The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-07-24
NARCON| SEES
THE WIRELESS
PHONE FOR ALL
BY aua1HLMo MARcoNr.

Ii is simply ridiculous TO adopt the
attitude that the limit Of knowledge has
been reached. We ar" only just begin
ming to find out few OF the simpler
secrets which nature has so jealousy
guarded throughout tho ages.
We are only just beginning to KNOW
anything about our oGn planet. and ms
Investigations Of n million years 10
come will not exhaust the subject. 1t Is
vast enough to occupy the human mind
for ever; and the more that is discover
cd tho more there will be to find out.
We can fly now-practiCally. for any
distance We can send messages
through the air without the aid Of wires
and are able to talk in the same way 10
people who are thousands Of miles away.
No conn citing links are necessary. me
foundation Of still stranger discoveries
are being made and truly laid; whoever
the builders may be- Indeed we Two III
an age of wonders.
Endless Possibilities.
The developments which have been
made in wireless biography during tho
last few years destroy ones bellcf IN
the boundary Of possibilities. Even TO
me, they seem romantic and stranSc~-or
they would seem so, did l not know tho
scientific principles involved-and can
cutie understand that the uninitiateo
must regard the developments whlcn
are taking place in wireless communlca-
ton as something hNrdcring upon inc
supernatural. think I may say that
people will cease to wonder at II. me
only wonder will be that there was ever
n time when it was unknown
Supplanttng The Phone Exchange.
There Is no reason why, when install
lations become general. private mes
sage should not he sent exclusively 10
one ind!vidual-cvcn in the heart OF
huge city like London. All that Is re-
ouired is the adaptation OF simple ana
distinctive method of attuning "ach IN
strumcnt--in wireless work. this tuning
will take the place of the number ana
the exchange will be in the existing tel
ephono system
For field purposes, field apparatus
which is very mobile has been success
FULLY tried-and it has been used during
the war. Spies have also used wireless
Instruments which arc very small-out
I have not heard of any private lndi-
viduals who have done this. Those
people who want sort OF wastcoat-
pocket transmitter and receiver COM
bincd must wait, but 1 may add that a
portable apparatus for covering snort
distances Is possible development or
the near future.
But whatever developments may take
place, tho radiatcd mcssage-which Is
sent out Broadcast in all directions
will still have its uses. This Is and
will always be, the case in the event Of
n disaster at sea The ship which Is
. nearest to the scene Of the catastrophe
can hasten to the help Of those in peril:
and so lives will be saved which would
otherwise be lost Many time has
this happened already--as in the case or
tho Titantic disastcr-and aircraft vii.
employ the radiated message in like
emergencies on land and sea
Messages in All Directions
II has sometimes been urged that tho
radiation Of messages in all directions
so that all and sundry can receive them
in a disadvantage This fault has been
eliminated already. for it is now posi-
Bile to transmit q message directly ana
exclusively to the receiving agent or
station for which 1t is intended. 1t Is
from this system of selection and dircc-
ton Of messages, which is only in ITS
infancy, that the next wireless develop
mcnts will spring.
Tho next great developments will be
In wireless telephone. Already this Is
an accomplished fact-far beyond the
experimental stagc-and during the
next few years there will be some Won
derful improvements maze.
1t will be quite possible before many
years have passed to speak by wireless
from ono end OF the earth to the other.
and even interplanetary COMMUNICATION
is n possibility.
Will It be possible, when these i'm
provcments have been made, to see the
person with whom the conversation Is
being held, although thousands of miles
may lie between the speakers. There IS
no reason to the contrary. II a voice
can be transmitted. IL signals can be
regulated, il should he quite possible 10
send an impression of face and figure.
I regard the invention of an instrument
which will enable even those who are
thousands Of miles apart to see cach
! other as scientifically feasible.
As regards a method of entering into
communication with the inhabitants OK
other planets, there are many problems
| 10 be considered. Probably the lcaS'
difficult to solve Is the inXcntton or an
| instrument by which the signals should
| be transmitted. Already incXplicahle
things are happening: and it IS quito
possible that they may be rcducahle to
something intclligiblc when we have
gained enough knowledge to enable us
! to dcciphcr the sigma" which are oelng
! recorded.
Mysterious Messages.
From time to time our operators in
various parts Of the world have reported
the receipt Of strange and Incompetent
siblc signals. 1t is. of course. rash TO
| iump to the conclusion that they are
messages from Mars. or elsewhere. 1t
may or it may not be so. Most probably
the arc merely the records Of some at
| mosphcric phenomenon about which
nothing is known. If. however. commu-
n'tation could BIS established with the
! planets { and believe 1t will bc) all the
difficulties would not be surmounted. 1t
would then be necessary to establish an
, inter-planctary MISUNDERSTANDING. Of
| course. that the planets are inhabited
! and that life on them is on similar or
better plane of scientific development
Romancci Who will dare to say that
l. the age Of romance Is passed? We are
| only on It's threshold!