Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-07-22
WIRELESS Waves
The Electric Voice That Speaks
Through the Ether.

More truly than any other tele-
graphic device. the wonderful wire
less is speaking voice. 1t makes
itself heard just as the human voice
does by series of waves moving free
ly through space.
When | speak my voice is sent out
in undulatiOns of varying length and
frequency through the air. When the
wireless speaks its voice is conveyed
by unduations in the ether. which is
a more refined medium than air, carry
ing the waves of light and electricity
as the air carries those of sound.
The oscillator of the wireless is a
mouth" sending out undulations in
the ether as our mouths send out I'M
dulations in the air, and the resona-
tor of the wireless is an ear" catch
ing the ETHEREAL waves as they i'm
pinge upon it. as our ears catch the
atmospheric waves that strike them.
We see nothing wonderful in vocal
sounds. because nature gave us in our
needs one instrument to produce them
and another to receive them. But she
left us to find out for ourselves how
to produce and receive vocal" waves
in the ether. Since we had to make
the instruments that deal with them
the etheric waves seem to us marvel
Gus. although they are in principle no
more marvellous than the waves of air.
Man began to use electricity for con-
veying intelligence by sending a cur
rent of 1t along wire. He pressed a
button at one end of the line. and the
electric current passing along the wire
induced a corresponding motion in a
Taper at the ether end. 1t was Il
roundabout way of employing an agen-
cy which we now know can be en-
ployed more simply and directly by
throwing away the wires and making
the electric waves speak" straight
through the ether.
1t is true that the language employed
does not consist of the words of any
be directly translated into any other
known to man, and so it is the most
universal of all languages.
! Now, let US see how 1t is employed.
First as to the electric mouth" When
charge of electricity is accumulated
on a condenser" a similar but oppo-
site charge is induced upon another
| tween them acts as an insulator be-
cause it is a poor conductor of electric
! ity. But when the charge attains a
/ certain degree of intensity the strain
upon the air becomes too great, and q
spark passes between the two con
| densers. by which equilibrium is re-
stored between them.
The passage Of this spark produces
30 to speak. a shock in the ether
which. like the explosion of gun OF
the utterance IF sound. sets up Sc
| ries of waves in the surrounding me
/ dunn, which radiate away on all sides
| These waves in the ether produce the
/ electric voice" II the sparks are reg
ulated in number and frequency the
consequent waves are similarly regu
lated. An instrument for the produe
ton of such waves is called an oscilla
tor or EXETER. 1t is kind Of vocal ap
paratus for speaking through the ethe
instead of through the air.
But just as we should have no knowl
edge Of the passage of sound waves i
we were not provided with ears to hea
them. so the electric waves would g
unregarded If We had no apparatus 70
receiving them.
The receiving apparatus is called &
: resonator. or detector. IL may be sit