The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-02
WIRELESS CHIEF OF
 U. s. REVIEWS WORK OF HIS DEPARTMENT
Past Ten Years Have Seen Wonderful Growth of
 Service.
Many Disasters Prevented Or LeSsened by Warnings
 Sent Through Air.

l E1. O. .. 1 charge of the naval radio service, and l who has his headquarters under the l shadow of the three great steel masts l which form the center of the naval wireless system at Arlington, Va, 1 seven miles from Washington, has just presented to the Naval Institute an i'm teresting review of the development of naval wireless biography
 The leaps and bounds oA this devel- opment are brought to pointed notice when it is recalled that during the Spanish war such a thing, as wireless telegraphy was untried in the l United States navy-or any other navy It was during 1895, the year after the Spanish-American conflict, that the British navy became the first of all of the naval powers to try the new means of communication upon the three warships=Alexandri 1iu- ropea and Juno. These ships succeed ed in communicating up to a distance of AT miles,
 Todak practically every vessel in the United States navy is equipped with apparatus for this aerial communi- cation, and it is so successfully op- erated that there is scarcely point in the seven seas at which the bigger battleships would be out of touch through relay, with the three great masts towering over Captain Bullard's headquarters at Arlington.
 The first trial Of wireless on Amer ican warshipS was made late in 1899p directly after the British ships had proved it's possibilities. The armored cruiser New York Cnow the Saratoga) the big battleship Massachusetts and the torpedo boat Porter, were the first to be equipped. At about the same time the Highlands Light station in New York harbor was established ag the first shore station of the naval radio system,
 Within six years, more than thirty ships. were equipped and some fifty shore stations established or project ed Almost every other vessel in the navy was then placed on the list for wireless equipment and. the work went forward just as fast as possible The scheme included both the At lantic and Pacific seaboards, Alaska, l the Midway Islands and remote points.
 Features of Service.
 Meanwhile, in the spring of 1905, the naval system inaugurated what have proved valuable daily features signal; storm wornings and other me- neurological observations.
 Tn 1SO7-S0, the development of the wireless seemed to warrant the erec- ton of htgh-powered stations at Washington, the Pacific coast, at Hawaii, Guam, Samoa and the Phil- dppines, so that wherever it might be, the United States fleet would at all times be in communication with Washington. The success of long dis tance communication was established during 1908, when the Hawaiian islands exchanged messages with Far alIon Islands, Cal, and later, during the cruise of the Atlantic fleet around the world, when messages were re- ceived across Central America by Pen sacola and Washington By a system of relays, the fleet was in touch with Washin gton practically every minute during the trip across the Pacific un- til after New Zealand was reached
 At that time also the high-pow naval station near here, to be the cen- tra1 point of the Navy Department system was projected. The station was to shave a radius of 5000 miles both by day and night; to be capable of overcoming interference from static disturbances and to be equipped with apparatus ito secure secrecy of oper- ation. Later developments disclosed that this could not be entirely accom- pIfshed as to static disturbances and complete. secrecy of communication.
 Congress for the first time took notice of wireless in the Act of June 24, 1910, which was amended, by the Act of July 23, 1912. The Titanic disaster of April, 1912, riyeted the at tention of lawmakers anew to the nec- essity of government control over ras- dio apparatus and it's operation. Fur ther laws were passed, and the presi- dent proclaimed the Berlin Wireless Convention, since succeeded by the London Wireless Convention.
 Latest Extensions.
 Some of the later extensions of wireless were the establishment of the station on the ground of the Amer ican Legation at Pelzin, China, for communication between officials of the United States Legation and vessels of the Asiatic fleet, and the Panama Canal station The latter is to be un- usually powerfuI with three 600-foot steel towers for the support of the antennae- It is erected half way across the Isthmus near San Pablo The name given to it, Darien, is the name of one of the early explorers of that region.
 The Mexican trouble led to further extension to take the place of inter rupted land lines and for exchanges with the ships. Isabel, Texas, near the mouth of the Rio Grande, was chosen as the central point of opera ton on the Atlantic side, and San Diego, on the Pacific side.
 There are now 4S naval shore sta tions, those at outside points being three along the Panama, Canal, one at Guantanamo Bay Cuba; one at San Juan, Porto Rico; seven in Alaska and outlying islands, two in the PhiIl ippines, one at Hawaii, one at Qua n and one at Pekin, China, with othrr projected stations in Samoa and else- where rapidly nearing completion.
 The chief work of the naval sta tions is to keep the Navy Department in connection with it's ships at sea, either by direct or relayed messages. This service extends to all bureaus. offices and division of the Navy De- p=E-aent, those in command of navy yards and stations, and to officers of fleets, divisions and ships. The trans mission of time signals has also de- veloped to great importance for war and merchant ships to avoid error in the ships chronometer, eIc. Signals from Arlington are sent out every day in the year, twice 9 day, at noon and ,Ir. .,.-