18G5.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
house, or on a hill, or in a tree, but sometimes on low 
ground. TUus, one set of signal men was on the hill at 
the *• Friend House," {from which we wrote to the ^45-- 
ricuUurist July 4th. 1864); another in a field a little 
west, from which they could see the men in a high tower 
four miles north, at Point of Rocks. These two could 
see others on high ground at City Point, at General 
Grant's heao'quarters, and these again could see 
others on a high point several miles down tlie James Riv- 
er. Indeed there was a chain of these stations at va- 
lious distances apart from all round Petersburg, on to 
City Point, and up and down more thnn a hundred miles 
of the James River. Usually there were 'days of men, 
(wo and two, at each station, one to make signals, and 
the other to watch and read the motions made at the next 
station on either side. Now for the signals. (We of 
course did not pry into the secrets of the signal men. and 
only describe the operations as they appeared to others. 
The actual signals and numbers are probably quite dif- 
ferent from those we have described. We only aim to 
give a general idea of the subject.) 
Suppose certain numbers to be used for the letters of the 
alphabet, as 3 for A ; 21 for B ; 13 for C ; 42 for D ; 2 for 
E; 22 for F ; 44 for G ; 12 for H; and soon for the whole 
alphabet. These numbers can be changed every day, 
or every week or month, or as often as it is feared they 
are discovered by others. To-day. 44 may stand for G, 
and to-morrow it may stand for some other letter, if all 
the signal men privately understand the change. You 
willsee that the four figures 1,2, 3 and 4, can be combined 
to represent the whole alphabet and be changed ever so 
many times. It is then only necessary for Ihe signal-men 
to use these four figures. Suppose that holding the flag 
by day, or a light at night, straight over the head to stand 
fori, holding it to the ground in front to sland for 2, hol- 
ding it to the right to stand for 3, and holding it to the 
left, for 4. By the above supposed numbers, swinging 
it to the right stands for A; putting it down in front (2) 
and quickly raising it over head (1), stands for B ; throw- 
ing it to the left (4) and tlien to the front (2j, stands for D ; 
twice to the left for G. and so on. The expert signal 
men make these quick motions of the flag or light, for 
letters, almost as fast as one can write the letters them- 
selves, and the distant signal man, with his eye, or aided 
by a telescope, sees and understands just what is said to 
him ; and if need be. he sends on the words in the same 
way to the next station, and from these to the next. We 
hnve seen an officer talking to another four miles off, 
simply by quietly calling over to the flag man at his side, 
21, 14, 33. 14, 22, 41. 34, etc. Once we saw a mortar being 
fired at the Petersburg bridge, from a lut down by the 
Appomattox, wncre they could not see the bridg»i at all ; 
but an officer by us on the hill, where he could see it, di- 
rected with his flag to fire lower, higher, to the right, to 
the left, how many seconds for the fuse, etc. 
With these explanations, two boys can write down any 
numbers they choose for the alphabet, and then go half a 
mile or more apart each witii a flag, and talk together as 
much as they like, and it will bother any one else to 
know what they are saying. Two can talk across a room 
in the same way, and even use a finger instead of a flag. 
X>vo tiivelj- Ont-door Crames. 
No. I: called Prison Base, is well known in some 
localities, but will be new to many. It gives capital ex- 
ercise and sport for boys at school, during the " recess." 
Two boys, generally the swiftest runners, act as leaders, 
and choose sides 
from the olliers. 
Four spaces. I. 2, 
3, 4, are marked 
In a square, one 
In each corner, 
and about sixty 
feet apart. A 
space is also 
marked in the 
middle of the 
square, as shown 
at 5. The spaces 
1 and 2, are cal- 
led the bases ; the 
middle fpace is " Chevy" and 3 and 4 are the prisons. 
To begin, the boys of the two sides station themselves at 
I and 2. One boy (a), from No. I, goes out to " Chevy," 
and calls out *' Chevy, chevy, chase ; once, twice, 
thrice." Then one of the opposite side (b,) tries to touch 
a before he can return to bis base ; if b succeeds, he sends 
a to the prison at 3. But while b is trying to capture a, 
another boy, c, from No. 1. starts after b. and if c touch- 
es b before b has taken a prisoner, or before he can re- 
turn to his own base, if he has made no capture, then b 
must go to prison at 4. The general rule of the game Is, 
that any boy absent fi om his base, may be caught and im- 
prisoned by one of the opposite side, who left his base 
subsequent to the boy whom he is pursuing. The boys 
1 
s 
z 
T 
3 
of each side try to rescue the prison- 
ers belonging to tlieir own party, by 
touching them without themselves be- 
ing caught. A boy can take only one 
prisoner without returning to liis base, 
and any boy is exempt from capture 
while taking a captive to prison, or 
bringing home one he has jeleased. 
The game continues until all of one 
party are imprisoned. The boys of 
each side should implicitly obey the 
directions of their leader, who has an 
opportunity to display much general- 
ship in the management of his forces. 
No. 2 : " Every man m his own Den," 
is similar and will be a fa\*orite. In 
this, each boy selects his own "den," 
choosing some tree, post, slone, or 
corner. One boy starts out for a 
*'lead,*' and the others try to touch 
him before he can get back to his den. 
Any boy louched by one who has left 
his own den more recently, must ac- 
company his captor home, and aid him 
in catching others. The game con- 
tinues until all are taken to some one 
den, the master of which thus becomes 
the victor, and has his choice of dens. 
Boliday In door Games. 
Foi AND Chickens.— All the com- 
pany except two, the fox and one 
chicken, form a double circle, that is, 
each one in the outer circle having 
one standing before him. The fox 
pursues the odd chicken around the 
out-side of the circle, and the latter 
when tired or in danger of being 
caught, darts into the inner circle and stations him- 
self before one of the couples, thus making three in 
line. The third one standing behind, or in tlie outer 
circle, then becomes the odd chicken and runs, because 
liable to be caught by the fox. When the latter catches 
his chicken he takes his place in the inner circle, the cap- 
tured ciiicken becomes fox, and thus the game goes on. 
It is a lively and not boisterous play.for both boys and girls. 
Shadow Buff. — A white sheet is suspended from the 
ceiling and stretched by weights at the bottom, to form a 
screen. The " detective" sits on one side of this screen, 
and the company one by one piiss before it on the other 
side. A strong light is placed beyond them so that while 
passing, the shadow of each will fall upon the screen. 
The detective must try to name the person correctly by 
looking at the shadow. Of course each one of the com- 
pany while walking before the screen will endeavor to 
alter his gait and general appearance. When one is cor- 
rectly named by the detective, he must take the place 
of the latter until he can detect some other party. 
Puffers.— This is intended for little children, but will 
also amuse the older ones w hen they wish to enjoy a lit- 
tle nonsense. The company sit in a circle ; one of them 
blows into the air a feather, bit of cotton, thistle down, 
or other light substance, and the one it approaches must 
puff it t. keep it floating. The person it falls nearest 
to, or who blows it beyond the circle, pays a forfeit. 
Answers to Problems and Puzzles. 
The following is the explanation of the puzzle in the 
November number, page 351: Deer children eye hoe 
p ew r soap lease din work kin^ over the puzzle col- 
umn thatch eivc Will be d lighted two cc' s o long a 
picture letter four ewe two reed. The American Agri- 
culturist d sires two inns truck t an d ame u's and" s pear 
3 now panes two do's so. Sum girls s and boys send ancers 
two every puzzle, and men e mower wood bi te rye ing. 
Let tuce c how well ewe can reed this. Or : " Dear chil- 
dren I hope you are so plcised in working over the 
puzzle column that you will be delighted to see so 
long a picture letter for you to read. The American 
Agriculturist i\esUe!^ to instruct and amuse, and spares 
no pains to do so. Some girls and hoys send answers to 
every puzzle, and many more would by trying. Let us 
see how well you can read this." Answer to Math- 
ematical Problem, No. 1T5, (October Number). B was 
twenty five miles from Conplown, when A had 
arrived there The follo^^ing have sent correc- 
answers up to Nov. 4th. Joseph D. Locey, 165 ; Fide- 
lia R. Lord. 176, 178, "J. A. H.," and "E. A. R.," 
176, 177 ; \Vm. H. Paine, 176 ; W". J., jr., 176, 17S ; Fran- 
cis M. Priest, 176, 178; George R. Careins. 175; Benj. 
Doe, 175, J. L. Creswell, 176, 178; E. Currcns Savage, 
175, 177 ; C. F. Erhard. 175 ; Mary E. Servoss, 176, I7S ; 
L. Hatoe. 175; Jim R. Hale, 176, 178; J. Green Bundy, 
178; John Cotton. 179; G. Jones. 179 ; Julia B. Pickett, 
179; MaryH. McCord. 179; '•Subscriber," Southporl, 
Conn., 179 ; Mary E. Servoss, 179 : D. Lee Shafer, 179. 
3ic-tv Puzzles to be Ans-frered. 
(Answers in the next Paper.) 
No. 180. Labyrinth. — Try to find your way from the 
entrance to the center of the above labyrinth, by fol- 
lowing the proper path. The small double lines represent 
bridges, under or over which the traveler must pas.s. 
yOiii 
iiiiiiaTiiI 
No. ISl. Illustrated Rebus. — Wisdom in rhyme. 
Up. 182. Illustrated Rebus.— Very good advice, espec- 
ially for those who are forming habits for life, 
