Evening star., 1922-09-15

ing medium. This means that mes
sages from the United States nled at
any Postal Telegraph office will go
direct to South American points with
out passing through the hands of any
British company.
Fourth Ine addition of the Miami
cable means improved communication
to South America because it has been
all too obvious in the last two years
that the All-America Cable Company
could not handle all the business. The
uirert line from 2r iorlua To bar
bados and Brazil will mean quick
SerI ice to Brazil. and the Western
to reach points on the west coast OF
South America, though at present the
ALL America has more cable mileage
on the west coast.
World Communication.
Fifth. The decision of the Postal
Telegraph Company to act for the
American Radio Corporation in the
same collecting capacity that it is to
act for the All-American Cable Com
pary is significant step forward in
the development of world communi-
cation. For one reason or another,
heretofore the Western Union has de-
Clined to permit the senders of mes
SageS at interior points in the United
States to mark a message for Europe
Via radio" The Western Union has
accepted messages from shore to ship.
bat not between the United States
and Great Britain, for example, if
the sender marked it Via radio.
The general supposition has been that
the Western Union, which has cable
lines of its own across the Atlantic.
was not going to compete with itself
Ey accepting messages for Europe
that would be transmitted across the
Atlantic by radio and thus be obliged
to give portion of the sender's fee
to the radio company. Radio rates,
Furthermore. are cheaper in many in
stances than cable. so it was felt that
to furnish the American Radio Cor
roration with q means of collecting
messages throughout the United
States hy giving them the advantage
of the thousands of Western Union
offices might be an unwise business
move.
Clarence Fl. Mackay. president of
the Postal Telegraph and Cable Com
pany, which also has cables of its
own, took different view. however
of the transatlantic business. He felt
that II radio could be used for many
gestion and make cable communica :
ton quicker and thus tempt business
men to use the cables more fire.
quently and to better advantage.
It is known fact that static in
terferes with radio every now and
then, and while remarkable >Speed is
made, there are some serious delays
Many messages, however. are sent to
Europe which the sender is not anX-
ious to have delivered at once, and
a delay of few hours is not ma :
terial.
Benefits Are shared.
Radio will get much Of this traffic,
whereas for communication at GER
tain day hours when radio is not, as
Al rule, as good as cable the latter
will reap the benefit. The Postal
Telegraph Company's idea is that i
readiness to give the American Radio
agency will stimulate business of all
kinds with Europe, both cable and
radio. and will unquestionably work
to the advantage of the cable lines
of the Western Union, as we'll as the
Postal. for all cables have been con-
gested in recent months, and it is an
open secret that the old pre-war
situation of almost instantaneous
communicati ton for all messages has
never been restored.
Another complication is the fact
that the allies took two cables which
originally went to Germany by way
of the Azores. American companies
have been thwarted in their efforts
to get cable licenses abroad and cable
facilities are therefore not being built
to meet the demand. The addition of
the radio for commercial use across
the Atlantic comes at an Opportune
moment, and the prediction is made
in well informed quarters that rates
to Europe must inevitably come down
as a result of the new adjustment. 1t
is expected also that the arrange
ments for wireless messages arriving
at the Pacific coast to be sent through
the Postal land lines and vice versa
will follow as matter of course the
agreements just made for satlantic
business.
copyright. 1922,