Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-02-07
Earth Citizens Yet TO Commune
With People of other Worlds
BY JAMES HENLE.
Newspaper Enterprise Association STAFF
Correspondent.

NEW YORK, Feb. Have the inhab-
itants Of Mars been attempting to com
municate with US?
This is the question which for the last
week has been agitatlng scientists on
both sides of the ocean. Mysterious wire
less signals have been received both in
this country and in England. Where do
they come from?
Some scientists say Mars. Another as
serts Venus Others say they are the re
suit of disturbances on the sun.
Nikola Tesla, whose researches have re-
suited in important contributions TO
every field of electrical science and who
Is especially well known as a wireless
expert, does not believe that the signals
recently received come from Mars. But
he does assert that he himself has caught
faint impulses over the wireless which
can not be accounted for except by the
supposition that they come from Mars.
SIGNALS IN SIMPLEST
POSSIBLE FORM.
These sounds were merely the sequence
or numbers. first one tap. then two taps,
then three taps. the simplest idea that
can he exchanged between persons with
out any medium OF direct ingual com
munication. But the inventor is Of the
opinion that If we answered these we
would finally he able to advance 70 more
complex MESA ges and that we. could
finally transmit photographs by wire
less and convey ideas through picture
writing.
DR.. Tesla has planned to answer these
signals, and has designed tower which
would be able to deliver power at the
rate Of 1O0OOO0O00 horsepower and
would, he thinks, be strong enough to
repeat to Mars the one-twO, three signal
lie received from that planet.
The inventor was asked about the mys-
FERROUS wireless sounds recently heard.
They are wholly of terrestrial origin,
he replied "They have no connection
whatever with the strange phenomena
I discovered in my Investigations of geo
electro ynamics from 1899 to 1900 in
Colorado. At that time | was operat-
ing under ideal conditions. there being
no other wireless plant Of any consider
anle power in existence besides my own,
which developed a current Of 1000 am
peres In the antenna, sufficient to affect
wireless receiving instruments, as now
employed, at any point in the globe.
RARELY CAUGHT
FAINT IMPULSES.
"And yet, although I used an instru-
ment Of marvellous sensitiveness I barely
could catch the faint impulses which
came one, two, three There were
occasional misses. but the sequence Of
mum bers was unmistakable. During the
following year, while carefully reviewing
the ground I had covered, I proved to
my entire satisfaction that the disturb
auces could not have been produced on
the earth or emanated from the sun,
moon or Venus, and the most plausible
conclusion led to the supposition that
they had come from Mars.
"To most people the mere idea of fash
ing a signal over the immense gulf Of
80, 900 900 or 100000 900 miles will nstu1
ally appear preposterous, but 1t is sim
ply a feat Of electrical engineering, ap-
parently hazardous, but made perfectly
feasible through inventions with which
experts are familiar
"In attacking the problem Of communi-
cation with the planets we have two
solid facts to build upon; first, a ma