Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-16

noon each day in the east Uncle Sam
sends from the great
Trua T;no hv Arlington W re e s
towers and two other
WlIeleSs. naval radio stations
the second beats of his master clock
in the Naval observatory in Washing
ton Three hours later the ticks or
the seconds of the master clock IN the
Mare. Island Observatory, San Fran
cisco, are sent out in the same way
through the four largest Pacific radio
stations.
Aside from times Of great ocean
tragedies this is perhaps the most use
full Information that travels by wire,
less: for accurate time is the maj ana
truest of all compasses and without II
The navigator is helpless. For every
sour seconds that his chronometer may
vary from true time a ships master
will have AN error of nautical mile
IA his, reckoning of location.
In order that navigators may re
.aiye III. most accurate time possible
aud be in a markedly better position
han in the fairly recent days "heh
thermometers could be checked only IN
,or, the government has worked OUT
, schedule of signals leading up to the
.1l-importaut noon nash. Because con-
Iitjofls for sending wireless signals are
poorcr about midday than at almost
my other time during the tWenty-iour-
,our period the Arlington station can
r,t coycr all the waters to the east
,,,d south and north frequented by
sbIns and must depend on the Key
West and New Orleans stations 10 as
sst.
\ full ten minutes before noon prep
aratious begin on land for TRANSMIT. .
i'm. Tho noon signal to the scores OF
waiting ships hundreds of miles away
that in expectation have stopped AZ
is. Of their radio equipment. Inc
first step is for the coin'herc'al com
many over whose wires the farther sta
lions ar. served to give the govern
rn.nt the right of way. At hve MN
utcs to noon the signals start aulo
maticaIIy. every tick OF the cloch
,,jnc translated into an ether wave
.xrrpt the one preceding the half-min-
Mt. and the five preceding the minute
nash. Before the end of the last OF
The five minutes tn" pause 1s Tor Ten
seconds for tn" sake Of emphasis and
ACCURACY tho final fash that follows
IA" go preparatory signals beihs True
noon.
ono of The most important places
reached by the time signals ~ nor on
shiphoard, but in the Canal zone, VINE ="
facilities are being perfected, against
th,. time when n large volume OF the
commerce Of the world viii pass
through the canal, to give to the steady
OF vessels i d'Su
rate time service. The signals are re-
ceived at the paricn radio station from
Key West, and are so weak that they
cannot be made to operate an auto
matte relay. They must be caught by
the ear of AN operator and sped on
by hand key to the chronometer rooms
Of the captains of the ports. In spite
of the interposltion Of the mechanical
lag and the human equation OF the OPP
orator il has been calculated that the
final error from the beats of the sec
onds in Washington Is less than two
tenths of a second. Since this is fairly
constant and can be allowed for. a high
degree Of accuracy is attained
one more important step toward in
Surfing Safety AT sea has been taken
by the navigation
Emergency Lights service or the De-
partment Of Com
for Vessels. morce ,hrouy, Tho
,rventIon BY Eadio Inspector Il. y
,..,dnnus OF a simple aud Inexpensive
charging panel board with automatic
features which makes possible the use
Of the emergency radio storage bat
t.rirs on passenger vessels for the
-,,rutiou 81 the emergency lights