Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-04-07
NEW USE FOR KITES.
TELEPHoNlC COMMUNICATION WITH.
 our A BATTERY.

on bis Kites and shows How to Tall
 With Friends In Besieged Town-Hh
 Emergency Telegraph systona.
 Tine feasibility of establishing tele
 graph aud telephone communication be-
 tween two distant and isolated points
 without constructing an elaborate sys,
 tem of electric batteries, poles or con.
 duits and wires or resorting to the
 complex day heliograph or night flash.
 9sht devices was successfully demon.
 strated on Saturday night at Bayonne,
 N. J., by William 4. Eddy, the soien-
 tilio kite dier of that city
 The equipment used by Aerologist
 Eddy for his emergency telegraph and telephone plant comprised several of his aeroplaaes, reel of stout kite cord, & reel of ordinary copper wire, number of eommaa lanterns, two simple tele. phone tUansmittars and a telegraph soaHder Be utilized the ground and atmeSBaefia currents for his electric power Mr Eddy and his assistants AearY L Allen of this city and Dr. William H. Mitchell of Bayonne, con, rived to sonl and receive perfectly in, teligihla vocal telephone messages and deelphel4bIe telegraph messages duri ' a per.el of several hours from points fully |, 00o feet distant and separated by double that distance of wire.
 The scene of Mir. Eddys achievement WAS the Bergen Point section of Bay onne. His aeroplanes and the wire they carried were sent up from the open lots in the rear of his home, on East Third street. The kites carried and supported the wire over houses, streets, telephone and telegraph poles and wires to the point selected for the dis. tant connection with the earth. Be- tween the two stations thus established ridge of sufficient height to prevent the eXperimentalists from even signal, ing to one another with lanterns also 1ntervened. This neeessitated one of the trio stationing himself at an interme- diate point to transmit signals before the aerial circuit was completed.
 When the pilot kite attained an alti- tude of 1, 300 f5et, tho wire and it's low. ering device were connected with the kite cord, an eight oHnee red lantern designating the place of connection and similar lightweight green lan- tern being fastened to the plummet on the end of tho wire The lanterns were allowed to ascend to a height of 500 feet before an attempt to lower the wire was made The wire ran out short distance and then became jammed in the pulley. Efforts to disengage u ] wire resulted in the green lantern be coming detached It fell and was bro. ken to atoms.
 The kite string and wire were reeled in, and a white lantern was fastened to the plummet. This lantern was also de- stroyed i'll same manner as the first. Mir. Eddy aud his assistants again haul. cd ill the ce d and wire and attached red lantern to the p,ummet. Line ar wire were extended until the twin lal.. terms attained an altitude of 1 900 feet, and then the lowering plummet and signal lantern were allowed to descend safely to the earth. Dr. Mitchell next carried the lowered end of the wire far down Lexington avenue and grounded it with Q steel rod. Mir Eddy did like wise with bls end of the wire, the tele- phone transmitters were attached, and the aerial circuit was established.
 Satisfied that telephone eommunica- tion was practicable, both experimen- ters signaled Mr Allen at his mterme- diate station. It was half past 9 o'clock when Dr. Mitchell sent tho first vocal message to MT. Eddy.
 Hello, do you get me?" he queried,
 ''Yes, good, {" replied Byr Eddy.
 General conversation o7er the wire ensued, Mrs. Eddy, MT. Allen, Freder- ick M. Wilson and a reporter partici. pating. A times watches were held against the telephone transmitters, and their tiokings were plainly heard at the other end of the wire. Once or twice the telegraph sounder was attached, and the clicking of the Morse alphabet on the instrument was carried clearly to the telephone receiver at the other end of the circuit. The wind s fluctuations per. mitted the wine to sag so much at times that it crossed the upper wires of the long distance telephone lines stretched along Lexington avenue, and scraps of 
 experimentsrs During the operations the lantern at the apex of the wire arch burned out, leaving the point of con. nection ill absolute darkness.
 The wire used in the experiment. was a thin copper flameht, about the size of patent thread. and entirely bare. Bo- | ing suspenl d from the kite string and | freed from aounection with any surface | object except at the ends, it was per, feetly insulated from every element save the ground and atmospherical electrical | currents. This fact made tha wire mo- } potential ia conducting the messages transmitted.
 The success achieved by bIr Eddy i'll | his experiment. demonstrates tEe fur. ther utility to which his aaro4lanos can be put by the army's gis.:ai service de- partment. Rivers and 5.raits, forests, | towns, Areas of country where trans. ! portatiou and telegraph facilities have | been discontinued cali all be quickly bridged in daylight e in darkness for the establishment of temporary tele. graph CT telephone system. The use of | insulated wire and electric batteries and comple'e e telegraph and telephone 1 instruments in connection with the | kites will dd 70 the practicability of the novel idea The direction of the 1 wind is no aindrs ee to the use of such ! a system, as the He planes can be flown from e.the' of two objective points. 1t |