The Washington times., 1902-03-21
Successful Test Made of
New Telephone
Method.
TRIAL OFF POTOMAC SHORE
Inventor Stubblefeld Pleased With At
tempt Made Yesterday-Communic
tion Established for Fully Half Mile
Apparatus Employed Is Simple.

practically successful test of wireless
telephony, made yesterday on the steamer
Bartholdi, off the Virginia bank of the
Potomac, opposite the Georgetown Univer-
sity, may result in revolutioniZing the
present methods employed by local and
long distance telephone companies.
The test was made with miniature in
struments by the Wireless Telephone
Company of America, under the personal
direction of the inventor, Mr.. Nathaniel
Stubblefield, of Lexington, Ky. The
steamer Bartholdi was equipped with one
set of apparatus and cruised up and down
the Potomac. while a stationary station
on the Virginia shore maintained COM
munication with the vessel.
The sounds of a harmonica played on
the shore were distinctly heard in the re-
ceiver on board the steamer, was the
human voice, both singing and counting
numerals. An ordinary conversation was
less distinct, and hardly audible.
Tests on Land.
The tests on land demonstrated to 4
far greater degree the value and merit
of Mr.. Stubbleield's invention. Commu-
nication was had at distances varying
from 800 yards to half a mile, and in
every instance the tests were eminently
successful.
Mr.. Stubblefield furnished convincing
proof that he has achieved in his inven-
tion, in basic form, something greater
even than Marcon. His invention has
already been adopted and is now employed
by the Gordon Telephone Company, of
Charleston, S. c., for the establishment of
telephone communication between that
city and the sea islands lying off the
coast
The apparatus employed is simple con-
sisting sf an ordinary receiver and trans
mitter. and pair of steel rods with bell
shaped attachments, which are connected
with twenty feet of wire to which the
instrument is attached. The steel rods are
driven into the earth to depth of three
feet at any desired point. when communi-
cation is Immediately established.
Mr.. Stubblefield insists that with larger
and more powerful instruments than those
employed yesterday there Is practically
no limit to the distance the sound of the
human voice can be conveyed by the wire
less system.
Water Was Rough.
The test made between the steamer
Bartholdi and the Virginia shore was not
as successful as it in all probability would
have been had the water not been as
rough as it was. The communication was
established by grounding the steel rods on
shores ba u-ira
the apparatus on the boat over the stern
into the water. The rocking of the vessel,
it is said, was to a great extent RESPONSE
Bile for the poor results obtained from the
tests made
The tests made on the shore. however,
were all that could be desired. They were
by no means a oncman affair, for all of
the members of the experimental party,
including score of newspaper men, took
using the instruments.
The Offices of the Wireless Telephone
Company of America are in the Bowling |
Green Building, New York City Among |
those who accompanied MIR. Stubblefield /
yesterday were Mr.. K. c. McCulloch. who !
was in charge OF the party; Mr. Henry |!
ter Company; Mr.. j. Waldere Kirk, of !
New York. of the firm of Ennis & Stop /
PAM; Mr.. Charles r. Brown, of the F. |
deity and Casualty Company. of New |
York; Mr.. Alonzo X. Smith, Chicago |
capitalist, and Messrs. Gerald NJ. Fennell |
and Reginald Fennell of New York ,
Mr.. Stubbletield regards the tests as |
highly satisfactory. and will at once per- |
feet arrangements for another demonstra- |
tion in the immediate vicinity of New /
York City, in all probability on the Hud-
son River.
Comes From Kentucky.
Mr.. Stubblefield, the inventor, is forty |
years of age, and is the son of a prom
inent lawyer of the Blue Grass State. He
has devoted much time to the perfection
of his invention. using portion OF the
Marconi patents, chiefly the Hertzian
wave theory, although communication by
his invention is established by ground
currents rather than by ethereal waves.
Mr. Stubblefield is also the inventor of
a system which will obviate the necessity |
of insulation of telephone wires, to the
perfection of which he is devoting much
time and attention.
House-to- house communication by the
wireless method is obtained by running
the steel rods into the ground outside the
house, which are attached to the instru-
ment by wires.