The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11
NAVY PUSHING WIRE
 LESS SYSTEM
FINE CLASS OF ELECTRICIANS BE- ING sCHoOLEB AT BROOKLYN
 NAVY YARD.
Atlantic Coast om piete Chsin of Stations Planned-scheme to Place Apparatus in Life snv-
 ing Stations.

I i been opened in the Brooklyn Navy ! Yard. Is the result of the desire of the I Navy Department to have SO complete i a chain of wireless stations along the coasts of the United States that ships 1 of the navy many miles at sea can se picked up" at will, and the whole
 coast be kept in touch. All the big yessels of the navy have been equipped with the wireless apparatus and all
 that is needed now to make the system ! complete is an adequate supply of coast | stations. tst +.F. 1 To supply wireless electricians Tor | these stations is the object of she ] school in the Navy Yard. So far the ! supply has been inadequate to the de- : raand. and as last resort 1t was de- 1 cided to open a school. .-~. i Visitors to the Navy Yard. entering by the Sands street gate. will see i big white pole with its. streamers of
 steel. which reach out and catch any stray currents of electricity that may , be passing. Close to the pole are the white sides of the unfinished battleship Connecticut. Under the pole is the school. and In it the students delve into the mysteries of the new system of telegraphy. To the students wireless is, sparkling" word that describes vividIy the way the current manifests 1 itself. =. Between twenty-five and thirty young sailors make up the class in the latest school in the ever advancing and
 progressive navy. They come from stations ir all parts of the country, and even from warships. As soon as their course Is finished they are sent to
 some stations where they can be put
 to work in the practical application of
 their knowledge to the actual work of
 recording and sending messages. It requires only one month of work
 ing days ito make a. candidate eligible for practical work at a station. The l school is busy place when the pupils are at work. Some are occupied in sending while others in their steel hel- nets are reading the sparks. Still oth-
 CTS are famfliarizing themselves with
 the mechanical appliances connected
 with the system by taking them apart. and putting them together so that on the lonely isolated stations they will be. able to make repairs quickly by | themselves
 It takes only the shortest time for the new arrival at the school to be in the thick of his studies for only those are admitted to the school who are electricians They get pay at the rate l Of SEQ month. whereas the landsmen,
 the lowest class of recruits, receives only S16 If the electrician merits the approval of his superiors. he is pushed ahead and soon he Is receiving $75 as a | chief electrician" This sum includes food. clothing and transportation. The prospects of such compensation | bring into the class as fine a body of | men as the navy has ever seen among its recruits. On the average they vii; rank higher in all-round intelligence nf trades schools in the country. Being | sent to all parts of the world. there | Is character of adventure about their work that adds to the allurements of
 1t even if there were not the charm of
 being associated with the latest thing in the transmission of intelligence. Fewer from this class or employees leave the navy than from any other. Their instructors are graduates of the
 Naval Academy and SO thorough are | the instruction and practice they re- | ceive that the men on leaving the serv- l ice have little trouble in finding rem l unerative employment elsewhere So quietly has the navy been devel- | oping Its system of wireless communi-
 cation that the chain along the Allan | tic coast is nearly complete The work l of instaliing these plants has been go- | ing on for three years and they have
 reached a. point where a spark can be transmitted from Maine to Flcr!da and
 "on pinch" 1t might be sent as far as | Panama, -
 l The tall spars that carry the eouip-
 ment are,now seen on various impor- | tant head lands along the coast as well l as in the navy yards
 l On Long Island a government wire
 less station has been established at
 Montauk Point. Whence direct com I munication can be maintained across | the Sound of Newport. where station
 has been under government operation 1 for some time The Montauk station
 will prove to be more valuable than
 Newport in times of war. as it is near
 CT and in closer touch with the great | metropolis. could give news of an ap-
 preaching hostile fleet to the city with greater dispatch.
 There are private wireless stations at
 Point Judith and Block Island. Saga
 ponack. Quogue and Babylon. which Is directly opposite Fire Island. It Is be- 1 lieved that in time all these stations | will be operated for the benefit of the | government.
 scheme that has been suggested is l the establishment of wireless telesra- l phy in all the stations of the life-sav- | ing stations along the sea coast. with | wireless telegraph instruments aboard all vessels. The dangers and perils of shipwreck would in many cases be avoided. The land stations. during heavy fogs and storms. could send out
 their messages of warning and where
 vessels were disabled near the coast
 and in danger of striking the shore they could immediately wire toward
 the land. and there crews would be
 ready to give them assistance.
 In New England the stations are at
 Cape Elizabeth. Me: the navy yard at
 Kittery, Me: the navy yard at Charles
 town. on Cape Cod at Newport. and on
 the lightship for Great South Shoal Nantucket
 Although the system of stations has
 not as yet been fully tested as whole
 their value has been amptly demon
 strated In various cases. All the lead
 ing ships of the navy carry the wire
 less apparatus, and on approaching the
 coast any vessel can communicates
 with the shore and send information too
 the nearest navy yard or receive or
 ders while yet a long distance from land
 case in point was that of the new
 cruiser Colorado. which. on passing
 Cape Cod, on her way to Boston on
 her trial trip. communicated with the
 navy yard at Charlestown direct as
 soon as she had passed the Highlands
 An example Of the workings of the
 system may be had by imagining q
 naval vessel off Long Island. say 200
 miles from land. and in need of assist
 ance from a damaged shaft
 Her commander writes a message to