The first use of the word semaphore in reference to English use was in 1816: "The improved Semaphore has been erected on the top of the Admiralty", referring to the installation of a simpler telegraph invented by Sir Home Popham.
The word semaphoric was first printed in English in 1808: "The newly constructed Semaphoric telegraphs", referring to the destruction of telegraphs in France. However, the French Army preferred to call Chappe's semaphore system the telegraph, meaning "far writer", which was coined by French statesman André François Miot de Mélito. Chappe also coined the word tachygraph, meaning "fast writer". He composed it from the Greek elements σῆμα (sêma, "sign") and from φορός (phorós, "carrying"), or φορά (phorá, "a carrying") from φέρειν (phérein, "to bear"). The word semaphore was coined in 1801 by the French inventor of the semaphore line itself, Claude Chappe. 4.2 Edelcrantz system technical operation.A modern derivative of the semaphore system is flag semaphore, signalling with hand-held flags. The line-of-sight distance between relay stations was limited by geography and weather, and prevented the optical telegraph from crossing wide expanses of water, unless a convenient island could be used for a relay station. Half a century later, semaphore lines were replaced by the electrical telegraph, which was cheaper, faster, and more private. This system was much faster than post riders for conveying a message over long distances, and also had cheaper long-term operating costs, once constructed. Operators at each tower would watch the neighboring tower through a telescope, and when the semaphore arms began to move spelling out a message, they would pass the message on to the next tower. Lines of relay towers with a semaphore rig at the top were built within line of sight of each other, at separations of 5–20 miles (8–32 km). This system is often referred to as semaphore without qualification. The most widely used system was invented in 1792 in France by Claude Chappe, and was popular in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries. There are two main types of such systems the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and conveys information according to the direction the indicators point, and the shutter telegraph which uses panels that can be rotated to block or pass the light from the sky behind to convey information. The operators would move the semaphore arms to successive positions to spell out text messages in semaphore code, and the people in the next tower would read them.Īn optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. And though many have focused on the band’s use of vintage synthesizers and theremin, the band does not rely on any one instrument to create its bizarre sounds – proof that brains and hands are a musician’s most important tools.Illustration of signalling by semaphore in 18th-century France. In fact, the mountains and people of western North Carolina are a primary influence on the band’s sound. Close attention to the band’s lyrical content will show that USX is not at all concerned with outer space, but rather focuses on themes of earth, nature, and terrestrial human history. However, USX are not simply continuing the space rock tradition (although USX, Minsk, and Harvestman recently recorded a tribute to the British space-searchers Hawkwind ), but are rather a group of musicians who pay attention to a wide variety of music from all eras and origins. The band has often been associated with space rock, and German Rolling Stone even included the band in an article/compilation cd on the history of that genre. USX now approaches a decade of playing, recording, and evolving, and continues to blur the boundaries of heavy music with earsplitting rock that is by turns jangly, crushing, and dark.
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