It is timed just five minutes after sailing. The sharp crack of the sending apparatus is usually drowned by the roar of the whistle calling for a clear passage in mid-stream. All transatlantic steamers send to the wireless station at Sea Gate, while the coastwise steamers call up the station on top of one of the skyscrapers on lower Broadway. This is merely a formal message, but no wireless log would be complete without it. The wireless station replies as briefly as possible and the wireless operator shuts off.
Business soon picks up.
It is usually a detached house on the uppermost or sun deck, just large enough for the mysterious-looking apparatus and a bunk or two. Before the voyage is over most of the passengers will have become very familiar with the station, for it is after all about the most interesting place aboard. The receiving station picks this up and replies quickly. All the way down the harbor the great ship is in constant communication, sending and receiving belated questions and answers. The passengers who have been calling their farewells from the ship's side as the waters widen are merely continuing their conversations with the shores now slipping rapidly past.