Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-03-06
ny FREDERIC j. II,SkIN

WASlllNEToN, March 5-rhe United
States leads the world In tile field OF
wireless telcgraphy The Very latest
Invention perfected by i'rcderick \.
holster. OF the government Bureau OF
standards. is OF such fundamental i'm
portance that IL is expected Ia rcyolu-
tioniz" radio work in every country.
Mr. holster has Invented wireless
direction finder.
In the last year the French army
suffered three sever" defeats foi lack
OF such an apparatus. Their wireless
operators intercepted German mes
:AGes and thought they had thereby
fixed the location OF strong bodies Of
German troops. The French forces
were mancuvercd accordingly. hut In
stead Of drawing away from the heavy
hostile artillery as they intended. ,he..
marched directly upon Il. Inc wireless
maa had made costly mistake" Tho
new American invention renders such
mistakes impossible.
The value OF a radio direction Gnda-
In modern warfar. can scarcely hc
ovcrestimated Under present condi-
tons wireless message comes out
OF Ia. mysterious void II may come
from any point OF the compass Per-
maps II contains Information AS to the
location OF the sender; but II may he
u code message. or IL may be DELHI
"ratcly fals!ii"d Ia order TO confuse the
enemy. rs tn" operation OF the new
device, each message bctrayS tho loca-
ri"n OF It's source. IN this way. the
enemy finds the use he can safely make
of his wireless limited, for il gives the
position OF at least a part Of his forces
Also Valuable in Peace.
The value OF the invention is fa- .-o :,
being confined to war. however. II viii
prov" OF great value TO shipping by
giving a vessel the bearing OF some
warning lighthouse or lightship In a
fog II will permit a wider control OF
irresponsible wireless sets which have
great potcntialiticS for mischief and
interference with legitimate business
by its use, the Coast Guard viii he able
Z" locate a vessel in distress. and one
ship will be able To determine the di-
rcctlon Of another at sea
consideration Of the nature OF radio
waves suggests some of the difficulties
that have TO be overcome in designing
ana pcrfcctinS AN apparatus such as
the one on which patent Is now pend
me The waves arc rrOpagatcd by the
sending force much as ripplcs are set
up by a stone falling in q pool--ns
conccntric circles. equally In all di.
r"ctions. The waves are, Of course.
invisible. and the very existence Of the
medium through which they travel only
- matter of theory. y simple, portable
'FN'N' Which determines the direction
from "hlch tncy came ~ the same time
that thc message is being received ia
n scientific achievement OF high or
der.
The efficiency Of American wireless
work constitutes one Of our more vaIua-
Die preparedness assets. An arrnorcd
automobile equipped with a high
power wireless set was designed last
year at tho Naval and Military Ac.1
cmE III Lake Geneva. Wis. The car was
rested over j00-mile trip, and sent
back communications almost hourly
without difficulty
Amateur Wori> IL Efficient.
Amateur radio work i'm the r-pi,cd
States has an cncouracinlelv nil,
standard Of ability. Captain Eullnrd
superintendent OF the Naval Radio Scr
wee recently accepted the vice-preSi-
dchcT OF the National Amateur Radio
Association, which numbers nearly 3d.
e"0 members. There is a strong scnti-
! iHcnt in favor of putting all American
radio stations under thcTcontrol of tho
Naval Radio Service in order to stand
ardizc the work still further. Both
naval and military men have com
ncndcd the amateur association as "a
valuable feature OF national defense.
only few days ago. the amateurs
showed what they could do in case Of
need.
y wireless message was sent out from
the Rock Island arsenal in Illinois car
rcd 10 the White House in Washing
ton, and them with tho help Of anna
| tour operators, rclaycd to the Mayor Of
almost every large city and to the
| Governor OF every state. 1t reached
! the Pacific Coast within two hours and
a half after leaving the starting point
| The demonstration proved that n call
| to mobilize IN army could be flashed to
| every corner Of the country In Il fcw
| hours.
THAT the work on wireless apparatus
| is not apt To lag from want Of en-
| thusia SIN is shown by the records OF
| the Patent Office. More patents are
| being applied for on improvements i'm
| radio devices than in any other devices
| except automobiles and airShips Some
| of tho patents arc impracticablc, but
many are in direct line with recognized
| needs. Considerable advance has been
| mado in controlling railway trains by
| wireless instead of by ordinary tclc-
| graph or telephone systems. IT it pre-
| dicted that another five years Will see
| radio dispatchinS in general use Dur
| ing the blizzard OF January. when iclc-
| graph wires were down, the wireless
| station at IIohokcu. y. j.. kent in touch
with u number OF Snowbound trains
| Wireless Telephony Keeps Pace
| While radio work is going rapidly
| forward. progress in tho kindred scioncc
! Of wfreless telephony Ia Keeping pace,
and perhaps little ovor. At any rate