Telegraphy the sense of a system that can transmit arbitrary messages over arbitrary distances. Lines of signalling relay stations can send messages to any required distance, but all these systems are limited to one extent or another in the range of messages that they can send. A system like flag semaphore, with an alphabetic code, can certainly send any given message, but the system is designed for short-range communication between two persons. An engine order telegraph, used to send instructions from the bridge of a ship to the engine room, fails to meet both criteria; it has a limited distance and
General Service Code than one signaler. The 4x4 flags are used for almost everything else. The 6x6 flags are for sending messages that can't wait until night so they could use the torches. These flags are so heavy that no one really wanted to use them. One torch is put on a pole and waved around and is called the action torch. The other was stuck on a stake and called the foot torch. The purpose of the foot torch is to decipher if the message is meant for you or for the guy on the other side of the sender. The torches