Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-09-18
thing definite must be done for these
young men,
BOY WIZARDS FEAT.
Invents Device to Catch Wireless Tele-
phone Messages.


phone Messages.
William E. D. Stokes, Jr, twelve
years old. son OF the proprietor of an
apartment hotel In New York city, has
astounded experts in wireless trans
mission of messages by electrical en-
ergy by designing what he calls .'re-
ceiying box His contrivance not
only catches dispatches sent In the or
binary code used by the Marconi and
De Forest systems, but reproduces the
words and sounds of wireless telephony
In volume deep enough to be heard at
distance of four feet from the ap-
paratus
Working alone and concealing the
secret of his invention from his father,
the boy stuck to the completion of his
task all of recent day and well into
the night The next day about noon
he had perfected the last coil in the
mysterious box" and ran down from
the roof to his fathers Office on the
sixteenth floor, shouting:
"Come up, pop! Come up! She's
talking all right! Come and listenv'
Stokes senior had INDUCED his son
for more than year with electrical
devices of different characters and
had permitted him to string wires be-
tween the two towers on the roof of
the building and connect them with
dynamo in the dynamo room of the
building. The father had heard the
alt lr 20 Ia
from the air, which was not entirely
new, but he was wholly unprepared,
says the New York World, for the
demonstration that greeted him when
he was called to the roof by the eager
youngster.
"Just wait minute" exclaimed W.
e. D. Junior as he opened square re-
ceptacle and turned a lever. Instant
| ly there came the sound of a human
voice with a metallic twang.
do you catch my signal?" were the
words us that right? Say
There was break and an indistinct
buzz on the wire. The young inventor
moved his lever the fraction of an
inch.
81 won't stand for this" was the
message roared out. You go to that
firehouse and see if you can't get bet
ter connection
The elder Stokes was speechless
with establishment. There was no in
dication of where the messages came
| from. The first was presumed to be
from Philadelphia. where secret ex-
periments are being made In wireless
telephoning to connect with the tower
of the Metropolitan Life building in
New York city. This supposition was
borne out by another message that
came when the lever was moved back
to the point it first covered. The tone
and infection of the voice were the
same.
"Mr. Polliton, don't you get me?
What's the matter. Mr. Polliton?'
do you understand that, popY'
asked the boy. ut sounds like Mr..
PolIiion. because the conditions are
not good. I'll tell you what he is try
ing to say. 1t is Metropolitan. They
are trying to call Metropolitan. Here
is another"
The delicate metal guide was shifted
again. and clear. high baritone called
1T will be fifteen thousand on ma
chinery-tifteen thousand-burr. burr
Brant Rock. Boston'-and then silence
Once more the lever was turned, and
a wailing voice broke in:
"Oh, that sauerkraut was tough. Nc
more for me. This isn't the time fol
Sauerkraut-not on your life"
1 r,.,r -, ,f -sr,r
chorus. a deep bass recitation and 9
series of words and phrases in high
and low key, just rs the apparatus
was attuned by the shifting of the
lever to seize and reproduce the flying
sounds.
The young inventor has figured Out
that the clear and distinct words enun
ciated through the receiving box come
, either from Philadelphia or from
within 100 miles of New York and thai
. the sounds of lesser clarity are pro
, jected from Boston or thereabouts
The weaker sounds, be calculates. by
! comparative reasoning must come {
distance of from 700 to 1000 miles
He has not attempted to design {
/ transmitter to send wireless telephone
, messages, but he can transmit the or
: binary telegraphic code and capture
: messages on the wing as well as al
expert
} The boy has thought out and design
ed the apparatus without help. He ha
been a student Of electrical scienc
] since he was ten years old. He is
pupil of a school in New York and II
e common with other boys Of his owl
. age and older has had object lesson
: In mechanical devices in visits Of tn
. class to industrial establishments Tn
: only branch that interested him wa
Q electricity. and In that he has display
: ed precocity which one Of the lead
8 ing experts in wireless telegraphy say
D Is without precedent
Young Stokes said he Is not ready I
s divulge anything more concerning hi
invention. There are secrets involve
: In the perfection Of the system whic
d he does not mean to have any othe
n wizards feast upon.