The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-01-04

The kite has become a means to the
transmission of the human voice from,
one war ship to another while the feet is
in ACTIVE service. 1t is the strangest adj
junct the telephone has yet enjoyed, but
it ls none tie less valuable. just what
can be done has been demonstrated by
Commander r. G. 0. Topper of the
royal navy at Portsmouth, England.
The kite used in this experiment was OF
the regulation sort, except that it was
minus tail. 1t was six feet long and
three feet wide at the broadcast point. In
place. of the tail the kite carried two lines
one of which was retained on board the
Daring, the instructional torpedo boat
destroyer, from which the experiments
were conducted. No little wGs expected
as the result of this experiment, but the
facts demonstrated were, nevertheless,
very much of n surprise. With the wind
between the two lines it was found that
the kite was SO easily managed that it
was no trick at all to drop letters or even
a hawser into another ship, and in this
way establish communication
Following this experiment came one
with wire The end Of the wire which
the kite bore away from the ship was
dropped upon the deck Of H. NJ. S.
Dauutless, where it was secured by the
electrician Of the ship and attached to q
telephone apparatus in waiting. The
other end, which had remained abroad
the Daring, WAS also attacted to tels-
phone. and rs soon as this task was com
pleted tie two ships were in perfect com
municatiop. The kite remaineds sus-
pended, secured by the two lines, for
more than four hours, during which
time communication between the Daring
and the Dauntless was uninterrupted.
When tho kite wes pulled in it was not
because there was any necessity for it.,
but for the reason that it was desired TO
disconnect the inetruments ana take in
the wire.
This achievement is what electricians
CT the navy Of both England and the
United Slater have long held to be posi-
BILE. They have declared that there was
no reason Why communication Of this
sort should nut he established between
ships few hundred feet apart if the
weather were at all pleasant Of course.
in a gale any thing Of this sort would be
lmpraoticabis.
The experiment made by the officers of
the Daring and tie Dauntless had an
other valuable result. It showed that it
is possible to arrange for a new system
of signals from one ship to another that
would be greatly superior to my flag
system which could lie conceived. IL the
telephone wire can be arranged in this
manner there is no reason why tele-
graphic communication cannot be made
in similar fashion. In this case an
operator aboard the flagship could carry
on a conversation with his fellow opera
tor aboard one of the feet without diff
Guilty. The admiral's orders could he
easily transmitted from time to time,
and often avoid what is now considered
necessary, boat serVics.
1t might bs thought that the flying of
a kite under these circumstances would
be a matter of extreme difficulty, but
kitehying under the latest methods has
become science. What used to be a
scboolboy' q sport has now become sub
ject OF. study by professional men. and it
seems quite likely that Before long even
greater results will be gained than has
been the case at Portsmouth.