Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-01-25
Wireless Words, New
Weapon OF The War
hi Gilson Gardner.l

~. e., an. 20
Think Of the world as q great silent
are creatures with a miraculous pow
er to throw their voices across the
ether. Think Of these creatures talk
ing to one another. ~interrupthng one
another. drowning out the talk OF one
another. There o have q mental
picture Of what Is taking place daily
and nightly in what might be termed
the war Of the wireless
It is a war Of words. It is literally
ganda-all the official statements of
all the world in regard to the war.
The wireless station at Arlington,
Va, sends out messages which are
taken at Nauen. near Berlin. The
Nauen towers send out messages
which are heard at Southampton,
England; at the Eiffel Tower in Paris;
at the Arlington station, here, and In
Cuba and in Mexico. They get to Rus
sia- They get to Brest-Litovsk. where
the Russians and the Germans are
are sent to the world in all languages
often from Germany in English.
and from America in German, and
from England in FreAch German and
Russian. r.
The wireless has made the world
literally a whispering gallery. The
governments have taken the wireless
for war purposes, and every wireless
station is the mouthpiece of a gov
eminent.
In the old day ambassadors carried
carefully written state communities
tions, messages and letters from n
government to another, bearing seals
and red tapes. These were the voices
Of one nation to another whether at
var or at peace.
Today the ambassadorlai function
is gone. Nations, at val or at peace.
cannot but hear one another's voices.
They are in daily, nightly, and hourly
communication with M another
through the air.
Germany puts out peace feelers.
Our state department complains at
Germany's announced terms. But
they come through the air and cannot
be checked. Whatever the kaiser or
the %reichstag. or Won Hindenburg
wants said is said through the air.
Also whatever Lloyd George or
Woodrow Wilson wants said. .
In our war department there is a
little Office where this matter comes
in on tissue paper. in typewriting.
ing that the negotiations on the sRu
sian front r about to be consum-
mated on terms dictated by Germany.
At tho same time a wireless from
somewhere in the region Of Brest-
Litovsk tells how the Bolsheviki are
standing firm and insisting on no an
nexations, no indemnities, and full
publicity for all negotiations.
The word conflict between Petro-
Russian negotiations is almost humor-
GUS. The message from Petrograd
goes on glibly until some important
statement is reached bearing on Brit
ish policies. Then the text indicates
that the wireless station at Southamp-
ton butted in and began pounding
with it's instrument, making lou
boisterous. waves which drowned the
soundings of the operator at Petro-
grad.
The copy appears deleted at this
point. There are long spaces pune
tuated with interruption from Sur
folk or southampton. When n of
the nations begins to talk something
that the other nations do not like, the
other alton butts in and browns 1t
out, filing all space with its resound-
ing din.
Lately a long dispatch f1oated in
American troops are located on the
French front; just how many there
are; what their physical copdition is:
comments on their morale: statements
about orders issued by Pershing
against Wishing Paris.
Also came from Berlin an account
of the Bigelow Kidnapping near Gin
cinnati, with the declaration that tar
and-feathering was becoming COM
mon in the United States.
Communications between nations
which are official and secret go In
code. OF course many of these codes
are ultimately deciphered and infor-
nation leaks, but the codes are
changed almost daily.
The wireless has made information
al. communication simple and abso-
lutte. There is no room any longer
for misunderstanding by reason OF
failure to receive messages. II
language can convey it the govern
ments Of the world can adjust their
ideas one to the other. The Russian
Bolsheviki have found this Of great
advantage in their conduct Of peace
negotiations. They have insisted on
publicity, and despite the poundings
Of unsympathetic instruments they
pump their messages into the air.