The Washington herald., 1913-06-22

his watch. Nov, if you would be so
good as to afford me a moments as
sistance," he requested Simmons, Il
wish to disconnect from your battery
one of your powerful Leyden jars,
and substitute for it one of weaker
voltage. | ventured to instruct my de-
livery man to leave few in the outer
hall"
That will weaken the sending
power of my instrument" objected
Exactly what wish to do" re-
piled Eldridge
Hes clever all right" Darrow
murmured admiringly to Jack. See
what he's up tor"
Not yet" muttered Jack.
The substitution completed, Eldridgc
again glanced at his watch.
Now" he instructed Simmons,
send the letters Q E D. and continue
to do SO until you again hear the let
tiers o K o."
Simmons set himself to the task. 1t
was long one. At last he reported
his answer
He sends o K Q ten he said.
Eldridge turned to the reporter.
That means that the substitution
of the smaller Leyden jar for one of
the larger reduced the sending power
OF this instrument just ten miles"
said he. MY crew has quite simply
moved slowly forward until it caught
our sending here"
Next" he instructed Simmons,
see if You can communicate with
Monsieur ""
The operator speedily reported his
success at that. Eldridge removed his
glasses and polished their lenses.
Thus. gentlemen" said he, from
our circle of eoo-mile radius we have
eliminated strip ten miles wide. Nat
urally if this weakened sending
reaches only 100 miles, and our an
tagoniSt receives our messages, he
must be nearer than 100 miles. We
will now further reduce the strength
of our sending and try again"
The younger men present broke into
a shout
Good work." somebody cried. They
this new method of man-hunting. Only
barrow, tipped back in his chair
against the wall, seemed unexcited.
To Jacks whispered question he
shook his head.
ITS ingenious" he acknowledged.
but he; on the wrong track That
was as far as he would explain, and
soon dropped into a slight doze.
Throughout the greater part of the
night the experiment continued. Bat
terry by battery the sending power of
the instrument was weakened. Mile
by mile the special train drew nearer
until, by catching the prearranged sig
nal, it determined Just how far the
new sending reached. Then Simmons
tried Monsieur Y. As the latter in
variably answered. it was, OF course,
evident that he remained still in the
narrowing zone of communication. 1t
was fascinating work, like the draw
ing of huge invisible net.
The reporters on the morning pa
pers mastered only with difficulty their
inclination to stay. They had to leave
before their papers went to press, but
were back again in an hour. unwilling
to lose moment of the game. A ten
sion vibrated the little Office Only
Percy barrow dozed alone in the cor
ner. leaning back in his wooden arm
chair.
At near o'clock in the morning
Simmons raised his head after a long
bout of calling to announce that he
could get no reply from Monsieur Y.
sages, remarked the Register man.
And | don't wonder! Guess he's
gone to bed"
Eldridge said nothing, but replaced
the l.eyden jar he had but just re-
moved
Try one" said he.
Il get him. reported Simmons, af-
ter moment.
Send him anything plausible and
reaSsuring. commanded Eldridge
hastily. He turned to his small and
attentive audience in triumph. Thus,
gentlemen" he announced. I'VE have
proven conclusively that our man is
located between forty and fifty miles |
from New York. If we draw two
circles, with this building as center,
the circumference of one of which is |
nifty, the other forty miles away, we
define the territory within which the
malefactor in question is TO be found"
The people in the room crowded |
close about the table to examine the |
map upon which Prof. Eldridge had
drawn the circles.
There's an awful lot of country
some of it pretty wild" objected the |
Bulletin man. 1T will be a long lob |
to hunt a man down in that territory"
Even if it were as extensive a task
as a haSty review of the facts might |
indicate" stated Eldridge, q venture
TO assert that enough men would be
forthcoming to expedite such search. |
But modifying circumstances will
Tighten the task"
"How's- that" asked the Banner
man, speaking for the others evident
interest. Il
I'VE have no means of surmising
the method by which this man sue
ceeds in arresting vibratory motions of |
certain wave-lengths, said Eldridge
ANY more than we are
able to define the precise nature of
electricity. But as in the case of |
Of its phenomena. Two salient feat
Of its Phenomena Two salient feat
ures leap out at us: one is that these
phenomena are limited in time; the
other that they are limited in space !,
The latter aspect we will examine, if
YOU please, gentlemen.
The phenomena have been directed
with great accuracy (a) at the Atlas
Building; (b) at this city and some
Of its immediate suburbs. The pecu-
iarity of this cannot but strike an OBJ
servant mind. How is this man able,
at forty or fifty miles distance, to