The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-24
TAPPING THE WORLDS ETHER
Compares Wireless System With the Work Of the Cables
Nothing Stop the Messages-As Practical .
Over Land Over Sea. ~...

Table Head Station, Glace Bay, N g., |
Jan. 16.--On this bleak, frozen headland, |
which is guarded night and day against |
attempts to invade the secrets OF Wire
less intercontinental telegraphy, Gugnel-
mo Marconi was found in q bare Httle
room at the foot OF his four wooden tow
ers, to which kings, queens, princes ana
prime ministers have been sending their
CONCENTRATIONS in reply to messages
flashed across the. Atlantic ocean.
AS he stood beneath the great loose
heap Of fifty wires hanging from g. cao!e
stretched across the tops of the towers,
he waved his hand upward and said:
There is tho whole matter. Power
ful currents Of electricity sent into those
fifty wires internationally from the power
house below start forth the electromag-
netic waves which GROSS tho ocean IN ono
ninetieth of a second and record them
selves on similar wires at the Poldhu
station on the coast Of Cornwall, 2,400
miles away.
Nothing Can Stop Messages.
Nothing can stop or divert these
waves: they will go through or around
any obstruction. Like sound waves, they
do not have to go in a straight line. The
messages are received through tele-
phone or are printed automatically In
Morse letters as clearly as though the
stations were only mile apart
Marconi looked over the gray ocean
stretching out before him. England is
in that direction" he said, ointing to
the dreary, wintry eastern horizon; but
we can send messages from this station
to any point Of the compass. When the
italian warship Carlo Alberto reaches
Venezuela we can talk to her, for La
Guaira is nearer to us than Cornwall.
If there were any reason for doing 1t
we could reach her now, wherever she
Is on her voyage to South America, but
we too busy sending messages to
Europe to waste any time on the ship
to-shore system, which is thoroughly
established.
System Is Better Than Cable.
''Wireless biography across the ocean
is now as practical as cabling" he said.
1--WE have sent more than 1000 words
in all from Glace Bay to Poldhu and have
reached a speed of fifteen words g. min
ute, which, considering our clumsy send
ing apparatus-a. mere wooden lever to
connect and disconnect the current-in-
dicates what we can do when we sub
stitute a sending key designed for speed.
With a proper sending key we can easily
get off thirty words a minute, and I shall
be surprised If we do not soon send at
a higher rate.
1.-The Atlantic cables average about
twenty-on one words minute in their reg
l1lar work, I believe And there Is this
transoceanic biography: AS the cable
grows longer the rate Of speed in send
ing messages decreases, while distance
makes no difference in the rate at which
We can send by the wireless system"
Messages Can Be Duplicated.
"Can you send more than one message
Mt time from the Same station?'
Eyes, have already demonstrated tha
We can send two at a time for a short dis
tanoe. Whether more than two messages
can be transmitted simultaneously by the
Same wires am unable to say-probably
not. But separate stations can be set ur
and worked in tho Same neighborhood
without interfering with each other. sc
that our capacity for sending messages
can be multiplied indefinitely"
How can you prevent other people
with similar wireless apparatus from
reading the messages you send from CON
tinent to continent? The secrecy Of ,tele.
graphic communication IS vital" -
~ Flnds tho Question Critical. S..
The sudden flash In thu cold gray-blue
eyes showed that MIR. ;Marconi understood
the importance Of the question. It was
the point Of attack selected by. tho cable
companies in their combined attempt tt
discredit him. n He paced up and dowr
restlessly, with his fingers locked witch
insly behind him and his lips contracted
When he spoke his voice was cold, ever
md precise. ...,..s-, - - .,,-,. -.
with properly tuned Instruments" h
said, I'VE can make the reading OF oul
transatlantic messages very difficult
To read g. wireless message an outside
station would have to be In exact tune Of
vibratory unison with our stations at. TIL
same moment. It would cost rival no
less than $4,000 to try the experiment OF
the smallest scale. .:..., -. ~. ~,
Can Constantly Change Tune.
Besides, we can arrange our appa
ratus so that the tune, or rate; Of vibra
ton, can be automatically changing ever!
moment at the same rate In the sending
and receiving stations on each side OF TIL,
ocean. Those who talk about the DANCE