Signal tower

“ On the lower floor of the tower were air condensers, and through the medium of electricity and compressed air heavy switches and signals a half-mile off are worked almost by finger touch. Each switch is guarded by at least one signal, possibly two—home and distant—and these blades show an open or a closed path to the engineer. They are so arranged that normally they stand at danger and in case of breakdown they return by gravity to danger. ”

“ No company could speed far on its route before meeting some runner or partisan who could tell the exact or approximate location of the fire. The first round from the tower would start every machine in its neighborhood. Then the ringer would spring to his telegraph and rapidly signal to the City Hall two rounds of the district, then add the number of his tower. Then back he would go to his lever and bang another round. ”

“ When it reached the top of the first tower, the lower reach of wire was gripped and hauled up until adjusted as to tension, so that the sag would correspond with a standard guide wire. Then it was clamped, and the signal was sent to the next tower, where it was similarly gripped and adjusted. This done, a signal was sent on to the anchorage, where the final adjustment took place. As soon as the carrier released this wire, it took back with it a pair of wires of another skein, which gave time for adjusting the upper reach of wire just strung. ”

“ One of the wires communicates from the main fire bell-tower to all the others, and connects each with machinery, which puts in motion the largest-sized hammer, and causes it to strike a large fire-bell the desired number of blows; the other wire proceeds on a still more circuitous route, and from one local street or ward signal-station to another. Each station is provided with a strong box and hinged door and lock. Inside of this box there is a connecting electro-magnet and connecting lever, an axle with a number of pins in it to correspond to the number of the station. ”

“ When the sound had died away Tolliver slammed the door and climbed the stairs. He studied the yellow slips again, striving to fix in his mind this problem, involving the safety of numerous human beings, that would probably become his. He had a fear of abnormal changes in the schedule. It had been impressed upon every signalman that thirty-three was the road's most precious responsibility. It was the only solid Pullman train that passed over the division. This time of year it ran crowded and was erratic; more often than not, late. That fact created few difficulties on an ordinary night ”

“ The dark, heavy cars slipped by. The red glow of the fuse was overcome by the white light from the south. The last black Pullman of thirty-three cleared the points. With a gasping breath Tolliver threw the switch lever.
"It's too late now. Sonny," he said to the importunate child.
The tower shook. A hot, white eye flashed by, and a blurred streak of cars. Snow pelted in the window, stinging Tolliver's face. Tolliver closed the window and picked up thirty-three's orders. If he had kept the revolver here he could have prevented Joe's leaving the tower. Why had Sally locked it in the cupboard? ”

“ He visualized his wife, beautiful, dark, and desirable, urging him not to go to the tower.
A gust of wind sprang through the trap door. The yellow slips fluttered. He ran to the trap. He heard the lower door bang shut. Someone was on the stairs, climbing with difficulty, breathing hard. A hat, crusted with snow, appeared. There came slowly into the light Joe's face, ugly and inflamed; the eyes restless with a grave indecision.
Tolliver's first elation died in new uncertainty. ”

“ Tolliver glanced from the rear window towards his home, smothered in the night and the storm. If he might only run there quickly to make sure that Sally was all right!
The sounder jarred furiously. Tolliver half raised his hand, as if to destroy it.
It was the division superintendent himself at the key.
"NT. NT. NT. Is it storming bad with you?"
"Pretty thick."
"Then keep the fuses burning. For God's sake, don't let the first in over-run his switch. And clear the line like lightning. Those fellows are driving faster than hell." ”

“ Let them crash. Let them splinter, and burn, and die. What was the lot of them compared with Sally and Sonny?
The red glare from the fuse sprang into the room. Tolliver paused, bathed in blood.
He closed his eyes to shut out the heavy waves of it. He saw women like Sally and children like Sonny asleep in a train. It gave him an impression that Sally and Sonny were, indeed, on the train. To keep them safe it would be necessary to retard the special until thirty-three should be on the siding and he could throw that lever that would close the switch and make the line safe. ”

“ The beacon comprises a reinforced concrete building, nearly elliptical in section, supported upon a heavy stone foundation, which is encased in steel, and which is 12 feet high. The tower has a height of 57 feet, bringing the occulting flash of twelve seconds, with an eclipse of four seconds, 60 feet above the water. This station is also equipped with a powerful diaphone. The keepers of this light experience exciting times, as in a furious gale, such as the lakes only can produce, the waves frequently crash over the building. ”

“ They went by one tall, metallic needle-tower after another. The towers stood like rigid fingers against the horizon as they went on and on.
Grim brooded above the whipping mane of his chestnut, "If the thing that sends the change is a machine, then it would need the towers to broadcast its force. It's limited in range, itself. The towers give it a wide radius of effectiveness. Now the question is—what operates only in a limited range?"
He thought of radio waves, but the ionized heaviside would throw them around the planet. He shook his head, whispering, "Some sort of wave-radio or energy." ”

“ The wall is solid, and, looking at its fluted outer surface, we may well admire Philip’s military skill, which found it a not too formidable obstacle. A gateway in the east face gave access to the inner ward from the narrowest portion of the middle ward, and the ditch at this point was originally crossed by a stone causeway. The projecting spur of the great tower faced the gateway. The whole formidable design was perfect from the point of view of flanking, while the plan was a step towards the concentric arrangement of one ward within another. ”

“ While Tolliver stared Joe abandoned his masquerade. Wide-eyed, he got lightly to his feet and started for the trap.
Instinctively, Tolliver's hand started for the drawer where customarily the revolver was kept. Then he remembered, and was sorry he had sent the revolver to Sally. For it was clear that the poison in Joe's brain was sending him to the house while Tolliver was chained to the tower. He would have shot, he would have killed, to have kept the man here. He would do what he could with his hands. ”

“ When the push button in one of the wall towers—say, that in Old Tower Number Three—was pressed by the man on duty there, the indicator on the board in the captain’s lookout turned to the left a quarter-turn on the time dial, the small bell on the board rang and all telephone connections with the other wall towers were automatically cut off until the captain had replaced the telephone receiver on the hook after receiving the report from Old Tower Number Three. ”

“ Suddenly he screamed. He lurched to his feet and leant against the wall. He knew now. Joe, with those infused and criminal eyes, had gone to Sally and Sonny—to get even. There could be nothing in the world as important as that. He must get after Joe. He must stop him in time.
"NT. NT. NT."
There was something in his brain about stopping a train in time.
"It only needs you to keep all those people from getting killed."
Somebody had told him that. What did it mean? What had altered here in the tower all at once? ”

“ It is said that towers will act as lightning-rods and thus protect line conductors and station apparatus. As to static and inductive influences from lightning, it is evident that steel towers can give no protection. If each tower has an especial ground connection it will probably protect the line to some extent against direct lightning strokes, but there is no reason to think that this protection will be any greater than that given by well-grounded guard wires, or even by a wire run from a ground plate to the top of each pole or wooden tower. ”

“ Above the very mist and smoke that bedims the air rises the tall spire with its heavily buttressed tower. Have you ever climbed the tall ladders far up into the belfry? Far down below, the men pull the ropes, and out from the huge latticed windows rolls forth the volume of sound. Three bells there are that chime out upon the fading day. [Pg 46] So strong are they and vibrant with melody that the tower trembles. Even the cement walks and asphalt pavements seem to quiver under the heavy strokes of the bell.
As Frank opened the window the children with him crowded about. ”

“ Had the original design been carried into execution, both the towers would have been raised to the same hight. A doorway, in the south side of the truncated tower, leads to the summit of the spire. On the platform, about two-thirds of the way up, is a telegraph, and a station for the watchmen, who are set to look out for fires. One of them will accompany those who wish to mount the upper spire, and will unlock the iron gate which closes the passage. There is no difficulty or danger in the ascent, to a person of ordinary nerve or steadiness of head ”

“ At each of the four corners stands a bastion tower to command the flanks, and in the north wall low towers defend the entrance, which is a tunnel through the buildings, barred by massive doors, and commanded by loopholes for riflemen. The house is built of sun-dried bricks, the ceilings of heavy beams supporting a flat roof of earth. ”

“ As we drew nearer, the aerial structures which we had first seen began to tower up to an amazing height, just perceptibly swaying and undulating with the gentle currents of air that flowed through their traceried lattices, while behind them began to loom an immense number of floating towers, rising stage above stage, like the steel monsters of New York before they have received their outer coverings, but incomparably lighter in appearance, and more delicate and graceful ”

“ Then came a deadly circuit of the tower, clinging to whatever holds the slimy wall could give; till finally my testing hand found the barrier yielding, and I turned upward again, pushing the slab or door with my head as I used both hands in my fearful ascent. There was no light revealed above, and as my hands went higher I knew that my climb was for the nonce ended; since the slab was the trap-door of an aperture leading to a level stone surface of greater circumference than the lower tower, no doubt the floor of some lofty and capacious observation chamber. ”

“ It is flanked on all sides by needle-points and ridges; the currents run strongly, and the tides are wicked, rendering approach uncertain even in the smoothest weather.
The indefatigable engineer attacked his task boldly. He chose the highest point of the rock as the site for his tower, which was a cast-iron cylindrical building, 91 feet in height. The lantern was equipped with a revolving apparatus which threw a flash of 38,000 candle-power for fifteen122 seconds once every two minutes from an elevation of 148 feet, rotation being obtained through a belt and a weight-driven clock. ”

“ What we have here is the first case, a gravity beam, though on a scale, and utilizing principles that are altogether new. The towers at the bottom of the structure are pointed at neighboring bodies, and serve only to hold the station in place. The central tower, the one doing all the damage, is pointed directly at Marcum-Lauries. That is why she won't engage her second orbit. That's why internal pressures are ready to blow her apart. She is being pulled by three sources at once, as well as by the thrust of her own rotation..... We have eighty-six hours at the most. ”

“ Each morning at 3 o'clock, American time, those messages flashed from the tremendous wireless tower at Nauen, Germany—to find spies waiting everywhere in America for them. On interned ships, in shacks, built far from the roar and bustle of the city, even in Fifth Avenue residences, were wireless outfits concealed, each equipped with its Audien detector, so necessary to the catching of wireless waves from a great distance. ”

“ It is employed, though in a lesser degree, in land warfare. In such cases the aerial may be merely a wire thrown on to and caught up on a high tree. More elaborate devices are used, however, such as a high telescopic tower similar to the tall fire-escape ladders of the fire-brigades. Anyone who has seen the ladders rush up to a burning building and commence to erect themselves almost before they have stopped will realise how valuable such a machine must be for forming a temporary and easily movable wireless antenna. ”

“ At night torch-signals may be distinctly read by this method. It is only necessary that the exact point or bearings of the distant signal station be known. For this purpose a first-class pocket compass was furnished each signal officer.
In this case it was not necessary to see the compass to find the window, but we located with the telescope and compass certain other points miles to the rear of Marye's Heights and the Rebel Army, which I was to find in case the window was not available. ”