The age-herald., 1899-05-12
TESTS OF WIRELESS
 TELEGRAPHY
Made By General Greedy and the
 Signal Corps
FOR MILITARY PURPOSES
Experiments Have shown Sufficient Promise to Warrant Further Inves- tigation Been Going On Since
 Marconi's Experiments.

Washington, May 11.-General Greedy to- day made the first authoritative statement as to tie progress making in the develop ment of wireless telegraphy under the au- spices of the United States signal eoprs. The important conclusion is reached by General Greedy that the wireless system is not likely to supplant the ordinary method of telegraphle communication. The results so far obtained have been uncertain.
 General Gree.y's statement, in part, is as follows:
 "Since the announcement of tests in space teiegraphy by senor Marconi two years ago, the subject has been under con- $ iteration by the signal corps and recently experiments have been begun with the ob- ject of thoroughly testing the value of this means of communication for miiltary and governmental purposes.
 -pecial apparatus Las been designed and constr iucted TOT these tests, wnlcn nave al Teaay have sufficient pfom.se to warrant tuf1Aer and systematic lr.als. In vew Of Inc sreat pubile Interest and in order 10 1acll-Iate eAperlments by other scientists 1n tne umted Stales Il Is deemed proper to put fortn this statsment of operations up to the present mo.
 
 severel forms of transmitter for the gcaer- alton of HertzIan waves have been used and much promise has been realized from the use of . large alternating current coll in col as q generator, instead of the ordl- nary rheumkorfi coil employed by Marconi. This co is eEergized by three-horse pow CT rotary transformer, furnishing 125 volts alternating potential and this arrangement makes a very powerful and efficient source of HartZan radiation.
 "Receiver-The former receiver used has been substantially the Brankey Coherer, discovered in 1891, and the signals trans mitted are recorded upon a receiving tape.
 iThe uansmitter has been mounted upon the west t,evation of the state, war and navy building, utilizing the present wood eI flag pole as the vertical wire for the transmitter. The receiver was first placed at the old naval observatory grounds, about three-quarters of a mile distant, and later removed to the signal corps station at Fort Myer, Va.
 During the experiments constant com munication by hehograph and flag between the transmitting and receiving station has been kept up by the trained men of the regular signal corps and this has greatly facilitated the work of experimenting. Signals, letters and words have been trans mitted and received between those sta- tons, but the great delicacy and constant adjustment required in the present re- ceiver have made the transmission of reg uIar messages as yet unreliable and un- certain. The presence of large buildings and large masses of iron and metal nec- essrily present in cities make such places undesirable for carrying on experiments of this character. The distance over which signals may be transmitted by a given ap- paratus is a function of the height of the vertical wire used at either end and this has naturally suggested the use of small gas balloons, such as have already been used for signal and other purposes by the signal co1ps A supply of these balloons has already been obtained and will be used Tor this purpose in the near future That there is a field of usefulness for slace telegraphy is undoubteded, but that 1t will suppant to a material extent the use of wire for ordinary commercial teleg- raphy is not believed. Its value for con- nection between light houses and ight- ships and the shore at points where ea- bles cannot now be permanently maintain ed, will be great. For signalling between ships at sea and to replace ordinary flag methods in use between naval vessels, it should prove invaluable, since no kind of weather neither fog, darkness nor storm avail to affect it's use. The use of metal refiectors to augment and direct the radia- ton to particular points has already met with partial success and should be thor oughly investigated. At present the radia- ton proceeds from the transmitter in all directions, and the same message can be received at any point within the proper radius at which a receiver is placed. A satisfactory directing reflector and receiver of the proper electrical capacity or, in other words, tuned to vibrations of the particu- lar transmitter would make a great ad- vance in space telegraphy and do much to- wards the extension of it's field of practical usefulness.
 While secrecy of transm ssion is among the probabilities the present stage of ex- pertinent does not justify it's positive pre- diction."