Uses of Steam Whistles
Steam whistles were often used in factories, and similar places to signal the start or end of a shift, etc. Railway locomotives, traction engines, and steam ships have traditionally been fitted with a whistle for warning and communication purposes. Large diameter steam whistles were used on light houses, likely beginning in the 1850s.
The earliest use of steam whistles was as boiler low-water alarms in the 18th century and early 19th century. During the 1830s, whistles were adopted by railroads and steamship companies.
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Famous quotes containing the words steam and/or whistles:
“Time has an undertaking establishment on every block and drives his coffin nails faster than the steam riveters rivet or the stenographers type or the tickers tick out fours and eights and dollar signs and ciphers.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)