Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-26
WIRELESS MAN IS A JOKER
So His Visitors Find the MarvelS
They Seek.
HERTz1AN WAVES ACCOUNTED FOR
Satisfying the Interest Jack Binns
started-A LOnE Distance Mes
ShR-The Amateur Inven-
tors and = Bore.

Dlnns sent that G Q ID cry for help through
the night from the wounded Republic the
wireless operator on board sNlp has been
a parsonage. Before that he was simply a
person. People passed his cubbyhole Of a
stateroom unconcernedly, save to pause as
their eye caught the posted tariff Of aero
grams. Now all that is changed and the
man Of the big key has become a man of
mark, although the wireless men them
selves assume not to believe II. do your
duty" is their w~atchword, we're no he
roes; we're paid to do our work" And ao-
cordingly they remain in the presence Of
all persons as placid as the purple pools
at the foot of Parnassus.
Which. by the way, is not all metaphor
as they must surely have drunk of the
pools or else seized upon poor Pegasus in
order to stimulate their imagination as
well as that Of their visitors upon the sub
ject Of wireless telegraphy. In extenua-
ton whereof 1t may be said that their temp
tation is very great
After a dozen or so voyages technical ex-
plantations of the instruments In words of
one syllable begin to weight heavily on the
mind of the average operator and be sud
denly discovered that he possesses pre-
viously unsupported creative power. Being
by this time a fair Judge OF human nature
he is discriminating In exercising this tai
ent and up to the present time there Is no
recorded Instance of his Unexpectedly meet
ing the other Greek among his questioners.
These last, especially on the coastwise
steamers, usually begin to cluster round
his little office by the time the vessel passes
Sandy Hook. After the usual ''Ohsl' and
"Ahs!' and How perfectly wonderful!'
from the more unreasonable element a
hardfeatured Yankee school ma'am wants
to know exactly how messages can be sent
without wires. She Is told that 1t is &C
complished by means of electrical waves
discharged from the ships masthead and
travelling through the air to receiving STA
lions on shore.
but II another ship is between you and
the station on shore will It hear what you
say?"
Yes, ms'am It will"
Then pursues the lady, how does
the station on shore hear?"
Life is short and the operator has ex-
planned the tuning process a great many
times. He tells her, therefore. that only
a few Of the waves cling to the ship and
that the rest divide, roll over and go
around. Apropos OF nothing he adds
impresslvely that they are called Hertzian
waves, which causes the lady to nod com
prehendingly, as though this fully &c
counted for their remarkable feat AS she
is departing one of her fair charges fingers,
with one or two companions. for a little
further inquiry.
20 Mr.. Operator, do you get the mes
sages through that funny looking telephone
thing? And why are they called Hertzian
wayes?"
Yes. ma'am," replies the operator, 1.-The
messages reach me through these tele-
phones. They come in a faint buzzing
sound which cannot be heard unless the
phones are over both ears. They are
called Hertzlan waves because it was dis
covered that their motions we're remark
ably like Alfred Hertz, the conductor at
the Metropolitan opera house"
How perfectly wonderfully! oh, please
let me listen a minute when some one is
sending another message"
with pleasure. Just allow me to adjust
the telephones over your head" says the
operator, who has never been known to
shirk this stage Of the proceedings. Can
you hear that faint purring sound7 That
is Colon. Panama, sending to Vera Cruz"
It is really only an oil tug five miles
away, whose captain runs his own wire
less outfit and is painfully spelling out his
distance report to the operator at Manhat-
tan beach. But it is ever so much more
AAlltiN0Nllk ~ SSASAt NJ NN@NN
by the girls giggles. OF course all the
girls want to hear the Isthmus. and the
operator let's them, one after another. The
attention of those who are not listening
is next attracted to the receiving box, or
tuner. with its multiplicity Of small
switches.
VIVA are those little disks in the mid
die for?' asks one, pointing to the poten-
tiometer, a switch which moves over a
dozen steel pegs, by which the resistance
to the local battery is raised or lowered.
THAT is the switch we use to connect
this ship with the different stations" re-
plies Munchausen II. 1T corresponds in
principle to a telephone switchboard. For
instance, one Of these little pegs Is New
York, the next Atlantic City. this one
Cape Hatteras, and so on down the coast.
The switch IS now set at Colon. but he
must be nearly through"
He then takes the phones, and finding
the redoubtable tugboat captain still strug-
Cling with his reports, moves the switch
TO the next peg.
'Ah, there's Vera Cruz answering now"
he says, replacing the headpiece over the
fair ones ears.
The increased resistance renders the
tug's signals fainter. The girls are quick
70 note the different sound and shrek
deltghtedly at the demonstration. one. or
a logical turn Of mind. thinks Vera Cruz
Is nearer than Colon and wonders why II
doesn't sound louder than the isthmian
city. This causes the operator to groan
inwardly, as he might just as easily
have moved the switch In the other d.
~rectton, making the tugs signals louder.
He Is a resourceful chap. however, and
explains that the waves travel over land
with greater difficulty than over water.
and that between Vera Cruz and the ship
the peninsula OF Florida Is interposed.
This is so convincing that the young
women depart Overjoyed with their inves-
LEGATIONS. The operator mops his brow,
reaches feverishly for a cigarette and en-
Joys a brief relaxation.
After the dinner hour another group APP
pears. A young couple in the lead step
into the operators stateroom with that
easy air OF PROFESSIONALLY which disun-
Euishes all novices at ocean travel.
"Now, tell me-" e1elSlms the woman.
who has evidently been arguing the mat
ter with her comhpanIon. lis II possible
6or you to hear what another ship says
without having the telephone on your