300w, 768w, 150w, 600w, 696w, 1392w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/800px-Hydraulic_telegraph_messages_4th_century_BC_reconstruction-1.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />Hydraulic telegraph, a fourth century BC invention of the ancient Greeks (reconstruction based on descriptions by Aeneas Tacticus and Polybius). Thessaloniki Technology Museum. Credit: Gts-tg/Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0
The hydraulic telegraph, invented by the ancient Greeks, had the capacity to send long-distance messages as early as the fourth century BC.
The ingenious apparatus is dubbed as the world’s first telecommunications device. It was designed for military purposes by Aeneas Tacticus with the purpose of more efficiently sending pre-arranged messages across the vast empire of Alexander the Great.
Operation of the hydraulic telegraph is described in detail in Aeneas’ work on sieges, Poliorcetika, which was retrieved by Polybius. The messages sent were along the lines of: “Enemy on sight,” “Cavalry attack,” “We need wheat,” “Infantry in action,” “Cyclical movement,” and so on.
Hydraulic Telegraph Operation
The hydraulic telegraph was used by the ancient Greeks during times of war. There were numerous telecommunication groups of beacons placed on carefully selected hills in ancient Greece. The apparatus was operated by messengers who stood at a given hill and used clay or metal cylindrical containers of equal size filled with water up to three cubits in height and up to one cubit in width.
In each container, there was a cork floating. It was a little narrower than the mouth of the container. Rods, divided into equal parts, were inscribed with the same pre-agreed messages on each and attached to the center of the floats.
The operator-transmitter would lift a burning torch, signaling the operator-receiver for the sending of the message and then waiting for confirmation with the rising of the torch from the receiver. Thereafter, the transmitter lowered his torch so as to signal for the simultaneous opening of both taps on their devices.
The rods with the messages descended, and when the desired message to be sent appeared at the rim of the transmitter’s device, he raised the torch once again, signaling the receiver for the simultaneous interruption of the outflow.
A relief of the ancient Greek hydraulic telegraph of Aeneas, artist/period unknown. Public Domain
Due to the geometric similarity of the devices, the desired message also appeared on the receiver’s device. It was of utmost importance that there be absolute simultaneity between the transmitter and receiver operators. Both had to be quite careful not to send the wrong message, which would be disastrous in wartime. The description of the hydraulic telegraph was rescued by the historian Polybius in the second century BC.
Advancement in Communication Technology
The technology of the hydraulic telegraph seems rather simple, but its invention was marveled by ancient Greeks as a significant advancement in communication technology, as it allowed for pre-determined messages to be sent across long distances.
In the event of an intrusion or enemy approaching, they would only witness the brief torch flashes and would not be able to intercept the message in any way.
225w, 150w, 300w, 600w, 696w, 1392w, 800w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Hydraulic_telegraph_4th_century_BC_reconstruction_by_Gts-tg_-768x1024.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />Hydraulic telegraph, fourth century BC (reconstruction based on descriptions by Aeneas Tacticus and Polybius). Thessaloniki Technology Museum. Credit: Gts-tg/Wikimedia Commons
This development was also a great advancement in military communication and strategy. Messages were sent from Sicily to Carthage during the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) using the hydraulic telegraph, also known as a Semaphore line.
Through this noteworthy invention, the military then had the ability to send specific messages that allowed other groups of military personnel, as well as civilians, to better prepare for potential land or sea invasions.
This early form of long-distance communication was especially innovative for its time, and it paved the path for future forms of communications, which have led to the numerous methods currently available.
Today, there is a replica of the hydraulic telegraph of Aeneas Tacticus and pertinent messages from periods of war at the OTE Group Telecommunications Museum in Athens.
Indian Sign Language is a well-structured and coded gesture. Every gesture has a fixed meaning to it. Sign Language is the only means of communication for deaf people. In the past years, there has been an increased interest among researchers in the field of sign language recognition.
It’s a very human characteristic to communicate through the use of gestures and signs. The plains tribes, including the Arapaho Indians who lived on the future building site, took this natural tendency to another level by developing a standardized system of signing. Arapaho chief Little Raven said, “I have met Comanches, Kiowas, Apaches, Caddos, Gros Ventres, Snakes, Crows, Pawnees, Osages, Arickarees, Nez Perces, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Sacs and Foxes, Pottawattomies, and other tribes whose vocal languages, like those of the tribes named, we did not understand, but we communicated freely in sign language.”
Sign language allowed communication over a certain distance, but one still needed to be fairly close to make out what was being communicated. There was also the problem of privacy. Because everyone understood the signs, there was always danger of being “overheard.”
Long before whites “invented” the Pony Express, native peoples of the Plains communicated through a series of messengers, first by foot and then, after the Spaniards introduced horses to the American continent, on horseback. This was a relatively slow means of communication, and the dangers to the messenger were many. One’s message might or might not reach its intended destination, and it would be a long time between responses.
A safer and quicker way to communicate over distance was with smoke signals and beacon fires. These did not consist of a standardized code like sign language. (Although there were some standard smoke signals: One puff meant “Attention”; two meant “All is well”; and three puffs of smoke, or three fires in a row, signified “danger, trouble, or need help!”) The intent was to transmit secret knowledge over distance, so most of the signals were devised privately and for a particular purpose. The signals were visible to all, so they had to be understood by the intended receiver, but not the enemy.
Bolas or bolases (singular bola; from Spanish and Portuguesebola, "ball", also known as a boleadora or boleadeira) is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling their legs. Bolas were most famously used by the gauchos, but have been found in excavations of Pre-Columbian settlements, especially in Patagonia, where indigenous peoples (particularly the Tehuelche) used them to catch 200-pound guanacos and rheas. The Mapuche and the Inca army used them in battle.[1] Mapuche warriors used bolas in their confrontations with the Chilean Army during the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883).[2]
Gauchos used boleadoras to capture running cattle or game. Depending on the exact design, the thrower grasps the boleadora by one of the weights or by the nexus of the cords. The thrower gives the balls momentum by swinging them and then releases the boleadora. The weapon is usually used to entangle the animal's legs, but when thrown with enough force might even inflict damage (e.g. breaking a bone).
Traditionally, Inuit have used bolas to hunt birds, fouling the birds in air with the lines of the bola. People of a Feather showed Belcher Island Inuit using bolas to hunt eider ducks on the wing.[3]
Design
Boleadoras
There is no uniform design; most bolas have two or three balls, but there are versions of up to eight or nine. Some bolas have balls of equal weight; others vary the knot and cord. Gauchos use bolas made of braidedleather cords with wooden balls or small leather sacks full of stones at the ends of the cords.
Bolas can be named depending on the number of weights used:
Kiipooyaq (Inuit name for bolas with three or more weights[5][6])
Bolas of three weights are usually designed with two shorter cords with heavier weights, and one longer cord with a light weight. The heavier weights fly at the front parallel to each other, hit either side of the legs, and the lighter weight goes around, wrapping up the legs.
A group of gauchos hunting rheas with bolas in La Pampa, Argentina, 1905.
Other unrelated versions include qilumitautit, the bolas of the Inuit, made of sinew and bone weights and used to capture water birds.[7]
A traditional Plains Cree game long known in Saskatchewan was called musinaykahwhan metowaywin, or "Playing Leader", The playing pieces were small green painted pegs carved in the shape of men, one larger than the rest, which were inserted into holes in a square board with an etched cross diagram
This two person game pits the Leader, or "oke-mow" against the other player’s thirteen Little Pegs. Players move the pegs following the lines of the board. The Little Pegs progress steadily forward to surround the Leader, while the Leader endeavors to escape and capture any unprotected Little Pegs. The game, traditionally played by men, was often wagered on for stakes. A difficult game requiring specialized strategies, players often excelled at either jumping with the Leader or surrounding with the Little Pegs.
The Papago of Arizona play a similar game called "Coyote and Chickens’ with the coyote represented by a red bean and the chickens by twelve grains of corn, and a more challenging version with twelve chickens on each side. The name of another game from Taos, New Mexico translates as "Indian and Jack Rabbits" which is played on squares marked in the sand. These games are reminiscent of the European game of Fox and Geese.
"Jump the Creek"
Kiowa Indians in Oklahoma traditionally played a stick game of "Ahl", literally meaning ‘wood’, with four willow stick dice. The original version of this game, recorded by Stuart Culin, was played on a large cotton cloth over a yard square. In the center of the cloth was a flat boulder, called the "Ahl" stone. Traditionally considered a woman’s game, using their pointed awls to mark their positions, this version substitutes a wooden board with pegs for the players. The game has two players; one "kneels" along the west half of the north-south creek, and the other is stationed along the east half of the north-south creek.
Two "awl" pegs, one white and one brown, represent the respective players. Each player places their peg at their starting position, which are the western and eastern starting banks of the south creek. The western player moves their awl peg clockwise around the board, and the eastern player moves their peg counter-clockwise, as shown by the arrows on the board.
There are four stick dice that determine the number of spaces a player will move. Three of the sticks have flat sides marked in red with plain white rounded backs; The fourth dice, the ‘trump’ stick, is called ‘sahe’ by the Kiowa because of it’s green painted flat side. When a player reaches or passes their starting bank at the south creek they win a stick counter. Counters may also be taken from an opponent.
"Hunting Animals"
Renditions of this game have been played for hundreds of years by Native Tribes of the Southwest. The size and materials used to make the board and playing pieces varies but the rules are unmistakably similar.
Two players have an equal number of pieces, wooden pegs, corn, pieces of corncob, charcoal, or black and white stones which are placed on opposite sides of the board on all the intersections of the lines except the central point. The players move or jump in any direction, abandoning unused rows of the board continuously confining the area to move about in.
The Hopi in Arizona call their version of this game tűkvnanawöpi which uses a stone slab of etched squares and triangles, each player starting with twenty "pokmoita", or animals. When a piece is jumped, the captured animal was often placed in trays carved into the board called ‘houses’.
The Keres in New Mexico call this game Aiyawatstani, or "chuck away grains" using twenty two pieces on each side. An Acoma Indian described that Iyatiko, "the mother", made this and all the games from ancient times when people first came out of the ship-pap (si-pa-pu) to the north
"Serpent and Stones"
Long ago, an extended etched stone board was found on a house top in Zuni, and was described to be a traditional two player game of the name kolowis awithlaknannai. The kolowisi is a legendary sea serpent. As water is a precious resource in this area, the feathered serpent is a highly revered figure and his representation often appears in the Native pottery decoration of the Southwest. The game is played using black and white pieces called the awithlaknakwe, or stone warriors. These two sets of stones were sometimes pebbles and sticks, or plain and perforated pottery disks. The set of diamonds and triangles on the board resembles the pattern on the back in some portrayals of the Zuni serpent.
The stones are placed on all the intersections of the geometrical drawing except the central one. The first player moves to the center, where his ‘man’ is jumped by his opponent. The stones may be moved in any direction so long as the lines are followed. The object is to jump and capture all your opponents pieces.
"The Square Game"
A three-in-a-row game adopted by Natives of New Mexico, California and Arizona from the Spanish several hundred years ago. A Mono game using wooden pegs is called yakamaido, ‘square game’, or Indian checkers. In the Pueblos of New Mexico this game was called pitarilla or picaria, (similar to Spanish for ‘little stones’), and used a stone board with etched lines and playing pieces of pebbles or grains of corn. Used by the Cochiti of Arizona, a similar board has horizontal and vertical central lines extending beyond the squares.
Versions of this game are found from Europe and Ancient Egypt, also called Nine Men's Morris, Merrills or Mills. In the first phase of this two person game, the players alternate turns placing individual pegs the board. In the second phase of the game, after all the pegs are on the board, the players take turns moving their pegs in attempts to get three-in-a-row, which is rewarded by capturing any one opponent’s peg. The object of the game is to remove the opponents pieces or immobilize them so they can not move.
Clarence Herbert Freeman’s peers described him as being a quite unassuming intelligent man, with a modest demeanor and disposition. He possessed a fondness for music and playing the violin. His only offence in appearance being a somewhat lavish display of jewelry. He was referred to as “The World Beater” and “The Peerless Player of Provenance” as he had a unique talent for beating World Class Champions. Freeman was also known as a formidable blindfold player, along with having attached himself to the art of sleight of hand, with flattering success, exciting the intense curiosity of his audiences. Being of Pequot Indian and to some degree African heritage, Freeman was born into a poor, socially disadvantaged family in Central Village, Plainfield Connecticut, on Dec. 7, 1859. His parents divorced when he was a young boy, leaving for the most part Clarence’s upbringing to his Native American maternal grandmother. He moved with his mother and grandmother to the Hoyle Square area of Providence, Rhode Island when he was a teen. Clarence commenced playing checkers when about seven years old, as was the custom among his people, he used black and white beans or yellow and white maze kernels (Indian corn) for men.
Freeman first came into prominence as a player in 1876, when he was but 16 years old, winning first prize in a tournament for the Providence City Championship. In April of 1877, he contested two matches with Martin Stewart, which he won with a total score of 16 to 11. In December he met with the world champion, R. D. Yates, playing 8 games he lost by a score of Yates 4, Freeman 0, with 4 drawn games. Also during the Winter of 1877, he was challenged by James Hill and played a match of 24 games, which he won by the score of 6 to 4, with 14 draws. About this same time, he defeated J. H. Irwin by a score of 18 to 2, and 14 drawn. Also about this time, Freeman played the first of 3 matches he would come to play withRoland Edwin Bowen, this first contest between them consisted of 11 games resulted inR. E. Bowenwinning 4, Freeman 3, with 4 drawn games. In 1879 Freeman challenged M. G. Merry, of Lonsdale, for the state championship. Three total matches were played between them, with Freeman winning them all by the scores of 8 to 2, 12 to 3, and 12 to 2, respectively. About this same time Freeman played Matthew C. Priest, champion of Pennsylvania, with the result being, Freeman 9, Priest 8, drawn 33. Matthew C. Priest was not satisfied with this match and another was played, which Priest won by the score of 5 to 2, with 41 games drawn. Sometime later in 1879 he played the second of his three matches withR. E. Bowen, once again Freeman was defeated by a score 1 to 0, and 10 drawn.
A rare trading card of Freeman
It was around 1880 that Freeman first ventured from his home to play. He went to Boston, MA and met the champion,C. F. Barkerfor the first time. They played a match of 19 games, he defeatedBarkerby the score, Freeman 6, Barker 2, 11 games were drawn. Subsequently, the two of them would have four other encounters, the second resulting in five draws, and the third in 6 draws. In July 1880, Freeman metR. E. Bowenfor the third time with different results, this time beatingBowenby a score of 3 to 0, with 3 drawn games. In 1882, the World Champion, James Wyllie, a.k.a. “The Herd Laddie” was giving exhibitions in Phoenix, upon the invitation of some of the players, Freeman went up and met the veteran, they played 3 games and although out of practice, freeman came out of the contest with an even score of, Freeman 1, Wyllie 1, with 1 game drawn. In December 1884, Wyllie visited Providence to give exhibitions, and a friendly match of 20 games was arranged between them. This lasted six days, and to the great surprise of the checker world, the match was won by Freeman with a score of 4, Wyllie 1, with 15 drawn games. Emboldened by Freeman’s success with the “Herd Laddie”, his friends convinced him to try for the American Championship. Accordingly, a match was arranged withC. F. Barker, for a stake of $400 and the Championship. This being their forth encounter, the match commenced on April 11, and concluded on April 29, 1885 in favor of the challenger, by the score, Freeman 6, Barker 3, drawn 39. Freeman held the American Championship but for little more than a month, losing it to August Heffner, then a resident of Providence, in a match lasting from May 25 to June 2, consisting of 25 games with a stake of 100 Dollars. Score: Heffner 4, Freeman 3, and 17 games were drawn. Although Freeman frequently indulged in simultaneous play with members of the Providence Checker Club, he almost entirely neglected the game after losing the championship, and having no other single cross-board practice with any strong players other than here mentioned until 1889. In May of that year, James Hill, then on a visit to his former home, defeated Freeman by the score, Hill 1, Freeman 0, drawing 2. At some point that year, Freeman played and won one game with H. Z. Wright. Then on Thanksgiving day, Freeman played 20 games simultaneously, winning an impressive 19 games, O. H. Williams, of Westerly, secured the only draw; the 20 games occupying but 1h 40 min. Massachusetts marriage records of 1889, indicate that Clarence married Seraphina Etolia Curry, of Mansfield, Massachusetts. The couple lived briefly near his family around Hoyle Square before moving to Transit Street in the Fox Point area of Providence, his last known address.
Match Book – C. F. Barker against Freeman
Leading up to the fifth battle betweenC. F. Barkervs. J. P. Reed, September 14-28, 1892 for the title of American Match Champion, Freeman served as one of three coaches preparingBarkerfor his up coming match. Much ofC. F. Barkersdecisive victory 5 wins to 0 over Reed with 23 games drawn, was credited to Freeman’s good coaching. September 1-17, 1890 Freeman played a match withC. F. Barkerfor the fifth and final time, in a non-title stake match for $500. The result was 2 wins in Freeman’s favor to 1 loss and 27 draws. In September 1893 Freeman took on J. P. Reed defeating him 2 wins with 12 games drawn. Two weeks later another match was played in Chicago and the final score was drawn 3 wins each and 12 draws. He shortly thereafter retired from the game and never again engaged in any important checker match, no longer having any taste for such encounters.
Freeman was elected to participate for the United States in theFirst International Checkers Match between Great Britain and the United Stateswhich took place March 14-25, 1905 in Boston, Massachusetts. Although he was unable to participate as a player due to his state of health, he was present during part of the match. It was reported that he had two surgeries in 1902 and had spent considerable time recovering. Clarence Herbert Freeman died on 20 May 1909 due to bladder trouble after having been hospitalized for six weeks at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. He is buried in an unmarked grave at Providence’s Grace Church Cemetery.
A game by Freeman:
An contemporary witness describes him as: “A figure of medium height, and but slightly built, he was agile in movement, quick of step, alert of perception, and of abundant patience. Curly of hair, and closely shorn, he was darkly sallow of skin. He had the sensitive action of the eyelids that betoken close application to books. At the board he was calm as a Sphinx, and, save the occasional wetting of the lips by the tongue he was motionless. He had a taste for music and his violin. He didn’t own a lot of books but his favorite was Robertsons Guide and his favorite opening was the Second Double Corner.”
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