| UNCLE SAM'S SIGNAL CORPS, |
)K Field Telegraphy and Military Ballooning Described.
sS W
TN OLE SAM has
some little tricks
up bis sleeve, which
in time ot war
could be brought
into service at a
moment's notice
and which, says W.
J. Rouse in the
New York Times,
would prove very
annoying to an ene
my. Comparatively little is known
about the Signal Corps of the army
and its important work, and it is the
purpose of this article to describe in a
general way some of the interesting
things this little body of men accom
plish in these days of military progress.
Aerial military manoeuvres, photo
graphing from great heights and dis
tances, laying, equipping, and opera
ting telegraph and telephone lines in
time of battle at a rate as fast as a
horse can travel, are interesting mat
ters, and all of them are achieved by
this branch of the service.
The Signal Corps on a peace footing
consists of ten officers and a score or
more sergeants, together with small
detaohmeftts of enlisted men detailed
for this special service on the frontier
where instruction in the work of the
corps is being given. BrigAdier Gen
eral A. W. Greely of arctic fame, is in
command of the corps and has his
headquarters at Washington, D. C.
The largest school of instruction at
present is at Fort Logan, Colorado.
Captain W. A. Glass ford, Chief Signal
Officer, of the Department of the Colo
rado, is in charge and has in his de
tachment three Sergeants and eighteen
detailed enlisted men.
In the present day, owing to the
rapid advance made in modern lire
arms, the necessity has arisen for a
means of instant communication from
one pari, of a battlefield tojauotlier. For
the transmission of orders, instruction,
reports, &c., nothing is so swift as
electricity. The manner of its adap
tion for this work is interesting in the
extreme, and the means by which
telephone and telegraph lines are put
up and operated are unique and origi
nal. The aerial exploits of some
of these men outrival the wildest
dreams of "old-time aeronauts—for a
balloon train is now a part of the field
equipment of the modern United
States Army.
The country surrounling Fort Lo
gan is particularly adapted to the uses
of , the Signal Corps for field work.
Its diversified character renders the
jorreet and practical use of the various
instruments employed easily taught.
The high peaks immediately in the
back grouud afford lofty stations in
temperate weather for long distance
signaling and heliographiug.
Supposing that a state of actual
warfare exists, wo will go with the
signal men into the field and see how
the field telegraph and telephone lines
are put up and operated. The tele
graph train consists of three wagons
of the usual army type, built more for
rough, hard service than for beauty.
The olectrical batteries are securely
packed in wooden bins or cells in one
of these wagons, to prevent their top
pling over in transit. Another com
partment in this same wagon provides
safe storage for the telegraph instru
ments and necessary supplies. Tlio
wagon is drawn by two or four mules
as the nature of the country demands.
BALLOON HOUSE AT FORT LOGAN, COL.
d wagon is known as the
It curries a supply of
lized telegraph wire
:t a r " '** a doz
ir-
order to halt was sounded. The offi
cer ia command had selected his im
aginary line and directed the battery
wagon to be placed in a certain posi
tion when halted. Tiid men ran to
the wire wagon and swarmed over it;
others of them attacked the pole, or
lance truck, and in an instant a stream
of poles was issuing from that wagon
that could only be approached by an
army of circus employes dismantling
a big tent.
The general direction of the line was
indicated by the officer and the men
set to work. Two of them, armed
with huge crowbars, trotted off in the
direction the line was to take. One
of them halted at about fifty or sixty
1* 1 • * \ . • v- j.
v I' *'
ERECTING MILITARY TELEGRAPH LINE.
yards from the battery wagon and
thrust the sharpened end of the steel
bar into the ground. The other passed
him and went twice as far, when he,
too, thrust the sharp instrument iuto
the yielding soil. The first man had
now run around him, and his place,
where he had dug the first hole, was
taken by a group of men armed with
one of the lances, an insulator, aud
the end of the wire, which was now
spinning out of the rear end of the
wire wagon. In less time than it takes
to tall it, the lance or pole was set, the
insulator was in position and the wire
was attached. The men were already
at the second station, where a polo
was going up, before I had time to
make a photograph. The men with
the crowbars were uow far away and
going further all the time. That row
of bristling poles seemed to grow like
THE DALIiOON WAGON.
magic and one could almost seo ttiem
run. In an incredibly short spaco of
time—but little longer than it would
have taken me to walk to the edge of
the timber—the line had disappeared
among the trees. While I was won
dering what would be done next, the
instrument in the battery wagon began
to tick and a message came in over the
newly constructed line asking for
further instructions. Orders were
flashed back and the line was con
tinued all the way to the foothills.
At times, in actual warfare, it is not
only desirable but necessary for a com
manding General to get instant news
from the very front. Of course afield
telegraph line like the one just de
scribed could not be maintained there
long. To overcome this, however, the
field telephone cau be used, and, ill
case its instruments aro out of order
from any cause, telegraphic messages
may be sent back from the front over
it to the roar, whence they may be in
stantly transmitted over the military
telegraph line as described.
The telephone wire may be ad
"""ed just aa far to the front, even
ual battle, as brave men are able
>. Its wiro drags on the
of course, thoroughly
of sufficient strength
'iy the passage of
rire is carried on
*by hand. It
' it works al
—ire can
run.
'eld
ve
by a flexible wire and commuicfttion is
possible at all times, even while the
wire is being laid. Messages may be
sent and received with as mnch facil
ity as if the instruments were at
tached to a solid wall in a comfortable
office.
Eminences, hUta, bluffs, or other
elevated portions of land, when bo lo
cated as to be in view of headquarters
in the field, serve as admirable sites for
heliograph stations. Of course, unless
an uninterrupted view of the country
is to be had, no heliographic signal
ing can be accomplished. The system
in vogue now in the Signal Corps is
the latest and most improved, in the
matter of instruments procurable, b"t
the method which provides for the
'transmission of messages by light
flashes, is old. It is astcundiag, how
ever, to note tho fact that telegraphic
messages have been flashed with this
little instrument a distance of almost
200 miles. The system of dots and
dashes of the telegraph code is re pro
duced by means of long and short
flashes of reflected sunlight. While
it is true that any operator may read
the words spelled out in this manner,
yet the information thus gained would
be totally unintelligible to him, as
everything is sent in cipher.
An exhaustive system of signaling,
by means of flags and heliograph by
day, and at night with rockets, bombs,
flash-lanterns and electric searchlights,
is in vogue. Messages can be sent,
under any and all sorts of conditions,
and in the face of seemingly insur
mountable obstacles, so that a com
mander may at all times be kept fully
advised of what is transpiring in any
or all of his commands.
Military ballooning has also ad
vanced to such a state of perfection
during the past few year that it will be
perfectly within the nange of possibil
ity, in case of war,to accurately photo
graph an enemy's position, obtain ac
curate maps of his fortification, etc.,
without sending any one within his
lines. There is at Fort Logan, a fully
equipped balloon field train, ready for
service at any moment.
The balloon train consists of three
wagons, similiar in construction to
those described above, and which
transport the field telegraph parapher
nalia. The balloon itself,a huge affair,
has place in the forward end of the
wagon. At the rear end there is a
large reel, upon which are carried sev
eral thousand feet of stout cable. In
a middle compartment to the balloon
wagon, room is reserved for the basket
and netting. In the second wagon are
stored the hydrogen gas tubes needed
for inflating the airship. These tubes
are constructed of steel and are as
light and as strong as it is possible to
make them.
There is a generating plant for gas
at Fort Logau, and it is there that the
tubes are tilled. They are shipped, in
such quantities as may bo needed, to
various points throughout the country.
A supply sufficient for several infla
tions can bo carried with the field
train,and if larger supplies are needed,
additional wagons are pressed into
service. The balloon itself is con
structed of the finest and most costly
material, gold beaters' skin being used
for this purpose. The heavy wagon is
of sufficient weight to hold the balloon
captive, and if a change of base is
necessary during an ascension, the
wagon has simply to be moved in the
desired direction, Telephonic com
munication is maintained through the
cable which holds the balloon]to the
wagon.
As the members of the Signal Corps
are also topographical engineers it is
a simple matter for them to prepare
accurate maps of the country beneath
them, while suspended out of harm's
way above an enemy's camp. The
adoption of teleophotographic lenses
also gives them means by which as
accurate photographs can be made as
if the artist were actually in the
fortifications.
Statistics show that it is almost im
possible to hit a captive balloon with
musketry fire when at au elovation of
2000 feet. The balloon is kept mov
ing almost incessantly, and in that
lies a great measure of its safety.
Nearly all the standing armies of the
world are now equipped with balloon
corps, and the value of this sort of
aerial surveying in time of war is in
calculable, at least it is so admitted by
tho military experts, and they ought
to kuow.
Whether or not experiments have
been made in the use of explosives
dropped from balloons, I have not
been able to learn, but, from what ono
can see of the use of these aerial
monsters at Fort Logan, it would not
be strange if the wildest dreams of
moderns may soon be realized and the
terrible death-dealing airship may soon
evolve, as did the Holland submarine
boat, from Jules Verne's "Twenty
Thousand League Under the Sea."
Airlmng For the Homeless.
Paris has, apart from two places
where paupers can spend the night,
fourteen asylums for the homeless,
which last year lodged 144,037 per
sons, of whom 15,557 were women and
260t> children. Among the lodgere
were 24G professors and teachers,
oighteen students, five authors, live
journalists, 120 r.ctors and singers,
thirty musicians and sixteen musio
teachers.
SOME CURIOUS BOOKS.
OLDEST BIBLE IN THE WORLD IS
VALUED AT SIOO,OOO.
A Cyclopedia of Volumes, Each Two
Feet Long and Six Inches Thick A
Book Without Words -- Almanac 300
Years Old - Smallest Book Ever Printed.
One of the greatest historical book
relics in existence is preserved in a
private library in England, in the
shape of the original book upon
which all the kings of England from
Henry I to Edward VI took the cor
onation oath. It is a manuscript of
the four evangelists written on vellum.
The binding, which is still in a state
of perfect preservation, consists of
two oaken boards, an inch thick,
fastened together with stout thongs
of leather, with the corners defended
by large brass bosses. On the right
hand side, as the book is opened, is a
crucifix of brass, which was kissed by
the king.
A Hebrew Bible in the Vatican
library is claimed to be the oldest in
the world, and is valued at SIOO,OOO.
If uot the oldest, it is doubtless the
heaviest, since it is so weighty that it
takes two men to lift it, the binding
being in heavy metal. It is stated
that in the year 1512 Pope Jules 11,
refused to sell this Bible for its weight
in gold, the greatest price offered for
a book.
The British museum has lately se
cured from Thibet a copy of the
"Jangym," the monster encyclopedia
of Thibetum Buddhism, and the larg
est set of volumes iu existence. The
series is composed of 225 volumes
each of which is two feet long and six
inches thick. The price paid was 3000
rupees.
Among large Bibles a Oermau edi
tion owned in Minneapolis,Minn., de
serves a prominent place. This vol
ume is over 200 years old, and is
printed in type of large size. The
pages are nearly two feet iu length
and of corresponding width. At the
top of each page is a line in red ink
which reads. "This is a history,"
aud the woj'k is ornamented with
many illustrations of a decidedly
primitive character.
One of the most peculiar works in
existence is a book entirely without
printed matter, which is known as
the "Wordless Book." It has but
ten leaves, twenty pages, each of dif
ferent color. For over 300 years it
has been treasured in the monastery
of St. Rupert, where its wordless
pages- are reverently consulted on
Easter, St. John's eve and Christmas.
On these days, the monks claim, the
leaves of the sacred voir - *e become
miraculously covered wi appropriate
texts in characters of p .re gold.
Another strange imprinted book is
iu the possession of the family of the
Prince de Ligre, iu France. In this
volume the letters are neither written
nor printed, but are all cut out of the
finest vellum and pasted with infinite
patience on blue paper. The book is
said to be as easy to read as if printed
from the clearest type. The German
Emperor Rudolph 11., is reported to
have offered in 1640 the enormous
sum of 11,000 ducats for this remark
able and unique work of art.
An almanac 3000 years old, found in
Egypt, is preserved in the British
Museum. It was found on the body
of an Egyptian, and is supposed to be
the oldest in the world. The days are
written in red ink, and under each
is a figure followed by three charac
ters, signifying the probable state of
the weather for day. It is, of
course, written on papyrus.
An interesting Norwegian mediaeval
relic is on exhibition at the Museum
of Antiquities in the University of
Christiana, consisting of a wooden
book. The pages, or tablets, of which
there are six, are of boxwood covered
with wax, each one having a thin
border, so as to prevent them from
sticking together on closing the book.
The contents are chiefly drawings
representing scenes from village and
rural life. At the end is a large cata
logue in Latin of various kinds ol
animals, with a translation into old
Norwegian. The tablets are fastened
together at the back, and the cover
is carved and inlaid with various small
pieces of differently colored woods. It
dates from the 12th century, and was
found in an ancient church.
The smallest book ever printed is
owned by the Boston public library.
It being a copy of Dante's "Diviue
Commedia." This volume, though
containing 500 pages, is less than two
inches square, and two sheets of
naper were sufficient to contain the
whole 14,223 verses. The type was
cast in 1850, and several ineffectual
attempts were made to finish the
book, but the compositors and proof
readers abandoned the task because
of the strain upon their eyes, and
work was not resumed upon the book
until 1872. The type was so small
that the printers did not attempt to
"distribute" it; so, after using, it
was melted. The type-setting alone
required five years, aud the proof
reading was so difficult that uot more
than 25 or 30 pages were printed per
month.
A biography of Corder, a notorious
murderer, is preserved iu the Atlien
eutn library at Bury St. Edmunds,
England, which is actually bound in a
piece of the skin of the murderer him
self, the doctor who dissected the
body having had a portion of the skin
properly tauued aud prepared for that
purpose.
In the jewel house of the Tower of
London, is a book bound throughout
iu gold, even to the wires of the
hinges. Its clasp consists of two
rubies set at opposite ends of four
golden links. On one side is a crosa
of diamonds, ou the other the English
ooatof arms, set in diamonds, pearls
aud rubies, forming, as regards work
mauship and materials, the most cm*-
ly book in the world.
MOST NOTED LIVINC COMPOSER
Gluaeppe Verdi U the Author or Many
Popular Musical Work*.
Giuseppe Verdi's father was the
keeper of an inn, a fact which would
seem to prove the theory of some men
of science that all human beings are
born equal in possibility. What Verdi
GIUSEPPE VERDI.
has done for mankiud cannot be meas
ured. His influence has beAi like
the sunlight. "Ernani," "Rigoletto,"
"II Trovatore," "La Triviata," "Aida"
—these names tell the story of what
joy and peace and pleasure the genius
of the Italian of humble origin has
brought to his kind. Verdi is now
nearing the end at the age of eighty
three. His compositions have been
very numerous. As early as 1847 he
wrote the "Masnadieri." It was com
posed for Jenny Lind and was sting at
Her Majesty's Theatre, in London,
with the great soprano in the princi
pal part. "Trovatore" is his most
popular opera. "Alda" is his greatest
work, but opinions vary on this point,
as they vary about the greatest of
Shakespeare's plays. Signor Verdi
has done other things than write
music. He has been a member of the
Italian parliament, and has serveil his
country in the capacity of minister of
public instruction. France gave him
the Legion of Honor, Russia gave
him the Order of St. Stanislaus, Italy
the Order of the Crown and Egypt the
Order of Osmanieh. Austria presett
ed him with a cross of commandership
of the Order of Franz Joseph. Of
late years Verdi has written works
that are almost as well known as his
earlier efforts. They are "Otello" and
"Falstaff." The latter was written
when the composer was seventy-nine
years old.
Matrimonial Commandment*.
Matrimony has ten commandments.
These were studied out by Theodore
Pairker, shortly before the day of his
wedding. They took the form of ten
beautiful resolutions, which he in
scribed in his journal. They were as
follows:
1. Never, except for the best rea
sons, to oppose my wife's will.
2. To discharge all duties for her
sake freely.
3. Never scold.
4. Never to look cross at her.
5. Never to worry her with com
mandments.
6. To promote her pietv.
7. To bear her burdens.
8. To overlook her foibles.
9. To save, cherish, and forever
defend her.
10. To remember her always in my
prayers. Thus, God willing, we shall
bo blessed.
A Idkely Tale, Tills.
Pulpit Harbor is wondering how a
gull brought down by B. K. Carver
came to his death. The bird was shot
at with a forty-four-oalibre rifle and
picked up dead fifteen minutes later
with not a drop of blood on it and not
a feather ruff ed. The local wise men
of the place scorn that he came down
like Davy Crockett's coon, "because
he knew 'twant no use," to do any
thing else, although Mr. Carver is
esteemed a mighty hunter, but are
divided in opinion as to whether the
bird had his mouth open and the bul
let went straight down his throat, or
whether it went so near that it stunned
him and he fell and was drowned.—
Lewiston (Me.) Journal.
An Old lloufle IVltli a Hintory.
One of the places in which tourists
in England revel is Bull's Tavern. It
looks to-day just as it did when it was
erected in 1612. When repairs were
necessary they were made with tho
Lii.^
«s»I
CROMWELL LIVED IIBRE.
dea of carefully preserving the ap
pearance of the old place.
It was hero that Oliver Cromwell
made his headquarters for nearly a
year. Ten births and six weddings
are dated here, and there is a story of
a murder to lend a charm for those
who love the morbid.
USEFUL CASTOR OIL
n >w It la Secured anil Some of Its Numer
lin n Virtues.
The much maligned castor oil bean,
which grows withiu cultivation in al
most all parts of the world,in America,
particularly in South America nn<l tho
southwestern part of the United
States, produces an oil which has
many other than medicinal uses. The
bean contains from 50 to 60 per cent,
of oil, 100 pounds of beans yielding
about 30 pounds of fine oil at the first
pressing, 16 pounds of a second
quality by additional heat in the press
ing, and five to 10 pounds by heating
the mass with steam or in an oven
and a final pressing.
The extract obtained from the last
named process is valuable for burning
purposes. In the East the beans are
obtained from the pods by allowing
them to dry in the sun, and then
thrashing them out with flails.
In this country the pods are passed
through hard wooden rollers,set about
three-sixteenths of an inch apart,
which merely crush the pods without
reducing the mass to a pulp. The
beans are then placed in heavy canvas
bags, which aro placed in a hydraulic
press, if the work is conducted on a
very large scale, or a hand press if
only a small amount is treated. By
slow compression the oil is extracted
and runs into receiving tubs.
The cold-pressed oil, as it is known
in the trade, obtained in this manner
is about one-half of the total oil con
tents of the bean. For the balance
the cakes are removed, crushed and
heated to about the boiling point of
water, tlieu re-bagged and again sub
jected to the press, or, what is pre
ferable, to keep fhe two qualities of
oil separate, use a separato press and
greater pressure. After refining by
boiling with water in large retorts the
oil is ready for use. As a preservative
of leather castor oil has no superior.
Mice and rats, which are very destruc
tive to leather articles, will not touch
harness or other articles which are
occasionally dressed with castor oil,
while such applications render the
leather pliable and soft.
When applied to ordinary shoes a
a polish can easily be got immediately
after its use, which is rarely so with
other oils. As a preservative for
leather belting it has no equal. As a
lubricant forheavy bearings it is advo
cated by many English manufacturers,
many of them going so far as to have
all of their shafting and also their
eylindeis lubricated with castor oil.
A castor oil lubricated bearing rarely,
if ever, becomes hot, even under
extraordinary circumstances. —Phila
delphia Record.
Gigantic liow trued in Chinn to Kill
Ti({ers.
In the Smithsonian institution in
Washington one of the most interest
ing objects is the bow used by the
Chinese to kill tigers in the jungle
district.
It resembles greatly iu size and
shape a crossbow of the mediaeval
period. The whole is cleverly com
pounded, the power being obtained
from ten pieces of bamboo, forming
an elliptical spring, and producing an
immense power. The barrel part of
the weapon is a block of wood, in
which two grooves have been cut, and
iu these rest two arrows, about a foot
and a half in length, and from a half
inch to an inch in diameter. In the
end of these is stuck loosely a shaft,
three to five inches in length, with a
bail) at the end.
The trigger is a compound one, and
is released by the pressure on a
thread. So strong is the bow that in
China it took six men to pull it back,
bending the bow, when it broke, and
one of the men was severely injured.
The -weapon is placed in one of the
paths frequented by the tiger. It rests
on two bamboo sticks driven* into the
ground, holes being cut in the bottom
of the bow for that purpose. The
trigger is set, and its presence is con
cealed as far as possible. Wlieu the
tiger passes it and brushes against
the thread laid out for the purpose the
arrows, with their shafts, which have
been dipped in poison pots, are driven
into its body.
Revolutionary Scholar*.
T!ev. George Channing wrote an
account of the school of his youth,
which he attended just,after the revo
lution. Girls and boys attended to
gether tho primary school and fat on
seats made of round blocks of wood
of various heights, which were fur
nished by the parents. Children
bowed and kisse.l the teacher's hand
on leaving the room. The teaching < 112
spelling was peculiar. It was the la>t
lesson of the day.
The master gave out a long word,
say multiplication, with a blow of his
strap on the desk as a signal for all
to start together, and in chorus the
whole class spelled out the word ill
syllables. The teacher's ear was so
trained and acute that he at once de
tected any misspelling. It' this hap
pened he demanded the name of the
scholar who made the mistake. I?
there was any hesitancy or refusal in
acknowledgment he kept the whole
class until, by repeated trials of long
words, accuracy was obtained. The
roar of the many voices of the large
school, all pitched iu different keys,
could be heard, on summer days, for
a long distance.—The Chautauquan.
Willing to Participate.
His Lordship—l am deeply interest
ed in the new gold discoveries.
Friend—You don't think of going
to the Klondike, do you?
His Lordship—Oh, no! But I
thought of advertising that I should
be glad to communicate with any
successful miner who. might happen
to have an unmarried daughter.—
Puck.
American dynamite is finding an ex
cellent market in South Africa.