The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1902-03-29
LOUISIANA.


At noon on Thursday, December ~,
1901, Marconi sat waiting. telephone
receiver at his ear. in the cd barracks
on Signal hill. To him IL must have
been a moment of painful stress. Ar
ranged on the table before him, all
its parts within easy reach, was the
delicate receiving instrument, the SUI
preme product of years of the inven-
tors life, now TO be submitted TO a
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 buff,
raw day; at the base of the cliff, 300
feet below, Numbered a cold sea;
oceanward through the mist rose dim
" the outlines of Cape Spear, the east
ernmost reach of the North American
continent. Beyond that rolled the I'M
broken ocean. nearly 1000 miles to the
coast of the British isles. Across the
harbor the city of st. Johns lay on its
hillside, wrapped in fog; no one had
taken enough interest in the expert
ments TO come up here through the
snow to Signal hill. Even the ubiqui-
tous reporter was absent. but the faith
Of the inventor in his creation was un-
shaken, writes Ray Stannard Baker.
In McClure's.
Il believed from the first" he told
me, shat I would be successful in
getting 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 unusual
sensitiveness, so that it could catch
even the faintest evidence of the sig
nails. A telephone receiver, which is
no part of tn ordinary instrument. had
been supplied, so that the slightest
clicking of the dots might be con-
veyed to the inventors ear. For nearly
half an hour not sound broke the
silence OF the room; then quite sud-
denly Mr.. Kemp heard the sharp click
OF the Taper as it struck against the
roherer-this. of course. was not the
signal, yet it was an indication that
something was coming. The inventors
face showed no evidence Of excitement.
Presently he said:
"see If you can hear anything, Mr.. |
Kemp"
Mr.. Kemp took the receiver. and a
moment later, family and yet dis
finctly and Enthusiastically. came the
three little clicks-the dots of the let
ter s, tapped out an instant before in
England. AT ten minutes past one
more signals came, and both NJ. Mar
soni and Mr.. Kemp assured themselves
again and again that there could be no
mistake. During this time the kite
yyrated so wildly In the air that the |
receiving wire was not maintained at
The same height. as il should have
been; but again. at 20 minutes after
Two other repetitions of the signal |
we're received.
Thus the problem was solved. One
II the great wonders of science had
been wrought. On the following after
,ooD, Friday. he succeeded in getting
,ther repetitions of the signal from
England; but on Saturday. though he
made an effort, he was unable to hear
lnything. The signals were OF course,
'ent continuously. but the inventor
vas unable TO obtain continuous re-
'ults, owing, as he explains. to the
fluctuations of the height of the kite
IS i was Blown about by the wind. and
o the extreme de.icacy Of his instru.
nents, which required constant adjust.
nent during the experiments.