410 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



R., S. and W., W. and N.— or between N. W. 

 and N. E., N. E. and S. E., S. E. and S. W., 

 S. W. and N. W.— be indicated by 1, 2, 3, 

 or 4 whistles, corresponding to the number 

 of the quadrant. In every case the whistles 

 to be short, but preceded by one long one. 



A suggestion has also been made that a 

 " tattoo " or multiple whistle be given to 

 indicate " I have stopped — you may go 

 ahead." Some such system as this might be 

 comparatively useful ; the only question to 

 settle in this regard is. What is the best system 

 devisable? In endeavoring to answer this 

 question I have made use of the long and short 

 signal, which can be, incidentally, represented 

 ou a compass-card or otherwise by the dash 

 and dot. These signals, given at intervals suit- 

 able to prevent confusion, will indicate any 

 course on the compass, and can be read by 

 sound as soon as they are in process of 

 transmission. Opposite courses are indi- 

 cated by opposite signals. N. and E. courses 



by one — and two long signals ; S. and 



\V., by one . and two . . short signals. Thus, 

 as soon as the signal starts off, the navi- 

 gator learns at once something of the direc- 

 tion, in a general way, soon to be particular- 

 ized, in which a signaling vessel is moving, 

 being thus enabled to avoid getting in the 

 line of that motion, and so preventing col- 

 lision. Actual experience tells us that navi- 

 gators do locate approximately the position 

 of ships by sound — of course with more ac- 

 curacy by sight. When sight is unavailable, 

 we must depend on sound. Yours truly, 

 Frank M. Pukinton. 

 Pbovidbncb, B. I., May 1, 188S. 



EQUALITY OE PROTECTION. 

 Editor Popular Science Monthly: 



During the recent Parliament at Wash- 

 ington, one point seems to have been clearly 

 developed — viz., that women are no nearer 

 the ballot-box than they were fifty years 

 ago — and this despite the efforts of an ear- 

 nest and loyal minority. The truth is, that 

 the masses of American women do not care 

 to vote, and this wide-spread, persistent in- 

 difference leads us to hope that, at no very 

 distant date, the restless ghost of woman- 

 suffrage will at last be laid, to rise no more. 



The word " equality " promises to be the 

 next stumbling-block in the way of woman's 

 real progress, and we can not but believe 

 that the ladies who are acting in behalf of 

 their sex are decidedly hasty and incautious 

 in demanding, without limitations, "equal 

 pay for equal work." At first sight, indeed, 

 the proposal seems a fair one ; and in art, 

 literature, and latterly to a great extent in 

 science, the equality of the sexes is unques- 

 tioned. But in the rough, every-day work 

 of the world, where weakness means failure, 

 strength success, where sentiment counts for 

 nothing, and money-making is the paramount 

 object, the matter is a very different one. 

 That a woman can acquire the routine of 



almost any mercantile pursuit, may be ad- 

 mitted beyond a doubt ; in fact, the quick- 

 ness of her mind, and her rapid if superfi- 

 cial grasp of a subject, will give her the ad- 

 vantage, in many branches, over her brother- 

 workers. Despite the utmost reserve and 

 discretion, however, a woman is an anomaly 

 in a business office, among business men, in 

 the unrelenting tide of business life. She 

 may do her work as well as a man would, be 

 as reliable, as faithful ; but her presence is 

 an inconvenience, a possible restraint, only 

 to be counterbalanced by the cheapness of 

 her labor. No man, who is worthy of the 

 name, can quite bring himself to treat a 

 woman clerk as he would a man, even in 

 this ungallant age ; but in this business war- 

 fare the small courtesies of life are necessa- 

 rily neglected, and an employer who has ex- 

 pressed his disapprobation or impatience 

 without much regard to his p's and q's, may 

 be dismayed on finding that he has insulted 

 a female ; for the slow masculine mind does 

 not yet understand that women mean to pre- 

 fer equality to respect and consideration. 



Then, what might be called the transi- 

 tory nature of woman's work must be taken 

 into consideration. It can not be taken for 

 granted that every woman who has to make 

 her living will be old, ugly, and uninterest- 

 ing ; therefore, marriage must be considered 

 as a possible if not a probable interruption 

 to her business career. Unless domestic life 

 is to cease altogether, she retires from out- 

 door vocations to fulfill her household du- 

 ties. A man, on the contrary, will feel it 

 the more necessary to keep his position, and 

 advance himself in his business. In the face 

 of such contingencies, can an employer be 

 expected to pay equal wages ? 



In conclusion, is it not too soon for women 

 to demand anything of the other sex ? Equal- 

 ity means competition ; competition means 

 a fierce and ungenerous battle, from which 

 many a strong man emerges sorely wounded 

 and unvictorious. Are women fitted to en- 

 ter into such a contest as yet ? Will it not 

 be a long while before their nerves will be 

 strong enough, their muscles hard enough, 

 their feelings insensitive enough, to make 

 the fight a fair one ? Is not Nature, potent 

 and inexorable, behind the artificialities of 

 civilization, the real bar to feminine equality 

 after all ? 



In the mean time, it would be more pru- 

 dent in women, even those termed strong- 

 minded, not to scorn the protection of those 

 of the other sex who are willing to protect 

 them merely because they are women. And 

 in their efforts for self-advancement and in- 

 dependence, let them rather ask aid, sympa- 

 thy, and encouragement from their masculine 

 fellow - workers, than demand an equality 

 which the world is not willing to grant them, 

 nor are they yet ready to receive. 



Mrs. L. D. Morgak. 

 815 West Monitment Streft, 



Laltimoee, Md., May, 18S8. 



