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156 ie THe Marine Review HoIsTING THE TurBINE ABOARD THE JAPANESE CRUISER IBUKI, Signaling in Our Merchant Service Editor Marine Review--This is a subject upon which practically noth- ing has been written or said in this country. And why is it? Numerous articles written in foreign marine journals from time to time, invariably mention the fact that we are far be- hind any other nation in this neces- sary branch of our nautical profes- sion, And this state of affairs has al- ways existed and will continue to a certain extent until American owners insist on their officers being up-to- date and keeping pace with modern practice and improvements. In addi- tion senior officer§ should encourage in every way possible the efforts of the juniors when they attempt to put any of the more modern ideas of the profession into use. Numerous instances could be cited where American ships have actually passed foreign vessels flying signals of distress, the American simply dip- ping his ensign; in other cases ig- noring the other vessel altogether; in fact any combination of flags looked alike and the very act of unearthing the signal book seemed an overwhelm- ing task and was done with reluctance. It is time something was done to bring the American. mercnant marine (that is, what little we have left of it) up to the same standard in sig- nalizing as other countries and to do this it will be necessary for this gov- ernment to adopt methods somewhat similar to the British board of trade in which all candidates for licenses are examined in night signaling as well as in flag signaling by day. The for- mer method of signaling may sound new to some, yet night signals, using a flash lamp, has been in use by all foreign nations for at least six or seven years. Nearly all the Atlantic liners and a great majority of tramp s*eamers are supplied with a flashing lamp or some suitable makeshift and June, 1909 _ - as regards substitutes there are no. end to them, for instance, a large bullseye lantern' or a 32-candle-power electric globe carried out into the wing of the bridge can be made to do good service if properly handled. The signals are all made by the Morse code, which are given at the end of the signal book, the numerals, however, are omitted as are several other signals of importance which the reader will find at the end of this article. The writer has on several occasions been called up at night by steamers while running on the China coast but being in an American mail boat had not the means of answering the other vessel, the other vessel probably a tramp, evidently remarking that it "must have been a Yank" he had called up. It is a well known fact to all Americans that have been abroad that we are held up to ridicule for our inefficient signaling by day and lack of any means for signaling by night. While the Boer war was in progress several. of the large English trans- ports were greatly humbugged one night near Cape Town simply be- cause of their inability to take in and send signals while in company with an English man-of-war. That was 'several years ago; since then night signaling has become 'quite common in the British merchant marine. The same thing could easily hap- pen to us in time of war so it be- hooves the American officer that if he does not want to be caught nap- ping he should give this important subject the attention it merits. Following is the Morse code: Morse Code. a.-- n--. b -- o-- -- -- Ci oe p.--- d -- q-----.--- ce f -- s tie h u -- i Vv -- j.---------- ~ w.----- AS sete Me Poe ee oe m--- -- i -- Numerals. 1.----- -- -- 6--.. 2.6------- 7----.. ee, -- -- 8 -- -- -- 4, -- 9 -- -- -- -- 5 0-- -- --. -- -- = flash of about %4 second. -- == flash of about 2 seconds.