The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-11-14
PARIS WIRELESS HUB
EHfel Tower Makes It Marconi-
gram Center of World.
Great Steel Pyramid Was on the
Verge OF Being Torn Down When
This New Use Was Dis
covered for II

Paris, France.-The famous Eiffel
tower of Paris, the highest steel
structure of its kind in the world,
was about to be torn down several
years ago on account Of its useless
ness. Today it is regarded as one Of
Frances most valuable possessions.
The French capital. because of the Elf
fel tower, has become the wireless
center of the world.
Underneath the Champs de Mars, in
which the tower stands, vast sub
terranean wireless plant has been con-
structed. Its presence is scarcely sus-
pected by the passer-by, for its only
entrance is little more than a trap
door in the ground. partly concealed
by clump of trees. But should he
attempt to approach too near the lit
tie iron staircase leading under
ground he will find his way barred
by soldiers.
Below ground, amid maze of pass
ages, gigantic machines and a contin-
ual cracking and flashing Of the wire
less corps Of military engineers and
electrical experts are working day and
night to perfect instruments on the
accuracy Of which messages in war
time may depend Frances victory or
defeat, and on which also will depend
the adequate cooperation of the allied
army of Russia
1t was In his laboratory here that
Prof. Henri Abraham Of the Sorbonne
talked Of what his work as a member
of the French wireless mission sent
by the government to Washington will
be. Professor Abraham will not join
his colleagues until late in October
During our work at Arlington last
spring." said he, I'VE succeeded In
cooperation with our American asso-
ciates in establishing the relative time
OF Washington and Paris within the
tenth of a second. Since then we
have been able to improve greatly the
receiving and recording of wireless
messages. We expect now to estab-
lish the time of Washington to within
the hundredth of second, and, as a
part of this result, the longitude of
Washington as related to Paris.
France will later send missions to
the other principal nations with the
| object Of establishing a similar accu-
racy in the relative times. Once this
work is accomplished, the world will
receive time signals from the Eiffel
tower and will be able to register
them to within the hundredth of a sec
ond.
This effort for accuracy of with
in the hundredth of second has re-
quired :, tremendous improvement in
the viii eless apparatus and great adj
vance in clockmakhg. Two Of the
most important pieces Of the equip
ment which we shall take to America
will be chronometers Of such extreme
precision that after being set before
leaving France they are relied upon
not to vary appreciably during the
whole of our time in America.
I'VE shall use photography in regis
tering Eiffel tower signals for fixing
the exact longitude of Washington.
We arrive easily at an accuracy of q
| hundredth part Of second by means
of a film revolving at fixed rate Of
speed and luminous spot influenced
by wireless messages. In registering
the speed Of radio waves I have sue
| ceeded In dividing the second into 40
900 parts. Experiences so far on the
| speed of wireless waves tend to show
that they travel at the same speed as
light, from which we make the impor-
thing"