erhead.

INSTRUCTING.--This plan of teaching the semaphore will be found very
helpful, for it helps to reason out the alphabet for the student. By
fixing firmly in mind a few things the student can soon reason out the
alphabet for himself by a very logical plan.

SECOND STEP.--After the men have been taught the alphabet they should
either pair off and one man send to the other, or one man should be
selected to send for the entire class. At first only letters should be
sent until the men have learned the alphabet thoroughly. In this way
the key characters of the alphabet can be fixed in mind, as well as
their relation to the other letters.

THIRD STEP.--The men should next be paired off and instructed to send
simple messages to each other. You should insist that there be no
other communication between the men than by means of their flags.

FOURTH STEP.--Proceed to simple qualification tests, four men working
in two pairs and the pairs alternating in sending and receiving. One
man of first pair should read for his companion to send. On the other
end, one man should read and the other copy. The distances should be
such as to preclude the possibility of conversation. Forty letters per
minute is a fair test; or this system may be followed: Have a good
signalman send 10 combinations of 5 letters each to the whole class.
The men should read these and write them down, _one combination at a
time_. Time limit should be 3 minutes.

[Illustration: Plate 13]

WIG WAG.--Time spent: Same as semaphore course. The alphabet can be
found in any standard signal book, or in the "Manual for
Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates." The dots are made to the
right of the body, the dashes to the left; interval at the end of a
word by dipping the flag once to the front, at the end of a sentence
by dipping it twice, and at the end of a message by dipping it three
times. The alphabet should be learned first according to the same
general plan as in the semaphore; _i.e._, the key letters to certain
combinations should first be learned. The following grouping of
letters may be found helpful:

E I S H; T M O; A U V; N D B; R F L; K C Y; W P J; G Z Q.

The instructor can find many other groupings that will aid him. It
should also be pointed out that each number from one to ten consists
of five characters, and that each succeeding number follows the
previous one according to a regular method.

After the men have studied the alphabet sufficient