. . . Col. Myers, of the Army Signal Department has invented [a]
new mode of signaling, which promises good results. The novelty of the new invention consists,
first in the application of the parachute to the common rocket, by which its
fall is retarded and signal lights sustained in the in the air a much longer
length of time than heretofore. The
parachute, a French invention used for descent from balloons and other
elevations, is constructed similar to a huge umbrella and presents a large
surface of resistance to the air. Its
application to the rocket is certainly an original idea.
The second feature of the invention is the system of colored
lights of greater or less duration, by which letters, words and phrases may be
indicated.
When Gen. Fremont assumed command of the Department of the
West, he organized a scientific corps for engineering and signaling purposes –
and by means of this light placed in a box with an adjustable slide attachment,
long and short flashes were emitted - similar to the combination of characters
used in the Morse telegraph alphabet. It
is the dot and line (long and short) system so felicitously described in the Atlantic Monthly Oct. 8th, 1858 by Rev. Dr. Hale. We suppose a similar system is designed to be
used in Col. Myers’ invention – at least we think it would be practicable.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye,
Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 1
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