The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-12-06
TALKS BETWEEN SHIPS MANY MILES APART
MESSAGES Heard 1850 Miles During Voyage OF the
Presidents Cruiser from New Orleans to Washing
ton The Navy Department Is Experimenting

separated imam uSudl OF are less III
sympathy, which causes a species of
induction-that is Ito make it plainer),
the atmosphere is not so good a con-
duct0r of electric currents while the
sun is shining through it as it is after
dark. 1t loses certain qualities requir-
ed for long range messages and alb
serbs the electric fluid The experts
admit that this is a very unsatisfactory
explanation, but it is the best one they
have at present. However, facts are
facts, and wireless biography does not
carry its messages so far or so dis
tinctIy during the day as it does at
night.
The longest distance over which q
wireless message was ever heard by the
operators of the navy department was
on the night of Oct. 81, when Manhat-
tan Beach station on Long Island heard
the operator at San Juan, Porto Rico,
1,600 miles away. The operator at Co
lon, on the isthmus of Panama, few
days ago read messages passing be-
tween the operator at Key West and
the steamer Concho of the Mallory line,
running between Galveston and New
York. He was 1000 miles away. The
COncho has only a small equipment,
but it acts perfectly. The operator at
Colon heard the operator on the Con-
cho trying to wake up Key West. The
signal was very faint, and the Key
West operator replied:
Fix your spark, man; fix your
spark
The Concho was silent for a moment
or two, after which the conversation
was resumed, and Colon heard it dis
tinctly.
The operators at Newport and St.
Augustine frequently talk at night, but
have never been able to do so in the
daytime Some nights are better than
others Cool, clear, calm weather is the
best far long range messages if not at
tended by local electrical disturbances.
The navy department is carrying on
every night a continuous test between
New York, Washington, st. Augustine,
Key West, Guantanamo, San Juan
porto Rico, Colon and other points,
and operators along the coast are lis
tening attentively all the while to catch
what they can.
AS soon as the government naval
system is complete there will be regu-
lar intercommunication for experiment
al purposes from Panama to Portland,
Me-, by way of Galveston and New Or
leans and also by way of Guantanamo
and San Juan and Key West. There
will be a chain of wireless stations
along both coasts and throughout the
West Indies on the Atlantic side, while
on the Pacific side they will stretch
from san Diego to Bellingham bay and
to Honolulu, Guam and Manila. Power
houses are now being erected at all OF
the places named and it IS hoped that
within a few months it will be possible
for the president to talk with the gov
ernor general of the Philippines by
wireless telegraphy any night that he
has anything to say. 1t is now possible
for the secretary Of the navy to com
municate with vessels at sea within
200 miles Of the Atlantic coast and I'M
der exceptionally good conditions at
distance of 500 miles
Lieutenant Robinson of the bureau of
equipment of the navy department,
who has had charge of the expert
ments, is confident that it will be pos
sible to send messages to vessels at sea
distance of a thousand miles when
the system is perfected and says that
the possibilities Of range are growing
wider and wider as the experiments
continue. The navy department now
has stations in operation at the follow
ing points: Cape Elizabeth, Me-; Ports
mouth On. h navy yard; Cape Ann,
Mass; Boston navy yard; Cape Cod
(Highland lighD; Nantucket shoals
lightship; Newport torpedo station;
Montauk Point, N. Y; New York navy
yard; Highlands of Nave3ink, n. j.;
Annapolis Naval academy; Washington
navy yard; Norfolk navy yard; Cape
Henry, Va; Diamond shoals lightship,
Pensacola navy yard; San Juan, Porto
Rico; Culebra West Indies; Guanta-
namo, Cuba Colon, Panama; Mare IS
land, Cal; FaraIlon islands, Cal; Yer
ba Buena island, Cal. Honolulu naval
station and Guam. The following sta
lions are in the course of installation:
Cape Henlopen; Beaufort, n. G.;
Charleston, S. c.; New Orleans; Puget
sound navy yard and Cavite, z. l.
The navy department is experiment
ing with all systems, Marconi's only
excepted. 1t has never been able to do
business with him. BE offered to equiF
all Of the ships and stations desired
for the sum Of $4,000 a year on con
dition that his system should be USED
exclusively, but the secretary of the
navy refused to consider such propo-
SitiOn