Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1902-02-06
The First Wireless Message Across the
Atlantic.

Atlantic.
At noon on Thursday December II,
1901 Marconi sat waiting, telephone
receiver at his ear, in the old barracks
on Signal Hill. To him it must have
been a moment Of painful stress. Ar
ranged on the table before him, all its
parts within easy reach, was the deli
cate receiving instrument, the supreme
product of years of the inventors life,
now to be submitted to decisive test.
A wire ran out through the window,
thence to pole, thence upward to the
kite which could be seen swaying high
overhead. 1t was bluff, raw day;
at the base of the cliff, 800 feet below,
Numbered a cod sea oceanward
through the mist rose dimly the out
lines of Cape Spear, the easternmost
reach of the North American CONT
nent. Beyond that rolled the unbro-
ken ocean, nearly 1000 miles to the
coast Of the British Isles. Across the
harbor the city Of st. John lay on its
hillside wrapped in fog; no one hal
taken enough interest in the expert
ments to come up here through the
snow to Signal Hill. Even tie ublq-
uitous reporter was absent, but the
faith of the inventor in his creation
was mistaken.
81 believed from the first, he told
me, chat l would be successful in get
ting signals across the Atlantic.
Only two persons were in the room'
Mr.. Marconi and Mr.. Kemp, Every
thing had been done that could be
done. The receiving apparatus was
of usual sensitiveness, so that it could
catch even the faintest evidence Of
the signals. A telephone receiver,
which is no part Of the ordinary IN
strument, had been supplied, so that
the slightest clicking of the dots might
be conveyed to the inventors ear.
For nearly half an hour not a sound
broke the silence Of the room then
quite suddenly Mr.. Kemp heard the
sharp click Of the Taper as it struck
against the coherer-this, Of course,
was not the signal, yet it was an IN
dication that something was coming.
The inventors face showed no evidence
of excitement. Presently he said:
"Ses if you can hear anything, Mr..
Kemp"
Mr.. Kemp took the receiver, and a
moment later, family, and yet dis
tinctly and Enthusiastically, came the
three little clicks-the dots of the
letter S, tapped out an instant before
in England. At ten minutesPast one
more signals came, and both Mr..
Marconi and Mr.. Kemp assured them
selves again and again that there could
be no mistake During this time the
kite gyrated so wildly in the air that
the receiving wire was not maintained
at the same height, as it should have
been; but again, at twenty minutes
after two, other repetitions Of the
signal were received.
Thus the problem was solved. One
of the great wonders Of science had
been wrought. On the following
afternoon, Friday, he succeeded in
getting other repetitions of the signal
from England; but on Saturday,
though he made an effort, he was
unable to hear anything The signals
were, of course, sent continuously, but
the inventor was unable to obtain
continuous results, owing, as he sx-
plains, to the fluctuations Of the height
of the kite as it was blown about by
the wind, and to the extreme delicacy
of his instruments, which required
constant adjustments, during the ez-
periments.-Ray &annard Baker IN
McCZureS.