The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-07-05
WIRELESS TEL[CRAPHY
IMPROVED BY De FOREST

1t Is some years since wireless tele-
graphy first extended popular magina-
ton to the utmost and found it lament
ably deficient in powers of comprehen-
sion; but the vagaries and accomplish
ments of the mysterious Hertzian
waves do not fail to fascinate us as
they did in the days of their novelty.
There is an eerieness that is almost
comic in the possibility of messages
ever wandering silently over house
tops, playing round chimney pots, and
passing through brick walls as though
they did not exist.
Such a possibility seemed to most
unscientific people very remote one;
but the recent accomplishments of the
De Forest system on board the Times
steamer Haimun in the Far East lead
us to believe that the date is not so far
off as has been imagined
The success of the De Forest system
of wireless telegraphy must be regard
ed as one of the greatest feats of the
war The inventor is one of the first
men to make wireless telegraphy con-
sistently successful for commercial pur-
poses, and by its aid the Times is able
to receive from the seat of war long
uncensored accounts of the operations
both on land and sea.
DR.. De Forest is a graduate of Yale
University. His rise to fame has been
as rapid as it is we'll deserved. Ten
years ago he was pushing a bath chair
at the Chicago Exhibition in order to
get money to finish his college educa-
ton; at the Forthcoming st. Louis EN-
position his exhibition will be one of
its chief features, and will comprise a
tower 800 feet high, and four wireless
stations throughout the grounds.
The best testimonial to the De Forest
system is its own success on the Hal
mum. This steamer was chartered at
Shanghai at the outbreak of the war;
and the wireless apparatus was INSTALL
ed by De Forest operator. a topmast
was rugged up to the height of 10 feet,
and n gatf was attached from which
wires or antennae ran down to the OPP
orators cabin. The station which re-
CeiVes messages from the steamer is
ten miles east of Wei-hai-wei. A bam-
boo mast $50 feet long is reared by the
side of the operators hut and the
antennae are attached in similar fash
ion to those on the Haimun.
When sending message the operator
sits in his cabin on the steamer and
clicks word after word off on the Morse
key in front of him. AS hi electric
battery begins to work sparks appear
at the gap in the circuit. These sparks
cause the vibrations of the ether which
are caught up by the antennae and car
ried out into the atmosphere. where
they dispense in exactly similar fash,
ion to the little waves caused on the
surface of a pond when a stone is
thrown in.
The receiving station at Wei-hai-wei
is in sympathy" with the transmitting
station on the Haimun. Without this
mutual sympathy" there could be no
possibility of the messages reaching
their intended destination. AS II is.
however, the autenuae at the receiving
station are struck by the other waves
set In motion by the electrical disturb
ance on board the Haimun, ana convey
the vibration down To the responder
before which sits the operator ready To
receive the message
IL Il in the use of this responder
that the lv Forest system differs 80
much from other systvms Previously
"vohrrr' was used as the chief IN
strumypI ln receiving a message, THIS
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