The Washington herald., 1915-04-18
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the thing barked at us suddenly like
an angry calliope, and the tone per-
sisted as long as the key was held
down. A shift of the rheostat handle
brought current of greater fire.
querCy and the tone rose TO 4 pier
cling shrek.
Another turn and the shrek was
dcafcning. Louder and Shrillcr
screamed the QuIverIng drunhead as
the scientist manipulated the rheostat
handle in the manner of motorman
speeding up his trolley Car. The
whole factory rcsoundcd | covered
my ears and waved for mercy.
But it will be uncomfortable on a
ship. thing like that, sounding all
the time" l said.
The inventor hook his head.
when YOU hear the oscillator sound
ing on vessel YOU will scarcely
notice it. Hero VIC arc right at the
source of the sound. but on ship
the oscillator is deep down in the
hold and is submerged in water. You
will see
In Naval Warfare.
Prof. FcsSendcn then showed me
gray steel tan, like a big bathtub.
with ends made OF steel plates, such
as are used in battlcships. Expert
mcnts have been made with this tank
filled with water and the oscillator
welded to one end, so that tho vibra-
tons pass through the liquid.
when we sound the oscillator in
this way" he said, ''thc water in the
tank is thrown into a state OF extra
ordinary agitation, so much so that
ii YOU dipped your hand in during
the experiment it would be hurled
out violently and painfully. | scarce
ly know whether this shock is ply
steal or electrical 1t is due to the
fact that under tho rapid and power
iul impact OF the vibrating end plate
tho mass OF liquid is literally
squeezed together about a thou
sandth of an inch for each vibration,
ard then torn apart. One thou
sandth OF all inch is an enormous
amount when you reflect that water
is practically incomprcssible. 1t is
almost as il the atomic structure of
the water had been twisted or dis
tortcd."
Would these vibrations be trans
mitted through the water to consid
cradle distance?" l asked.
ITO a very considerable distance.
We have already received them at
distance OF thirty-two miles, but that
is only a beginning the first
wireless message sent across the
English Channel, which seemed Won
derful fifteen years ago, but is moth
ing today"
DO you think it will be possible to
transmit these water vibrations over,
say. hundred miles"
al have no doubt of it, perhaps
several hundred miles, with larger
oscillators and more powerful cur
rents"
And you will be able to send mes
saCcS in this way through the water
itself with no wires or cables?'
Exactly. 1t is simply a matter OF
making the oscillator toot out dots
and dashcs according to the code.
Now, you see the importance of these
oscillators in naval warfare, for a
battlcship equipped with such instru-
mcnts can talk to its own submarines
while they are miles away and sub
merged and can actually direct their
movements against an enemy'S YES
sells"
A Revolutionary Development.
without the submarines being
obliged to come to the surface"
They need not come UP until just
before launhing their torpedoes, say
at distance of a thousand yards
from the vessel they wish to attack.
Then they will only show their peri
scopes for few seconds while they
make final observations"
"a nd then launch their forDrdorS
Eyes"
ITS a revolutionary development
isn't it,
"Tou arc not the first one to ex-
press that opinion" smiled the pro-
lessor Some big authorities think
it will change our whole naval
strategy
But this has never been actually
submerged submarines from battle
ship"
Not yet, but it soon will be ac-
complished. We have already put
oscillators on several American bat
tleships, on the Wyoming. the Della
ware, the Utah. the Florida. and on
four of the United States submarines
the d. and DE-, the k-1 and k-2-
and we are now installing them on
battleships of great foreign power"
asked about the method of listen
ing at distance to these water wire
less signals. and Prof. Fcssenden ex-
planned that thi may be done in a
temporary way with the help of a
microphone lowered. for instance.
from a Ii htship, or from vessel at
anchor. This microphone is connect
cd with an ordinary telephone head
piece, through which listener on
the deck may hear signals sent
through the water by an oscillator
miles away