The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-08-11

vented a new method OF applying u
T wireless telegraph.
e That lad is smart" he said. III
t will get there in time. OF course he ha
: not achieved an entirely original idea
T hut he has made valuable improvements
D In 1884 and 1885 made experiments II
| wireless telegraphy. In some respect
e nv method was better than his. Il
other respects mis- is better than mine
I think the right result will be reache.
: by a union Of the two methods"
: 1t was in the Office OF his iron or.
mines at Edison. near Ogdensburg, n. j.
| that saw the wizard" He was dressed
; in soiled and tattered linen duster,
frayed shirt and a pair OF pantaloont
that needed the application of a needl:
and thread to some OF their most sacred
~ individual portions. Upon his noble
head sat the remnants of what was once
wide br;mmed straw hat Yet in this
tramp-like dress he looked what he is, 2
natural leader of men-a parsonage toe
splendidly simple TO heed the conver-
tionalities that are Indispensable &c
lesser natures. The natural dignity OF
the man cannot be heightened by arti-
fatalities of costume or manner. or les
| sened by their absence. Thomas ALIVE
Edison is a law TO himself.
81 abandoned my experiments" he
cor tinued, latter I had reached certain
| measure Of success, because I saw no
| great practical use for a wireless tele-
graph in these days Of the telephone and
| the highly effective wire and cable tele-
| graph.
Boast Il you will OF the nineteenth
century and of the enormous strides for
ward that We have made" said Mr.. Ed
lson with a fine burst Of scorn. why,
we are mere ignoramuses still. We are
merely cropping IN the early dawn. We
are the cock crow Of civilization. Peo-
| pie laugh at this or that idea as cl1imeri-
| cal, as impossible. But the impossible
| of today VII be the accomplished fact
| Of tomorrow. Men move blindly to
| achieve a certain result for centuries.
Along comes a fellow with some new
idea, which fits exactly into the old
workings-which furnishes the missing
iink-and all difficulties are mastered.
We never know what the morrow may
bring forth. think young Maroon! has
MT Upon just such an idea He is en-
titled 10 all the credit Of his discovery
He has succeeded in sending the electri-
cal waves further through space than
they have ever been sent. His inven-
ton may lead to great results. Yet ]
still fail TO see where the commercial
value Of the Invention comes in
"Mr. Marconi." I interjected, claims
that his invention would be useful in
warfare in communicating messages
Where there were no wires. and es-
pecially at sea to prevent collisions and
communicate messages from ship to
ship"
LAS to the value OF the invention in
war;" replied Mr.. Edison, II do not
agree with Mr.. Marconi. unless the war
be conducted in a wilderness or in
savage country. AS TO the possible
communication OF news from vessel to
vessels, there is something 10 that. In
deed such communication could be in
definitely extended. One vessel, for eX-
ample, within a twelve mile radius Of
another might receive such message and
retransmit it into space to whatever YES
sci might be within its own radius, and
so on ad infinitum. But the expense OF
establishing receiving and transmit
ting apparatus on every vessel would be
considerable. Still more considera bic |
would be the expense Of keeping a relay
Of men in continuous attendance on |
the apparatus so as to make sure that |
every message would be received and re- |
transmitted. No, I think the chief use
Of Marconi's instrument, for the present |
at least, would be in the case Of archi- !
pelagos Of islands not more than dozen |
m les apart which have no cable com,
munication. Here it might be worth |
while to try operations at the receiving |
stations in every island.
There is another use to which wire |
less biography might be. and. indeed, |
has ben put, and that is in transmitting |
MESA ge5 from a train in motion to the |
wires along the line of the road. made |
experiments Of this sort in 1884 and in |
vented an apparatus. which is still in use
1 believe on the Lehigh railroad
AN ordinary batter. couple OF tele-
phone receivers. an induction coil with
vibrator and a Morse key constitute the
detail OF the apparatus. The induction |
coil transmutes the current from the
battery OF one Of the swiftest alternating
which produces a like current |
n neig'hboring wires. The humming
sound called forth is changed. through |
the medium Of the key, into the famil-
lar dots and dashes of the Morse sys-
TEN. The roofs OF the cars are rem
dered available by the attachment OF
wires connected with one another and
With the instruments. These in their
urn are linked with the earth through
the car wheels and track. There Is very
little difficulty in making the messages
Jump the necessary 500 feet. the distance
the cars and the overhead wires.
believe the instrument has been found
Useful in minimizing the danger OF COL
isions. in intercept,ng criminals who
nave escaped from trains and IN adding
. the travellers opportunities for COM
with the world ne has left
)ehind him.
The success OF these machines |
me TO make some further ex-
'eriments in wireless biography. I sent |
dr. W. 7. King down 20 Staten Island |
or the purpose. He succeeded n send
ng kilograms through the air from Tot
enville 70 a staTion about nine or ten |
niles off. I've forgotten the name OF
ne latter station. At all events, he
lcceedao nob,y in his first efforts. But
vhen ii came TO sending kilograms from
ne other station back to Tottenville he
made complete failure. The thing
would only work one way Then ne
made brilliant suggestion:
Tne only remedy I have IN nv
n,nd.' he said, is 20 put Staten Island
n pivots and swing her round"