Strenuous efforts have been made by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, and the Committee of Lloyd’s Registry to instruct the officers of the mercantile marine in the use of the International Code. The Admiralty has ordered that all men belonging to the Royal Naval Reserve shall receive instruction in its use; and all candidates for officers’ certificates of competency are required by the Board of Trade to pass a satisfactory examination in signalling. Notwithstanding these regulations, there is good reason for believing that many officers in the merchant service are not so well acquainted with the working of the Code as they ought to be. Blunders are frequently committed, either in selecting the wrong signal or confusing the flags, which lead to serious inconvenience, not to say danger. A very superficial acquaintance with the Signal Book led the captain of an English steamer to neglect the ‘vocabulary’ part of the Code, and have recourse to the singular expedient of using the flags as a medium for spelling his communication. As read on board the New York liner to which the signal was directed, it took the cabalistic form of ‘MCHDRGDWNTW.’ As no flags denoting the vowels are contained in the Code, the difficulties of spelling were obviously increased; and it was only by the ingenuity of a passenger on board the liner that a translation was effected in the shape of, ‘Machinery deranged; want tow.’ On another occasion, the master of a timber-laden ship bound from Quebec to Liverpool had been prevented by foggy weather from taking solar observations for the purpose of verifying his position, and having sighted a steamer bound to the westward, he hoisted the prescribed signal, asking the steamer to indicate the latitude and longitude at the time of meeting. Either through carelessness in manipulating the flags or from an imperfect acquaintance with the Code, a position was signalled which located the ship in the immediate vicinity of Mont Blanc!