Evening star., 1902-03-21

suit OF the experiments, which were made
In the presence of a number Of New York
and Chicago financial men and members Of
| the press. The tests throughout were in
teresting. and. indeed, little short Of mar
| vellous.
| The originator Of the remarkable inven-
| ton. Mr.. Stubblefield, is plain, everyday
| blue grass farmer. He is modest in ap-
| pearance. and even backward In discussing
! this product Of his brain, which bids fair
| to revolutionize and establish new and
| less expensive means Of conversation by
| electricity.
The party that witnessed the experiments
| made the trip up the river, perhaps mile
steamer Bartholdi. Mr.. Stubblefield had
made all the arrangements several days
before. having on Wednesday given a satis-
| factory experiment from a skiff to the land
station, an inn on the southern shore of the
river.
The Mysterious Box.
In room on the second floor Of the inn,
where an operator or an attendant could
watch the signals from the steamer, was a
telephone transmitter and receiver like
| those in everyday use. These were at
tached to the top of a box about 1S inches
high. foot broad and inches wide. The
box contained dry cells. a generator and in
duction coils. connected to which were two
ordinary wires. one leading to the river and
the other to steel rod stuck deeply into
the earth. Mr.. Stubblef1eld explained
briefly and with some reluctance that the
box contained battery" which connected
with the currents of the earth.
An operator and several members of the
party went ashore, while the rest of the
company remained on the boat. The steam
er then pulled out from the shore a dis
tance Of several undred yards Every one
was anxious to hear the first sounds pro-
duced with the aid of the invention.
A box similar to lie one in the inn was
stationed just back Of the pilot house on
the upper deck Of the steamer, and from
this Mr.. Stubblef1eld directed the expert
ments. Two other receivers were connected
by wire, so that three persons could hear
the sounds simultaneously. From the mys-
terious box were two wires leading along
the side Of the steamer and falling into the
water at the stern.
Conversation and Music Heard.
Without a continuous line of wire, tho
water and the land being depended upon
for an electrical current, communication
was established by which sounds were ex-
changed between those on shore and those
on the vessel. Owing to the insufficiency
Of the battery on the vessel the tests were
not altogether satisfactory to Mr.. Stubble-
field. although short sentences and parts of
sentences could be heard distinctly The
counting of numerals by the shore oper-s
ator was exceedingly plain. The music Of
harmonlca was distinctly detected and
number of familiar melodies were easily
recognized.
The land tests were more satisfactory
Members Of the party scattered, each group
being provided with a receiver and a pair
OF steel rods attached to twenty feet Of
ordinary telephone cord or wire. From
this cord were hung the receiver and trans-
mftter. The rods were planted in the
ground at the will of those handling them
and sound was transmitted distinctly.
Complete sentences, figures and music
could be heard at a distance of several
hundred yards from the shore station. Con-
versation was as distinct as by the ordi-
nary wire telephone. This experiment was
pronounced a marked success by all ex-
cepting Mr.. Stubblefield, who declared that
1t was far from satisfactory to him. He
maintained that he had obtained better re-
suits at greater distances in private tests,
and this was substantiated by Mr.. Gerald
Fennell Of the Gordon Telephone Company
who has displayed much interest in the
new invention.
Uninsulated Wire Test. ..
There was also a test Of an uncovered
and uninsulated wire laid along the shore
for half mile More than half the dis
tance the wire was under water. A num-
ber Of the party went to the extreme end
Of the wire and the others remained at the
shore station. Messages were distinctly
exchanged.
Mr.. Stubblefeld sought to show that 1t
makes little difference whether he wishes
to talk by water or by land. 1t Is said to
be only question Of voltage or electro
motive force as to the distance the mes
sages may be transmitted. The tests were
all interesting. When the iron rods were
pulled from the earth nothing could be
heard, but as soon as they were stuck into
the ground again the sounds of voice and
music were plainly heard.
The first installation of the new system Of
wireless telephony will be from Charles
ton, 8. c., to the Sea Islands. The Gordon
Telephone Company has already made ar
rangements for adopting it. 1t is claimed
that the use of ordinary wire for cable
means a vast saving. The cable wires now
in use are insulated.