The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-11

boat is steered according to- the duration
OF the breaks in the wireless current This
sounds complicated, though ii is a literal
report of the inventors attempt to put it
plainly in lay language, and in practice
1t is so easy to understand that a child
could work the apparatus for all that has
TO be done is to turn the wheel one way
ana the boat follows the hand
The technical name of the wheel is the
periodic interrupter," and its functions,
as technically described, are ITO give peri
odic Interruptions corresponding TO the
periodic oscillations of the rudder, the sue
eessive periods of oscillations belng so
made and varied that the boat can be
sleered in any curve or in a straight line"
Details of the Trial.
Commander Colwel made Varicas live
up 10 his promises. The little launch was
sent up and down the bath. turning and
swerving at the word of command A
small stick was thrown into the water and
the order was to bring the launch from
the opposite end and hit the stick. This
maneuver was successfully performed
The wire at the masthead was taken down
and the same performance gone through.
few hours of this was sufficient 10 con
vince the most skeptical observer that il
was perfectly feasible TO control craft on
the surface of the water by means of wire
less power ashore. The contention of the
inventor that the distance at which that
control might be exercised only depended
upon the power provided ashore. and on
the same basis it seems quite reasonable
that there is practically no Gmit to the
size of the vessel controlled The great
drawback was the utter unsuitability of
the model TO submerged trials As il was
an open launch these were impossible but
the inventor maintained that the apDara-
tus had been found on experiment to work
as wei under water as on the surface
FROM a government or practical view of
point OF View however. further trials i'm
presence of experts will have 10 take Mace
before this most important point can be
settled.
II is said Chat the launch has been sue
cessfully tried in the sea on two occa sions
despite the weakness of the shore hat
terry, and has been made to describe "
rious figures around a buoy and other oh
jects. Young Varicas says he IS NOT de-
pendent upon any particular system of
wireless telegraphy, any one that will
work Morse writer being applica HE. He
claims TO have made provisions for hos
tile interference with currents Tho u-i,
nesses of the trial were favorabIv IN
pressed on the whole. despite the present
undeVeloped stage of the invention which
Is largly due 10 lack of funds though ~
course. no sweeping conclusions can vet
De declared ana the nature of Commander
| Colwelis report is still undecided
The invention is intended primarily 70.
torpedoes, yet If perfected il will he ius+
as valuable for crewless torpedo b1ats
ana hoating submarine mines as Tor %
does. In its use for torpedoes the inetr,,-
ments that were in the model al Geovu
would simply be transferred to tbe tor
pedo. Their weight can be brought within
| hVe pounds, but even this small addt
uonal weight would require the lenptber-
ing OF every torpedo in existence 50 finely
adjusted are they as to flotation. SIN if
| they can be discharged and guided bv mo
cool judgment and steady hand of a man
safe ashore, instead of by the pervoIs
hand of man who knows he is going 10
almost certain death, and having only a
! vague idea of the direction of the proiec-
tile he fires at such awful risks why
| then, any expense would be paltry 10 GOV
ernments or torpedo makers.
Dimculties to Overcome.
The difficulty that is the hardest 10
overcome in ether wave steering of this
! kind Is what wireless telegraph experts
| call tanning" Any one can produce
! ether waves by means Of an ordinary in
! duction coil, a contact breaker and small
/ battery power in circuit. The question
| then, that naturally suggests itself is
! VIII not the ether wave detecting appa-
ratus In the steering gear of the torpedo
or boat be sensitive to any ether wave in
| the Yicinity?" and there the inventors halt