The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-01
Dreadnoughts May Be
Doomed by Invention
, Of "Wizard of Knott
End" Recently De-
monstrated on British
Warship Terpsichore

title Dy which rather staid JOnn Garu-
ner Is known to his neighbors. He has
done things and still IL doing things
which smack of the black art. Wireless
10 one Of his particular hobbies. but
Gardeners wireless Is not OF the sort of
which the world has heard so much.
John Gardner has fame not only In
his home; he IL much esteemed within
the inner circles OF the British Nd
miralty. over in England they have |
what is termed the official secrets act |
and prosecution and possibly prison |
wallis are the penalties one may incur |
by disclosing any particulars about the |
nations defences or experiments per- |
tanning thereto. Accordingly this mod |
ern wizard is not permitted to talk and |
his work can be described only by in |
ference.
This is all by way Of Introduction to |
tests made . short while back by the |
British naval authorities upon one of
the old royal cruisers. According to
the meagre accounts that have reached
the public II. NJ. s. Terpsichore was
towed out into Stokes Bay after q mys-
terious metal box had been attached to
her bottom away below the water line.
\ Once there she was anchored and aban-
doned by her temporary crew.
When these had reached a safe dis
lance something happened. There was
q great geyser of water sent skyward
right alongside the ship and before she
could recover from her violent lurch
down upon her deck fell the laundering
tons Of that upheaval. The mysterious
box had functloned perfectly in obedi-
ence to the silent and invisible COM
mand Of the battleship eight miles
away.
A great rent was torn in the steel
skin of the Terpsichore, and it was all
the big wrecking pumps Of the FIVE dock
yard tugs that rushed to her aid could
do to arrest the inundatlon and keep
the craft afoat until she could be towed
back to port and dry locked. The wound
was one that would have sent the ves
eel to the bottom had she been similarly
stricken in time Of war. This was Eng
lands latest effort toward meeting the
wireless achievements Of neighboring
Continental maritime Powers.
Some years ago John Gardner built a
small submarine which he was able to
guide by means of submarine sound sig
nails. He built that boat after he had
made extensive laboratory experiments.
\ These were the achievements which
won for him the name Of the Wizard
Z Of Knott End"
In his workshop he had assembled
mechanisms that represented the start
ing and stopping the steering and the
firing apparatus for torpedo. They
seemed to know their masters voice, be-
cause they would do what he bade either
when he whistled or called his orders in
a certain key. In other words the
mechanlsms responded to a fixed tone
or musical pitch, and would not act If
the call was in any other key.
Since then John Gardner has gone
steadily on improving his system. and
he was prompted to do this because he
believed Hertzian wave wireless had a
number Of weaknesses. First. there was
the fear Of interference on the part Of
an enemy sending out purposely confus-
ing ether vibrations and, second, he
4 realized that the transmitting capacity
Of the air varied day and night and was
particularly unreliable when thunder
storms were brewing or active. He
wanted to get stable medium through
which to send his directive signals, and
experience told him that water would
answer his purpose best. 1t was logical
that he should choose sound waves In.
stead Of electrical waves for his con-
trolling impulses. because sound Will
travel four times as we'll and four times
a. far through the water as it will
q through the atmosphere.
Gardner showed that he could ar
l cauaitivo raCaiver his sinh
marine so that 1t would respond either
to one chosen note or to a chord Of them
and unless all of these were sounded
simultaneously the submarine would be
Indifferent to the tonal waves. OF course
II was not long before the military critics
picked this system to pieces. They de-
clared that these sounds could he de-
tected by a suitably arranged submarine
signal receiver. and they asked: What
would prevent an enemy from producing
the same tone or tones under water ant
thus neutralizing or completely upset
ting the sounds intended to operate
the little boat or a torpedo similarly
equipped"
An ordinary man would perhaps have
been nonplussed by such n situation
because to the average mind the whole
scheme depended upon the employment
Of audible signals. for how otherwise
could the desired pitch be chosen? Yoi
don't know John Gardner so you cam
realize what 1t means when his lips Sc
nrmiy and his square chin takes on al
added touch of angularity. Just tn
same, picture to yourself this outward
show Of determination on the part OF {
Yesourceful man.
In all Of its essentials the Gardner re
ceiver In a mechanical substitute for thu
human ear. 1t Is far simpler than tn
ear because In that there Is a receiving
apparatus which boasts something lik
5000 extremely minute fbres constitut
ing the terminals OF the acoustic nerve
Each Of these fbres IL responsive Onl!
to a particular note and Is deaf to al
others
But the human ear has it's limitations
There are sounds that 1t cannot hear
sounds whose vibrations are either to-