New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-22
MESSAGES WITHOUT WIRES
MARCONrs EXPLOITS AT TWENTY FOUF
THE SOUTH PORTLAND STATION
A MARVEL FOR THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION.

Mr. william Marconl. who is sailing for Amer.
lea this week TO exhibit his electric apparatus
for sending messages without wires. is Iial-
Ian by birth. but half English In blood 10
was born in 1915 his fathers estate al
Marzabotto. near Bologna, his mother being an
Englishwoman. He profits by his double heri-
tage Of blood. for he speaks English almost az
fuently Italian, and az twenty-fOur is an
inventor whose talent is equally recognized IN
Rome and in London. A reticent man. with an
enthusiasm for electrical science which is Ike
a passion. he has little 70 say about his boy
hood and education and a great deal about the
transmitters and receivers connected with his
high poles and the Hertzisn waves playing be-
tween them. He displayed a taste for scientific
studies at an early age. and this was deyel0raI
under Professor Rosa. at Leghorn. AZ the INT
versity Of Bologna he was instructed by Pro-
fessor Right and other eminent men. but 5ef0rs
he was twenty he had disclosed a strong ben.
for original work and practical skill as a
mechanician.
His experiments in wireless telegraphy were
begun with the confidence 81 youth az tls
fathers house near Bologna. In the fields he
had n series of poles capped With cubes ~
timed iron. and these were connected with n.
struments for sending and exchanging Morse
signals BY varying the height of the poles he
ascertained that the distance. through which
these messages could be sent without wires
could he increased according 10 definite
mathematical law. He also discovered that Tho
range Of space telegraphy could be enlarged
by the use 81 an oscilator. one pole n which
was oarthed. while the other was connected ~
vertical wire with an insulated cube A. the
top Of the pole. the same arrangement heirg
duplicated at the receiving point where 4
resonator also earthed and connected hy =
vertical wire with another insulated box nigh
I'M the air These experiments he conducted
when he was barely twenty. and. acting lneer
the advice of Professor Righ, of The University
# Bologna h. communicated the results 70 Mr.
Preece tho VOL known electrician IN England.
during the following year. During the las,
three years he has been improving his ap-
paratus and testing It under varying conditions
in Italy and England The wireless system has
been adopted hy tho Italian Navy and tho prac.
tica operation Of # IS illustrated this week Nv
three installations FOR the benefit ~ tho British
Association and the French Association.
Mr. Marcon readily enlisted the support and
cooperation Of Mr.. Preece when he came -
England three years ago. and the Wireless
Telegraph and Signal Company was speedily
use OF tho now system. Experiments were first
conducted on Salisbury Plain. and subsequently,
with captive balloons A station was next
tablished at Alum Bay. near the Needles, and
communications we're opened with South chr.
Bournemouth and afterward with Poole abou-
/ eighteen miles from the western end Of the Is,
| Of Wight Poles 120 feet high were used ~ ths
outset. but with improved apparatus the height
! lonrNr
OF Iloyds experiments were made year ago N
the North OF Ireland between Ballycastle AMI
Rathlln Island. With a pole 100 feet high ard
vertical conductor on a lighthouse 20 fe-t
high The KingstoWn regatta was reported "ith-
out wires to a land station from the mast Of
steamer accompanying the yachts When M
Prince Of Wales was recovering from his re-
cent accident messages repeatedly ex-
changed between the royal yacht Osborne and
Osborne House without wires. Similar iesis
have been applied by the Italian Navy a.
spezia and by the British feet during the re-
cent manpuvres. but the most important
demonstrations Of the utility OF the system hars
reen offered at the South Foreland. where corr
nunications are now continuous with the Eat
Goodwin Lightship, twelve miles away, and WITH
Wimereux. near Bouogne distance Of over
thirty-tyo miles
The South Foreland is reached after n hvs
mile drive from Dover by A roundabout road
from the towers and battlements of the 'asti'
and the Roman Pharos the most ancient struci-
ure in the United Kingdom, with the Oldest
church beside II. The circuit Of the chalk cli@s
leads to the quaint, isolated village Of 81 Mar
garets. with the beautiful Norman churel
where the curfew bell is rung during the Nin-
ter months Beyond the village tho road winds
to the outer edge Of the South Portland. Vhers
the upper lighthouse. with its electric me'Aan-
ism and powerful rehectors. towers 800 feet
above the sea Lower down is a second light
house and between them is a small house with
tall mast near by. It is a Government build
ing. controlled by Trinity House hut the Wire-
loss Telegraph AMI Signal Company Il allowed
10 use one or two rooms in II. This IL the STA
ton for communicating with Boulosne ara
with the llghtship. The South Foreland Is tho
nearest point in England TO the Continent ms
submarine wires 10 Dover enter the sea A. 81
Margarets Bay at the bottom Of the sp.enid
cliff
In the operating room there are two pairs ot
Instruments which used in sending ana
receiving messages from the South Foro.anf -
the lightship and TO Boulogne The transmii'er
contains an induction coil and two smah
spheres. connected with the earth ana TN
other with the vertical wire running u the top
~ the mast outside With each pressure n ths
key the current Of the battery imparts energy
10 the coil and charges the spheres and ths
osciating impulse Is sent through the spark
gap 10 the vertical wire ending In the CUBE g.
the masthead, where II is communicated
through space 70 the corresponding cube ar IT'S
receiving station.
III. al l... D
tect il from the transmitter on the same 'a0l9'
Il Is allowed TO record what is clicked OF many
miles away. but not the huzzing that may -
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