-WOODCRAFT SERIES AMERICAN BOYS' BOOK SIGNS 1GNALS a SYMBOL ir'fc NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH LIBRARIES 3 3333 02376 2004 0975865 si * ^ ? \J^' 20 WOODCRAFT SERIES SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS DAN BEARD'S WOODCRAFT SERIES American Boys' Handybook of Camp-lore and Woodcraft 377 Illustrations Opens a new world of sport. Beginning with the making of campfires, the author initiates the lover of outdoor life into all the mysteries of woodcraft. American Boys' Book of Bugs, Butterflies and Beetles 280 Illustrations "Dan Beard hag invented a new method of studying natural history. He opens a door that will tempt every live boy and his sister as well into this fascinating world. American Forestry American Boys' Book of Signs, Signals and Symbols 363 Illustrations "Dan Beard has recognized the interest every normal boy has in signs and signals. This is a book which should be popular with all boys, as it gives them much material that ean be introduced into their games and their excursions." Springfield Republican American Boys' Book of Wild Animals Profusely illustrated "Just what the boys ordered. It tells everything about the animals and abounds with pictures. Every page is rich in Uncle Dan's own experience." Times Star, Cincinnati American Boys' Book of Birds and Brownies of the Wood Profusely illustrated "No boy's library is complete without this book." Times Star, Cincinnati "Will cause a hike in the woods to be a joyful and ever- to-be-remembered event." New York Poet Do it Yourself Profusely illustrated Just the book boys who love hiking and camping bave been waiting for. It will make any "tenderfoot" an accom- plished woodsman. Wisdom of the Woods 842 Illustrations Buckskin Book for Buckskin Men and Boys Profusely illustrated THE PICTURE ROCK BY THE TRAIL THESE SYMBOLS SIGNIFY: Easy two miles to good camp, plenty of food and good water, horses, boats, and a jolly time WOODCRAFT SERIES THE AMERICAN BOYS' BOOK OF SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS BY DAN BEARD FOUNDER OF THE FIRST BOY SCOUTS SOCIETY 4.UIHOH OF "THE AMERICAN BOYS' BOOK OF BUGS, BUTTERFLIES AND BEETLES," ETC. WITH 36S ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR PHILADELPHIA & LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY COPYRIGHT, I0l8, BT BEATRICE ALICE BEABD FOURTH IMPRESSION THE NEW TO** waur i **< < 1 1 PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PREFACE FOR years the writer has been working on these ideo- graphs, picturegraphs, tramps,' yeggmen's, scouts,' trappers/ gypsies' and Indian signs, symbols and signals, not with the object of writing a cumbersome, more or less accurate, dictionary, but for the purpose of selecting such systems of signs as may be of use to the boys in their games in the open. Especially are these cryptograms, hieroglyphics, cabalistic figures and emblems useful to our youthful army of Boy Scouts and it is for jth^ny'p'^t|cula f rjy that this book was written, although now thai*-war is declared it is hoped that some hints herein may be of service to the fighting men of our country. / S4t , . The desire to be^of h'elp &*our great nation in everything he does for boys prompted tfrfe* author to rewrite and enlarge this whole book after it was m the hands of the publishers. This made it necessary to postpone its publication for a year. Weather signs and animal signs have been added because of the demand *or then from the boys themselves. v DANIEL CARTER BEARD FLUSHING, L. I. MAY 1, 1918 CONTENTS CHAFTSB AOB I. SIGNS OF DIRECTION 17 II. WILDERNESS SIGNS OF DIRECTION 21 III. CHALK-SIGNS FOR COMMAND AND INFORMATION 27 IV. DANGER SIGNS 35 V. DANGER NAUTICAL 40 VI. TRAIL SIGNS FOR DANGER, CAUTION, CALAMITY AND CRIES IN THE WILDERNESS FOR HELP 44 VII. SIGNS OF GOOD LUCK 48 VIII. W 7 oRD SIGNS 51 IX. MAP SIGNS OF PEOPLE 54 X. CHALK- AND MAP-SIGNS OF ANIMALS 57 XI. SIGNS OF INANIMATE OR MOTIONLESS THINGS 60 XII. SIGNS OF THE ELEMENTS 64 XIII. CELESTIAL SIGNS 67 XIV. SIGNS OF COLOR 69 XV. SIGNS OF THE SEASONS AND SIGNS OF TIME 77 XVI. SECRET WRITING THE CABALLA 83 XVII. NUMERALS OF THE MAGIC 91 XVIII. GESTURE SIGNALS 97 XIX. COMMON GESTURE LANGUAGE 105 XX. HAND ALPHABETS, DEAF AND DUMB ALPHABETS 112 XXI. SIGNAL CODES 123 XXII. BELL, ROPE AND WHISTLE RAILWAY SIGNALS 145 XXIII. RAILROAD, HAND-FLAG, LANTERN RAILWAY SIGNALS 148 XXIV. STEAMER TOOT TALK 162 XXV. WEATHER SIGNS 173 XXVI. WEATHER SIGNS 187 XXVII. FLAGS THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE 206 XXVIII. FOLLOWING THE CHANGES IN THE FLAG 218 XXIX. LIBERTY POLES 233 XXX. SIGNS SHOWN BY TRAILS, TRACKS, TRACES AND SPOOR OF ANIMALS. . . 242 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS INTRODUCTION THE Goddess of Liberty is a sign or symbol representing no real person or god, but she does represent the idea of human freedom. Columbia in a like manner represents America as Britannia does Great Britain. The Bear is the totem, or sign, of Russia, the Bald-headed Eagle the totem of United States. AMERICAN GUMPTION It takes gumption to really understand these things, and the American boy is supposed to possess a large amount of this article in his make-up; in fact, this is supposed to be also true of the American man. Gumption is a good old- fashioned word which implies a multitude of virtues. Brother Jonathan himself typifies gumption, that is, he stands for and is the sign of gumption. But how many of my readers know who is Brother Jonathan? Brother Jonathan has been neglected lately and Uncle Sam has usurped his place in our newspaper and magazine cartoons, but the two characters are not one and the same person. Brother Jonathan represents the whole of the American people put through the melting pot and moulded into one person. Brother Jonathan is the people and not the government, he is the symbol of democracy. Uncle Sam represents the machine of the government, or the organized power used to govern our nation. Of course, here in America where the people govern 11 12 INTRODUCTION themselves, one is apt to mix these two characters. But there is just the same difference between Uncle Sam and Brother Jonathan as there is between the King and the people, or the King of England and John Bull. The King may represent the people and may not; for instance, John Bull may discharge the King at any time but the King could never discharge John Bull. Remember that both John Bull and Brother Jonathan represent the peoples of their respec- tive countries, and that Uncle Sam and the crown represent the governments, and all of these imaginary persons are signs and symbols representing ideas. Pioneers, trappers, surveyors, hunters, fishermen, and boys, as well as all the vagabonds of the road, including the hoboes, tramps, yeggmen, gypsies, and the American Indians, all have a system of trail signs picturegraphs, ideographs, ciphers and hieroglyphics, with meanings understood by the initiated. Recently the autornobilists have added their con- tribution to the road signs, and the great usefulness of all these signs lies in the fact that if one understands the symbol, one does not need to understand the language of the sign-maker. For instance, if the traveler sees on a rock by the side of the trail or a fence, or on a barn by the roadside, the sign of danger, no matter what tongue is used by the traveler he knows that he must proceed with caution, for that sign spells danger in every language; it is a symbol representing the idea of danger. The author has made no attempt to invent a system of signs, for the very good reason that there are signs already in use, some of which have stood the test of centuries, and the collection in this book is made up from such recognized systems and is used either in their original form or in com- bination with one of the other original systems. INTRODUCTION 13 Almost all the trail signs of the open are taken from the American Indian and the American Buckskin men, and also almost all of the signs indicating natural phenomena, such as rain, cloud, water, day, night, month, etc., are taken directly from the Indians. The poetry of the Indians' minds is displayed in their symbols as well as in their figurative language, which, for instance, has no such word as "merry," but designates that state of mind most beautifully by calling it sunshine in the heart. But most of the chalk-signs, such as are used on fences, barns, and sign-posts are cribbed from the "Knights of the Road," in other words from hoboes and tramps, and are more sordid in their meanings than those of the white trappers or red Indians. The signs indicating color are taken from heraldry. It was no small task to secure the vagabonds' secret symbols and their meaning; they were picked up one by one and verified as the opportunity occurred, for they are especially guarded secrets among the vagabonds and it is hoped that the publishing of them and making them free to all will accomplish two purposes, one in supplying a useful system of road signs to the hunters, fishermen, Boy Scouts and other pedestrians, and the other in defeating the pur- poses of the underworld by robbing these signs of their secrecy. A householder, finding the tramp sign of the easy mark on his house, may erase the same and substitute the danger mark, and the Boy Scout, the pedestrian, the hunter and the fisherman may use the easy mark to show the easy trail and the danger mark to show the dangerous trail. Besides which all sorts of useful information may be conveyed by one patrol of scouts to those following by the use of a few 14 INTRODUCTION chalk-marks on a board fence or sidewalk. By putting the sign of the past, then the sign of direction, then the sign of noon and the sign of scout drawn across the wavy line of direction, one will see that a Boy Scout passed here at noon. If necessary, a long letter or communication may be written by the use of the signs here given, a letter which will be much shorter than written words. PICTUREGRAPH LKTTER RECEIVED BY THE AUTHOR FROM A HUNTING FRIEND THEN IN THE WILDS OF THE PEACE RIVER COUNTRY AAAAA The angular line at the top of the letter represents mountains. The first animal to the left is a goat we know from its straight horns, breeches and peglike feet. Underneath that is a caribou, which we know from the shape of its horns. Underneath fhat is another caribou. To the right, lying on its back, is a bear. Underneath that is another bear with claws, which must be a grizzly bear. At the bottom the canoe is cached with paddles under it. The man has a pack on his back and a gun on his shoulder and is making tracks toward the right. Over his head is his totem, which tells who he is. There is a dotted line to where the man appears again, saluting another man. In front of the man with the gun are five suns. This would indicate that it will be five days before the man has finished the dotted line. The animals all being on their backs tell us that they are dead and it all reads, "I have been hunting in the mountains. I bagged one rocky mountain goat, two caribou, one black bear, and one grizzly bear. I have cached my canoe and started home. I will see you in five days." INTRODUCTION 15 The author has taken the liberty of discarding many signs with the same meaning as that of other signs in the same system and adopting such as seemed to correspond with a general universal system. This must not be under- stood to mean that but one sign, for instance, for danger, is retained; on the contrary, we give the flag-sign, the chalk- sign, the trail-sign and the wilderness sign for danger, but we do not duplicate these in the same system. CHAPTER I SIGNS OF DIRECTION As FOUND ON SIGN-POSTS AND AS MARKED WITH PENCIL OR CHALK ON FENCES, BARNS, SHEDS AND TELEPHONE POLES The signs of direction may be divided into two general families ; the first is composed of painted sign-posts and chalk- marks used in the more settled parts of the community and the second is made up of what might be termed the wilderness signs of direction. In this second family are included trappers/ voyagers,' Indians' and gypsy signs made of the material found in the wilderness, the trails or the road. Everyone should be familiar enough with these signs to read and use them intelligently. For instance, Fig. 1 is the traffic sign adopted by cities in order to prevent the streets from becoming blockaded; this is simple and explains itself; it is a command for all vehicles to take the direction in which the arrow points. But there are other signs here given, which are understood by few people. For instance, Fig. 6, which is a chalk or pencil sign used by yeggmen and hoboes to warn comrades that they must hit the trail and disappear as quickly as possible. Many a house- holder might avoid serious inconvenience, if not disaster, by becoming familiar with such signs and using them to their own advantage in place of allowing the under- world and enemies of society to monopolize their use. With boys, these signs suggest all sorts of games of trail- ing and searching for hidden treasure and open a vast field of new sports. 17 18 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS \.v SIGNS OF DIRECTION Sign-post and Chalk-signs Fig. 1. White arrow in parallelo- gram cutting a circle horizontally. Go this way only. (Traffic sign.) Fig. 2. Hand with index finger pointing, or an arrow. Usually on painted signs and maps indicating that the proper direction is that in- dicated by the point of the arrow or the pointing finger. (Sign-boards.) Fig. 3. An arrow with a circle on 0-> NO U5L GOING- its shaft means literally "nothing THIS WAV. 1 . . J doing" in this direction. (Hobo and wilderness Scout Sign.) T> THIS WAY. Thl-5 WAY. THIS w/vf.) IWtNT TUNS WAY. Fig. 4. Arrow with a perpendic- ular line across the shaft indicates that the leading man, scout or person left the beaten trail at point marked and took the direction indicated by the arrow. Both Figures 3 and 4 are used on explorers' and mili- tary maps. (Wilderness Scout Sign.) Fig. 5. An arrow with a paral- GONGLALE.D NOTt l e lg ram where the feathers should 3 FAGt-STniA WAY. De > tells the reader that a message, a letter, or a document of some kind is concealed three paces from the sign in the direction indicated by the arrow. (English Boy Scout Sign.) SIGNS OF DIRECTION 19 TO" rtE. TRAIL 'DOUBLE, guicnf TAKETIIKSflOAQ 8 WAY 9 -S/10RT DISTANCE. THIS WAY Fig. 6. Circle with two arrows across it is a command to move on quickly. A chalk -sign used by ho- boes, yeggmen and vagabonds. Usually a warning that the con- stable or police are looking for them. (Tramp Sign.) Fig. 7. Circle with dash cutting the circumference. Used at cross- roads. Means take the trail pointed to by the line. (Hobo sign.) Fig. 8. The letter V placed hori- zontally is really the outline of an arrow-head with the same meaning as the pointing hand and the arrow. (Fig. 2.) A sign of direction. Fig. 9. Is the same as Fig. 8 but you will note it has a short line near its point, or apex. This means that camp or the place of rendez- vous is but a short distance ahead in the direction indicated. (Modi- fication of Indian Stick sign.) Fig. 10. The same as Figure 9 but in this case the vertical line is LONG DI5TANCE. at the open wide part of the V in place of at the point. Meaning a long distance to camp. (Adapted from the Indian Trail signs.) SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS Fig. 11. The same as the preced- ing figures but with an addition of "5 MILE6THI3WAY: a number of vertical lines crossing the V. With the Indians each ver- tical line stands for a day's journey, but with the people in the more thickly settled country, distances are measured by miles, and each line indicates a mile. With boys using these chalk-signs in town, each line will represent a block or city square. (Adapted from Indian Trail signs.) O=* Fig. 12. A wave stem arrow with HAT circles, cross lines and half lines. Is Wf NT This WAY used by the knights of the road, gypsies, tramps and hoboes to tell their fellows in this case, that two children, four men and three women passed this way. The arrow indi- cates direction, the circles indicate children, the four lines crossing the shaft of the arrow indicate men and the three half lines indicate women, which tells us very distinctly that in the underworld children are looked upon as ciphers, and women as but half men. (European Hobo sign.) The foregoing signs of direction may be pencilled, marked with a soft brick, a burnt stick or a piece of chalk or painted on signposts. But, as a rule, they are not practical signs to use in a country where there are no fences or buildings or sidewalks, consequently the people traversing the wilderness and wild country resort to other methods of marking the trail. CHAPTER II WILDERNESS SIGNS OP DIRECTION Ox INDIAN TRAILS; GAME TRAILS AND PROSPECTORS' TRAILS; ALSO USED BY GYPSIES, Scours, EXPLORERS AND SPORTSMEN WHEN the trees blanketed our continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River with a dark and gloomy forest in which there were only occasional openings, or prai- ries like those which existed in Indiana and Illinois, it was necessary to mark the trails through the woods in order that one should not become lost. True, the country was traversed by Big Game trails, war-paths and Indian trails then known as "traces." But many of these, even the cele- brated war-paths, were overgrown with underbrush and weeds so as to be only distinguishable to the initiated and accomplished wilderness man. Hence when the white men came, they marked roads for the settlers. The surveyors and pioneers did this by blazes made with their axes on the tree trunks. These were called blazed trails, "cantiagge," marked trees, by the Long Island Indians and they are still used in the North woods, in Maine, in the wilderness of Canada and the far North, as well as in the few forests remaining in the West. The blazed trail is either made by chipping pieces of bark off the side of the trees along the line of travel, known as "Go by" blazes (surveyors' marks), or by what is called a "spot-trail," i.e., by making big blazes on the face of the trees along the line, so that one spot may be seen from any other preceding it. 21 22 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS Fig. VPA. Three blazes on a tree indicate an important "line" tree, or more frequently a witness tree for a corner of plot of land; usually another blaze is made on side of tree nearest the stake or stone marking the corner. Fig. 13. Blazed trail. It tells LINE. the traveler that a line or trail runs TRAIU, alongside of the points marked. It GQ-BYSLAZEdoes not give the particular direc- tion like the arrow because this trail may be followed either way. In the diagram the blazes are much closer than they would be in the wilder- ness, but it is so made that the reader may more readily under- stand it. (Surveyors,' trappers,' foresters,' and explorers' sign.) Fig. 14. Spot trail; useful in SPOT TRAIL traveling after sunset as one blaze LINE BLAZE. mav ^ e seen f rom a position close to any other blaze, but cannot be seen from a position to one side of it. (Hunters,' trappers and for- esters' signs.) With surveyors a spot mark indicates a line tree, that is a tree standing on the line; some- times both a spot and a side blaze is used to show that the line hits the tree on one side. WILDERNESS SIGNS OF DIRECTION 23 - 1O BENT Fig. 15. Broken bush trails. When traveling in an unknown country, one bends and breaks the bushes backwards so that their tops point backwards. When retracing one's steps, one's eyes will catch the exposed under surface of the leaves on the broken bushes, thus making it easy to find the way back. (Hunt- ers/ trappers/ and Scout signs.) Fig. 16. (Kikaige, I make marks on the road setting up branches Chippewa). When, a stick is stuck diagonally in the ground, the free point shows the direction to camp. In the Northwest, when an Indian has made a kill of moose, sheep or caribou he puts one end of a fresh willow stick in the ground and wraps a bit of the skin of the dead animal on the end of it as an invitation to anyone coming along that trail to come and eat. If the w r illow stick is fresh and not withered the traveler knows that food and camp are not far ahead of him, but if the willow stick is wilted and drooping, the traveler knows that it has been there a long time and the hunters have probably eaten up the food supply and hit the trail; but the stick in Fig. 16 simply indicates direction. (Abnaki Indians.) SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS LONG-0IS-* ANCE.THIS SHORT DIST- ANCE Thli WAY 4-MILLS THIS WAY. THIS WAV THiSlSTHETRAlU, Fig. 17. A long upright stick at the upper end of the pointer tells us that camp is a long distance ahead. (Abnaki Indians.) Fig. 18. A short upright stick near the buried end of the pointer tells us that camp is a short distance ahead. (Abnaki Indians.) Fig. 19. A number of upright sticks against the leaning stick indi- cate the number of "sleeps," or days' journey (for the Indian), but with the Boy Scouts of America it tells the number of miles to camp. (Abnaki Indians.) Fig. 20. A cleft stick with a forked stick in the cleft tells us that the direction is pointed by the end of the stick. (Gypsy sign.) A green stick thrust in the mud near the shore of a lake or stream, with a chip in the cleft at the top shows the canoe trail. This is sometimes blazed on side and front to show direction taken by outgoing canoe party. (N. W. Quebec Indians.) Fig. 21. A stone on top of an- other stone tells us that this is the trail. Fig. 22. A stone with another stone on top of it and a stone to the right means to turn to the right. (English Boy Scout Sign.) WILDERNESS SIGNS OF DIRECTION 25 same witn a to the left of it reads; "Turn to the left here." (English Boy Scout Sign.) , Fig. 24. In the prairie and open 4 country a bunch of grass tied to- GRASSMARKINO , , , . . TRAIL- getner at the top tells us that this is the trail. (Sioux Indian Sign, Dr. Eastman.) Fig. 25. If the top ends of the TURN TO RIGHT. g rass are bent to the right, it tells us K to turn to the right. (Sioux Indian Sign, Dr. Eastman.) -oc: URN TO LEFT. trr Fig. 26. If the top of the grass is bent to the left, it tells one to turn to the left. (Sioux Indian Sign. Dr. Eastman.) Fig. 27. Two sticks laid on the ground in the form of a "V," indi- cate the direction same as Fig. 8. (Gypsies.) Fig. 28. A row of little stones laid in the form of a "V" indicates the direction taken. (Gypsies.) Fig. 29. A green forked stick (BRAiscrtlTfiis WAY . laid with a PP arent carelessness upon the ground to the keen eye of the vagabond tells him that companions have lately passed in this direction. (Gypsies.) 26 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS LOP-STICK) Fig- 30. The lop-stick. In heav- ily wooded districts when the atten- tion of a passer-by is required, a prominent tree is selected, a space cleared around it and the branches of the tree lopped off for a consider- able distance up the trunk. Such a mark cannot escape the eye of the passer-by. (Alaska Prospectors, Ex- plorers, and Indians.) If, for instance, one of a party goes ahead and comes to a lake which is crossed, the water affords no means of marking a trail, but if on the hill or high bank where he again takes up his trail, a tree is lopped in this manner, it will attract the immediate attention of those following and enable them to pick up the trail on the opposite side of the lake. The lop-stick is frequently made to commemorate some event: "The next day we dug him a grave above high-water mark. . . . I climbed the tree to make a mem- orial of the North the lop-stick." STEFANSON. The lop-stick in the wilderness of Canada, now 1918, is frequently a wireless station used probably for war purposes. Several such trees were recently pointed out to the author by wilderness canoe men. CHAPTER III CHALK-SIGNS FOR COMMAND AND INFORMATION FOR THE WAYFARER, PEDESTRIAN, BICYCLIST, MOTOR CYCLIST OR THE AUTOMOBILIST A CALL FOR HELP The illustration shows a village fence with an important chalk message on it. In the illustration the chalk message is about fifty times bigger in proportion to the fence than it really would be when the boys make it. But we had to en- large it so that it would show in the cut. By referring to the 27 28 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS diagram (Fig. 41) we see that three (3) is a call for help and in Fig. 97 we see that the skull and crossbones stand for a doctor, the spiral sign with an arrow point on one end of it (Fig. 33) is a command that means "come." The next one, a circle with two arrows (Fig. 6) reads "Hit the trail double quick." The next one is the Indian sign for lightning (Fig. 149). The lightning is striking a rude drawing of a powder horn (Fig. 98) which stands for a Scout. The next with two intersecting parallelograms (Fig. 79) stands for timidity, alarm, afraid. The next one is the sign of direction (Figs. 9, 10, 11) and tells us that camp is two miles in the direction pointed and the next one is the tent which means "camp," indicating that it is two miles to camp. Putting these mean- ings together, the message would read, "Help, a doctor wanted. Come double quick. One of our scouts has been shocked by lightning and we are afraid of the consequences. It is two miles in this direction to camp." IN towns and cities where paved streets or sidewalks offer the opportunity, chalk-signs are particularly handy. But minute pencil signs will answer the purpose for the Boy Scouts as they often do for the hoboes. Almost every telegraph pole, water tank and similar roadside object is utilized by the vagabonds as a sign-board on which they scribble their queer symbols, and such tele- graph poles are just as handy for Boy Scouts as they are for outlaws and may be used by the boys without disfiguring the poles, for the little lead pencil symbol will not be seen by any one except those looking for them. """" ^ ," ' * *-* ^-*v;. - Each patrol of scouts should, of course, sign its message with the patrol totem no matter how rudely drawn the animal may be. Fishermen, automobilists, sportsmen or military scouts may upon occasions find it particularly handy to use the CHALK-SIGNSCOMMAND, INFORMATION 29 telephone poles and this system of chalk or pencil ideographs to convey information to others of their party, and if the messages are signed with some recognized totem or initials, there will be no mistake made by those following the trail. Of course it should be understood that the trail followers should look for information at certain designated places, otherwise they must look for messages at the most likely places where such messages might be written. 32 33 e e) GO-' CHALK-SIGNS OF COMMAND AND INFORMATION FOR THE TRAIL x *'~~\ Fig. 31. Two rude circles inter- ( (/ J PLRSEVLRL sec ting each other is a command to persevere, never say die, don't give up. (Hobo.) Fig. 32. Circle with arrow. Command to go. (Hobo.) Fig. 33. A spiral with arrow point to left. Command to come to camp, to come back. (Boy Pioneers.) Fig. 34. A sign taken by vaga- bonds from the ancient books of magic, a command to stop, to halt. Stop! (Hobo.) Fig. 35. A diamond admonishes you to keep quiet, hold your tongue. (Hobo.) Fig. 36. A cross. A hint to be good. With tramps this means, give them a religious talk and they will give you food. (Tramp.) COME.. 1 HALT? -0 88 I MOLD YOUR TONCrUE.! BC. GOOD 30 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS ' 37< TW I I I WORK FOR Foon ancient book of magic and used by tramps to tell where they can get food by working for it. (Hobo.) YOU MAY Fig. 38. You may camp here. CAMP MERE. (Hobo sign.) From the letter Teth celestial writing, magic. YOU IN HAYLOFT sleep in the hay loft. Probably taken from ancient magic. (Hobo.) Fig. 40. Among the tramps and TELL YOUR e L .. A A/\ a-roftv vagabonds this means to tell a pitiful story and you will excite the sympathy of your audience. But with the Scouts it simply means to tell your story, that is, make your report. (Hobo.) The foregoing are characteristic tramp signs, but as any- one may see they also form a useful set of symbols for sports- men or military officers and will be found particularly useful to Scoutmasters and Boy Scouts on their hikes and in their games. Many of the games being on the order of a paper chase, chalk marks make less litter and mess and tell a more coherent story for the hounds. s ROAD-SIGNS FOR AUTOMOBILES Recently the automobilists have adopted some very use- ful and practical road signs. In the first place they have painted the telephone and telegraph posts with bands of color to mark the roads so colored on the automobile maps, but the real practical road signs consists first of a parabola, which is a term in geometry for a certain curve made by the DANGEROUS CDBV;E AHEAD. <3IEF GRADE AHEAD D^. AUTOMOBILE TURMHG TO RfGBy. -JTJKJVING TOLEft SVIB7WWGJQESCIWJ S ~ CBOSS BQ^IJS SBRADE ' IT. PASSAGE iMDERjiHCH R mmm Plate 1 CHALK-SIGNSCOMMAND, INFORMATION 33 section of a cone. Fig. A (Plate 1). This warns the chauffeur that he is approaching a dangerous curve in the road. Steep grade ahead is indicated by two straight lines, one a little above the other, joined at the middle ends by a diag- onal line, Fig. B (Plate 1), thus showing a profile view of the road with a steep grade to it. Railroad crossing ! look out for the locomotive ! is shown by a simple crossing of two lines like a letter X, Fig. C (Plate 1). These signs are very conspicuous on the roads in Connec- ticut, especially in the neighborhood of Danbury. Somewhere about 1902 the "Association General Auto- mobile" that is, the French Automobile Society adopted quite an extended series of road signs for the purpose of warning motorists when they approach dangerous grade crossings, cross-roads, villages, steep hills, bad pavements, arches, gullies and hog-backs, or as the French call them, donkey -backs. They also indicate which way the road is turning, when the road turns to the right it is so shown by Fig. D (Plate 1). Turning to the left is the same sign reversed with the pointed end pointing to the left, Fig. E (Plate 1). A winding descent is indicated by a rude S-shaped figure tipped up diagonally w r ith the top end pointing to the right, Fig. F (Plate 1). A winding ascent is indicated by the same sort of S-shaped figure tipped up towards the left, Fig. G (Plate 1). A steep descent is shown by a bomb set diagonally on the sign with a pointed end aimed towards the right-hand lower corner, Fig. H (Plate 1). A steep ascent is indicated by the same bomb-shaped figure placed diagonally upon the sign with the pointed end pointing to the upper right-hand corner, Fig. J (Plate 1). 3 34 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS Bad cross-roads is practically the same sign that they use here in America for railroad crossings, Fig. K (Plate 1). Grade crossing is indicated by a broad band representing the road with two lines crossing it at right angles representing the rails, Fig. L (Plate 1). A turn in the road going down hill is shown by part of a "U" with the pointed end turning down, Fig. M (Plate 1). A turn in the road going up hill is a reverse of the last figure with a sharp end pointing up. Fig. N (Plate 1). Where the road passes under an arch a warning sign of an arch upon the sign-board tells the chauffeur to be careful, Fig. O (Plate 1). A village is indicated by a couple of crudely drawn houses with a public building in between them; Fig. P (Plate 1). A donkey -back, or hog-back as we know it in America. is shown by a diagram of that sort of a hill, Fig. Q (Plate 1). A gulley is indicated by a conventional outline of a gulley. Fig. R (Plate 1). Bad paving is something all of us would like to know before we hit it, and our machine goes jumping over the stones. The French sign for it is a section of a checkerboard, Fig. S (Plate 1). The water splash is foretold by the diagram of a fence on the sign-board, Fig. T (Plate 1). There are many of these French signs which are unneces- sary here, in America, as automobile signs, but some of them could be used to advantage on automobile maps and also upon military maps, for in map-making the more simple conventional signs one has the less lettering is necessary, and consequently the more simple and more easily read is the map. CHAPTER IV DANGER SIGNS THREE, THE TROUBLE NUMBER;' SIGNS OF DISASTER; SIGNS OF TROUBLE; SIGNALS FOR HELP; CRIES FOR SUCCOR IT is of vital importance to the whole outdoor world that, a uniform system of signs should be adopted and understood to indicate trouble, disaster, and a call -for help. Owing to the fact that one writer has, through misapprehension or typographical error, given us two shots as a call for help, it has put a dangerous confusion of ideas in many amateurs' minds. It should be recognized among all outdoor people, including hunters, explorers, military men, and Boy Scouts, that THREE OF ANYTHING stands for something serious, for a call for help, for a sign of danger. Three might be called the Paul Revere among the signs, spreading and giving the alarm. Two shots from a gun, for instance, may simply mean that a man has fired the right and left barrel of a shot-gun, but three shots in rapid succession would attract any hunter's or sportsman's attention, and if the three shots were again repeated in the same manner, he would know that someone was in trouble. The author above referred to also states that three stones one on top of the other, three tufts of grass, and three blazes on a tree are signs of danger, but he makes confusion when he puts three smokes for good news and two smokes for "I arn lost, help!" Three of everything does, and should have the same general meaning, a cry for succor, help, and alarm. The white man's custom of three shots as a sign of alarm, the Boy Scouts' custom of three stones, one on top of another, and three blazes on the tree, and three tufts of grass. Three 35 36 SIGNS, SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS short blasts on a steamboat whistle means full spead astern, that is, to back at full speed! All these things indicate trouble, consequently in this system of signs I have taken the liberty of ignoring any apparent exceptions to the rule, most of which are unimportant or evident mistakes by the type-setter or stenographer, and I have put down three to always mean danger. * It is interesting to note that the hobo signs are full of warnings and danger from policeman, fierce dogs and surly householders, while in the hunters' and Indian signs there are but few devoted to danger, while many are devoted to objects, such as game, birds, trees, stones, hills, mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. It is only the Indians who give us the signs for the weather, the earth and the sky, and the natural phenomena; by com- bination, however, of the Indian, the yeggman, and the hobo, the prospector and the explorer, we have a very complete system, not only of road, trail and map signs, but ideographs which may be used in lengthy communications. SIGNS OF DANGER AND TROUBLE "" Fig. 41. Help. Numeral / i i -\ * (almost universal sign). Fig. 42. Indian signs represent- INTROUBtC! . mg three smokes, a warning. When the Indian makes a signal fire of dry grass or leaves, he makes the smoke signal by covering it with a * Sometimes a multiple of the numeral "3" is used. For instance, in the far North, three shots is sometimes followed by three more in quick succession to indicate dire distress, and, "The general attention or emergency call for use on cable or land telegraph lines is the numeral 9." (U. S. Army Signal Book.) DANGER SIGNS 37 A ,n\ ' I **$[ ' I blanket and then quickly removing the blanket. This causes the smoke to ascend in a balloon-shaped bulb. The sign of alarm with the Apache is three smokes, which signifies dan- ger or the approach of an enemy. (U. S. Eth. Report.)