The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1913-11-05
WIRELESS WAVES
The Electric Voice That Speaks
Through the Ether.
SETTING UP THE VIBRATIONS.
This is tho Work of the osoiIIator,
Which lis the Electric Mouth, and It's
Message 10 Caught by the R~esonator,
Which Is the Ear of the Apparatus.

hOi poiS thuu any OlueE lcle-
graphic device, the wonderful wire
less is n speaking voice. 1t makes
itself heard just as the human voice
does by Il 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" it's voice is conveyed
by nndulations i'm the ether, which is
Il more refined medium than air. carr.
ing the waves of light and electricity
as the air carries those OF sound.
The oscillator of the wireless is q
mouth" sending out undulations in
the ether as Il mouths send out un-
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 1t. rs our ears catch the
atmospheric waves that strike them.
We see nothing wonderful in vocal
sounds. because nature gave us i'm our
needs II instrument to produce them
II 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 cthcric waves seem to us marvel
Gus. although they are i'm principle no
more marvellous than the waves of air.
Man began to use electricity for con
veying intelligence by sending II cur
rent of 1t along a wire. He pressed II
button at one end of the line. and the
electric current passing along the wire
induced II corresponding motion in Il
Taper at the other end. 1t was IL
roundabout way of employing an agcn,
cy which we now know can be EN-.
ploycd 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
spoken tongue. but it is one that can
be directly translated into any other
known to man, and so it is the most
universal of all languages.
Now. let us see how it is employed.
First as to the electric mouth" When
a 'HilSc VI Slc'lIiCllS Is accumulated
ON II condenser" a similar but oppo
site charge is induced upon another
condenser placed near. The air be.
tween them acts as an inSulator be.
cause it is II Door conductor of electric
ity. But when the charge attnins Il
certain degree of intensity the strain
upon the air becomes too great. and II
spark passes between the two con.
denScrS. by which equilibrium is re.
stored between them.
The passage of this spark produces.
so To speak. Il shock in the ether.
which. like the explosion of n gun or
the utterance Of a sound. sets up Il Sc
rieS of waves in the surrounding me
dunn. which radiate away on all sides.
These waves in the ether produce the
electric voice. If the sparks are reg,
ulntcd in number and frequency the
consequent waves are similarly regu.
lated. 'An instrument for the produc.
ton Of Such wave is called an oScilla
tor or EXETER. 1t is IL kind of vocal APP.
paratUs for speaking through the ether
instead OF through the air.
But just as WI should have no knowl
edge of the passage Of sound waves if
we were not provided with ears to hear
them, SO the electric waves would go
unrcgarded If we had no apparatus for
receiving them.
The receiving apparatus Is called n
r%esonator, or dctcctor. 1t may be sit
uatcd hundreds of miles from the os-
cillator, but it will catch the waves
as they undulate to 1T through the
ether. and it can be made to reproduce
them i'm AN audible or legible form by
causing them to operate IL Morse dot
and dash instrument. as in ordinary
telegraphy by wire.
But the electric voice and the cleo
trio ear are i'm some ways more man
ageable than the human voice and ear.
We can only produce and hear air
waves of Il limited range of frequency,
and we cannot do much to alter that
limit.
Sound waves vibrating less than
forty times a second or more than 49,
600 times are inaudible to Ills. But cleo
trio waves varying in frequency from
a few hundred up to hundreds of mil
lions a second can be rendered per-
NSI'ii't' "hu ~ 10 uIpo lOOSSlDlc 81 u
construct the Instruments that they
will send forth and receive particular
ranges of waves and be mute and
deaf to others.
Then the distance over which the
electric waves can be detected is al.
most infinitely greater thar that of
ordinary sound waves. 1t takes a
strong voiced man to make his voice
audible across a little river, but, as
everybody knows. the electric cry of q