The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-07-19
|ress in(onQuerin8 theA
Fnet Alarming Possibilities of Wireless Cuyyen
|ch 6y Transforming Ships Into Gigantic Moo
pc FOR the Recent Increase in Ocean Collision,
I --latest Great Tragedy of the Air IN S0uthe1

ct, the English Channel June %? Why did the
ii"mours-American liner Koenigin Louise run
lpon IN" the steamship Cobra OF Hamburg on the
no same day?
,on. Why did Lieutenant Horstetters aeroplane
era. suddenly swerve In the mir without appa rent
and cause or reason and dash into the Austrian
p military dirigibe balloon near Vienna on June
it,, 20, killing everybody In both machines?
law 10 all these questions answer that there
,o, IS an unknown aerial factor at work, and this
inc, seems most likely to be found in the Hertzian
rays as the vibrations used In wireless teleg.
nhv raphy were originally called. -
we know that the electric current has the
49,. power OF magnetizng pieces Of iron lying within
one ITO he'o ana the Intensity Of this power va ries
III an extraordinary and often inexplicable man.
80 her The wireless current has the same power
81 masnetizng bodies OF iron but how powerful
tbo the magne'ization be Is not vet determined
lhere liz reason to believe that the wIreless chr
rent nhdergoeH great intcnsiffcaton under Ger.
nys' ,San conduons. Thus the proximity of nm
,,ps cectr!c cloud, forest or river in a certain
electrical condition may intensity the curren,
49, many thousands Of times its original force
pIps oteef SHIPS Strangely DraUn Together
the II whole ship should become strongly mag
0. nctzed We car understand that 1t would exercise
'ioo an almost irresistible attraction over another
s'e' steel or iron ship The ships moving through
ne" the yielding fluid medium of the water ami
making no allowance for the unknown attra ction
fter would be pulled into contact with one another
ome ne.ore they realized that anything was amiss
1t seems to me that there Is strong suy.
men sestlon OF the working OF this unknown mag.
did nec force in the disaster In which the Storstad
her rammed the Empress of Ireland In the St La w.
,o,, renee River on May % sinking the latter shin
'e" and causing total loss Of life OF over 1000
on The captain of the Empress of Ireland de-
cared that his ship had stopped while the chief
ow ohlcer OF the Storstad said his ship slow one
run Al me pest WAS going at very low rate Of
Ci ron rncfo u
Ger surprising that the Storstad should have struck
me me great Empress Of Ireland with such ire.
mendous force that she sank aomst instantly
run now all the sailors and expert witnesses tes
to hea that the two ships came together with sur
prising and inexpcable suddenness. According
10 tnese Witnesses the two ships we're going
either very slowly or at all until they were
within ships length Of one another, and then
they came together with a force and snced that
nothing could check Here then aprears strong
evidence OF magnetic attraction Any one who
mas seensa piece Of iron slowly drawn toward a
powerful magnet and then flying into the latter
as II came within the inner radius Of the source
o. attraction will recognize the suggestveness OF
me testimony at the Empress OF Ireland INQUIRY
men again nave been particularly impressed
= ny the strange circumstances surrounding the
:. disaster TO- the Austrian military dirigible
:, koerting This machine built from the desirns
u OF the great German aeronautcal engineer
q Major Won Parseval, the most elaborat civ
ana perfectly constructed dirgible balloon ever
- !auncned The Austrian Government relied on
- her as very formidable engine Of war She
~ was designed to travel long distances and to re-
. main In rhe air for week or more
Now it is significant that the Koertling v,e
hued with wireless apparatus. This was in.
tended TO enable her to send intelligence regard
Ing the enemy's positions from great distances
4 back TO her own headquarters. She carried a
' crew OF ten officers and men at the time OF the
accident A military aeropane, bplane OF the
iFarman type. manned by two officers, was sent
IN pursuit OF the dirgibe to show. If possible
how the smaller machine could hamper and de.
stroy the large and costly The aeropane
rose above the dirigible and circled round and
round it to the great admiration Of the spec.
| tatorS-