Posted by Peter H on October 25, 2007 at 19:28:07 from 86.130.135.71 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Signal Stations posted by David Bamford on October 25, 2007 at 07:38:34:
Actually, there were codes for more cheerful messages along the lines which David mentions - codes to the effect that the ship so-and-so was in good shape, full cargo, full complement and due Liverpool in 2 days - that sort of thing. These sort of messages were mostly mercantile - eg there were codes for different types of wood which might be carried as cargo - 'Baltic timber', 'Canadian timber', oak, ebony, teak etc. Ditto food and other cargoes. Some of the codes were navigational - indicating position or weather conditions. There was also another use for the telegraph which would not occur to us nowadays - giving the relay stations the time, which could be signalled to ships. There was a daily one o'clock gun fired at Liverpool - a message was immediately passed down the telegraph 'line' to Holyhead. There was a formula for compensating for the time delay.
The code was quite sophisticated, and verbs could be conjugated, eg:
2340 - can I do?
2341 - can I have?
2342 - can it?
2343 - can she?
2344 - can she be?
2345 - can there be?
2346 - can they?
etc
BTW, for Prue - some of the hazard codes I did not mention last time:
2565 'catastrophe'
4000 'dismasted and abandoned'
4090 'we are in great distress'
4966 'fever has not abated; the daily average of death is ....'
5507 'frostbitten'
8667 'plundered of everything'
2976 'wreckers alongside'
It was a great life at sea!