The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-08-24
tai KING BY SEARCH LIGHT.
An Interesting Tale Which Apparently Is
Only Fiction.


Each day brings proof that the big
electric search light which Electrician l..
| H. Rogers has placed on this summit is
going to revolutionize the system of
signalling says Mount Washington des-
patch to the New York Sun. Letters
and kilograms from various parts of New
England arrive every day telling of the
practical value of the light as means of
transmitting communications when
wires are not at hand or have been
severed by one cause or another. The
| distance between this station and Port
land is about eighty-five miles in bee
line, yet even at that distance message
was flashed through the air, which was
read by telegrapher on the top of the
Western Union building in that city.
| The source of the light itself was not
visible from the Western Union building,
but it's needlelike beam shot across the
heavens and was clearly outlined. Tele-
graphic communication had been estab-
| lished between the tower and the roof of
| the Western Union building, and at $50
O'Clock the electric light was turned on
and the beam directed toward Portland.
The operator at this station telegraphed
| over the wires:
'Can you see the beam Of light in the
air?'' and the answer came back:
Eyes; I can see it directly overhead"
Then the Mount Washington operator
wired:
81 am going to telegraph by flash
light; send back instantly by wire the
word as you will get it,
Then the key which operates the flash
light was used, and by the code system
of dots and dashes the name mount
| Washington was sent across the sky. In
! stantly after the completion of the last
word the little ticker repeated the words
which were sent back by wire by the
Portland operator. Then the flash light
shot the word Congratulations" into
space, and it was read without hesitation.
''Good night was the final aerial mes
sage, and it was repeated as the others
had been.
1t must be borne in mind that the
operator in Portland could not see the
direct rays of the light He read the
SIGNALS as tbav were flashed throY10h the
aiT oyar his Had When tba oondit;ons
nnder which tbe releoranb;ng was done
were fullu nnderstood the elecfricians
did a littia gaometrieaJ fiour;no which
cave tban, Some ;mnortant data The
iSioht was was direeted at an ANGLE of forty.
fSa daarees froI,, tbe air iina hetwaen
the The, snn, nIff 1T, Of Mount Washinpton and
Portland in order tn avoid Iow-lvin@
clouds TaL;no fhe latter as base fine
thew f;o,rad That tbe beam Of Ggbt which
was was seen nv the the Portland oneTator was
a. least q, Miles above him and was in
;tsaIf 11o niles lonc at the noint where #
r reach his v;sion II was So sbarnlv
datfnad even aHfbat distance that He
flashes could he read with ease
This was somathino which the elect,;-
c;ar had ~, not dared to hone for A tirst
+ l was dasignaJ cd to nrove that s;onallin@
conld he carried on Nv means Of the die7
rect rays # # 50 hannened that no clouds
interviewed between the light and the eye
but the experiment as described above
mas aelonsSlased saaO IN al,oa.no %
or a bnndr cd miIes above the eve which
reads the message it conveys.
During the past week there have been
superp weasner c31 ~ tha i; ahu @
trating power have been developed. At