The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-30
MARCONIS or AFRICA.
Basutos Got Boer war News BY SUTTON
OF Wireless Telegraphy.
From the Ka~sas ctr Star.

From the Ka~sos CTR Star.
Marconis system Of wireless telegraphy
has a rival. which is already centuries old,
and was In operation long before Franklin
drew the electric spark from the clouds
down kite string or before Morse devised
his system Of dots and dashes over tho cleo
trio wires. The Rev. G. A. Rideout, q mis-
sionary Of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church Of America, who returned to this
city lately on furlough after four years
labor among the native tribes OF South Africa
In the territory lying west OF Natal. described
this remarkable system Of wireless communl-
cation to the writer.
Shortly after l began work among the
subjects Of King Lerothrodi, the hereditary
ruler Of the Basutos, l discovered that they
had system whereby the villages could
communicate with each other, used in
times Of peace to convey messages from
one chief to another. and frequently to the
monarch himself. and in times Of war 70
transmit the Intelligence OF victories and
who are, utilized as scouts. Among these
guards there are always two or three men
"A large seGrd such as those, grown in
many parts of the United States is followed
out and thoroughly dried. Then Kids skin,
which makes it as hard and thin as parch
fncnt, Is stretched across the hollow or the
Stick, and gives forth a sound which can, be
heard distinctly at distance Of from FIVE
tain sides and in little valleys or slens. seldom
being at a high elevation; ,.,
use of the signal code-whch is practically
an African Morse alpha bet-heats the mes
sage on Ms drum in tae open, ar az ana LIZ, ne
to the next villa ge. where 1t is Interpreted
by another guard There is always a guard
on duty ready to receive these mesa ges
He can tell at once whether the message is
for his chief or the head man of his village
in which case he goes to the head mans hmt
and makes the conmunicat ton verbally. H.
however, the MESA &c is for a distant pn''
he repeats it on his eourd and so it !, carried
from village to village, Win very tt!ttle lo,s
of time. until it reaches the person for whom
II is intended.
Il was granted the privilege hy King
Lerothrod OF using his Gourd telegra ph sys
TEN to send any message to our other work;
ers whenever ! wished. and often awaited
ys of bac Is mot o h.
1t Is simply carried along from gouid u
gourd, and I don't know. OF z single iIsance
where it failed to reach its destination prop
dDuring the war between the British and
the Beers We who We're hundrnedfs OF inIi LEI
knew every victory and every reverse which
Transvaal, and | have known Of several in;
stances where the news came by the SoNrt
air line hours ahead Of the message by Geld
this surprised the military officers.
"rhe same system Is common to many OF
the African tribes. and the secret is always
confined to the few trained men in each vi.
lage, who are chosen for their fidelity to the
head man or chief. Who first devised this
system nobody seems to know. II has been
IN use for centuries, Among the PondoS
the Tembs and the Bechuanes. whose tribe
l visited In connection with my, work ~
Africa, frequently observed the Tour7
receives the orders from the head man 10
send certain message. and he goes out md
in q few minutes he can be heard pounding
out on the gourd short taps. long ia ps, and taps
in little groups. taps with pauses between.
and taps close together. like the roll OF
drum.
There appears to be no difficulty in send;
ing any kind OF message by the code, and
1t was just as easy for the operator. com
paratively as it would be for the man who
sits at the key in a telegraph office. have
known Of messages being sent nearly one
thousand miles.