.
instead of the general himself. must be
everywhere along the line at the same
time. otherwise each division would be
left to think and act independently The
power that lies in numbers and concern
trated effort would be completely lost.
The transmitting of messages has al
WAYS taken much of the time and thought
OF military tacticians. Armies and navies
of modern times are perfect in their
methods of sending information at both
long and short range. But this was not
always so. Signaling. as il is understood
today is a branch of military service OF
extreme age. which is almost coexistent
with war itself.
Few persons without experience have
an idea of the remarkable distance at
which signals are visible to the naked
eye Signaling at five miles is held by
experienced signalists to be at very short
range Messages have been read which
were sent ten miles by means of a pocket
handkerchief attached 70 long pole.
The flags and staffs in use among
armies and navies at present, by the sys-
tenn known as semaphore. transmit mes
sages in the hands of operators twenty
FIVE miles apart. and detached words are
reported to he discernble at forty miles.
The use of the arms and coiored flags
for long distance signaling, which today
has reached so high state OF develop
ment. is by no means an innovation in
military tactics. The use of flags. swung
differently to signify different letters or
expressions. is one of the earliest means
of communication between separated
forces.
The ancients. though they used SEM
aphore code which simplicity itself
compared with the one in modern usage.
may be called the originatofs Of the sys-
tenn The Greeks. in their numerous con-
quests. had great opportunity for perfect
ing their methods of warfare. The origin
of the semaphore is attributed to them.
though ii was actually codifed by a
Frenchman at the time of the French
revolution 1t replaced the early fire sig
nails, which Greek authorities deemed of
very little advantage. because OF the SIM
plicity with which the enemy could I'M
derstand the information conveyed.
Very little has filtered down to mod
krn times in regard to early methods
of transmitting orders among armies
and fleets That they did give much
time and thought to the art may be
concluded from the words of the Greek
historian of the second century: OPP
portunity is of great advantage in all
things. but especially in war. Among
the several things which have been In
vented to enable men to seize 1t. moth |
ing can be more conducive to that end
than signals"
In the ancient days the human voice |
was pressed into service as a news
transmitter. though this method was |
obviously inadequate and liable to in
terruption by bad weather. In $50 B. !
c.. when the King of Persia invaded !
Greece, he posted sentinels along the |
line from Susa to Athens. They trans :
mitted news by calling to one another |
at the rate of $50 miles in forty EIGHT |
hours.
The noise of sounding signals by |
beats of drum is scarcely more dis
tinguishable than the human voice at |
a distance. yet this method assumes |
oui,e vogue In the early military en-
gagements. The chief idea of sending |
messages to distant camps was the use |
of fire signals, though this had mani |
fold disadvantages. 1t would have |
been impossible to maneuver the vast |
armadas that were assembled without |
some ready means of conveying orders |
from one ship to another. The visual |
power of seamen was not ignored and |
it is probable that army and flag sig i
mailing had their inception in marine |
communication.
In the infancy of the science of nav
igation, while the mariner was yet ig- |
norant of the compass. he dared not |
venture out of sight of land No read |
Ter means of communication could be |
agreed upon than the arms held in
q
ers of different colors. The conjunction |
of these two brought about a system of |
signaling that was well regulated.
The NEUROLOGICAL tales of the Greeks |
indicate that they were dependent on
such signaling as a means Of communi-
cation between land and shore even in
the early days of their existence. for
the days Of myth creating were among
the earliest Of that nation. Thesus
went in search Of the golden fleece and
the young Hellenic hero promised his