New-York tribune., 1909-03-07
HERTZ WAVE POSSIBILITIES,

The interruption Of telegraphic eomnunica-
ton between Washington and northern cities
last week In consequence Of the pro-trauon oi
wires and poles. freshly illustrates one ot the
drawbacks TO the Old Morse system. The ra-
sul5Ing inconvenience was maEninei 10y an
unusual combination OF circumstances. Kan
road traffic unusually heavy because Of the
WIDESPREAD wish TO witness the Inauguration
ceremonies. was beset with exceptional diff
cnIr3as Hence there was IN extraordinary
number Of persons who wanted 20 report -
anxious friends at home and millions Of others
were eager for those details Of the celebration
which the press alone could supply. The re-
cent trouble differed from that experienced
many times before not in kind but in degree
A winter seldom passes without the partial or
complete suspension OF teleGraphic service al
least half a dozen times from the same cause
as that which operated on Thursday and Fri
day
Practically no relief was afforded on this oc-
cas!on bv Hertz wave telegraphy, for various
reasons. Up 10 the present time that method
Of communication has not proved 50 salts
factory over land areas as over water. Many
Of the stations now in existence along the coast
belong TO the national government and are
not available for general use. Those estab-
lIsbed on a commercial basis are designed
chiefly for the exchange Of messages between
ship and shore. and are more or less dependent
on connections with land wires. Moreover,
marvellous as is the progress made since the
world first heard Of Marconi. further develop
ment IS needed before regular service III the
interior Of the continent may be expected. StlL
if the recent past is any guide 10 the future,
II would not be unreasonable 10 expect con
tinued advances during the next decade.
Perhaps no question affecting the practical
utility Of autobiography has a greater in
terest for experts just now than whether the
generation Of ether waves by a method adopted
hv Poulsen is superior To that used by Mar
conf The Dane employs all are and the
Italian 4 spark gap" Poulsen and his cham
Mons are disposed 10 believe that the electric
vibrations developed by tn arc 90 further than
the others, are less susceptible TO the paralyz-
ing influence of sunlight. travel successfully
over land. and. because they may easily be
timed" diminish the chance Of interference
and insure 4 greater measure of secrecy.
These claims We're discussed elab0rately in
The London Times 4 few days ago lFebru-
arv "a by Or. J. \. Fleming. an authority Of
repute and Il Fellow of the Royal Society. This
electrician thinks that evidence 10 support the
notion that waves generated by are Will
traverse land areas without hindrance Is yet
lacking. ANY superiority which they may pos
sqss In the matter Of tuning" is, in his opn-
apparatus used with the older method which
by the way 3Iarconi has materially improved
When waves are generated by an are. Dr
Fleming asserts. the mechanism employed must
be constantly watched and frequently al
iusted TO keep il working right. Il needs the
attention Of another man than the who
operates the key and uses the receiver. The
spark generator he says. iS practically auto
matte and calls Tor no care besides that easily
given by the operator. An additional merit
with which the spark system is credited is
that il can be made TO work with storage
battery in emergencies and is not entirely de
pendent on the dynamo Ike the ara system.
In other words the latter could not have sun
moned the Baltic TO tie Republics aid. where
as the former did.
DR. FIemngs verdict should not he conSid-
cred 4 final expression OF his own judgment
Much less is it guide TO the uninitlated in
making an Immediate choice. While IL reveals
some of the complications Of the task yet
TO be performed, it encourages hope that wire