The Hartford republican., 1913-11-28
WIRELESS Waves
The Electric Voice That Speaks
Through the Ether.
SETTING UP THE VIBRATIONS.
This Is the Work Of the Oscillation,
Which Is the Electric Mouth, and Its
Message Is Caught by the Resonstor,
Which Is the Ear Of the Apparatus.

less Is a speaking voice. 1t makes
itself heard Just us the human voice
does by a 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 undulations in the ether, which is
n more refined medium than air, carry
inc the waves of light and electricity
as the air carries those OF sound.
The oscillator of the wireless is
mouth" sending out undulations in
the ether as our 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 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
10 the ether Since we had to make
the instruments that deal with them
the etheric waves seem to us marvel
ous, although they are in principle no
more marvellous than the waves OF air.
Man began to use electricity for con-
veying intelligence by sending cur
rent Of ii along a wire. He pressed n
button at one end of the line. and the
electric current passing along the wire
Induced a corresponding motion in
Taper at the other end. Ii was a
roundabout way of employing an agen-
cy which we now know can be EN-
pIoyed 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 charge Of electricity is accumulated
on a condenser" similar but Oppo-
site charge is induced upon another
condenser placed near. The air be-
tween them acts as an insulatOr be-
cause II 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 u
spark passes between the two con-
densers, by which equilibrium Is re-
stored between them.
The passage of this spark produces.
90 to speak, shock in the ether.
which. like the explosion of gun or
the utterance Of a sound. sets up Sc
ries Of waves In the surrounding me-
dun, which radiate away on all sides.
These waves In the ether produce the
electric "yoice." II the sparks are reg
ulated In number and frequency the
consequent waves are similarly regu-
lated An instrument for the produc-
ton Of such waves is called an oscilla-
tor or EXETER. 1t is kind Of vocal ap-
paratus for speaking through the ether
instead of through the air
But Just as we should have no knowl-
edge OF the passage of sound waves If
va were not provided with ears to hear
them, SO the electric waves would 60
unregarded Il we had no apparatus for
receiving them. '7s9'E rsssss ssifSSss.. 10
The receiving apparatus Is called
resonatOr, or detector. Ii may be sit.
uated hundreds OF miles from the os'
cillator. but 1t will catch the waves
as they undulate TO 1t through the
ether. and it can be made to reproduce
them In an audible or legible form by
causing them TO operate Morse dot
and dash instrument, as in ordinary
telegraphy by wire.
But the electric voice and the cleo
the ear are in some ways more man
ageahle than the human voice and ear.
We can only produce and hear air
waves Of a limited range of frequency,
and we cannot do much to alter that
limit
Sound waves vibrating less than
uOTtN tiIiitS ~ scCtlN w iHbIe lntu w.
OOO times are inaudibe to us. But cleo
trio waves varying in frequency from
a few hundred up TO hundreds of mil
lions a second can he rendered per-
ceptible. and. it is also possible so to
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 than that Of
ordinary sound waves. II taxes a
strong voiced man to make his voice
audible across a little river. but, as
everybody knows. the electric cry Of a
ship In distress can be electrically
heard from the middle OF the Atlantic
ocean. And there are enthusiasts who
predict that before very long We shall
be able TO speak by wireless to some
other planet, II only there is somebody
there 10 hear and understand us!-
Garrett p. Seryiss in Spokane Spokes-
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