Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-08-29
Seven Hundred Scientists Pro-
nounce Telephone Second,
Airship Third.
USEFULNESS CONSIDERED

Wireless telegraphy is the greatest of
the seven wonder of the modern world,
according to the most eminent scien-
lists of all lands. The telephone ranks
next in the list Of wonders. with the
aeroplane third. while radium is little
less wonderful than the flying machine.
The consensus of scientific opinion as
to modern wonders has been obtained
by Popular Mechanics Magazine from
100 distinguished men of science in all
parts of the world. each Of whom was
assured that his choices would not be
made public. To each was sent Il ball
lot on which Sc subjects OF scientific
and mechanical achievement were
named and he was asked to vote for
seven of the Sc as the seven modern
wonders, having the privilege to make
additions if he should think that the
list of Sc subjects was not sufficient
from which to choose.
A class Of so professors. instructors
and students of the depart
ment of chemistry of Cornell univer-
ed a list of seven things. five OF which
are to be found on the list which rep
resents the consensus Of opinion of the
entire voting.
Only one ballot, the last to be re-
ceived. which bore the name of one of
the most distinguished authorities on
chemistry of Munich. Germany, was
checked for the seven titles the total
vote showed to have been selected. Six
ballots, n from India, two from
france. two from Germany and one
from the United States, showed the
selection of six of the fina seven.
The international character of the
poll and the wide diversity of opinion
of the men chosen to participate in it
resulted In some remarkable
and in a scattering of votes over a wide
range of human achievement, so that
the subject which received the largest
number of votes was selected By a lit
tie more than So per cent of the sci
entists voting and the seventh on the
flnal list by but a trifie more than II
per cent. The inal analysis of the poll
shows the 10 subjects highest on the
list We're:
Wireless biography. 244.
Telephone, 1856.
Aeroplane. 1917.
Radiuln 1855.
Antiseptics and a%ntitoXins. 14O.
Spectrum analysis, 1875.
N-ray, III.
Panama canal. 100.
Anestaesia, "a.
Synthetic chemistry. 81.
Of the ancient wonders. only one was
a practical utility: one was a hanging
garden, built by a queen for her SEN
sual pleasure: two were tombs; one
was a temple of beauty to a heather
god; another was a freakish mass of
cast metal. inferior to the Statute of
Liberty; and one was a beautiful
statue.
But each of the Seven modern Won
ders, as designated by the worlds sci
entists, was created for the uplifting
and we'll being of the masses and is q
monument to the might of mind. while
each of the ancient seven wonders
glorlfied only the might of muscle and
served no useful purpose.
The Wireless.
+. Minturn Sammfs. chief engineer in
America of the Marconi system. who
was assistant to Marconi in the early
improvements of the invention Of Wire
less t~elegraphy. tells Popular Mechan-
les that wireless telegraphy under the
masterful hand of Gugielmo Marconi
sprang into commercial success in a
remarkably short space of time. Prior
20 1898, electromagnetic waves had
been discovered, and men of many
countries had experimental to see that
these waves could be harnessed and
made the servant of man, that they
could be made to transmit intelligence
from shtp to shore and from one con-
ttnent to another.
At the present time there may be
round stations 1000 miles up the Anna
zon river working 500 miles over land
through the virgin forest. and huge
commercial stations flashing thousands
OF words daily across the broad At
lantlc, and yet the art is still in it's in
fancy. Mr.. Marconi. ever looking for
new worlds to conquer, and confident
IN his ability. gained by years or hard
work n p~ainstaking experiment. is
about to start the work of erecting II