New-York tribune., 1908-09-18
ON WIRELESS
MAY TAKE UP PACIFIC.
Ner0 Way of Generating Ether
Wares GiUes Better Results.

wireless teegraphy has not reached its full
| development, by any means" said Mr.. Marconi
yesterday to a Tribune reporter, ''but 1t is max
ing steady progress. I an able to send faster
than formerly and to send and receive srnul-
taneously. Besides, L now have an improved
way of generating ether waves. which gives bet-
ter satisfaction. It produces 'undamped' or only
slightly 'damped' waves, instead OF the 'damped'
waves employed at one time.
'At present am planning TO do nothing with
the Marconi station at Cape Cod. It could be
devoted to transatlantic service IL more powerful
generators were used. Just now my attention is
| concentrated on the stations at Glace Bay, Nova
Scotia. and Clifden. Ireland Regular service in
both directions between those points has been
maintained for many months, but in order to
avoid interruption from temporary breakdown
the plant there is being duplicated. To install
the additional apparatus at Glace Bay will take
two or three months. About 100 horsepower
required for transatlantic communication. The
chief reasons for erecting q European sta
ton is that it hard to secure extra land
AT the one in Cornwall (Poldhu) At Clifden
there was no such trouble. Not far from 1000
words are being transmitted daily for patrons
besides the messages incidental to tho expert
ments still IN progress. Most Of the tmperfec-
tions in our service have been due to difficulties
with the connecting land wires on both sides
of the Atlantic We 10 not try to send more
than twenty words a minute at present, Some
of the machines employed for rapid transmission
over land wires could be used in wireless teeg-
raphy, but I have not yet tried any Of them
..The greatest distance to which messages are
sent regularly from land stations is 1000 miles,
but this is occasionally doubled. At one time
the conditions are more favorable than at an
other The difference is like that of vision when
the air contains dust or mist and when 1t IS
clear From the majority Of the ships having
the best equipment in the merchant marine and
the British navy it is possible to send with
certainty 200 miles but now and then their
messages are distinctly heard ten times far
awav. The statement that operator az Los
Angeles picked up one from Admiral Sperry's
flagship when it was $500 miles off is not in
credible but such c range is very unusual.
after our long distance stations on the At
lantic are fully equipped l shall give a little
thought to a transpaci1c service 1t seems
probable that the Pacific be spanned from
shore to shore. without any relays in midocean-
Already there are three Marconi stations in
Hawaii designed for communication between
islands in the group Plans for other stations
in Australia are under consideration. but their
execution depends somewhat on the grant of
subsidy
Concerning the OF ether waves TO guide
unnamed torpedo boats Mr.. Marconi spoke eau
tiouslv He distinguishes between the large
amount of power needed to propel such craft
and the very small amount needed to steer it.
IF its screws are driven by suitable means. al
ready provided on the boat, its movements can
be controlled by wireless methods at distance
The power needed to pull d lever on locomo-
t,,o for instance, is a very different thing from
+ho+ which hauls a train. To transmit power
ano,eb TO control valves rudders is feasible
enough. but If any system Of supplying power
enough to drive ship exists Mr. Narconi has
not heard Of II.
Mr. Marconi has not himself attempted wire
loss telephony. Though 1t is feasible, In MS
oninion. he does not deem 1t so trustworthy as
,,,,reless telegraphy. There are several letters
NJ the alphabet which are likely to be confused
,,b o4bers In telephone conversation, whereas
IN teIegraphy all transmitted with equal
and greater distinctness and there Is less chance
or