The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-05-10
WIRELESS
TEIEGRAPHY
Will Improve important Fac
tor in Next War.
so F. A. COLLINS SAYS
Study of the Situation by an
Expert.
SO F. A. COLLINS SAYS


or navies, the wireless transmission Of
intelligence will loom UP, a gigantic spec
tire, dreaded by the enemy like mirage
In the desert by a traveller.
Every since the advent Of this seeming
miracle equalling in every respect the
telepathy of which We have so long
dreamed. the Powers OF the world have
been testing its merits so that when the
: next war is on and the crucial moment
arrives, troops or vessels may communi-
cate with each other even though a dis
lance Of fifty miles separates them
The military wireless telegraph here
illustrated is known as the Braun Sic
mems & Holske system and is the in
vention Of Professor Ferdinand Braun,
Instructor in electrical engineering in
the Physical Institute. Strassburg, Ger
many. and the apparatus is manufactur-
ed by the the Siemens 6, IIolske Electric
Company. Of Berlin.
The equipments were especially de-
signed for the recent German army man
euveres and were placed in charge of the
Royal Military Airship Battalion. Dur
ing the trials OF transmitting and re
ceiving wireless messages after hard runs
and forced marches the results were
witnessed by the Kaiser, who evinced his
approval Of the operations.
The conditions under which the bat
telion rendered its Geographic service
was severe in the extreme as. for in
stance, in the cross country runs, when
the carriages We're carried overland at
terrific speed. limited only by the en-
durance and ability Of the horses. When
the command would be suddenly shouted
10 make ready the horses would be drawn
up. the engineers Of the battalion would
start the gasoline engine and dynamo.
supplying electricity TO the sending in
strument, while others Of the battalion
would send d kite soaring through the
air heaveuward several hundred feet and
carrying the aerial wire which is ordin-
lsrily suspended from a mast. Stimuli
staneously the receiving apparatus would
be adjusted. and it was found that it
required just five minutes to get every
thing into working order to send and
receive MESA ges.
The object Of these maneuvers was to
determine whether or not the delicate
and sensitive Instruments employed in
wireless teleSraphy would be able to
withstand the hard usage. as wen as the
Waite from a stratagecic point Of view.
With these thoughts as the dominating
factors. two experimental stations were
set up one OF them being located on the
Rugen. at Laprintz. and the other on the
Pomerian coast. at Gross AIonen.
These stations were Of the regulation
type. having masts seventy-five feet in
height, from which the sending and re-
ceiving wires were suspended. These two
permanent stations constituted the base
from which the orders were issued Three
of the portable wireless telegraph sys-
TENS for the field completed the military
accoutrements for wireless signalling,
which was TO take place in a zone ap-
Iroximating thirty-hve miles. radius
sufficiently great TO insure its usefulness
in-actGal warefare.
The instruments of the portable mill
tary outfits are similar TO those of the
permanent station sets. and the general
prime les underlying the construction OF
the apparatus are the same as those OF
the Marconi system-that is TO say, the
TRANSMITTED. carried on one Of the car
.riages, consists OF "A generator for send
ing out the invisible electric waves by
means of the aerial wire The generator
connected to a copper cylinder. or "arti-
hciaI earth" as it is termed. and the
aerial wire. The induction coil is fed by
the dynamo which is in turn operated
by khe gasoline engine.
The receiver. occupying the second car
riage, employs a coherer for detecting
thu presence Of electric waves bearing
the Morse printing register. which indi-
Gates and translates the ether strains
Into readable dots and dashes.
I one of the salient differences between
the ordinary system of wireless telegra-
ply and that devised by Professor Braun
Is that the former requires a ground
connection with the instruments. a piece
of sheet copper being buried In the earth
and connected with the sending and re-
ceiving apparatus.
In stations where the equipments are
located permanently cylinders made of
copper are substituted for the earth.
and are therefore termed artificial
earths." but in the portable sets the tire
Of -he carriage is used TO make connec-
ton with the earth.
The first attempt to use wireless teleg-
raphv in actual warfare was made by
Marconi at the request Of the British
War Office during the South African war
1t was the intention Of the War Depart
nent that wireless communication should
be established at the base OF supplies
and on the railways. but when Marconfs
assistants arrived the officers were eN-
ceedingIy anxious that the instruments
should be sent 10 the front realizing
the Immense advantage such a mode OF
communication would be and 50. or
Decem Der Il. 1899. the apparatus was
conveyed 70 the camp ar De Aar.
The operators. however. on arriving At
De Aar found that TO arrangements had
been made 70 supply the masts. and the
courftry al that point being barren Of
trees. the Instruments were rendered use
less until. AT the suggestion OF Major
Bsden-PoweH and Captain Kennedy,
come kites were manufactured and com
rnunfcation was at once established
The experiments were not always sue
lcessfall. for the wind was constantly
! shifting and variable. and it often hap
pened that when a gale Was blowing At
one station there was not enough breeze
TO ffy a kite AZ the opposite station with
which they were attempting 70 com
nfunicate.
This pa rtial failure was due 20 the lack
of proper preparation on the part Of the
local military authorities and not 70 the
iron in the hills. as was reported at the
time. On days when the kites could be
raised and maintained. wireless telegraph
No ssages were easily transmitted be-
tween the De Aar and OTaGge River sta