232 
THE MEGAPHONE. 
smaller end is the mouth piece and sufficiently large to place to the 
lips. The larger instruments have a handle to hold them by when 
raising them to the lips. They are very light. At St. George's, Ber¬ 
muda, we have three forts forming a triangle, the sides of which are as 
shown. That at A has a considerable com- 
B mand over that at B and also over C. For 
the first experiment I was a Fire Commander 
at A during the manning of these three forts, 
and in spite of a wind blowing in the direc¬ 
tion B A, which was against the megaphone 
when used from A, I was able to convey orders 
to B and G. I used the large megaphone at A, 
and the smaller was at B. When talking from 
B the Battery Commander there could be heard 
distinctly at A. I then tried it as a means of 
communicating between the D.R.F. and the 
dial numbers. As I have said before, the wind was very high and 
we were on the top of the keep. The positions were as shown on accom¬ 
panying figure. The ranges were called out from the D.R.F. to the 
dial numbers, but it was found 
Dial. that the dial numbers did not 
A T> P E h ear them very distinctly, and 
y ' accordingly the B.C. decided to 
X in order to pass on the 
“*•. 110/ .ranges. This is never a satis¬ 
factory arrangement for, as is well known, orders do not gain in ac¬ 
curacy or distinctness by being passed on by word of mouth from one 
to another especially if the men whose duty it is to pass them on 
have a strong provincial accent or pronounce their words indistinctly. 
I have myself, for example, heard the B.C. shout out “ SO' right deflec¬ 
tion" to the furthest gun of a group of three guns; owing to the dis¬ 
tance it was necessary to have a connecting orderly ; this man heard 
the order clearly, passed it on as “thorrty minutes" and the gun cap¬ 
tain gave it out as “ forty " with the natural result! In the case of 
which I am now speaking I directed my Adjutant to station himself at 
the D.R.F. with the megaphone, and he gave out in a quiet voice, as 
if he were talking in a room, the ranges for the dial numbers—“ Range 
1,900, increasing slowly," “ Range 2,100, shortening slowly," &c., 
with the result that the dial numbers, without even turning their 
heads, heard the orders quite clearly and distinctly as if they had been 
spoken into their ears, and adjusted their dials accordingly. This 
part of the experiment was eminently successful and did away with 
much shouting, with possible mistakes and the consequent recrimin¬ 
ations. 
Since that experiment I have left the megaphones in the charge of 
the Major Commanding the Armament district and he reports very 
favourably of them. He says that naturally the force and direction of 
the \vind influence it, and that one needs to study the best methcd of 
