2890. Coston, Martha J., SIGNAL SUCCESS. The Work and Travels of Mrs. Martha J. Coston. An Autobiography. Kessinger. 2007.
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2890. Coston, Martha J., SIGNAL SUCCESS. The Work and Travels of Mrs. Martha J. Coston. An Autobiography. Kessinger. 2007.
2890. Coston, Martha J., SIGNAL SUCCESS. The Work and Travels of Mrs. Martha J. Coston. An Autobiography. Kessinger. 2007. 333p. Reprint. Soft wraps. Widow of the inventor of the Coston flares used extensively by the Life-Saving Service, tells of her efforts to sell his night signals. Martha Coston was born in 1826. Widowed at 21, she discovered her late husband’s (a former naval scientist) notes on the invention of a ship-to-ship, land-to-ship pyrotechnic flare signal system. Martha Coston perfected AND then patented her deceased husband’s idea for a pyrotechnic flare. Martha Coston developed the idea into an elaborate system of flares called Night Signals that allowed ships to communicate messages nocturnally. The U. S. Navy eventually bought the patent rights to the flares. Coston’s flares served as the basis of a system of communication that helped to save lives and to win battles. The Coston flare was also used extensively by the U. S. Life Saving Service and later Coast Guard. Martha Coston credited her late husband with the first patent for the flares, but in 1871 she received a patent for an improvement exclusively her own. Her system was also adopted by the governments of France, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Haiti. As of the late 1970s, the Coston Supply Company established by Mrs. Coston remained in business. This system of bright, long-lasting signal flares revolutionized naval communication and continues to be in use. (M). $36.