The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-05-05

~ AK down DcloW apP1eAee
- lamps Of Madison square and the
lights Of windows that looked
ike illuminated chiIdren's blocks
piled high: the twin lights OF the Fehi-
cIes OF Fifth avenue and Broadway
moved about like iridescent bubbles ID
the waters Of a stream
The wireless telegraph operator IN the
little room in the great white tower
was standing by the window looking
idly down upon ii all
Suddenly. without an instant's warn
ing. the room was filed with an in
creduIous1y fast sparkling at the ap-
paratus. with flashes Of light which
threw a fierce. paIlid light upon every
thing The operator wheeled about
astonished, and strobe to the hesd-piece
attached 10 q cord. which contained the
telephone receiver used for receiving
messages in the Morse code
But before he reached II the dla-
phragm of the receiver cracked as II
il would burst-as a telephone receiver
or ordinary use crackles when light
Ming hits the wire Then. 20 the opera
tors establishment and confusion, words
came TO him from the head-Piece, as
distinct as though spoken by a bass
voice into his ear IN loud toues-hOugh
he was FIVE feet from the tiny receiver
Halo. Earth Halo, EaTtn- Do YOU
understand Halo, EARTH Halo.
Earth T'-and ran on indefinitely. in Is
perant0. the universal language which
was by this time used by all the intel
llgent classes Of the earth
The operator was half teTTOr-stTick-
en- Never before had a spoken word
been transmitted through the receiver
Only dots and daSheS from ships. har-
Dor and island stations and EraESaI-
I lan5ic liners had ever come through it.
The thought struck the operator
with professional excitement, after a
moment, that perhaps some Of the
scientists who were PerfecJinE the
wireless system had at last made wire
/ less telephony possible for Ions dis
{ tances. and that he had accidentally
I picked I'D the message
But thu moment he closed the switch,
after cutting in with MS sendin- ap-
/ paTatus TO sound an % X" signature,
/ the same sounds issued from the re-
CEiVCT again
"I4aIIo, EARTH Halo, Earth
! The operator had Imagination, and the
/ strange and queer accent Of che voice.
/ and the startling CosmiC manner OF zd-
! dress. set wild visions moving In his
( head But 10. somebody was having
I fun with the anonymous oppoTtUnI-
+ ties OF the system he thought
For one whole minute the voice kept
/ calling. Halo. EARTH and then 10
/ ceased
/ Medley Of Messages
/ Almost instantly thereafter there was
/ a medley OF messages in the Morse code.
/ Sandy Hook. Bayonne. Atlantic High
Isnds-evea Cape Cod, and finally Glaze
/ Bay, Inquired OF each other and every
/ body
'-Hurrah: wireless telephony at
I last7-
was that your onice7"
( Whose voice was on the wIre2r
/ II took five minutes before the mys-
/ Trying information went round that no
/ body knew anything about Il
/ This was forming the absorbing ropic
I Of gossip over the system, when sud
/ denly communication was cut OF abrupt
/ " by a series OF frequency wave.
| which completely annihilated the sys
TENS currents Once more the strange
y accented voice said.
Halo. EaTth2 HalIn- Earth. Do yo'
/ understand
II kept this up for several minutes
and then suddenly Il said,
call all YOUR rulers OF the earth to
gethe- and have them do as I bid be
fore The next moons course, OF I vii
cause your entire planet 10 fan into n
sun Do YOU understand
Then Il repeated the same word
| again carefully and deliberately.
The operator stool staring at the in
z strUment with diIated eyes and a fxe
look OF anazemenI 10 i1cOmTrehen
( sion on his face He dashed or a mes
sage 70 Bayonne, asking, Did you hea
Z that2"
d But before Bayonne had a chance Z
: reply the high-freQuenCy current aEai
, cut in and the receiver, which the OF
orator could not hold 10 his ear withOu
pain said
. Halo. Earth. You can talk 10 m
I : Z YOU ge- your aerials up twice as hig
as You are nov, and send your spar
! f al right angles from the plane % IN
: earth Do you understand Better d
r Then. once more. It repeated the en-
tire conversation three times
Operator frustrated
The operator was completely excited
A clammy. Precipitation broke out on hi
face, and he flung open the window
with a nervous jerk He called r
Hamilton and Sea Gate, and aske
them what they had heard
They replied that they had caught
/ confused message which they couldn
make out, but they thought that the
had been picking up WIIIenbOrg-s @
some other experimenteTs trial mes
sagss at wireless telephony, and tha
2 he was quilting them
But the operator was not satisfe,
Evidently he was the only one who Ia
caught and could understand any DrC
- iIonged conversation from the nlysterioU
sender Though the time came 20 shJ
20 I'D the Office for the night, he rename
1 at his post, hoping for another me;
81 &c. he waited a half hour, and the
! he vas rewarded
Halo. Earth, Do you understand
This was repeated a number OF time
ana then Get to work at once and f
m a station 20 talk 20 ne You nee
higher powered coils, lighter aerial
proper angles and greater hOrsepOw'
{ shark generation Get your best ele'
/ triCiau and let me tel him how 10 fix
I yTp Do II at once, or you'll never has
7 the chance can dump the earth int
d the sun in 1weuty-four hours, al
] you've got 10 do as I say. I'm talkir
{ from one Of the fixed Stars-as vo71 ca