Arizona republican., 1902-03-15
'HoENIx. ARIz.. MARCH 15. 1902.

In the general discussion of Marconi's s achievements in wireless telagraphy
 there has been much MARCONI speculation as to th= AND THE possible effect of the WIRES. new system on the busi-
 ness of the existing cable and telegraph lines. That the @ ble companies, at least. will find the wireless system more or less of a com petitor in their field cannot be doubted but, according to the officers of the old companies, real competition from Mar conf is not feared very much. At the annual meeting of the Commercial Cable company a few days ago. MT George c. Ward, the president of that company, took occasion to address tho stockholders on the subject.
 MT. Ward in his introductory re- marks disclaimed any intention of be- littling the credit due MT. .Marconi for the advancement already made, but at the same. time asserted that there was no reason for fearing that submarine cables would not maintain their com mercial superm3cy in competition with wireless telegraphy, even should it ever extend beyond it's present experimental stage as regards transatlantic or other long distance transmission. He also called attention to the fact that great commercial organiza tions are not, per fected in day, and that it had taken the Commercial Cable company some seventeen or eighteen years to bring it's land lines Ghe Postal system to it's present high grade of efficiency. As suming," said MT. Ward. that the Marconi system should become perfect ed so that it could really compete in a commercial sense-and commercial re- quirements are very exacting-it is fair to say that it would take as many years to put the Marconi system in a position as would enable it to serve the public He then went on to tell the circumstances under which the cable companies accept business, and the marvellous accuracy demanded. The facts are best described in his own words:
 Messages are now transmitted across the Atlantic and answers re- ceived in two or three minutes. A mes sage experiencing a delay Of ten or fifteen minutes means the defeat Of the object of the sender. A most important point is the fact that go per cent of the Atlantic messages are expressed in code or cipher language, the words or ciphers having no connected meaning. The words or cipher groups frequently only differ from each ether in single let ters, yet they have widely different meanings, and an error in the trans mission of one of their letters might have disastrous consequences. These are some of the commercial exactions or demands made upon the telegraphs. No one as yet even pretended that the speed with which messages may be transmitted by wireless apparatus ever approaches the speed of the aerial or submarine wire. and among submarine wires these of the Commercial Gable company stand pre-eminent, not only for speed. but for accuracy and relia- bility of communication"
 Commenting on AIr. Wards state ments. the Financier says: '-Thcse are the conclusions Of an expert, and the.sopinicns expressed are to be ac- cepted as authoritative. Il will be seen that the cable companies. at least, are in no fear Of being put out of business, and they are not worrying over the future of their land lines. The con2pe- tition Of telephones has been increasing continually for years, yet the telegraph revenues are rot diminishing. The Western Union company has dividend record equailed by only one or two rail way systems in the United States, and it shows an ability to maintain this in definitely. The Marconi system may. and perhaps will be, Q commercial sue cess in time. but it is safe to say that it's installation will not cripple the re- sources Of any existing concern en- gagged in the transmission of messa ges. Indirectly MT. Wards address throws a flood of light on the chances that in vestors take in buying the stock of ire sponsibIe companies whose advertise ments are so lavishly displayed in the Sunday papers These concerns are simply trading on the credulity of pee pie who have become fascinated in a mysterious science through reading exaggerated stories in the press
 The Topeka State Journal says that the directors of the Kansas Society for