New-York tribune., 1905-01-01
SECRECY WITH HERTZ WAVES.

No one who is familiar with wireless teleg-
raphy can derive any satisfactory information
from the press dispatch mentioning trials OF
new system which King Victor Emmanuel is
said to have witnessed recently The report
is much too brief and obscure 10 indicate
whether the exchange OF messages between
Rome and Sardinia, $50 or 200 miles away,
shows that real advance has been erected
The world is solemnly informed that Signor
Artons (whom it Is difficult to idenuty) clalnls
that ian electro magnetic wave message cannot
"be diverted from the point for Whlch II IS
intended" and that q trial of his system now
demonstrates the truth of his pretence. This
is nonsense, because no one supposes that such
a message can be thus diverted. The impulses
sent out by transmitter travel In ali directions
lateralIy. If they are powerful enough, and II
the right sort OF receiver Is placed anywhere
within range they will be detected There mas,
to be sure been some talk of trying to focus a
beam of Hertz waves and aim 1T in particular
direction, as is done with a searchlight- Con
centration by this means would be entirely WITH
in the hands of the sending operator, however,
and could not be resorted TO by an unauthorized
person to alter the course of the waves.
Up TO the present time only two serious en-
barrassments have been experienced in wire
less telegraphy. One results when, Intentionally
or otherwise three or four messages are sent
simultaneously in the vicinity of given re-
ceiver. All of them may be, and usually are,
heard together, and the utmost confusion Is
caused Not single word is then intelliglbie.
Again, If the intruders keep silent and are situ-
ated close enough to the.sending operator, they
can pick up news which is not intended for
them. STILL it would not be correct to describe
either kind of misbehavior as diversion OF the
electromagnetic waves
Il ST.fo
ference and theft can be secured by tuning.
Malicious persons created confusion on land
when press boats were trying TO report an in
ternational yacht race off Sandy Hook q few
years ago. but the meddlers succeeded only be-
cause the receiving apparatus was untuned.
The same explanation undoubtedly fits the con-
tinued eavesdropping that has gone on In the
Yellow Sea for several months BY way OF COM
parison one should recall what is now taking
place on the Atlantic Ocean daily. To certain
steamships whose owners pay for the service
news dispatches are sent from Cornwall and
Cape Breton So far as we have been able to
learn, no other vessel has overheard these COM
municadons, though a large number carry In
struments for picking up a different class of
messages. For the news bulletins tuned appa-
ratus Is employed, and for ordinary marine
conversations untuned receivers are still re-
tanned. Hence, some degree Of secrecy is al
ready possible if the proper methods to secure
1t are adopted 1t does not yet appear that this
is the object which Signor Artons has in view
but, If it is, then he should show the world
whether his system is as good as or better than
the one here referred to- Until definite proof is
forthcoming its inferiority may be taken for
granted.
Whether absolute secrecy is possible is still an
open question. The limits to the utility OF
tuning have not been publicly defined The sys-
TEN depends for its successful operation on the
regulation Of the frequency with which waves
are emitted by the generator, and on such an
adjustment of the receiver as will make it more
sensitive to that frequency than to any other.
Or course, If any one who has no right to over
near should discover what frequency was being
used, he might be able to steal a message.
Meters that would enable an expert to aseer-
tain this within few minutes are said to have
been invented. Should anything of the kind
ever come into use it could still he evsded bv
employing cipher code