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Chapter 11. Signaling

The Semaphore | Smoke Signals Over the Prairie

THE SEMAPHORE

In the days when ships  had no radios, signaling from ship to ship or from ship to shore and back was done with flags. I do not mean the pennants which were run up and down the ensign halyard in a quick succession of different combinations according to the key which the specially designated sailor read out of a thick code book. No, I mean signaling by semaphore.

In this case the signaler on the upper deck held a flag in each hand. Standing in a position as visible as possible to the receiver of the message, he sent the signals, using certain positions of the flags to denote certain letters. The illustration shows the letter that corresponds to each position. In spite of the fact that this is an old-fashioned signaling method, it is still used today by the English coast guard service.

Signaling with the semaphore system demands a very exact position on the part of the signaler—otherwise the receiver will confuse the letters. On British warships, where the cadets still

v    w    X     Y    Z  Position at rest

Getting attention or end of word

practice semaphore signaling in case the radio should fail, it is worked at almost like gymnastics.

SMOKE SIGNALS OVER THE PRAIRIE

The Indians had a great number of smoke  signals at their disposal. Signals were made to mean various things according to the number, strength, form—balls, spirals, columns, etc.—and color (the column of smoke was colored by the addition of certain herbs to the fire). You have to be a real artist to make good smoke signals, so be satisfied at the beginning with a few signs consisting of dots and dashes which you and your friends agree upon before starting. Throw a lot of leaves and green underbrush on a strong fire so that a heavy, dark column of smoke results. Interrupt this for shorter or longer periods, according to the signal, by holding a solid piece of moistened canvas over the fire. It is best to have two signalers who each hold the cloth by two corners.

The Indians who rode horses—the Apaches, for example—sent a rider to bring messages to friendly tribes. But they also used signal drum s and smoke  signals just like the Indians who did not ride. And even today, the smoke-signal telegraph is surprisingly well developed among primitive peoples.

Not too long ago an Australian squatter lost his life in a train accident. The news was sent by telegraph to his relatives on the farm. The farm lay 55 miles from the nearest telegraph station, so the message could not be delivered by mounted messenger until the next day. But the news had already arrived at the farm: 24 hours before this, an aborigine had sent the message in smoke ! The aborigines' smoke signal beat the electric telegraph by a full day. And 48 hours after the catastrophe, the news had even reached Brisbane—450 miles away—through the native "telegraph."

Signaling with drums  is much more complicated. Today it still plays a big role with the natives in the primitive forests of South America and Africa. The skins of oxen, gazelles, zebras, and other animals are spanned over hollowed-out logs, giant gourds, and so forth. A large drum is beaten with two sticks, one just a simple rod and the other in the form of a hammer. The heavy mallet is beaten on the drumhead near the rim and produces a high tone. The ordinary drumstick is used in the center of the skin, producing a heavy, low sound.

No special codes  are used in "telegraphing" with the drums. They actually reproduce the real sound of spoken syllables, and whoever is acquainted with the language being transmitted can understand it.

But let us return to signaling with fires. As a matter of fact, it also played a somewhat important role with the ancient civilized peoples. Homer, who lived about the 9th century B.C., sings in the Iliad:

"As soon as the sun sank, they lit bundles of faggots on the lookouts, and the rising brilliance climbed so high that the people dwelling nearby looked to see if perhaps the defenders were approaching in ships  of battle. ..."

When the Greeks had captured Troy, they announced their victory across the Aegean Sea by fire signals. The stretch from Troy to Mycenae in ancient Greece was divided into eight stages, each between 12 and 110 miles. This was about 1184 B.C.

The Persians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and the Romans also used an optical means of signaling which was superior to the primitive fire signals. The Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 B.C.) wrote: "The Greeks lying at Artemisium received notice from Sciathos by fire signals about the capture of Greek ships  by the Persians." And Thucydides, his contemporary, wrote in his history of the Peloponnesian wars: "Towards night, they were signaled by torches about 60 Athenian ships which were approaching from Leucas. ..." A remark by Aristotle about the Persian fire signals shows that this sort of signaling could really transmit any information: "The system from the borders of the kingdom to Susa and Ebbatana was so masterful, especially that of the watchposts which signaled each other with fire signals, that the great king learned everything new which had happened in Asia Minor on the same day."

Morse Code

The one signaling method in use throughout the world is the Morse Code. Even though other faster methods of transmitting messages exist today, the system of dots and dashes has not outlived its usefulness. You and your friends can have fun communicating this way and perhaps some day the Morse Code will prove truly useful for getting help in an emergency. With this signal system you can send any sort of message over long distancesin a very short time. When intermediate posts are set up, the distances covered can be stretched as far as you like.

The principle of the Morse Code is that every letter is made up of dots and dashes, which can be translated into long and short sounds, or long and short light flashes.

The only way to master the Morse Code is to learn the signals by heart. Once you have memorized them, practice sending and receiving messages until it too becomes automatic. You will quickly discover how to impress the numbers on your memory, since they all have five dots or dashes.

When you are camping out, a convenient way to transmit Morse Code is with semaphore flags, swinging the flag to the right for a dot, to the left for a dash.

Now you need to know a few details, and you will be ready to send your first dispatch.

To make connections, that is, when you want to send a message, get the receiver's attention by signaling AAAA, sent as one letter. When he is ready to receive your message, he signals the letter K.

To signal the end of a word, bring the flag down in front of you until it almost touches the ground, then bring it back to the upright position.

If, as can happen, you have sent an incorrect signal by error, send a quick series of eight dots.

If the receiver has understood a word, he notes the fact by sending back a dot, the letter E. If he has not understood it, he sends back the letters IM/, in which case you repeat the last word.

When you have finished your message, signal the fact by sending AR. If the receiver has understood it, he signs off with the letter R

INTERNATIONAL MORSE CODE

A	. _	N	_ .
B	_ . . .	O	_ _ _
C	_ . _ .	P	. _ _ .
D	_ . .	Q	_ _ . _
E	.	R	. _ .
F	. . _ .	S	. . .
G	_ _ .	T	_
H	. . . .	U	. . _
I	. .	V	. . . _
J	. _ _ _	W	. _ _
K	_ . _	X	_ . . _
L	. _ . .	Y	_ . _ _
M	_ _	Z	_ _ . .

Signaling Posts

For a well-functioning signaling post, you need three people: a signaler, an observer and a writer. The signaler has to be easily visible to the receiver; the other two can lie flat on the ground near him. When the background is dark, use a bright semaphore. When the background is light, use a dark semaphore.

Signaler Observer	Position of the horizon

Signaling over Great Distances

When the weather is clear and the countryside is open you can send signals over great distances—if your semaphores are large. Since handling very large flags is awkward, you will need to build an apparatus to rig them up on. The accompanying illustration shows a model for this, consisting of a double scaffold made of sticks. Fasten a pair of pulleys on each horizontal bar for the drawcords to run through. Hang a small signaling cloth on one set of pullies to make the "dot," a large one on the other set to represent the "dash." Fasten the cloths to the ground so that they can be drawn taut when pulled up. Practice to develop your signaling skill. Some boys who used this system were able to send messages over a stretch of 20 miles when the weather was clear.

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