The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-25
MARCONI SYSTEM AT SEA.
OCEAN TRAyEL MADE SAFER Bf
WIRELESS IELEGRAPHY.
Less Danger Of Collisions In Eos and Less
Danger Also of ships RunninG Ashor"
Cost of ms, Hing the Apparatus Slight
W hat Has Bren Accomplished so Far.

'fPVF'V"a w. "
II Is BY q slight margin only that the North
German Lloyd Steamship Company holds the
record as being he first to introduce the Mn'coni
system Of wireless 'pleg raphy on its ships. Prep
arations 10 make use Of the new system Of signal'
ling have already been made by the company
| operating the steamers which ply between Dover
| and Calais. across the English Channel, and the
| steamers Of the Southampton and havre line
are TO be similarly equipped with as little delay
as may be. The system has proved a success
on the first ship fitted out With The apparatus,
| the Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse, and the other
vessels Of the line are already being supplied
With the instruments
The introduction Of the Marconi device will
be a forward step In ocean navigation oil lar
reaching importance. AT the very beginning
it will rob marine travel Of one source OF danger,
for when the shore may be communicated with
in all sorts OF weather, up to a distance OF 100
miles from port, il, will be virtually impossible
for a vessel TO run ashore. Later, when Marconi
instruments have been generally introduced,
the chances OF collision AT sea will be reduced
almost to the vanishing point, for then ship can
signal ship, no matter where II is and no mat
ter how dense the fog, al distances so great a. to
make the protection practically absolute. More
over, wireless telegraphy will virtually shorten
the transatlantic yuy age by a day or two, since
It will render possible communication from shore
TO ship and from ship 10 shore nearly a day after
sailing and nearly a day before the end ~ the
voyage. The cost Of thus protecting vessels.
merchandise and human lives is insignificant
II involves nothing more elaborate than installing
q few instruments on a table In the captain 5
cabin and a wire from the cabin To the top u the
mast. Al an expense Of less than $500 a ship
There are about nifty fast liners in the transat-
lanuc trade and about one hundred and fifty other
steamers which carry valuable caTgoes. For
100000 possibly less, every ono of the vessels
could he equipped permanently with the new
| protection. For 100000 more shore stations
could DO erected a, all the dangerous points on
the coasts Of Grea, Bntaip. Continental Europe
and the I nied States. Thus, for 100000 or
less, the vast commercial transatlantic fleet could
BE- virtually safeguarded against both collisions
| and wrecks ashore
Marconi now has five or six experimental sta
tons in the south Of England working almost
constantly, the English Navy is operating with
the system a, Portsmouth and the French Navy
will shortly have II installed on a number Of battle
ships and cruisers. With the channel stea mers
and German passenger ships about u take up
the system. it nigh, seem that the various ether
waves w~hisking across and through the English
rh,pr.l ,ynuld c,usa n, and of confusion But
,I' .ss... 49,, ma.
'hos' VINO nave II" mater III hnhu soy 'n"' ms
no longer presents any difficulty: IT has been
ov.,,,u. by svntouv Now electrc timing
or ~syntony, is q term no, understood by the lay.
man, but an idea Of its nature may bs obtained
by comparing it with sound tuning. A tuning
IoiA VIII eSP"nu VI" " WIN SUM" W WI
tain note struca on a piano. A scientist would
cav IL yihyatad uhen Snn,sthinp with the sRma
.IL.a,,n . =, l., ut, rl..,,iO
rave oi ''o'"""" "S Set III "oaon' r'oo'>
tuning IL analogous. \ given receiver, properly
tuned will rpsDonJ 10 "A certain number of ether
.m.nu,,. :, sa.o,I h,, ali ,smoir ,r.g,c,.d
"oi'"',l' y" v W. n
by anpther rate oil v!bfauon' mus any numoef
Of ether waves vibrating al different rates would
80, ,n,,,t.r. Min ono ,,o,h., i, would anu
NV ""' ~ 80
set nj vibrations Affect any receiver excepting
the one specially tuned to its rate.
vndoroedly the ship companies have been
led 10 take up this invention beca Use il has actually
been shown " be a wonderful agent in the saving
of hf. and property. The Prince of Wales, a.
Prcsplrnt Of the Royal National Life Boat lnsti
tuition ct Great Britain, spoke not long ago on
the subject, aud said that at last a system had beer
found which would make navigation much saiel
and diminish the penls al sea. by its use two
ships had already been saved from wreck on
the Goodwin Sa nds, AS a result OF one speedy
warning by wireless teleg raphy from the Goodwin
lightship property ~ the amount Of S2SO, OOU
was saved, The owners and crews OF the life
boats and tugs received $3.50 o for their WORK
IN response 10 the wireless call The Bnust
Navy proved In" utility Of wireless telegraphy
al sen up Ia eighty miles eighteen months ago
when Is WAS seen that the Admiral from his look
gu, on tn flagship could, by pressing a button,
initiate any desired M'uCal evolution in the fleet.
though none oi thu ships was In sight and ar
almost automatic precision IN the movements
Of every ship would result IL was then drCln red
"dllicult 10 Over"Stimata the value OF the ne "
means Of cummuulcauhn'
What was necessary to bring about the ap
plicauon Of the system al sea was a great loss
which might have been prevented by wireless
ielegraphy II II had heen applied before. So
when one Of the channel steamers was wrecked
and liyes lost, there came n great demand for the
protection that only MarConi could give. The
transatlantic steamship comp MES were further
reused to action by MIR Marc1l's demonstration
Of what could I've done on board the St Paul while
she was going upthe channel toward Southampton
Before sailing from New York he cabled to his
Needles Isle Of WighD station on the day o,
his arrival in the channel The scenes on the
ship and at the land stations on the appointed
day were Interesting in their difference. Tn.
London company had disman,led the Needles
station and the Haven station, eighteen miles
distant, in order Ia send the equipment To South
Africa. and after much confusion Temporary
stations were installed jus, in time On the ST
Paul everything was Quietly arranged The
passengers saw a wire suspended from "A spirit
on the mainmast leading 10 the smoking room,
and they crowded into tina, apartment To see the
Instruments which we're 10 give Them news several
hours before landing
When sixty sy nautical miles from, Soutb.
ampinn, the first signals ,apned ont. dol. do,
dnt dash ,o, ",rdars, =. M, " an, ,ba r.caira,
And in a few minutes he canaan Of The shin
was telegraphing To London III, news of his AZ
yiv.i Az hnu,s h,f,ra ba br,,1bt hi, .h;n 90 ,bo
dnrh "Then var neus magan ~ nms and r nv
go TrIin,.s w. IN hmn M
- ~ W. N''h' wiz wv " "r'