Smoke Signals
The author has been asked many times to include a code of smoke signals
in this book, for the benefit of the Boy Scouts and others. Smoke signals were
not a standardized code as in the sign language. Inasmuch as they aimed to
transmit secret knowledge, most or many of the signs were devised privately and
to suit a particular purpose or the caprice of the transmittor.
As the signals were visible to all, unless they had a secretly understood
significance they would be conveying the information alike to friend and enemy.
There were, however, certain more or less recognized abstract smoke signals,
of which the following are a few. One puff meant ATTENTION. Two puffs meant
ALL'S WELL. Three puffs of smoke, or three fires in a row, signifies DANGER,
TROUBLE, OR A CALL FOR HELP.
An interesting diversion can be had by a party of Boy Scouts or others
who will first pre-arrange their code of signals, then some members of the
party go to an adjacent high hill or mountain, where they build a fire for the
purpose on a visible point. After bringing the small fire to a blaze, a smoke
fire is created by adding some handfuls of grass or with some green branches
which may have been carried up for the purpose. Apart from the fire the most
necessary adjunct is a blanket or tarp to control the smoke, which when the
fire is smoking well is liberated in a series of puffs, which convey the
message.
At this point we would like to emphasize the importance of three signals
of any kind as indicating danger or a call for help. If any boy is ever in
serious trouble where he needs to call for help, three shouts, three whistles,
three shots from a gun, three smoke signals, three fires in a row at night in a
place where they might be visible, all should be interpreted to convey the
message that a person is in danger or requires assistance.
It should be impressed upon all boys that the number three, whether in
shots, fires, whistles or smokes, is the distress signal of Boy Scouts and of
all woodsmen plainsmen, and outdoor people generally. The importance of this
signal cannot be overestimated. It should always be borne in mind that under
no circumstances should this signal ever be given except in case of actual
necessity, and never in a joking or foolish manner.
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