The Washington herald., 1915-04-18
BOUT the middle of December,

u 1914, there returned from
abroad an American inventor,
Prof. R. A. Fessenden, who reported
to his associates in the Submarine
Signal Company OF Boston, Mass,
that one of the great European pow
crs q am not at liberty to say which
oncl, after thorough tests, had de-
cidcd to equip several of its battle
Slips with the Fcssenden electric os-
cillator, an instrument that promises
to change the conditions of naval
warfare, especially the relations of
battlcships and submarines.
He announced, furthermore, that
another great power was in active nc
gotiation for this American invcn-
ton, the practical value of which will
probably be demonstrated with start
ling effect in one of the notdistant
sea battles.
Not only will this electric oscilla
tor be OF immense importance in time
OF war. but it bids fair to render still
greater service in time, OF peace by
nSurinG ships against collisions at
sea. either with one another or with
iccbcrgs. Recent tests by the United
States revenue cutter Miami demon
>tratcd this latter point III memoir
able cruise through the iceberg re-
gion of the banks OF Newfoundland,
during the month of April, 1914
A Water Wireless.
TO put it simply, this Fcsscndcn
o>cillator is submarine sounding
apparatus that sends its signals
through tho water, not through the
air. ono result being that these sig
mails travel more swiftly than they
would through the air, since sound
moves through water at the rate OF
q. 100 feet a second. while through the
AR it moves at the rate OF only I,Ioo
ICCt a second.
MI seafaring men know the I'M
trustworthincsS OF sound warnings
sent through the air from steam
whistles, or steam sirens. These
warnings arc often unheard even at
Very short distance, say one mile or
less, owing to adverse wind condi-
tons. or to disconccrting holes in
tho air" or to unfavorablc rctiec-
TONS or sl,ppinGs of the sound from
submarine bells have Tor years been
used with excellent results on light
ships and buoys, and to some extent
on moving vessels, their warnings
being transmitted for miles through
tho water.
In fact, it was in trying to extend
tho usefulness OF these submarine
bells. especially in connection with
ships. that Prof. Fessenden evolved
his present electric oscillator, and
solved the whole problem OF protect
ing vessels from collisions at sea.
His system of submarine signaling
IS really a kind of water wireless,
destined, perhaps, to as important
development as the aerial wireless.
A Modern Wonder Worker.
A few weeks ago in Boston | had
a talk with Prof. Fesscnden about
his invention at the factory OF the
Submarine Signal Company, grlmy
and rcsounding establishment, the
birthplace of submarine bells, scores
of which are now Changing forth their
warnings under the sea, electrically
or automatically, on buoys or light
ships spaced along the perilous ocean
fringes of many lands.
tory room filled with strange appara-
tus. electrical instruments, model
of his improved iceberg dctector, and
various other indications OF an in
ycntivc mind.
All his life Prof. Fesscndcn has
been an active explorer in new fields
of knowledge. For years he was as
sociated with Thomas A. Edison. He
was one of the pioneers in wireless
tclegraphy. and his system OF wire
less transmission is used in the great
Arlington towers at Washington, d.
{. Also his system of electric power
transmission was used by the Cana
dian government in distributing the
energy of Niagara Falls through the
Province of Ontario. For years he
was professor of electricity and
physics at the University of Pitts
burgh. | have never met a man more
kcenly interested in more different
kinds of things.
A Warning Voice.
In one corner of the factory, in a
fcnced-off space, VIC came TO the new
born oscillator, smallish' metal af-
fair, no bigger than sewing ma
chine. with many copper parts for
drumhead of solid steel, twenty-five
inches IN diameter and tive-eighths of
an inch thick, that vibrates aston
ishingly under the electric current
and gives forth sound of terrifying
loudncss. :.
Would you like to hear it," asked
the professor. Then turning to an
assistant. Are you ready!
He switched on a buzzing genera
tor, adjusted a rheostat pressed a