858 



Popular Science Monthly 



Helmet 



ing jacks." They are semaphores, made of 

 wood or metal and operated by levers. Be- 

 fore the semaphore was perfected 

 orders were signaled by flags, 

 which are still in limited use. The 

 semaphore now signals 

 twice as fast as the best 

 wig-wag man. When the 

 distance is too great for 

 the semaphore, the big 

 red and white flag 

 still spells out the 

 messages. 



Signal flags, or 

 hoists, are always 

 used when the fleet is 

 in battle or maneuver- 

 ing at sea. For the flag 

 hoists, as they are 

 called, there are 

 twenty-six flags of 

 the International 

 Code, one for each 

 letter of the alphabet. 

 This code is used by all 

 navies and the merchant- 

 men of all nations. 



Of course each 

 navy has its own 

 secret code, written in a 

 code book, which is jeal- 

 ously guarded. Its loss 

 is a court-martial offense. 

 It is weighted with lead. 

 If a ship is captured 

 it is thrown overboard. 

 At night the red and 

 white lamps of the Ar- 

 dois are flashed. But 

 yard-arm blinkers which 

 signal dots and dashes 

 in short and long dis- 

 plays, are supplanting 

 the Ardois because they 

 are faster. Small search- 

 light lanterns are now 

 being used on the bridges 

 of our fighting craft. 

 One ship can lie at one 

 entrance to the Panama 

 Canal, and signal across 

 Culebra Cut to another 

 at the opposite entrance 

 with ease. Then there 

 are wireless and rocket 

 signals, whistles and sub- 

 marine signals — all in- 

 cluded in the equipment 

 of the armory shown. 



Should Our Soldiers Dress Like 

 the Ancient Crusaders? 



GETTING its inspir- 

 ation from the valu- 

 able service already 

 performed by the steel 

 helmet. La Nature of 

 Paris suggests that the 

 soldier's entire body 

 should be encased in 

 armor. It proposes that 

 the sides of the head, 

 neck and upper part of 

 the chest be covered with 

 a gorget, a kind of collar, 

 and the loins with a kind 

 of skirt, like the lower 

 part of an habergeon, 

 both in chain mail. A 

 cuirass, or breastplate, 

 of movable plates of steel 

 would protect the chest 

 and back, and hinged- 

 steel elbow-pieces and 

 knee-pieces would cover 

 the joints. A face mask 

 and goggles would com- 

 plete the suit. The 

 armor would be light 

 enough to afford perfect 

 freedom of action. 



How our soldiers would look in 

 the proposed French suit of mail 



To stop spitting in cor- 

 ners, paint them white 



A Substitute for the 

 "No Spitting" Placard 



A LATHE manufac- 

 turing shop in 

 Brighton, Mass., has de- 

 vised a plan to protect 

 corners of stairs and hall- 

 ways from the thought- 

 less spitter, without pla- 

 carding the walls with 

 "No Spitting" signs. 

 The reminder used is 

 simply brilliant white 

 paint which shows up 

 the corner in spotless 

 cleanliness. It has been 

 found to be even more 

 effective than the old 

 signs, in spite of the fact 

 that it carries no threat 

 of a fine ; for a man would 

 require more than the 

 ordinary amount of nerve 

 or disregard for the pro- 

 prieties to allow him to 

 mar such whiteness. 



