Evening star., 1900-01-13
Wireless Telegraphy Will Probably
Be Used for Signaling.
PROPOSED SCHOOL OF INSTRUCTION
New System Would Facilitate the
Work Of the Navy.
ROMPT COMMUNICATION
Written for The Evening Star.

The day of the flag and lamp signaling
systems in the navy is fast drawing to a
close. The Dewey of the next war. instead
of signaling the course to be pursued by
means OF lights, as Dewey did when he
entered Manila bay, and thus exposed his
position to the enemy, watching on Cor
regidor heights, will send out invisible cleo
trio waves. which will turn into dots and
dashes at the stations of the several cap
tains of his command and inform them of
the intentions of their commander-in-chief
To be prepared for the next war, to take
advantage of every invention which prom
tses improvement in the conduct of naval
hostilities, the Navy Department is making
arrangements to establish a school of in
struction at which officers and enlisted
men shall be taught the method of operat-
ing the system of wireless telegraphy. Rear
Admiral r. B. Bradford, chief of the naval
bureau of equipment who has charge of all
matters relating to signaling would prefer
that the service adopt the Marconi system,
which was successfully tried by the North
Atlantic squadron in November last but
this action cannot be taken without an ap-
preparation from Congress.
What May BE Done.
In the meantime it may be deemed ex-
pedient to organize the first class and as
semble a few instruments with which to
begin the instruction. These instruments.
of course, will not be of the improved char
acter of those which have been manufac-
tured under the direction of Signor Marconi.
but it Is stated by officials having knowl-
edge Of the matter that they will at least
permit the exchange of messages from a
distance of two or three miles.
With the Marcon system large vessels,
with masts between 13O and 14O feet high
can communicate when eighty-fve miles
apart, though the greatest distance across
winch a message was sent during the naval
trials was forty~six nautical miles. The
department has found that it will be i'm
possible to purchase Marconi Instruments
The company which has the right to sell
the instruments has informed Rear Admiral
Bradford, in response to his inquiry, that
Tor twenty sets of instruments the govern
ment will have to pay $4,000 cash and
s1O,OO for the of the Instruments dur
Ing the first year. This sum will also have
to be paid for the Instruments for every
succeeding year they are in use This price
seems exorbitant to the officials but they
say that SignOr Marconi is the only in
Ventor who has got practical results from
his invention, and if the department enters
INTO contract with the company it will
he guaranteed the right to all improve
ments that he may make.
Plans for the School.
The school when established will be In
charge of Lieut.. J. B. Blish, who was q
member of the board which gave the Mar
ccni system thorough trial. There will be
SIX ofncerS and twelve enlisted men in the
hrst class and they will be taught to read
the Morse alphabet and to operate the sys-
tom. 1t Is expected that two shore sta
tons Will be established and naval tug
attached to the school. The mast of the tug
Will be heightened so as to increase the
range. 1t having been found that the dis
tance which the electric waves traverse de-
pends upon the height of the wire above
the level of the sea or earth. An effort will
also be made to improve the system for
naval purposes.
When a sufficient number of officers and
men have been trained and thoroughly in
derStaHd the system. it is proposed to in
stall instruments on board the various men
cf-War in service, and fleet maneuvers will
be conducted in accordance with instr,,c-
tons sent by them. The Ardois and wig
"ag systems will not be Immediately dis
carded, but just as soon as the service finds
IL can depend upon the wireless telegraphv
system the old methods will be Abandoned
The value of wireless teegraphy for naval
purposes is appreciated in Great Britain and
continental Europe. Great Britain has
accepted the system for her navy and Ger
many and France have determined to fol-
low her example. In deciding to first estab-
hsh school of instruction, and then to
introduce the system into the American
service, the authorities say that this gov
ernment will not be behind the other ma
tions named, but will be found to be in ad-
vance of them when the Instruments are
installed on board ships
The Only Defect.
There is only one defect in the system. to
which exception is taken by naval officers,
and determined effort will be made to cor
rect it. This defect consists of an inability
of receivers to print intelligent messages
when two or more transmitters within
range are simultaneously sending The ex
periments made during the naval trials
showed that all the receiving wires within
range received the impulses from the trans
nd hn tr,N1 o1+I !,
indicated Enthusiastically that such double
sen0ing had taken place. In every case.
under great number of varied conditions
the board, which conducted the trials, found
the attempted interference complete Be
fore these trials occurred, Signor Marcont
declared that he could prevent such inter.
ference, but he never explained how or
made any attempt to show that this Gould
be done.
While this defect is important naval Off
GERS say 1t does not by any means destroy
the value of the system for naval purposes.
1t will necessarily prevent any attempt on
the part of several vessels to communicate
at the same time with the flagship but as
courtesy to seniors and obedience to orders
are required OF every subordinate it will
be possible for the commander-in-chief to
regulate the invisible conversation in his
command. 1t has been suggested that every
snip in squadron desirous of communicat-
ing with another vessel send its message
through the flagship If the commander-in-
chief desires to give an instruction to the
fleet all that will be necessary will be for
his signal officer to send the message out
into the air and the electric waves, radiat-
ing almost in a circle, will set in motion
the receivers on board the ships with which
communication is desired. If the command
er-in-chief wishes to communicate with one
vessel only it will only be necessary for him
to name the vessel. and the other vessels
can shut off their receivers.
Many Advantages.
Against this one defect of the system are
set off numerous advantages, among them
accuracy and adaptability for all vessels
of the navy. including torpedo boats and
small vessels, as patrols, scouts and dis
patch boats. In order to insure absolute
accuracy ciphers and important messages
may be repeated back to the sending sta
ton. The system is believed to be well
adapted for use in squadron in signaling
under conditions of rain. fog. darkness and
motion of speed. 1t has been found that
wind. rain, fog and other conditions Of
weather do not affect the transmission
through space, but dampness may reduce
the range, rapdity and accuracy by i'm
pairing the insulation of the aerial wire and
the instruments. Darkness has no effect.
ImnrOyfnp the SY.<ou,