Heliograph Language

In the dispatches fc-om the northwest descrlblng the movements of the troops assembled there mention was now and then made of the operations of the heliograph corps, and also of the ignaling by the Indiana among themselves with pieces of looking-glass. The first use of the modern system of military signaling, which was invented by Gen. A. J. Myer, of the United States army, was in the campaign against the Navajo Indiana in northwestern New Mexico in 18(50, says the New York Sun. Flags and torches were the means chiefly used. Signaling by reflected light has beeen common in many countries for a long period; the American Indian has for years used bits of looking-glass for this purpose. The perfected heliograph is comparatively a recent invention. It is a small, adjustable mirror mounted on a tripod and easily portable. When the mirror has been adjusted to reflect the light upon the station to be communicated with a movable screen is set up in front of it, and the signaling is done by revealing or obscuring the ilash for shorter or longer periods, corresponding with the dots and dashes of the Morse telegraph alphabet. Signaling with the heliograph has been done successfully over a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles, and it is not uncommon to cover distances of eighty to one hundred miles. Fif ty-five miles is about the ordinary arerage. The signal corps used the heliograph very effectively in the campaign against the Apache Indians in Arizona in 1886, and the corps has also attained remarkable resulta with the heliograph in other more peaceful signuling operations.