The Washington herald., 1915-10-31

only q matter Of perfecting details. But
in the meantime, aerial telephony has
been made q fact by the cooperation Of
telephone experts and the navy depart
ment.
Wireless history was made rapidly
when once the patient scientists were
convinced all was in readiness for the
demonstration OF their work. The world
awoke one morning to read that a wire
less message had been spoken across the
continent. from Atlantic to Pacific. The
wonder OF II all was increasing when the
very next day 1t was announced that the
human voice had been waited through
400 miles of space from the Atlantic
seaboard to Pearl Harbor. Hawaii.
Captain W. H. G. Billiard, chief OF the
navy's radio service, who is in charge Of
the Arlington wireless station, was the
first man to send his voice through space
across the continent. He talked to Chief
Engineer Carly, who was at the navys
Mare Island station. near San Francisco.
The first demonstration was made in the
presence Of oficials and engineers of the
Western Electric Company, representa-
tives of the army signal corps and on
Gals and technical experts of the navy.
President Vail and other officials OF the
telephone company at New York con-
versed for several minutes with the Mare
Island station. the conversation being
transmitted over an ordinary metallic
line from New York to Arlington and
thence by radio across the continent.
After the successful demonstration Of
aerial telephony. Carly In San Francisco.
as the man most directly responsible for
the perfection Of the apparatus. was
questioned on the Improvement and de-
va1OnmaOt nj UfrelaSe Ilfc
munication.
at is hard to say precisely" he said,
what will be the commercial value Of
the, development We are going into that
now with the view OF finding out. We
are satisfied that the number OF messages
that can be transmitted by the new
method in a given zone will be far fewer
than those possible over the wire. or
even the wireless telegraph. Where
these are numbered by the billion. wire
less telephone messages may be only sent
by the hundred. The wireless telephone
i'll never be relied upon to do the work
OF the wire. II will be chiefly useful in
extending phone communication to out
of-the-way places-deserts. great heights
and on the sea. believe that eventually
we will be able to talk to ships. The
trouble caused by the so-called static at
sea is very great. especially in the sum-
mer. and it must first be studied and
overcome. II is impossible to predict
when the apparatus will first be ready
for commercial use. In such expert
ments we must first demonstrate as we
have done today the bare possibility OF
the thing. Then we must sit down and
work 1t out. Remember, however. that
the results when heard Mr. Wallis voice
across the continent today we're a great
deal better than those secured by Mr..
Bell when he tried his early telephone
at a few feet. Remember also that the
difficulties are far greater to overcome.
Secrecy will be no more possible than
with wireless telegraph. Any free in
strument within range which can attune
itself to the sending instrument can
listen to messages. Just as San Diego and
Panama listened to the conversation to-
day"
viii 1t be possible to talk over a wire.
then a gap of wireless, and then a wire
at the other end?" Mr.. Carly was asked
"Oh. yes" he replied, 81 might as we'll
have sat here in the San Francisco Offices
and received the messages by wire from
Mare Island.
THE greatest distance traversed by
the wireless phone previously has been
from Arlington to Panama, a distance of
about 2,100 miles. This has been sue
cessfully accomplished by naval officials
at informal trials. Lieutenant Cranshaw
receiving the messages and cabling them
back"
The Arlington radio station. from
which the wireless messages we're dis
patched. consists of three towers. one
$50 feet and each of the others $50 feet
high. The Mare Island station, where
they were received, has three 350-foot
towers.
As substantial proof Of Carty's words,
the very next day John Mills, an cleo
trfcal engineer. sat In the AIRING ton sta
ton and sent his voice westward through
the air over an ordinary telephone in
strument connected with a powerful
wireless telephone apparatus. At the
naval station at Pearl Harbor, Lloyd Es-
penschied, another engineer In the tale