Smoke screen

“ Smoke screens were required to mask those guns so that the approach of the blockships and storming vessels should remain undiscovered until the latest possible moment. This meant that a large number of craft were necessary for smoke screening alone. Again, if the smoke screens were to be efficient the smoke would have to be emitted within a short distance of the coast; i.e., in comparatively shallow water. Thus shallow-draught vessels were necessary. Shallow draught goes hand-in-hand with small dimensions. The carrying capacity of small craft is very {84} limited ”

“ The paper on the walls, the curtains, and everything in the room, will receive more injury by being even once thoroughly smoked in this way than by six months of careful use. Care also should be taken that the register is opened before lighting a fire; in rooms where there is not fire during the day the register is generally shut, to prevent the back smoke getting down into the room, and the first thing a careful servant should do is to open the register before lighting the fire. ”

“ On a very still calm day, when there is not enough wind to affect dust or dry leaves, a puff of smoke from a pipe or from a match, will serve the same purpose if struck and blown out immediately. The smell of the tobacco smoke is in no way likely to frighten game, as, if a beast is able to detect it, it is equally certain that he will be able to wind the stalker. ”

“ From a glass tube extending from the flask there poured out volumes of the pungent odor, and, as the puffs came, Tom and Phil could hear the air pump being worked. It was a “studentless smoker,” the air pump, attached to a rubber hose which exhausted the air from the flask, producing exactly the effect of some one puffing a pipe. The room was blue with the haze of tobacco, and as the astonished professor stood and gazed at the strange sight more smoke arose from the flask. Then, from somewhere in the dark recesses of the corridor came a voice. ”

“ At that end was a little gas jet kept burning as a convenience to smokers.
“I'll use that,” said the colonel. “I don't like the flavor of burnt wood in my smoke.”
“Fussy old duck,” murmured the barkeeper as he let the flame he had ignited die out, flicking the blackened end to the floor.
And, being careful to keep his face as much as possible in the shadow of his big, slouch hat, Colonel Ashley lighted his cigar at the gas flame.
And, somehow or other, that cigar required a long and most careful lighting. The smoker got the tip glowing, and then inspected it critically. ”

“ In some cases where a large volume of smoke is to be shown in hurried movement, the animator draws the smoke in distemper pigment—sombre dark grays, half-tints, or in white—on a blank [161] sheet of celluloid covering the scene. The effect of smoke moving very quickly could also be drawn in progressive fragments on the upper surface of the glass in the frame that is pressed down upon the drawings each time that they are photographed. If it is a house burning, for instance, the flames in white paint and the smoke in grays and black can be put on its surface. ”

“ The match had been well advertised and the article in the Despatch must have lent an added spice to the attraction. The heated air was already a blue fog of tobacco smoke, through which beyond the glare of the ring, tiny spots of light flared and disappeared like glow-worms—where in the gallery the smokers lighted their tobacco. ”

“ The atmosphere of the waiting-room set at naught at a single glance the theory that there can be no smoke without fire. The stationmaster, when remonstrated with, stated, as an incontrovertible fact, that any chimney in the world would smoke in a south-easterly wind, and further, said there wasn't a poker, and that if you poked the fire the grate would fall out. He was, however, sympathetic, and went on his knees before the smouldering mound of slack, endeavouring to charm it to a smile by subtle proddings with the handle of the ticket-punch. ”

“ This use of smoke, coupled with the deadly fire of machine guns and high explosives, forced men to take shelter in deep shell holes, in deep trenches and other places that were safe, but which made it nearly impossible to see signals along the front of battle.
Every man can readily be taught to read a few signals when clearly indicated by definite, sharply defined colored smokes. At first these were designed for use on the ground and will be used to a certain extent in the future for that purpose, particularly when it is desired to attract the attention of observers in aeroplanes or balloons. ”

“ It was now time for those who acted as controllers to keep a sharp look-out, and every now and then the order “Smoke, please,” could be heard, as a committee-man pointed at the bowl of an apparently extinguished pipe, whereupon the faintest cloud of smoke would rise into the air from the clay of the cunning laggard, or the bell would announce another failure. ”

“ The damp, warm odour of the tobacco in the long, low-roofed rooms is in itself almost stupefying. But there is no ventilation, and the atmosphere is absolutely indescribable. Many of the girls smoke cigarettes at their work. ”

“ The evidence establishes that the primary design distinction between Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights as compared to their regular counterparts is increased ventilation. Ventilation is measured by Philip Morris as the percent of air that is drawn in through the filter to dilute the smoke of the cigarette when smoked. This design distinction of ventilation provides for a lower machine measurement of tar and nicotine for "Lights" cigarettes, while still allowing the consumer to receive the same delivery of tar and nicotine from the "Lights" and regular cigarettes. ”

“ Hastily dismounting, and tying the cattle to some sturdy sage bushes, we continued our ascent, and it was not many minutes before we had reached a portion of the mountain that shelved out over the ravine, thus forming an admirable position for the signal operations. My companion briefly explained the method of smoke signals, which were made by gathering a quantity of very dry underbrush for the fire, and green twigs, boughs of pine, balsam, and hemlock, being placed upon the blazing wood, covers the flame and throws off a dense smoke that may be seen at great distances. ”

“ My mother sorted out such papers as she considered valuable; the others, letters and missives which she glanced at cursorily and put aside, she took into the kitchen and burned. She seemed afraid to find out too much.
The doctor continued to colour his tobacco smoke with a few pensive words.
“Ay,” he said, “there are two ways. You can burn your lamp with a big draught, and it’ll flare away, till the oil’s gone, then it’ll stink and smoke itself out. Or you can keep it trim on the kitchen table, dirty your fingers occasionally trimming it up, and it’ll last a long time, and sink out mildly.” ”

“ The Indians of the West used it much, and whenever an army detachment or other strangers traversed the plains and the hills their course was marked by the smoke signals of Indian scouts. To make smoke signals, first a moderate blaze is started; then damp or green stuff is piled on, for a smudge; and the column of smoke is cut into puffs by a blanket or coat held over like a cup and suddenly jerked off. A high place should be selected for the smoke signal, so as to distinguish it from the ordinary camp-fire, which is not as a rule made on a high place,—that is, in hostile country. ”

“ To a man of methodical habit it’s an effort to leave a watch unwound. Was he a smoker?”
“Brinkman says not. And there are no signs of it anywhere.”
“The law ought to compel people to smoke. In bed, especially—we should have got some very nice indications of what he was really up to if he had smoked in bed. But I see he wasn’t a bedroom smoker in any case; here’s a solitary match which has only been used to light the gas—he hasn’t burnt a quarter of an inch of it.”
“That match worries me too. There’s a box on the mantelpiece, but those are ordinary safeties. ”

“ For instance, the bachelor as he puffs the smoke into the air is astonished to see it whirling rapidly, instead of curling slowly in the usual way. The film is manipulated to produce this effect, as explained in Chapter XX. The actor retains a fixed position, puffing while the operator runs a few feet of film to record the smoke. After development several images on the film—perhaps fifty per cent. of the movement obtained—are cut out, and thereby the smoke is accelerated in its motion so as to become a whirl upon the positive. ”

“ I wonder what it means, and who is making it?”
“It is a common signal among uncivilized people,” replied Jim. “Savages the world over use smoke for signaling. They use it especially as a warning against the approach of an enemy or of strangers.”
“Well, what do you find of interest?” asked Berwick, joining them, the captain following a moment later.
[Pg 172]
“We were just looking at that column of smoke over there,” replied Tom. “Do you think it is a signal of some kind?” ”

“ I was wakened by the pungent acrid smell of smoke, and I sat up and blinked my eyes open. The side of the bed was sending up a steady column of gray smoke, and there was a smart crackle of fire under me somewhere. I jumped out of bed and saw the trouble instantly. My cigarette had dropped from my hand, still lighted, and as is the way with cigarettes, determined to burn to the end. ”

“ By tapping with the band on the canvas side of the box, vortex rings of the clouded air are driven out, precisely similar in appearance to those smoke-rings which some expert tobacco-smokers can produce by tapping on their cheeks, or to those larger ones which we sometimes see blown out from the funnel of a locomotive. ”

“ At first I puffed vigorously and wastefully, then I became scientific and sent out rings of smoke so strong and numerous that half a dozen of them were in the air at a time. In past days I had often followed a ring over the table, across chairs, and nearly out at the window, but that was when I blew one by accident and was loath to let it go. ”

“ The smoker lays his head upon a pillow, has a lamp by his side, and with a kind of needle he lifts a small portion of the opium to the candle; and having ignited it, he puts it into the small aperture of the bowl of the pipe. The candle is applied to the bowl during the process of inhaling, and the smoke is drawn into the lungs in the same manner as an Indian or Chinese swallows tobacco. A whiff or two is all that can be drawn from a single pipe, and, therefore, those who are accustomed to the use of the drug have frequently to renew the dose. ”

“ An occasional crash, followed by the ignition of a little powder, produces a sudden puff of smoke which gives the spectator the idea of a fall of a rafter.
Apparatus for producing the smoke of a conflagration is more complicated than that for producing lightning. Steam is largely used for producing smoke, and is conducted to a place where the smoke is to appear, by means of rubber hose; but this is apt to cause considerable noise when it escapes into the air. This difficulty has been surmounted in at least one stage illusion which we illustrate, this being the “Magian,” the opera of Massenet. ”

“ If no engines are within reach, and you have not a hand-pump or an extincteur, the next best thing is to collect as many buckets outside the room on fire as can be obtained, keeping the door shut while more water is being collected.’ Since the above was written, a valuable invention has been brought forward, by use of which a person may enter dense smoke that it would be otherwise impossible to exist in. ”

“ Puff, I say, and suck in thy fantastic life with the smoke! else I snatch the pipe from thy mouth and hurl thee where that red coal came from.”
Thus threatened, the unhappy scarecrow had nothing for it but to puff away for dear life. As need was, therefore, it applied itself lustily to the pipe, and sent forth such abundant volleys of tobacco smoke that the small cottage kitchen became all vaporous. The one sunbeam struggled mistily through, and could but imperfectly define the image of the cracked and dusty window pane on the opposite wall. ”

“ Two methods of measuring the effectiveness of a smoke cloud have been devised, one, the smoke box, which measures the obscuring power directly by observing at what distance a lamp filament is obscured by intervening smoke, the other, the Tyndall meter, which measures the intensity of the scattering of the light. ”

“ The cigar was out. Fumbling for a match to relight it, my eyes fell on the drifting smoke-curtain which swayed across the corner opposite. It seemed almost tangible. How like a real curtain it hung, gray, impenetrable! A man might hide behind it. Then an idea came into my head, and it persisted until my uneasiness amounted to a vague terror. I tried to fight it off—I strove to resist—but the conviction slowly settled upon me that something was behind that smoke-veil—something which had entered the compartment while I slept. ”

“ In the meantime, Joe Kingsley had finished his pack of cigarettes without having noted the lettering on any one of them. This seems unlikely at first sight. Yet an inveterate smoker will admit that he is not inclined to read the label on his cigarette, especially one who is busy with his hands most of the time and who may smoke a full package of cigarettes during the working day and another at night. ”

“ A key line of defense against home fires is the protection provided by smoke detectors. But smoke detectors must be operating properly to furnish the early warning necessary to allow safe escape from a fire. Even though 90 percent of our Nation's homes have at least one smoke detector installed, about one-third of all homes in which fires occurred had smoke detectors that were not functioning correctly, usually because of faulty or missing batteries. ”